Canon applied for a RAW video patent in July of 2010, and it was just published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office yesterday. The filing indicates that Canon is planning to retain CF card compatibility while compressing 12-bit moving images to RAW 4K or 2K resolutions. Note that it’s a popular misconception that “RAW” means “free of compression” — RAW, as far as both still and moving images are concerned, means that the data is stored in an unprocessed manner (which allows for adjustments in maximum colorspace before converting to an output format) — not in an uncompressed manner. Indeed, in the patent Canon describes 4K uncompressed 12-bit video’s 2.8Gbit datarate as “too high for CF cards,” so, like RED, they will be compressing the data coming off the sensor. It’s going to be a very competitive next few years… More »
Sundance has announced this year’s Jury-prize winning shorts, and one of the winners is already available to watch online free. In total there are ten shorts online, and you don’t have to be in Park City to see them. Here’s one short that’s embeddable — note that it is not for the faint of heart (bad pun intended… there is a fair amount of surgery shown): More »
I’ve always thought Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, and other crowdfunding platforms are actually “best” suited for gadgets and technology products where you pre-buy something out of self-interest (as opposed to helping someone make something, as you did with me). Despite this, on Kickstarter Film & Video was the largest category in 2011, which is a testament to the generosity and connectivity of the filmmaking community. Here are a couple of filmmaking-friendly products for DSLRs on Kickstarter, both of which are looking to lower the price point for follow focuses and remote-control helicopters: More »
James Drake from Denver-based RED rental house 5K Insight gave Dave Dugdale of Learning DSLR Video a hands-on with the RED EPIC camera, and the two videos are an excellent introduction to the RED DSMC system. They’re included below, but first, two things every RED EPIC/SCARLET owner should be aware of: More »
The mysterious 4K Canon DSLR — or some other widescreen Canon HDSLR — has been spotted in the wild… literally. Stephen Oachs from Aperture Academy was shooting wildlife in Kenya (with a camera, not a gun) and spotted a Japanese cameraman using the unreleased Canon 200-400mm with built-in teleconverter and Canon 600mm lenses. The cameraman was also using the as-yet-unnamed 4K a mysterious DSLR, which has a widescreen LCD and a new “RATE” button. I’ve lightened and blown up Stephen’s image for as much detail as possible: More »
I’ve always been a fan of Vimeo’s clean design, not to mention their filmmaker-centric features and community. Today they officially announced a new design, which places larger video embeds front and center, and which they will be rolling out over the next few weeks. I was surprised to see my friend Damian Washington in the launch video — you might recognize this guy as the lead from The West Side — or not, he looks quite different when not in an alternate universe: More »
This is a guest post by DP and filmmaker Randolph Sellars.
One of the fundamental tools for an actor is their “objective.” This is a specific way of working with character “motivation.” Discovering a character’s objective begins with asking the question “what does this character really want or need during a particular scene?” This is not to be confused with what the character says in the dialogue. We are looking for the “subtext” or unspoken desires of a character that can be channeled into specific behavior. More »
Blackmagic's New Hyperdeck Shuttle 2 is an External Recorder for Under $350
Have any of you used last year’s Blackmagic Hyperdeck Shuttle? I ask because it always seemed like an incredible deal. An uncompressed HD-SDI recorder for less than $350 that lets you swap in SSDs of your choice. Seems like a perfect device to pair with the Sony FS100 or F3 (or any DSLR with a clean output). Despite not having used it myself, I bring it up because at CES last week Blackmagic released the Hyperdeck Shuttle 2, which adds an important feature: the ability to record to a high-quality compressed codec. More »
YouTube’s crowdsourced, Ridley Scott-produced, Kevin Macdonald-directed Life in a Day was an excellent, globe-spanning, and touching film (watch it free in its entirety here). YouTube and Scott are not done, however: they’ve just announced a new contest calling for story-driven shorts, and the winner gets a $500k grant to make new work. More »
Today the 2012 Sundance Film Festival kicked off, and most of the indie film world is currently in Park City. I’m staying home to work on my own feature, but I feel like I’m missing a lot of great films… so I just sat down and watched every trailer I could get my hands on (link after the jump). Here’s the kickoff video from Sundance’s YouTube Channel with Festival Director John Cooper, and Director of Programming Trevor Groth: More »
It’s been a while since I’ve had an update on my feature Man Child, as I haven’t had any major news to share. Last week, however, the Tribeca Film Institute announced their 2012 All Access grantees, and I’m incredibly honored to be among them. In addition to sharing my own good news, I’d also like to raise awareness about a pair of Tribeca programs currently open for applications: the Tribeca New Media Fund and the Tribeca Film Fellow program. First, here are the details on All Access, and then I’ll share details on the other programs, as well as more about the current status of Man Child. More »
The Canon C300 will begin shipping January 31st for a street price of $16k. It’s not what people were hoping for, given the Sony F3 with S-Log firmware is about the same price ($16,840), and given there were rumors of the C300 coming in at $14k or even $10k without the top handle/monitor/audio inputs — but it’s finally official. Also note that the PL version, at B&H at least, is already backordered an additional month. Despite this slightly higher-than-hoped-for price, the camera is still the best option for many, so here’s a full (and lengthy) presentation by Canon’s Larry Thorpe at Rule Boston Camera, wherein he stresses that the C300 is just “the first” of Canon’s cinema camcorders: More »
