Epic X 2029 " Lilau" Arrived! First video and impressions

[Emanuel A.]

Thanks for the flattering words, Emanuel, but this is nowhere near the greatness of David Fincher's Epic footage! :)

There's some soul there I didn't see on that one of Fincher's! ;)

[A_Love]

Sergio, congrats on your Epic! You made the right choice with the Red company, and great tools . Loved your short. Awesome!

[A_Love]

Sergio, congrats on your Epic! You made the right choice with the Red company, and great tools . Loved your short. Awesome!

[Michael Dalton]

Bob, well worth the price, trust me. It hurts badly first but it also compels you to push further!

You got that right.

Very impressive. There are some incredible shots in there. I love guys like you who really go all out to test your cameras. I'm inspired to hit the town now and see what I can do with mine.

[JOÃO CRAVEIRO]

Parabéns Sergio, alegria ver uma Red nas mãos de um Portugues!! Boas imagens, que venham mais no futuro...

[Elsie N]

Wow! Sergio.

A very nice use of available light, if in fact you only used that. Not sure how many cameras could handle that without a lot of kit and people. To me, you pulled off the "Village within a city" story very well. With the right feature length story to shoot, I suspect you will find an eager audience.

The only disappointment for me was the music choice. Nothing wrong with the music except for me personally, something with on oriental reference would have enhanced the footage. Not Oriental for Orientals sake, but a slight undertone to put the audience into the streets and shops.

Great job.

[Rob Macey]

Nice textures, mood, pacing, composition. Did you edit in Premiere?

[Sergio Perez]

Thank you all for such nice words !

I shot this as a test, went around the old part of town with the Epic and started filming. As I started filming I noticed that the old part of town is "aging"- lots of elderly, working in traditional crafts, traditional commerce. It somehow made me think about "progress", about what we leave behind in the middle of economical development. That's why, Elsie, I went with that song selection. If I went with an oriental tune, in my view, it would distract from the "human" element of this piece... We are all people, and I really wanted the viewer to look at the "human" side of this. Of course, this was done in a few days and without much thinking- it was me testing the camera, after all- but as I was shooting I felt that the footage would best work with that "feeling" :) The Chinese opera part I have to admit it feels a bit out of place of the whole video- its part of what I want to submit to the Portrait competition!- but its nice eye candy and I just wanted to put it in to share since I absolutely love the way the Red Epic worked in that scenario!

João, sou em primeiro lugar Macaense. Mas não nego a minha forte costela portuguesa! Obrigado pelo elogio!

Rob, this was edited in Final Cut Pro 7. Color graded in Redcine X and a bit of Magic BUllet looks for some shots (not all). I really, really need Premiere but Adobe didn't do the switch promotion over here so I'm struggling to find the budget at the moment (after the heavy red investment) to get it!

Thank you all again for the compliments, buying this camera was really a big, big deal for me. Love this community, love the Company, and, above all, love this cinema camera! :)

[Michael Ou]

Congratulations on your recent acquisition! Gorgeous piece Sergio, I found it mesmerizing. I visited Macau a few months ago and was drawn in by the vivid colors and intricate textures of the town and the people. I can't wait to return!

I too was on the fence over Epic/Scarlet, even considered the Red One's that are being sold for such low prices. In the end, I went with my heart, made the sacrifices and took the hit. I have NO REGRETS! Plus I still have another kidney left! lol J/K

I look forward to seeing more of your work!

[Sergio Perez]

Congratulations on your recent acquisition! Gorgeous piece Sergio, I found it mesmerizing. I visited Macau a few months ago and was drawn in by the vivid colors and intricate textures of the town and the people. I can't wait to return!

I too was on the fence over Epic/Scarlet, even considered the Red One's that are being sold for such low prices. In the end, I went with my heart, made the sacrifices and took the hit. I have NO REGRETS! Plus I still have another kidney left! lol J/K

I look forward to seeing more of your work!

Went through exactly the same dilema, Michael: Used Red One, Scarlet, or Epic X. The moment the Scarlet was announced I took the Red One out of the equation. In the end, I wanted no compromises. My type of storytelling requires a lot of variable frame rates. Everything was hanging on a personal loan's numbers. The loan went through and here it is.

Will try to post something else this coming week. There's something I would really like to try with the Epic before getting into the serious stuff!