Philip Bloom Visits Skywalker Ranch!

[Andrew Walker]

Perhaps because it's hard to type and eat crow at the same time.

Come on, really. Sure there's a place for the 5D2/7D/1D4 in the world of cinema but the RED will smoke all those cameras. Sure Philip's video is awesome and I bet it looked really good projected up on a big screen. But I'm sure if the same shots had been done on the RED and there was a side by side done Lucas would have been calling back to he booth to get the 5D2/7D footage in focus.

There is a reason for the price difference believe it or not.

 

[Jim Retar]

I'm sure if the same shots had been done on the RED and there was a side by side done Lucas would have been calling back to he booth to get the 5D2/7D footage in focus.

You honestly think someone like george lucas needs to see side by side shots of every camera to be able to judge quality?

From reading Philip's blog, it is clear that Lucas and the team wanted a small form camera for certain shots (eg, inside the plane) and it also seems clear they they felt the DSLRs held up well enough to be considered.

The fact is, a kitted out Red One was not small enough to be considered.... so why even do a side by side test?

When Scralet is out, then they will surely test that too.... alongside any other small form cameras that the next 12 months will deliver.

Great blog and footage Philip. Congrats.

 

[Neil W. Smith]

7D film-out

7D film-out

... Sounds really positive that they look awesome on the big screen. Makes me feel confident I don't need to upgrade from the 7D in order to have something hold up on a larger screen!

Mick, we live in amazing times .... it's been less than ten years since GL shot his first Star Wars movie on a digital camera and when you consider that 'Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones' was shot on the Sony F900 you realize how far we've come in such a short time ... many people in Hollywood at the time didn't believe that you could shoot a "serious" movie on a broadcast camera that couldn't record a full 1920 x 1080 raster image and did color sampling at 4:2:2 (I think the original F900 didn't even do 4:2:2) .... luckily George didn't listen to closely to the experts ;-) .... just got on with making his movie and getting the most out of the technology available at the time.

It's been less than three years since Jim released the first build of the RED ONE ... just over a year since Canon released the EOS 5D Mk II and just over a couple of months since they released the EOS 7D ..... GL shot the majority of 'Red Tails' on the Sony CineAlta F35 and is now seriously considering shooting some pick-up shots on a $5000 HD DSLR that will be coming out shortly - the Canon EOS 1D MkII .... the world is changing fast.

And don't worry about the film-out potential of the EOS 7D .... we did a film-out test at Efilm last week on some 7D footage that we edited and graded for Christopher Gallo .... it looked amazing projected on film .... in fact the Efilm guys said it looked better than some 5D Mk II footage that they had filmed out for a Hollywood blockbuster that's about to be released.

Epic and Scarlet will take the digital filmmaking revolution up to the next level .... look out for Fincher's 'The Social Network' ... in the meantime, shoot on the RED ONE and cameras like the 7D and know that you're not alone .... 2010 is going to be a great year for filmmakers.

See you on the Can-Do.
Neil

 

[Tom Lowe]

Perhaps because it's hard to type and eat crow at the same time.

Hi. Thanks for kicking off yet another useless Red vs Canon battle on Phil's thread about his trip to Skywalker Ranch.

 

[K. cromwell]

One day I will get to use a RED camera...one day...

That's funny a guy with all your connections and experience hasn't used a Red... I'm surprised no one hasn't donated one to your cause.

 

[Rick Darge]

Tom, congrats on the invite! I read the Vimeo comments. You lucky dawg

 

[Emanuel A.]

That's funny a guy with all your connections and experience hasn't used a Red... I'm surprised no one hasn't donated one to your cause.

It's because Philip Bloom is a humble professional. The actual trend hasn't happened with no reason.

 

[Zach Zoller]

Ah, awesome. an no joke, that was an epic blog!

Z Zoller

 

[Andrew Walker]

You honestly think someone like george lucas needs to see side by side shots of every camera to be able to judge quality?

From reading Philip's blog, it is clear that Lucas and the team wanted a small form camera for certain shots (eg, inside the plane) and it also seems clear they they felt the DSLRs held up well enough to be considered.

The fact is, a kitted out Red One was not small enough to be considered.... so why even do a side by side test?

When Scralet is out, then they will surely test that too.... alongside any other small form cameras that the next 12 months will deliver.

Great blog and footage Philip. Congrats.

I was commenting on the technical aspects of the two cameras. Not the form factor. The Canon hands down beats the RED in the size department.

 

[Sanjin Jukic]

Philip Bloom is a sort of HD DSLR superstar shooter, educator and entertainer.

Also I just download (paid) his tutorial DVD about shooting with 7D:

"Learn_2_shoot_Great_Video_with_your_Canon_7D".

Have to say that Phillip made a great 7D tutorial DVD.

Awesome stuff.

Must have tutorial DVD for every 7D video shooter.

Give you now a short slide show teaser:

 

[Mick Jones]

Mick, we live in amazing times ....
See you on the Can-Do.
Neil

It sure is. And I will be entering the Can-Do. I'm absolutely frothing at the new gear that's coming out. I'm doing a documentary about the Tour de Cure bike ride for cancer charity. We were looking at different possibilities of cams to take on the road. HVX, EX3, HPX300. Didn't want it too big to be shooting run n gun with. This weekend we tested the 7D on a training ride they did and really happy with the results. It's pretty rough and ready as it was all on the go. We really wanted to see if you could get ahead, plonk down and roll and get nice shots on the fly. Check it out if you're interested.

http://www.vimeo.com/8207899

 

[Jim Retar]

I was commenting on the technical aspects of the two cameras. Not the form factor. The Canon hands down beats the RED in the size department.

