Todd Terry
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COW Coin
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Probably a variety of techniques going on there.
Best guess is that there is no mirror, but a greenscreen in it for one setup, and nothing (or clear glass) for the other. Likely an identical (reversed) set built behind the window, and that the actors performed multiple takes on both the “main” set and the reversed set. If you watch the foreground and background, while they are pretty darn in sync they are not PRECISELY in sync, letting us know they are two performances. Obviously a motion controlled shot, and the two setups married together. Lots of compositing and CG work in there as well.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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As for “The length gets screwed up when you convert from 23.98 to 29.97″…
I’m not sure about that. Something tells me that you are working with much longer productions. The vast majority of mine are :30 commercials, and they convert fine. A 24p master is 720 frames, and when we output a version at 60i (29.97) it is exactly 900 frames, which is what it is supposed to be.
The only thing that I can think of is that maybe it is a dropframe/non-dropframe timecode issue, which could cause problems with a longer production. If you, for example, convert a 24p master and output a new 60i master and view its timecode in non-dropframe mode (or put it on a non-dropframe timeline), then yes the length will be off by a few frames (depending on how long it is). Or rather, it will appear to be an incorrect length, based on the timecode numbers. In actually, the length is correct, but the timecode is lying to you because you should be viewing it as dropframe (which is real actual world time) rather than non-dropframe. Dropframe mode does not actually drop any frames, of course, but at specific point drops frames of the timecode count to keep the timing true. For a broadcast project, you should always use dropframe. Could that be it??
[John Knowles] “It says it will shoot 29.97 progressive (30p) — have you ever shot at that frame rate? How does it compare to 24p?”
I shoot virtually everything at 24p, as that is usually the look I am after. Only once or twice have I shot at 30p, at a client’s request for a specific project. As to “How does it compare,” I’m not sure how to answer that. It works fine, one performs as well at the other. Of course it looks slightly different, one looking like 24fps and one looking like 30fps… naturally. Personally I don’t think 30p has nearly the filmic look of 24p, but it also doesn’t have quite the live “video-y” look of 60i.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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I shoot the C300 every day.
I’d have to investigate that, but I can say with relative assurance that the camera cannot do that. If you shoot at 23.976fps or true 24fps, you get those frame rates on your files. They are not in a 29.97 wrapper, nor do I know any way for the camera to record so that they are. I will NOT swear to that, but I sure don’t think so.
We do exactly what you do, as most of what we produce winds up on the boob tube (television commercials). However we do not shoot in 24p and finish in 60i the way that some people do. We shoot in 24p and edit, do all post, and finish in 24p as well. We generate a 24p master. From that master we make our 60i broadcast files.
We do it that way because if you have a 24p master, you can always easily make a great-looking 60i version. But if you shoot 60i, (even if it is 24p in a 60i wrapper), you can never make a 24p version that doesn’t look like a converted interlaced version. Very often we need a progressive version of a spot (for example, if a client wants to put it on their website, or YouTube). For those, we use the 24p master… much much cleaner when viewed on a computer’s progressive monitor.
You can download the full operators manual in PDF form from the Canon website. Pour through that and it might tell you something that I don’t know… but again I don’t think you can do that.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Completely agree with ya, Nick.
In a similar vein, I don’t want to go to the movies, pay an exorbitant price for a ticket, mortgage the house for a tub of popcorn and a soda in a 55-gallon drum… and then have to watch frikkin’ commercials (and yes, this is hypocritically coming from a full-time commercial producer).
Pick one or the other.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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By the way, if anyone wants to start “dronin’ on,” I am considering selling my Phantom.
It’s a great toy and a fun piece of gear, but I think it’s time to move up to a bigger dual-controller rig.
The Phantom is still perfect for one-man-band use and is great for projects like corporate, weddings, etc., (if it were legal, that is… wink wink). Plus it’s just fun as heck to fly (and easy).
Mine is the DJI Phantom 2 Vision+, which is the highest-end one in the Phantom line… the one with the integrated 3-axis stabilized gimbal and 1080p camera.
It’s also brand-spanking-new in the box… and never flown except for one successful 5-minute test flight (my previous Phantom had a nagging GPS issue and DJI sent me a brand-new one, which I haven’t had any need to use yet).
I’m not trying to turn this post into a classified ad, just thought I’d mention it. If anyone is interested in learning more you can contact me off forum.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Your camera can likely fix that in clearscan mode then.
Switch it to clearscan and start with a shutter speed of about 60.00Hz. Then dial it up and down until the phasing is no longer visible.
