nofilmschool » slowmotion

What's Flexible, Black, and Has Paint All Over? Phantom Flex Filming Sony's Exploding Paint Can Ad

V Renée — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 05:40:11 +0000

Okay, Sony probably took the needed precaution to keep the Phantom Flex paint-free, but this high-speed camera lives up to its name by demonstrating how a filmmaker can take a 3 second shot of paint cans exploding and turn it into a minute and a half long kaleidoscopic opus. For a behind the scenes look to find out how they did it, check out the video after the jump. (more…)

How to Shoot Slow-Motion Aerial Footage on the Sony F55 with Andrew Wonder

Guest Author — Thu, 02 May 2013 20:05:11 +0000

Great aerial footage seems simple enough to capture in theory, but there is often a team of people or years of experience backing up the terrific shots. In the post below, we have Andrew Wonder to take us through his process of capturing aerial footage of a female rugby team on the Sony F55.

This is a guest post by Director/Cinematographer Andrew Wonder.

If you were at NAB, then you already know that 2013 was the year of the drone. You could barely walk around the convention floor without the risk of getting a haircut by someone’s spin on the aerial rig. Though they look like toys, it’s easy to forget that operating a drone is an art that should be carried out by professionals. Like a Steadicam, you can’t just pick one up and expect cinematic results. Understanding how to balance and control these crafts is the difference between that perfect shot and ending up in the river. (more…)

'Red Bull Perspective - A Skateboard Film,' Shot in Gorgeous Anamorphic on RED EPIC & Phantom Flex

Joe Marine — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 04:22:50 +0000

Skateboard videos became more popular as digital cameras got smaller and cheaper, and it was practically free to go shoot your friends for a few hours or tape over anything you didn’t like. High-end skate videos are in their own world entirely, and you don’t have to be a fan of skateboarding to appreciate the beauty and talent exhibited by the skaters and the filmmakers. In Red Bull Perspective — A Skateboard Video, DP Marc Ritzema shows off some gorgeous anamorphic photography with the RED EPIC and time-stopping slow motion with the Phantom Flex, and Director Nicholas Schrunk crafts a story that takes you into the lives of some of today’s premiere skaters. Check out the film below. (more…)

Watch the Top 5 Films from the AbelCine Phantom Miro High-Speed Inspiration Challenge

Joe Marine — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 01:24:20 +0000

All the way back in July, we told you about a contest that AbelCine was running in partnership with Vision Research. That contest, the Miro High-Speed Inspiration Challenge, focused on contestants coming up with new and creative uses for high-speed photography, and they’ve now selected five finalists from a group of a few hundred applicants. The winner will be announced on March 1st, but you can watch all five of the short films right now embedded below. (more…)

All 4K Music Video Uses the FT-ONE Camera to Shoot Up to a Mind-Blowing 860FPS at 4096 X 2160

Joe Marine — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 16:34:27 +0000

The FOR-A 4K high-speed camera from FT-ONE didn’t get all that much attention when it was first announced, due in part to the fact that it’s probably going to be a rental only, but also because the name of both the company and the camera are easily confused and/or forgettable. No worries though, the camera does exist, and it’s capable of some pretty astounding frame rates at extremely high-resolution. It’s a specialty device for sure, but that doesn’t mean we can’t fantasize about using one, right? A Swiss company, Kamerawerk GmbH, put one to use in their recent No Sleep 4K music video (which they will be releasing as a 4K download), and they’ve posted a behind-the-scenes video showing the camera recording 4K at an astounding 860 frames per second, as well as another video showing off the rest of the production which is utilizing the Sony F65 as well. (more…)

Shoot Up to 600FPS for $1,000 with the New JVC GC-PX100

Joe Marine — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 22:47:59 +0000

JVC has been rather quiet lately. The company has mostly remained out of the spotlight when it comes to filmmaking equipment over the last few years, but they’ve stayed somewhat on the cutting edge, especially with the first consumer 4K camera, the GY-HMQ10. Now they are coming out with a consumer oriented camera that might just find some use in your next film, the JVC GC-PX100. It’s a 1920 x 1080 camera capable of 60fps up to 600fps, and shoots internally at 36Mbps. Click through for more on the announcement. (more…)

Watch 'I'll Be Home for Christmas,' a Single Steadicam Shot 120FPS RED EPIC Music Video, Plus BTS Clip

