American Cinematographer - February 2009 - (Page 20)

Right: A Canon EOS-5D Mark II SLR mounted to the hood of a car produces a dynamic nighttime drive. The driver was illuminated by an LED light positioned near the car’s speedometer, but the rest of the sequence was lit naturally by architectural lights, headlights and other existing fixtures. Below: The New York skyline is reflected in a male model’s sunglasses during a helicopter shot captured with a 15-35mm lens and an LED light attached to a monopod. Creating Reverie by Steve Hullfish Canon’s recent release of the EOS-5D Mark II, a high-end amateur digital SLR camera, is providing a glimpse into the possible direction for digital cinematography. The camera has a full-size (36mmx24mm) 21-megapixel CMOS sensor capable of shooting 5025,600 ISO. One of the first American photographers to shoot with a prototype version of the camera was Vincent Laforet, a photojournalist and commercial still photographer. His interest in the Mark II was piqued when he noticed it was capable of shooting high-definition video (1920x1080p), and on short notice, he produced a 1-minute 55-second test film, Reverie, that attracted a lot of attention on the Web. The film’s images show what can be done with a camera that is capable of shooting 30 fps at 3,200 ISO and above. Prior to Reverie, Laforet had not shot a motion picture of any kind. When Canon agreed to loan him the prototype for a single weekend, “I was sweating because I knew I had to produce something,” he recalls. “Immediately, I decided to get a helicopter because one of my specialties is aerial photography. In the meantime, my assistant was trying to figure out the camera and set it up; we had no user manual, and time was of the essence.” In less than 12 hours, Laforet assembled a cast and crew, outlined a story and chose locations. “If anyone had asked me to shoot a film or video a month earlier, my top concern would have been lighting, which is incredibly time-consuming,” he says. “But this camera is so sensitive to low light that you can really rely on natural light, and I think that’s where my skill as a photojournalist really came to bear — I knew I could walk into a room and add maybe one light source to make it look beautiful.” Laforet shot with just two lighting instruments: a ProFoto 7B strobe pack, a strobe unit that has a modeling lamp, and a Litepanels Mini, a small LED. His grip gear included three Avenger suction mounts with some Magic Arms by Bogen, regular still- 20 February 2009 Reverie frame grabs courtesy of Vincent Laforet.

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - February 2009

American Cinematographer - February 2009 Contents Editor's Note Short Takes: Circus Production Slate: The International Reverte 2 Worlds in 3 Dimensions Dead Reckoning Embracing Anamorphic Citizen of the World Post Focus: Restoring Manhatta New Products & Services International Marketplace Classified Ads Ad Index Clubhouse News ASC Close-Up: Peter Suschitzky

American Cinematographer - February 2009

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