TWIN - fashion film shot on Epic-W with Leica R's

[Kenneth C Merrill]

Hey guys! Here's the latest thing I directed: https://vimeo.com/257247869

We shot most of it on Leica R glass, in 6K FF and cropped for the 2.4:1 aspect ratio. The slow motion jumping shots were captured in 4K with a Tokina 11-16mm zoom. Edited in Premiere, colored in DaVinci.

Curiously I discovered a huge discrepancy between what I saw in DaVinci and what came out in the render. The render has a LOT more contrast and a little more warmth, which I had to dial back in Premiere Pro on the final export.

Would love to hear your thoughts!

 

[Arthur Woo]

Nice, I like the vibe. From a cinematography standpoint I would have selected a different opening shot. The CA draws too much attn to the head and cheapens the image - looks like it was shot on a lower quality camera even though it wasn't. Such is the problem with some of the vintage Leicas and Zeiss still lenses. But it's probably something the avg person wouldn't notice.

To contrast, the wides of the location are really nice and I like the falling into the bed sideways. Reminds me of a Marion Cotillard piece I saw on Nowness when she goes into the pool and the camera follows her in sideways.

 

[Oron Cohen]

Really nice work there Kenneth!

I dig the video, can't something be done about the first shot CA in post? Which focal lengths you used with the Leica's?

On the flip side, people keep on posting those beautiful imagery from the Leica's, and I know that at some point I'll break and buy some! I'm trying to stop buying gear all the time, it's too addictive :-D and you guys are not making it any easier..

 

[Kenneth C Merrill]

Haha, you know you guys are the first ones I've shown to say anything about the CA, but your prompting was enough to make me go into DaVinci and use a simple hue vs saturation adjustment to dial it back (in the opening shot). It's still there a little bit, but not nearly as bad as before.

I could have done the whole video that way, but I'm too lazy, and nobody else seems to care!

The Leica R's are awesome. Someone on here said they're like budget Optimo's, and that's totally true. Because they're vintage, they're not the sharpest (not 8K sharp for sure), and they suffer from CA at times, but damn do I love the look.