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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Parkour + Ultra Primes + B16 = Nerdgasm

Sean Rawls

Sean Rawls

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Recently DP'd / cam op'd a Parkour spot with a company I just co-founded, Nürd Productions. The spot is a viral-based buzz generator for the law firm Stoel Rives. We got this project based on an earlier (and still unfinished) Parkour spec.

Rented camera 797 from Picture This in Portland

Shot the entire spot with only two Zeiss Ultra Primes: 14mm and 50mm. These lenses were incredible to work with.

Worked on Build 16 4K 2:1 to CF, pushed the camera hard, and had no problems. All the Parkour stuff was handheld with the EVF.

Again, worked with the extremely talented traceur Tyson Cecka. We shot in Seattle, Tyson's home town. We still haven't come close to taping Tyson's full potential, this man can do ridiculous things.

The project was graded in Chicago by the talented Tyler Roth. If you are looking for a freelance colorist that really understands what the Red image can do, look Tyler up. I've included some ungraded stills so you can see Tyler's magic in action.

Only real problem: My shoulder almost fell off after sprinting around with this camera package for our 12 hour shoot day. It was risky to upgrade to B16, but it really is a joy to work with. I think I could shoot Parkour for the rest of my career and be completely satisfied (maybe).

Stoel Rives Parkour:

1k H.264 Streaming:
http://www.nurdproductions.com/StoelRivesParkour.html

Youtube Version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCB1BMIZJ5Q&feature=related


ALSO, here's a look at the unfinished spec that got us the job. This still needs speed ramping and a color pass, but 110fps is fun to look at:

1k h.264 Streaming:
http://www.nurdproductions.com/SpecParkour.html

Youtube Version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0yGBQmSjYQ&feature=related
 
Sean, great shots at 110fps - what shutter speed is used here? Lim
 
Wow,
Who was the talent?
What kind of permits did you need?
Or did you get any?
What about insurance?
I know it is a hassle to just
shoot in most downtowns, much less
having a guy jump 20-30 feet off of
a railing!!
 
There is no insurence you can get Redguy. The police shut you down, the security guards shut you down. Training involves running away from people all the time or finding a completely unmonitored and depopulated local. I don't think there would be many insurance companies that would back you. If the Tracuers good you don't need it. + that stuff is all solid core basics scaled up to look nice and impressive.

Tyson has one mean reverse stall, those things are really tough at speed, lots of upper body strength and control.

This is old school http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umKJdIfq3iQ

Sabastian is one of the originators, a total legend.
 
and this is 3run, another group of bad asses. They do a lot of Free Running (some times called tricking). Which is Parkour on acid and being attacked/attacking Ninjas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7seVR1UnjI&feature=related



NOTE: If you are going to do some Parkour, read as much as you can before you start. The whole thing practically lives on the internets and more than likely there is a group in your area. Go slow and condition yourself well in advance of beginning your Parkour experience. I jumped right in and badly injured myself a few times, its no fun watching other people play. Parkour uses every inch of your body, therefore conditioning has to be complete and hard core.

David Belle (In many peoples opinion the creator) once said "I feel no pain when I do my moves. I have conditioned myself so thoroughly". Keep that in mind.

If you don't want to go to the jim check this stuff out, http://www.rosstraining.com/.

Good luck! have fun!
 
twlim said:
Sean, great shots at 110fps - what shutter speed is used here? Lim
Click to expand...

For the spec we used 1/96 "Relative" shutter (so much higher in practice while at 110fps).

For the lawyer Parkour we were at 1/48 for a little more of an organic feel.

Yeah we had full medical and liability coverage for the talent (Tyson Cecka).
 
amazing! I really loved almost everything about this. the slomotion in these kind of sports are so awesome. the only reason for me to say ''almost everything'' is the question....why is most hand held shot? I'm just being curious if that's a real choice of yours or are you really restricted to do it like this?

Cause there where some shots that would have looked better while dollying or tracking in my opinion. Or even using a jib...really wouldn't you love to do some of that if you had the chance? Hope to see more of you in the future cause I enjoy this and I learn from it too.
 
Hey I know that guy!

I shot a Nike podcast with Tyler a few years back. Amazing the stuff he can do!
 
Sean Rawls said:
For the spec we used 1/96 "Relative" shutter (so much higher in practice while at 110fps).

For the lawyer Parkour we were at 1/48 for a little more of an organic feel.

Yeah we had full medical and liability coverage for the talent (Tyson Cecka).
Click to expand...

Thanks Sean for the info.
 
Cool spot - the only thing that puzzles me is the very last shot, the POV in the office - it looks a bit soft in colours imho, especially if compared to the rest of the footage, which is properly graded. It feels a bit like you "stole" that shot by very quickly shooting the location without enough time and\or arrangements.

Good work anyway.
 
J-K said:
amazing! I really loved almost everything about this. the slomotion in these kind of sports are so awesome. the only reason for me to say ''almost everything'' is the question....why is most hand held shot? I'm just being curious if that's a real choice of yours or are you really restricted to do it like this?

Cause there where some shots that would have looked better while dollying or tracking in my opinion. Or even using a jib...really wouldn't you love to do some of that if you had the chance? Hope to see more of you in the future cause I enjoy this and I learn from it too.
Click to expand...

The hand held was a conscious decision in the lawyer spot. I think Parkour needs a "raw" shooting style to emphasize the spontaneity of the traceurs. When I see the super high budget Parkour stuff it just seems artificial. The amazing thing about Parkour is that they can do this stuff at full speed anywhere in a city. My idea with shooting it hand held is to give the audience the feeling that they are seeing this thing actually happening. I think a giant jib shot would have undercut some of the authenticity of Tyson's speed. This is also why I decided to cover most the actions in one master rather than cut it up. Don't allow the shooting to get in the way of the beautiful action.

However, in retrospect the hand held aesthetic doesn't fit the over crank spot, I'll agree on that. Since it was a spec, the hand held was a budgetary decision. The jerky nature of hand held doesn't work with tranquil slow mo. But since the spot hasn't gone through post yet, we still have the smooth cam option.

Thanks for all your comments. Isn't it awesome we get to use a camera like this:tongue:
 
wow thanks a lot for taking the time to answer that, it really helps me. Hope you'll get more chances to use reds cause it is obviously in the right hands and I would love to see more in the future.
 
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