Joe Marine — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 18:29:04 +0000

While some of you may still be in the holiday spirit and enjoying time with family, we’ve got a music video from Sufjan Stevens that may or may not make you feel just a little different about the holiday classic “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” Filmed in 120fps on the RED EPIC, the video took 1 month of preparation, 3 days of set building, and 35 cast and crew members — all for a total filming time of less than 1 minute. Click through to check it out, plus a nifty behind the scenes video of the entire thing in real-time. (more…)

Get 40% Off All Red Giant Software for the Next 24 Hours

Joe Marine — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 19:04:03 +0000

They hinted at it when they introduced their new short Tempo, but Red Giant (thanks RED for always making me want to capitalize anytime I see the word red) is now offering a giant sale (couldn’t help myself) on all of their products. Each and every piece of software in the store is now 40% off for the next day or so (less than 24 hours as of this writing). Click through to check out the details and some of the major deals. (more…)

Time Warp as a Weapon in Red Giant Short 'Tempo,' Plus a Super Secret Sale (Soon)

Dave Kendricken — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 21:46:12 +0000

No one’s doubting the impact that time-play can have in motion pictures. This, you’d think, would generally refer to things like time-lapse or slow-motion — but what if some scientific breakthrough could invoke slow-motion upon real life objects, like some kind of time-warp weapon? Post-plugin powerhouse Red Giant has just released an original sci-fi/action short called Tempo that explores this possibility, and then some. It’s exciting whenever a hard-concept type of film sets its premise, proceeds to meet each and every hopeful expectation you might have given that premise, and then goes even further than you could hope for. This is the case with Tempo — check it out below. (Also, a Secret Sale soon-to-be… Shh, secret!) (more…)

Watch the Surreal 'We Are On Fire' Shot on the Weisscam HS-2, Plus Blackmagic Cinema Camera BTS

Dave Kendricken — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 22:00:24 +0000

Slow motion is one of the many beauteous benefits gleaned from the advancement and proliferation of digital technology — not only has it been made less of a headache to achieve, it’s also effectively cheaper now, too. Like any of the benefits of digital proliferation, it has the potential to be overused, but more importantly, the potential to be gorgeous when executed tastefully. The music video for CocoRosie’s “We Are On Fire,” shot by Filip Piskorzynski with some additional work by John Brawley, is an example of the latter — in this case, shot on the P+S Technik Weisscam HS-2 Mk II — plus, Mr. Brawley has just posted some impressive looking behind-the-scenes material for the video, shot on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera. (more…)

Watch the World's Fastest Animal in Super Slow Motion in the World's Fastest Dolly Shot

Ryan Koo — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 13:00:59 +0000

Cheetahs are the world’s fastest (land) animal, and as part of a cover story about Cheetahs in the November issue of National Geographic, cinematographer Greg Wilson paired them with a Phantom Flex camera running on the world’s fastest dolly. During the shoot, one of the cheetahs actually broke the animal land speed record, running the 100-meter dash in 5.95 seconds (take that Usain Bolt!) with a peak speed of 61 miles per hour. My first car could barely go that fast. The result is a beautifully rendered tracking shot demonstrating the cheetah’s fluidity like never before: (more…)

4K at 900FPS!? The FOR-A FT-ONE High-Speed Camera Blows Away the Competition

Joe Marine — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 23:09:38 +0000

You thought your uncompressed HD or 2.5K was taking up a lot of space? That doesn’t hold a candle to the kinds of data rates being produced by the new expertly named FOR-A FT-ONE. If you thought RED EPIC’s 4K at 150fps or the Phantom 65 4K model at 144 fps, they are both way behind this behemoth. At 900fps, this is one ridiculously fast camera, and at that speed and resolution, the price tag is steep. Check out the videos below for more info. (more…)

Gallagher Smashing Watermelons at Over 1,000FPS with the Phantom Miro M320S

Joe Marine — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 01:42:13 +0000

When you need extreme slow motion, Vision Research is still the name most trust. The Phantom Miro line is a new compact version of their camera system, and there’s even a contest going right now to win your very own worth tens of thousands of dollars (though applications have closed). Fiction, a visual agency specializing in original content, took the Phantom Miro M320S for a spin with the famous watermelon-smashing comedian Gallagher, and documented the entire process. Here is the final product: (more…)

Trillion Frames Per Second Camera Captures Photons in Action (That's 1,000,000,000,000 FPS)

