In Production

Run-and-Gun Shooting Style Adds Punch to Blunt Force

Tue, 07/02/2013 - 12:51 -- Nick Dager

When an action movie script on a tight budget included such challenges as close-ups of mixed martial arts fighting, a high-speed car chase shot from a low-flying helicopter, and low-light location scenes, director of photography, David E. West, knew the solution was to capture it all using a Canon Cinema EOS C300 digital cinema camera, a Canon EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR camera, and EF-Series lenses. Having used the EOS C300 camera on a previous assignment, West was enthusiastic about its portability and low-light advantages. He also owned an EOS 5D Mark II camera, and was a fan of Canon lenses both for photography and for shooting reality TV. West decided from the outset that the ambitious visuals needed for Blunt Force, a new film from director Daniel Zirilli, would make this an all-Canon project. Shot on location in Mississippi, the movie tells the story of an ex-soldier imprisoned and forced to be part of an Internet cage-fighting club.

Tags: 
Action film
location shooting
fight scenes
handheld shooting
low budget filmmaking
Canon EOS C300

Filming the World’s Fastest Land Animal

Thu, 06/06/2013 - 16:23 -- Nick Dager

National Geographic magazine challenged director of photography Greg Wilson to create a shot tracking a sprinting cheetah—in the spirit of Eadweard Muybridge’s 1878 image of a running horse. Combining the resources of National Geographic and the Cincinnati Zoo, and drawing on the skills of an incredible crew, Wilson and his team were responsible for simultaneously capturing motion picture images and high-resolution stills of the cheetah for use in the magazine.

Tags: 
Phantom Flex high-speed camera
Canon EOS 1DX DSLR
Sound Device PIX 240

Underground Filmmaking

Sun, 05/12/2013 - 20:00 -- Nick Dager

Berkeley post house Colorflow recently completed final post-production work on Born this Way, a riveting, feature-length documentary from producers/directors Shaun Kadlec and Deb Tullman on the underground gay and lesbian community in the African Republic of Cameroon. Final color grading was done at Colorflow with lead colorist Kent Pritchett working with the two filmmakers to set the final look. It was a challenging process due, in part, to the unusual circumstances surrounding the film’s production.

Documenting a Mosaic of Life

Sun, 03/17/2013 - 22:03 -- Nick Dager

Director/producer Alicia Brauns had a very personal story to tell about her father’s journey from holocaust survivor to well-known surgeon. The documentary-in-progress is entitled Mosaic of Life. To depict that experience and Dr. Jack Brauns’ positive outlook on life, she turned to her favorite cinematographer, Rodney Charters, ASC, CSC. The two knew they would be covering an extensive amount of ground, from inside the infamous camps to the trip through Germany and beyond—in a short shooting time. They had to build their camera package carefully so they chose Canon C300s supported by a fluid head and legs from Sachtler.



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