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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Canon C300 Shoot No 2: The Cost

This part weekend, Paul Antico invited Rick Macomber over to play with his new Canon C300, and I thought I'd tag along to maybe learn more about the operation of the camera.

When I got there, Paul was saying that he thought that rather than just shoot some test shots, they should shoot a short video, and he had an idea. He then proceeded to outline a story about a man who's lost his job, has unpaid bills, and drives around to all these closed businesses. And as he's talking I'm thinking 'that's all very good, but where are we going to find someone to play this person?'

It didn't take me too long to figure out who was going to be drafted into the role! So here's my "acting debut," and probably my last acting job, all in one piece!


So about the shoot. Oddly enough, I don't really have a whole lot to report on the shoot itself. Paul wrote up a short piece on his Vimeo page for the video, which you should read:
Canon Cinema EOS C300 camera obviously was used. We used it handheld with just the built in EVF and grip, and also on a slider and sticks with the full monitor setup. The waveform monitor is a godsend. It was difficult judging white balance in the setting sun however, even with the EVF, because we shot C-Log the whole time. The camera has a View Assist LUT but it isn't foolproof.
As often seems to happen with these things, a lot of time was taken with the first setup, but the shooting rate accelerated rapidly as the day wore on and the sun began to get low in the sky!

The Kessler Pocket Dolly got quite a work out, and as Paul notes, several lenses were used, though Rick loved shooting handheld with the EF-S 17-55 F2.8 IS, and I think the 50mm F1.4 USM was the second most used lens, though I wasn't always paying attention to what was on the camera!

No sound was recorded during the shoot, and Paul did the opening shot and recorded the audio afterwards, and he also did all the grading!

Perhaps the most fun for me was driving down the road with Rick hanging out one window holding the C300, while Paul was hanging out the back window shooting Rick with his phone! You can see Paul's video here: yfrog: Rick trusted with the #c300 hanging out of my car at speed (video) yfrog.com/mbvqlz

I have to add, I came away with a new appreciation for how hard it is to be on the other side of the camera; waiting for the crew to get things together, and then trying to follow direction as someone points the camera at you when 'you're on,' now that's hard work!


The Cost from Paul Antico on Vimeo.

Packing up to go out on the shoot. Only a small amount of gear!

The Canon C300 on the Kessler Pocket Dolly. Paul sets up the 50mm lens.

Rick and Paul getting ready to roll.

The C300 with the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 II lens. 
It's quite a beast of a lens, though it was only used for a couple of shots

Shooting through the drivers side window, Paul changes the lens.

Rick rocking the C300.

The C300 on the Kessler Pocket Dolly.




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