RED Workflow: How to Get REDCINE-X and Premiere Pro Working Together Seamlessly
One thing I’ve been wondering about since getting a RED was what I was going to do about workflow. REDCINE-X Pro is a really nice (and free) color grading application. But you’re not going to do secondary color correction or really complicated masking/keying in it (yet). So how does one use it in conjunction with a NLE? Do you render out files, take them and edit them in Premiere Pro, and then color correct files that you’ve already rendered? Don’t you sort of lose the whole idea of a RAW workflow by doing that? Turns out there’s a better way. More »
As filmmakers, it’s in our best interest to stop online piracy. Our livelihood depends on it. So you would think the Stop Online Piracy Act would be in our best interest. But there’s a reason so many sites are using today as a “SOPA Strike” — it’s all in the execution. And the execution of SOPA and associated bills like the Protect IP Act, or PIPA, have internet experts worried about the future of the internet as an open platform. Here’s Kirby Ferguson with an overview video of what’s at stake: More »
Video takes up a lot of hard drive space. HD video more so than SD, 4K more than HD… and since the flooding in Thailand, hard drive prices have spiked precipitously. So there’s always room in an editor’s toolkit for an app to analyze drive space and zero in on the largest directories to delete or move. Similar to my approach to tracking time, freeing up space is all about focusing on what’s important: in this case, the largest files. DaisyDisk is a paid Mac app that I find myself using frequently; here’s a review from NextUpMac (and a free alternative). More »
It’s film awards season (here’s an ongoing scorecard), which also makes it a good time to reflect on your personal favorites from the past year. I wish Netflix would let me sort the films I’ve rated by the date I rated them, which would allow me to provide an easy answer to “seen anything good lately?” Even this very handy script does not allow that. But I have some issues with Netflix, and this post is not about them but about Quentin Tarantino, who recently shared his own personal top 10 movies from 2011: More »
UPDATE: B&H has posted official U.S. pricing for the C300, and it is $16k (ships “after January 30″). Thanks to everyone who commented on my post about the Sony F3 versus the Canon C300, I have a clearer sense of the C300‘s strengths (that post was largely about its weaknesses). As I said in a comment, for a documentary camera (especially of the cinéma vérité variety) the C300 may be the best option out there. Several years ago, for example, I shot a short doc in the Ecuadorian Amazon jungle, and in that setting the recording time — both in terms of storage space and battery power — was a chief concern, as was low light ability (there was no electricity for 200 miles and night scenes were candlelit with no other option). The C300 would be the absolute best camera in the world for this. In the below series of videos, Rodney Charters, Lan Bui and Drew Gardner weigh in on the C300. But first, since we’re talking about documentary use, here’s Dan Chung’s picturesque short C300 doc: More »
This is a guest post by DP and filmmaker Randolph Sellars.
In my last article, I discussed the reasons for directors to take an acting class. In this article, I’ll share practical directing tips and give you my second piece of directing advice. It sounds a bit like Buddhist Philosophy: You can become a much better director if you learn how to let go of your “illusion of control.” This is easier said than done. “Letting go” requires a conscious shift in perspective and lots of practice. It’s human nature (and especially a director’s nature) to want to be “in control.” It’s common for directors to desire and seek total control over their artistic vision. But having “control” is a myth. More »
I mentioned previously that I’d shot a micro-short to test out the RED SCARLET, and here it is. To put the camera through its paces, we wanted to use it in a real-world setting instead of shooting charts in a studio — but we also didn’t have the time or budget to put together a “real” short. What we set out to make (and what we ended up with) is something more than a series of test shots, and something less than a proper short. This was a no-budget, quick production on which everyone donated their time. Let me know what you think! More »
This is a guest post by director/DP Alex Mallis.
Coming from a primarily documentary background, my style and approach are often dictated by what’s happening in front of me. I like to work handheld and shoot on the fly -– following the action as it happens (or doesn’t). I’ve long assumed this antithetical to the more controlled approach of narrative filmmaking. You tell the actors where to go; they go there. You call action and the action starts. You repeat scenes dozens of times until you get that one golden take. And yet, I felt right at home working as a cinematographer on WELCOME TO PINE HILL. More »
Andreas Lange: I do really agree with you on that one ! but I think that they have an … Patent Filing Reveals Canon's RAW 4K Future
John Jeffreys: oh wait never mind i read your comment wrong Patent Filing Reveals Canon's RAW 4K Future
John Jeffreys: wouldnt it be the other way? because red is a small company they make thin… Patent Filing Reveals Canon's RAW 4K Future
moebius22: True. Steve Jobs - "If you don’t cannibalize yourself, someone else w… Patent Filing Reveals Canon's RAW 4K Future
C. Custer: I think speculation on the price is a bit premature. If they just filed th… Patent Filing Reveals Canon's RAW 4K Future