When a much anticipated camera such as the Canon 5D Mark III makes its way to market it's inevitable that filmmakers will rush to be the first to shoot a fully formed story on it. While not officially the first, Barry Andersson's 'based on true events' short Incident on Marmont Ave is certainly among the vanguard of Canon 5D Mark III shorts to hit the web.
Shot over two days on Zeiss CP.2 lenses, Incident on Marmont Ave was a reaction from Andersson (co-author of The DSLR Filmmaker's Handbook) and his independent crew to a perceived shift amongst DSLR influencers towards higher end, more expensive cameras beyond the reach of most indies:
Our project is directly aimed at DSLR filmmakers who are shooting on lower budgets frequently. We designed the entire project to meet the budget, time frame and actual considerations that lower budget filmmakers have for their projects. This is a group that is deeply committed to a high quality final image but wants the lower price tag and flexibility of a DSLR.
Although the full budget is yet to be revealed, below the line shoot costs came in at under $10,000, which didn't impede the securing of recognisable cast members such as William Mapother and Jude Ciccolella. Visually, Incident on Marmont Ave represents the Canon 5D Mark III well, with nighttime, bedroom interiors holding up next to their brightly lit/day light counterparts. My only reservation would be on a script, not technical level -- the film has what feels like an extremely long build up which resolves rather suddenly. Also, why doesn't the babysitter check on the kid?
Producer Mitch Aunger (who you may know as PlanetMitch from planet5D) promises that the behind the scenes of the production were fully documented and will be hitting the web within the next few weeks. For now though you can read about the genesis of the project in Day 1 of his production diary and hear the short discussed on the Digital Convergence Podcast.
Do you think the team put the Canon 5D Mark III through its paces? How well do you feel the narrative plays out?
