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Misfits - british TV series shot on RED camera

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santo

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I heard this series was shot on RED camera. Did anybody see it? I think it looks pretty amazing. There is interesting work with shallow DOF (some of it is probably done in postproduction).
Some clips can be found here:
http://www.e4.com/misfits/
 
Stephen Williams said:
Hi,

That would be very expensive & time consuming, I think most unlikely.

Stephen
Click to expand...

If you watch the show you can DEFINITELY tell that the DoF being mentioned has to be in post. It doesn't look natural, I think it is used for more artistic approach (and I like it).

Is season 2 shot on a M sensor Red as well? One thing I noticed in Season 2 episode 1 is that they need to SLOW DOWN their pans. They've got some serious skew on internal shots.

That said, I love the coloring. Everytime I really like how something looks, detail wise, I go look what the movies or show was shot on, and 3 out of 4 times it is the Red, and the other 1 time it's Film. :)
 
I'm watching it now, really enjoying the style.

They seem to be refraining from fine-tuning the contrast and saturation, though. Some of it is a bit more milky than the rest (the normal lenses seem to have more contrast and deeper blacks), at least at certain points.

Would be interested to know how they got the effect. I watched the fifth episode in the first series today, and in one shot (when Nathan is on the roof with the baby) there was noticeable filth on the lens (upper right hand corner), it sort of made me think they applied something on certain parts of it to achieve the defocus, but I can't imagine that being practical.

In any case, extremely crisp images. Looks lovely.
 
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I wonder if they used a filter with just some Vaseline or something smeared across it? Although that said, with as much resolution you get from the Red, if doing it in post at a higher resolution before down converting must give you really nice results as well.

When I do 3D rendering, I always do AT LEAST 2x the final resolution to push out artifacts even further.

Wait till you get to season 2, it's pretty good and I've just seen two episodes so far.
 
Just started season 2, this looks more like tilt-shifting to me.

Ah, well, very nice first and second episode. Personally, I think the photography seems a bit more rushed in this season. The writing and acting really works, though.
 
John F.K. said:
Just started season 2, this looks more like tilt-shifting to me.

Ah, well, very nice first and second episode. Personally, I think the photography seems a bit more rushed in this season. The writing and acting really works, though.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it does feel a lot more rushed to me as well, but I like it, it works. No boring moments :)

It could be some sort of tilt shift lens, or, they could use something in post. I have the Magic Bullet looks and I've used the tilt shift on some time lapse I did and it looks FANTASTIC. Here it is:

http://www.vimeo.com/8245898

Which gives pretty similar results to what I saw in many of the episodes.
 
I discovered this show a few day ago, and really like it ! I think, for the dof thing, maybe the lens used could be something like the lensbaby or any adapterlike on another lens. Anyway i find it great !
 
Rick Burnett said:
Yeah, it does feel a lot more rushed to me as well, but I like it, it works. No boring moments :)

It could be some sort of tilt shift lens, or, they could use something in post. I have the Magic Bullet looks and I've used the tilt shift on some time lapse I did and it looks FANTASTIC. Here it is:

http://www.vimeo.com/8245898

Which gives pretty similar results to what I saw in many of the episodes.
Click to expand...


Its interesting how lots of people have different ideas as to how the UK tv series "misfits" was filmed...

They used canon 7d slr cameras with the full 1080p HD at 60frames it was a perfect choice. The 5d MK2 EF was released a little earlier but for some reason wasn't used.
The lens choice...TS-E L series lenses. (Tilt shift pro series)
Tilt shift works Very much like the lens baby composer as as far as bending light onto the cameras senser but with the added ability of being able to change the focal plane. F2.8 - 3.5 gives the effect that is used in "misfits"

Canon 7D cameras were also used on some parts of "slumdog millionaire"

"misfits" was filmed at a location some of you may recognise from clockwork orange. "Thamesmead estate" in south east London.
In "clockwork orange" when Dim had his hand cut by Alex is the same lake but on the opposite side from the leisure centre in "misfits"
The pub scene in both films was filmed in a pub called The Barge Pole by Abby Wood train station.

I hope this helps settle the discussion.

Kind regards from the UK.

Love the traffic signals on your TS video Rick Burnett
 
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You might want to check your facts, Phil.

1) The 7D is only 720p at 60fps, not 1080p.

