In the previous article, I discussed a little about how we shot the Lost Days short creative piece.

In this post, I’ll talk about how we achieved the ‘look’ of the film in post.  Given that we shot everything on the Canon 5D mkII, several have been asking as to how we achieved the texture and skin tones of the film.  From the beginning, my co-director Regina Garcia and I had a good idea of how we wanted the piece to look, which helped with the overall process.

In this sense, it was definitely the way we shot the piece that helped.  We had the camera picture style setting set to a customized Neutral setting based on Stu Machwitz’s recommendation from his blog post (click here).  This helped us maintain the dynamic range in the shadows and highlights that we needed.

In a lot of projects, I often go through the route of processing the footage through a dedicated colour grading application such as Davinci Resolve.  In this particular case though, due to our time limitations and overall size of the project, we decided to use plug-ins within our NLE application.

I’ve been playing around a lot with Red Giant’s Magic Bullet Looks 2.0 and Colorista 2.0 for a while now and this was the plug-in of choice here.  The new Looks 2.0 combined gave us a great amount of flexibility to create the overall look with powerful colour curve features.  In most cases it was a matter of lifting the blacks and dampening the highlights in each colour spectrum (red, green, blue).  We then used Colorista for power windows, any keying, and other similar minor tweaks.

While we used a work flow that was completely within our editing platform, we were still able to deliver a very rich texture and colour grade that definitely changed the overall tone of this film.

View the film here:
http://gohiromoto.com/blog/2013/02/lost-days/

Some behind the scenes images from the recent creative short I released – Lost Days.

We filmed this project up in Flesherton, Ontario.  It was a minimal crew, but thanks to each and every one of them, we all multi-tasked and was able to achieve a quick and efficient workflow. By using DSLR cameras it also helped us achieve an effective workflow and image.  The lightness and compactness of the camera allowed us to move from location to location quick, but also film the scenes while moving and roving with the actors – to help us achieve a visceral and intimate feel.

We used the Canon 5D mk2 camera with Zeiss ZE prime lenses for the most part.  Most scenes were shot hand held or shoulder mounted using a custom rig.  In some of the scenes, we used the Kessler Cineslider along with a motor and the Oracle for consistent movement. For me, it was the combination of handheld movements juxtaposed with tracked sliding shots that gave the piece a nice contrast in emotions when viewing the separate scenes.

In post-production, one of the most influencing aspects to the final images was the color grade.  The before and after is quite drastic, and despite the fact that we shot on a DSLR, we were able to achieve a look that is rich in texture and feel.  More about this in my next post.

View the film here:
http://gohiromoto.com/blog/2013/02/lost-days/

Some stills from my recent shoot in Bonaire for Scuba Diver Life (www.scubadiverlife.com).

While the main portion of the shoot was for a web video, we also attended a workshop with well-known underwater camera sales and education company Backscatter. If there is ANYTHING you need to know regarding underwater filming equipment, these guys are the place to go. Hands down. They’ve been involved in aiding cinematographers and photographers from all over the world, including National Geographic, Holly wood movies, BBC, etc.

I had never shot macro underwater before, so the guys from Backscatter were extremely helpful in setting me up with all the gear I needed – which happened to be the new Sony NEX 5n, an incredible little mirrorless camera that also shoots video in 1080p at 60 frames per second!

I hope to be uploading a video shortly.

Shot on:
Canon 5D mk2 / Sigma 15mm f2.8 Fisheye / Sony NEX 5n / Sony 30mm f3.5 Macro

“Half of the time we’re gone, but we don’t know where”
- Simon & Garfunkel

About a month ago I took the plunge and decided to invest in the new Red Scarlet X camera system. While it may still be a matter of months before I receive the actual camera body itself, Red has sent me an initial package of accessories.  Sure it’s only an SSD card, battery pack, and top handle…but boy am I titillated.

Check out a recent short film shot on the Scarlet X here

The last of this most recent inspiration series is a long format documentary on the business of creativity in present day culture. Not only does the film have beautiful editing, cinematography, and story telling, but it also has incredible insight on how things are changing in several well-established industries (mostly music and film).

If you have the time, definitely watch through the entire thing. Sure to be intrigued and inspired. ‘

PS. You get to see Moby speak words of wisdom (this may be a good or bad thing for you!)

Another short and simple film. The scene here focuses on a older couple in what appears to be a afternoon stroll in the park. Always amazed at how such simple moments can reflect such an honest intimacy.

While this short could easily be a simple scene in a longer feature film, I love that it’s not necessary to feel the stress and depth these characters are going through in this very moment of reveal. It’s also important to note, that this scene was somehow manifested during what was only an initial test shoot for the new Red Scarlet X camera. Pretty darn amazing (or lucky…or both!).

You can see more info on behind-the-scenes at this link

To see previous “Inspirations” click here