I suggest reading Philip's blog fully before we start another RED v vDSLR thread. The main interest seemed to be about form factor and whether such a small cam could produce big screen results. To Lucas, Tarentino and the others there, the answer seemed to be an astounding yes.

Of course, the shots were quite simple, with nothing that would cause major aliasing and moire. But I think they are probably looking towards the future models where aliasing, jello etc will be eliminated (jello has already improved to almost unnoticable levels in the 1D IV, by all accounts).

 

[Neil W. Smith]

Bike documentary ...

Bike documentary ...

It sure is. And I will be entering the Can-Do. I'm absolutely frothing at the new gear that's coming out. I'm doing a documentary about the Tour de Cure bike ride for cancer charity. We were looking at different possibilities of cams to take on the road. HVX, EX3, HPX300. Didn't want it too big to be shooting run n gun with. This weekend we tested the 7D on a training ride they did and really happy with the results. It's pretty rough and ready as it was all on the go. We really wanted to see if you could get ahead, plonk down and roll and get nice shots on the fly. Check it out if you're interested.

http://www.vimeo.com/8207899

Very cool footage, Mick .... I love the sense of engagement and involvement you get with these Canons .... people react to them as if they are still cameras and don't get all "dramatic" ... and of course the form factor lets you get candid shots without too much hassle.

Once you do a bit of color correction on your images you're really make them pop .... if you're cutting in FCP, transcode the H.264 to ProRes422HQ and take them into Apple Color .... amazing how far you can push the color space considering its only an 8 bit image.

We have a young Doc maker in Nepal at the moment who's 'filming' a bike race across the Himalayas on his EOS 7D .... originally he was going to take a small HVX camcorder to use as his bike camera, but when we showed him what the 7D could do .... he went out and brought one straight away ... the use of a good variable polarizer really helps in bright sunlight

The other thing to watch out for with doc making is the audio .... onboard camera mike is not too good .... but have you tried the Zoom H4n with a good lav or boom mike? .... amazing audio quality.

Here's a short interview we did with an actor on top of the 7th story parking structure on our Lot ... shot by Rodney Charters, ASC, (also a keen docu maker) .... all available lighting at dawn and a small Sennhiezer mike on a boom ... two man crew (Rodney and his son, Robin) .... the actual interview part starts about a minute and half in:

http://www.vimeo.com/7778156

Let me know how you bike doc goes ..... good luck - great cause.

See you on the Can-Do.

Neil

 

[Philip Bloom]

That's funny a guy with all your connections and experience hasn't used a Red... I'm surprised no one hasn't donated one to your cause.

I would love to use a RED, love to own a RED. But it seems unlikely at the moment. All my clients come to me asking to use the DSLRs, I guess that is what happens when you talk about them a lot. You get typecast. But hey I love the Canons and I am sure if I had a RED I would talk about it all the time too and love it equally...one day!!

Good news is am going back to Skywalker Ranch for 3 weeks to do some more shooting with them. Doing the Red tails picks ups and some test shooting for the Star Wars TV show.

just finished my test film on the 1dmkiV. Star Wars producer Rick McCallum eats a massive hot dog in it. Check it out on my blog. http://philipbloom.co.uk/2009/12/22/prague-a-canon-1dmkiv-pre-production-test-film/] Oh and ironically I was shooting with Albert Hughes whose new movie "Book of Eli" comes out next month shot on RED and he loved it. Total convert now he said to me. He also owns a 5dmkii and 7d. His arriflex is in storage!

 

[Rick Darge]

Congrats Philip! How do you like that 1DMKIV?

edit: nevermind, read your blog. awesome

 

[Philip Bloom]

Congrats Philip! How do you like that 1DMKIV?

i like some things and not others...built well and great in low light!

 

[Rick Darge]

Would you say it's about a 2-stop advantage in high ISO/noise when compared to the 7D or is that stretch? Did you get a chance to shoot some stills with it?

 

[Neil W. Smith]

Beautiful footage ....

Beautiful footage ....

... just finished my test film on the 1dmkiV. Star Wars producer Rick McCallum eats a massive hot dog in it. Check it out on my blog. http://philipbloom.co.uk/2009/12/22/prague-a-canon-1dmkiv-pre-production-test-film/] Oh and ironically I was shooting with Albert Hughes whose new movie "Book of Eli" comes out next month shot on RED and he loved it. Total convert now he said to me. He also owns a 5dmkii and 7d. His arriflex is in storage!

Lovely footage of Hawaii, Philip .... its a shame you're on a Judge on the Can-Do Film Festival, otherwise you could enter the piece ... you might stand a chance of winning a prize ;-)

Had lunch with Sam N today .... he was blown away by what you and the guys did last week ... you're obviously having way too much fun!

Don't forget to book some time down in LA when you come back for the 'Red Tails' pick-ups.

Merry Christmas, mate .... hope you're enjoying the snow and freezing weather ... had my top down on the convertible this weekend .... are you sure you want to carry on living in London? .... move over to LA - we could set up the Canon Master Class Film School ... you'd have way more fun.

Cheers,
Neil