One warning caveat, though, I notice in the wide shot a visible computer monitor. It might phase at a different rate than the dental light. If the monitor and the light appear in the same shot, correcting for one might make the other one worse. You might need to adjust your framing or blocking so that you are only seeing one of those at a time. Or, if that is a computer monitor, you can go into the settings and find a screen refresh rate that matches the light (just remember to put it back, or they will call and yell at you). I didn’t really notice any issues in the wide shot though.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Well, you said shutter turned “off”… so I’m not sure what means exactly, because you are always shooting at some shutter speed.
That’s a pretty weird effect… but no doubt due to some sort of phasing.
That’s one clear case for shooting in clearscan mode, and dialing in the exact shutter speed (which would be designated in Hz rather than in fractions of a second) to get the phasing to stop.
Sorry, I’m not familiar with that exact camera (I’m a Canon guy) so I don’t know if it has a clearscan mode… but if not, you’d need a camera that does.
Or… yes, I’d just turn the light off. That’s what we always do for dental or medical, but usually because the surgical lights aren’t pretty lighting, and overblown. But then again we’re always “faking” it and shooting procedures (dental, surgical, whatever) that aren’t real. That looked more like a real scene where a real dentist was doing real work on a real patient… and I’m sure they’d want their light on.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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[Mark Suszko] “The aircraft-carrier desk and big picture windows are status symbols.”
Yes, yes they are.
They are status symbols of James Bond Villains.
And of Sidney J. Mussburger in “The Hudsucker Proxy” (a very very underrated movie).
If your goal is for the CEO to look cold and unapproachable, it’s the easiest set there is. And make sure they briefly interrupt the interview to fire someone by speakerphone, and then quietly chuckle to themselves before “I’m sorry, where were we?”
For added fun, a good little extra is to have them also slowly stroking a cat. That’s why we always pack one or two, just in case.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Well the correct and “Hollywood” way to do this would be to go in and have the crew remove all the glass from the cabinets… but I’m betting that is not practical.
The most rudimentary advice would be to try your lighting instruments just a bit higher than you might normally choose… that would help eliminate some reflections and if you are judicious about it might not compromise the lighting on your talent too much.
Polarizers might help a little, but probably not enough to kill a full-blown reflection from a lighting instrument.
Another thing that could be helpful, when needed, is to open the cabinet doors… just a little. If you find one that is a problem area, sometimes just cracking it open a tiny bit will eliminate the reflection. It might even be a tiny amount, even an inch or less, that completely eliminates the problem and yet to the camera still gives the appearance that the doors are closed.
We run into a similar situation frequently with pictures on walls in locations, where we see an unwanted reflection in the glass. The easy solution usually is just to put something behind the picture near the bottom of the frame to stand the bottom out just a tiny bit from the wall… which changes the angle of reflection and completely eliminates the problem. Of course, we try to remember to remove these when striking… but I bet we don’t always. There’s probably been several instances of someone moving a picture in their home and being puzzled by a big hunk of balled-up gaffer tape behind it… left over from a shoot years ago. Ooops.
Of course, if this is a one-time deal and little or no chance for repeat business, the is always the passive-aggressive approach… explaining to this CEO why it won’t work (or look good), and when he tells you to do it anyway… just say “Ok,” and push the button and he gets what he asked for. But that’s usually not the best way.
Oh… and if you frame tight with really shallow DoF, those reflections might not be an issue anyway.
Also, is the CEO wanting to do it there to show off all his stuff? If so, then you’re stuck. But if it is just because he’s too lazy or busy to walk down the hall to a more appropriate location, then you can always put up a drop or something to put him in a different environment yet keep his butt in his comfy Aeron executive chair.
We often run into CEOs or other corporate bigwigs who want talking head shots in their office… and as much as they’d like (or expect) I virtually never shoot them behind their desk… that’s one of the worst places to plop someone. I’ll either put them in front of the desk, or some side sitting area, etc. When forced to explain that to them (which is often), I’ll tell them that the desk is a very cold, unfriendly, and distancing position. I tell them “Watch 60 Minutes, sometime.” The pitiful embattled citizen is always placed out on a nice park bench somewhere, or a walk-n-talk in a neighborhood. But where is the heartless CEO of the Dioxin company photographed? Always behind his big evil James-Bond-villain desk. Without fail. And it’s not by accident.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Just make sure you shoot C-log with the C300 and you’ll be able to grade it with the RAW from the Epic together just fine. Shouldn’t have any matching problems.
T2
__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