2) Slumdog Millionaire was released on November 12th 2008, and the 7D wasn't announced until 10 months later on September 1st 2009. They had completed shooting it before even the 5D Mark II was released. According to Director Danny Boyle:
“We also used what we called a ‘CanonCam,’ which was a Canon stills camera, which takes 12 frames a second. If people see a still camera, they don’t think it is recording live action.
Click to expand...
http://www.2-pop.com/Cinematographer/articlefeatures/66054

3) As for Misfits, here are a few behind-the-scenes shot from Season 2 clearly showing a RED ONE:
http://www.daemonstv.com/2010/11/04/misfits-season-2-behind-the-scenes-photos/misfits-season-2-behind-the-scenes-photos-2/
http://www.daemonstv.com/2010/11/04/misfits-season-2-behind-the-scenes-photos/misfits-season-2-behind-the-scenes-photos-4/
And another one, clearly showing a RED LCD:
http://www.daemonstv.com/2010/11/04/misfits-season-2-behind-the-scenes-photos/misfits-season-2-behind-the-scenes-photos-7/

I'm just speculating now, but to me the "shallow DOF" often has a very two-dimensional look to it that indicates it was done in post, rather than in-camera using tilt/shift lenses. It is no more expensive nor time consuming to do that sort of thing during colour grading than it is to add a vignette.
 
Phil tobin UK said:
Its interesting how lots of people have different ideas as to how the UK tv series "misfits" was filmed...

They used canon 7d slr cameras with the full 1080p HD at 60frames it was a perfect choice. The 5d MK2 EF was released a little earlier but for some reason wasn't used.
The lens choice...TS-E L series lenses. (Tilt shift pro series)
Tilt shift works Very much like the lens baby composer as as far as bending light onto the cameras senser but with the added ability of being able to change the focal plane. F2.8 - 3.5 gives the effect that is used in "misfits"

Canon 7D cameras were also used on some parts of "slumdog millionaire"

"misfits" was filmed at a location some of you may recognise from clockwork orange. "Thamesmead estate" in south east London.
In "clockwork orange" when Dim had his hand cut by Alex is the same lake but on the opposite side from the leisure centre in "misfits"
The pub scene in both films was filmed in a pub called The Barge Pole by Abby Wood train station.

I hope this helps settle the discussion.

Kind regards from the UK.

Love the traffic signals on your TS video Rick Burnett
Click to expand...

Glad you liked the traffic signals. I played with a lot of different exposure lengths but 8 seconds was my favorite.

Pertaining to the 7D, it doesn't shoot 1080p60. I know because I own the camera, you have to shoot in 720p to get 60fps. And the aliasing/moire in 720p mode is SO bad.

In fact, I think this picture proves that the Red One was used to film Misfits:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_g4hpZkL3W6M/THFWS0bcDFI/AAAAAAAAA8c/HNW-vh1zV_w/s1600/Misfits+Iwan.jpg
 
Thats what you get for repeation information gained from a genius at the mac shop...monkies.
But as regards to HD the 7D it does 1080p at both 29.97 and 23.976 frames per second and 720p to get 60fps As stated in the manual...I own one too.

The location info is correct because i live in south east london and know Thamesmead well.
 
one thing that tells me it's done on set, on season 2 :

It's often in the middle of the face... I mean, if i was doing it in post, i will have it aiming a bit more nicely... it is sometime disturbing to see in focus only a half of an eye...

I love the show and general aesthetics though.
 
Bérenger Brillante said:
one thing that tells me it's done on set, on season 2 :

It's often in the middle of the face... I mean, if i was doing it in post, i will have it aiming a bit more nicely... it is sometime disturbing to see in focus only a half of an eye...

I love the show and general aesthetics though.
Click to expand...

Good point. Some of the scenes have had some strange focus that I am sure they would not have done in post either, now that I think about it.
 
I saw a shot that I believe was season 1 (it might have changed between seasons) where someone was standing in front of some lockers that receded off into the background. The (camera) left side of the person's face and the lockers directly behind that were blurry, but the (camera) right side of the person's face, and the lockers behind that were in sharp focus, which looked strange because those lockers were receding well into the distance past the person's face and should have been blurrier than the left side due to DOF. It looked very much like a 2D post effect to me.

Somebody needs to track down the DP and ask him!
 
Maybe there was something on the locker they were trying to hide :) It's possible they use multiple techniques. Maybe someone will chime in from the crew at some point.
 
In the middle of season one and am really loving this show. Has such a unique look and I'm enjoying the characters. Has anyone figured out yet if the tilt/shift effect was done in post or on set? I recently shot on a tilt/shift lens and had much fun with it.

Also, is it just me or are there major rolling shutter issues during all the fast pans?
 
Yes, there is rolling shutter issues, especially on the second season on fast pans. That said, man, season two is awesome as well.
 
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