Joe Marine — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 00:42:34 +0000

You thought 240 or 480 frames per second on the FS700 was overkill? This is not an artist’s tool, it’s a scientific tool, but that doesn’t mean the results are any less beautiful. A team at MIT has developed a camera made up of 500 hundred sensors that are triggered at a trillionth of a second delay. The way the camera actually works is rather brilliant (you know, these guys are from MIT), and it’s able to capture photons as they move across a particular space and through different mediums. There is a great TED talk embedded below from Ramesh Raskar of MIT who is part of the team working on the camera. (more…)

What You Need to Know Before Shooting Slow Motion with the FS700, and Some Recent Examples

Joe Marine — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 21:27:17 +0000

If you already bought an FS700, or you’ve been waiting on the sidelines so far, there is a big issue with slow motion that many who’ve shot with Phantom cameras might already be familiar with: flicker. Now that film sets are littered with different types of fixtures, it’s important to understand how shooting slow motion under different light sources can induce some amount of flicker. Certain fixtures produce more flicker than others (especially at different shutter speeds), but in the video below, Hello World Communications takes a look at some of the most popular fixtures for film lighting and how they deal with flicker. Also embedded below, check out some recent examples from Luke Neumann and Tony Reale. (more…)

Watch Shia LaBeouf's Moving Performance in this Sigur Rós and Alma Har'el Film

Joe Marine — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 03:34:00 +0000

Every once in a while a typecasted Hollywood actor goes outside their comfort zone and surprises everyone. Though some might think that there are always selfish motives behind some of these choices, often actors like being challenged and want to participate in projects because they love the material. Shia LaBeouf, unfortunately best known for being the goofy Sam Witwicky in the Michael Bay Transformers series (the newest being Dark of the Moon), turns in a beautifully moving performance in this Alma Har’rel (Bombay Beach) directed experimental music video/film for Sigur Rós. (more…)

New Nikon D800 Footage to Scrutinize: Music Video for 'You're On' by Euzen

Joe Marine — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:03:10 +0000

This is a post by Joe Marine… much more to come from Joe soon. Stay tuned!

Nikon’s new D800 will be put through its paces soon enough (we hope), but until then we’ve got some moderately compressed videos to pixel peep. I find it curious that these official company videos always seem more compressed than they ought to be – as if to entice more speculation – but that’s a topic for another post. In any case, this music video, directed by Morten Rygaard and produced by Peter Brodin at Nikon Nordic, gives us a small taste of D800 quality: (more…)

ARRI ALEXA Hits 120FPS with Software Update

Ryan Koo — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:00:00 +0000

I’m a bit uncomfortable with how camera-focused this site has been over the past couple of weeks, but there’s so much going on it’s hard to keep up! That’s one reason I’m hiring more writers (I’ll be closing down the application in a day or two). Here’s some more camera news, though: ARRI has released Software Update 5 for their ALEXA, which brings 120 FPS recording to the camera along with several other new features (list below). To help ARRI demonstrate what 120fps looks like, I decided to grow my hair out and take up juggling. Check out my favorite vest: (more…)

These Go to 11 (Thousand): Vision Research's New Miro Camcorders Top out at 650,000 FPS

Ryan Koo — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:20:45 +0000

When releasing a pro video camera these days, 1080p at 60 frames per second seems to be some sort of feature tipping point. The $15k (roughly) Sony F3 and Canon C300 can’t do it, but the $5k Sony FS100 and AF100 can. The RED SCARLET-X can do it provided you take into account a 3.2X crop factor. But if slow-motion is really important to you, Vision Research’s new compact Miro line of camcorders (their Phantom camera is a larger, more fully-featured cinema camera) go all the way up to 650,000 frames per second. Even without dropping the resolution, the M310 (there are three models) reaches 3,200 FPS at 1080p, for an insane datarate of 3.2 Gigapixels/second. The Miro cameras do everything in slow motion except drain your wallet: the cams will start at $25k. (more…)

Canon 7D Does 1,000 FPS Slow-Motion Surfing Video Thanks to Software Tricks

Ryan Koo — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:41:38 +0000

Devin Graham filmed surfers off Oahu’s North Shore with his Canon 7D and a 2X teleconverter (which converts his 70-200mm and 100-400mm lenses to 140-400mm and 200-800mm, respectively). As with other action sports that look great slowed-down, surfing benefits from super slow-mo, and so Dylan used After Effects to take his 60fps clips all the way down to 1,000fps. Here’s the result: (more…)