Tuesday, April 19, 2011 at 07:38AM NLP shoots the worlds first footage with the Sony F3 S-Log
On 4/13/11, Next Level Pictures shot the first ever camera test in the world using the Sony F3 with S-Log firmware. This is our abbreviated blog post/press release. Please view the Behind The Scenes below for the detailed explanation. It is now 8:30am, none of us have slept in 3 days in order to meet our deadline, so all I want to say is thank god the BTS video explains just about everything that I could possibly type in a blog:
After viewing the behind the scenes, it is our pleasure to show the world, the first ever footage seen from the Sony F3 with S-Log:
We hope you all enjoyed it! Please leave any questions or comments in the "comments" section at the bottom of the blog post.
For anyone interested, below is a list of all the gear we used. All of which is avaliable for purchase or rental at Abel Cine Tech (Other than the prototypes we got to use).
Sony PMWF3L Camera, OConnor O-Box WM Mattebox, OConnor O-Grips and Rod Bridge, Arri FF-5 HD Studio Follow Focus, Element Technica - Prototype top handle and base plate, Cinedeck Extreme Recorder, Angenieux Optimo DP Rouge 16-42mm T2.8, Angenieux Optimo DP Rouge 30-80mm T2.8, Angenieux - Prototype Optimo 45-120mm T2.8, Cooke Panchro/i 18mm T2.8, Cooke Panchro/i 100mm T2.8, Arri/Zeiss 25mm T1.3 Master Prime , Arri/Zeiss 8Rmm Ultra Prime T2.8 , Miller Heavy Duty 2 stage 100mm carbon fiber tripod (925) and Miller Mini Tripod (455), Miller Arrow 55 Fluid Head (1028), KesslerCrane 3ft CineSlider, Anton Bauer Dionic 90 Batteries, 2x Bi-Color Litepanels 1x1, Tyler Camera Systems MiniGyro, Adobe Production Premium, DaVinci Resolve
Below are a few shots of the gear in action:
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Lastly we would like to give a MASSIVE thank you to everyone involved in this project. First and foremost to our sponsors and our executive producers for supporting us and wanting to push the limits and take things to the NEXT LEVEL :) Secondly to all of our crew members for hanging in there with us and lending their talents to an absolutely exhausting yet inspiring shoot.
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At Next Level Pictures we are firm believers in the collaborative filmmaking process and this project proved to us how powerful collaboration is in order to push the film industry in a forward direction. Again, a MASSIVE thank you to every single person involved. Now, lets see what happens! Please make sure to follow everyone below on twitter for further updates on the S-Log tests.
Executive Producers:
Eric Kessler
Jarred Abrams
Carl Zeiss Lenses
Vincent Laforet
Crew Contacts/Twitter Usernames:
Vincent Laforet - Exec. Producer, Aerial Cinematographer, Rock-star - @vincentlaforet
Khalid Mohtaseb - Director, Producer, Cinematographer - @KhalidMohtaseb
Jonathan Bregel - Director, Producer, Cinematographer - @JonathanBregel
Brad Burke - Producer, UPM, Hipster - @B_radBurke
Timur Civan - Cinematographer, Associate Producer, Turkish Boss :) - @timurcivan
Tyler Ginter - Associate Producer, 1st AD, Production Beast, BTS Editor - @tylerginter
Steve Birne - Production Coordinator, Locations Manager, Bird-Man - @StevenBirne
Jeff Levine - 1st AC, Lens-Hoss - @jlevine85
Tom Wong - Editor, DaVinci Colorist, Beastmode activator - Too Cool for Twitter
Chris Dowsett - BTS Photography, Production Motivator, #DOWSETT - @Chris_Dowsett
Matt Jeppsen - FreshDV BTS Camera Operator - @mjeppsen
Kendal Miller - FreshDV BTS Director - @KendalMiller
Chris Marino - Aerial locations manager - @ChrisMarino_DP
Mac Bleser - NLP web master - @mbleser
Chris Murphy - Discovering Audio
Production Music:
Pretty Lights - “Gold Coast Hustle” - Final Comparison Video
Nat Kendall Presents: Songbird Sing - “On Again” - BTS Video
Reader Comments (36)
Awesome work as always guys. love the street scene as the cars fly by. JUST BEAUTIFUL!
Great job for such a short compressed time, but i have few Q maybe some will seem stupid ;( ...
- what is the S-Log?
- u had such a great picture with the F3 using great lenses .. what if i don't have such $$$$ lenses, means will the basic lens gives such a wonderful pic?
- how much will the F3 cost in EU :(?
thanks guys and let me say : "you are ****en amazing" .. i wished philip bloom was there too ;) the UK tongue was missing loool
Thanks
Mahmod
What is the ORIGINAL XDCAM footages-format? What 3G 444-10 bits display monitor(s) was used in your NLE? What software was used for the 3G 444-10 bits S LOG GRADING? Lastly, Why is it difficult to photograph-PEOPLE WITH COLOR-EX. your night model-dark skin?
What all the "hits" we see in the log test video (behind the scenes as well)? Is that coming from the camera or perhaps compression? Thanks! (ex @ 1:12:00).
Killer stuff guys, I'm totally enjoying following along with everything you guys are doing and watching this industry take off!! Awesome
Thanks for the comments guys. We really appreciate the feedback. I am going to have one of the cinematographers, Timur Civan, comment back on the more technical questions.
Great images, but you din't help them much by crashing blacks. I can clearly see details in the original, but not in the graded images. Too bad...
Jake, typically when we color grade something, we let it sit over night and look at it in the morning with a fresh set of eyes. For this project, we didnt sleep for 3 days straight to meet the sponsors hard deadline. That being said, we had no time to go back and do a secondary color correct. I do see what you are saying in a couple clips. Surprisingly you are the only person who has noticed this other than Khalid and I. The hope is that we will find some time later this week to go back and do a more extensive grade in the DaVinci.
-Jon
Great work!
I was missing a graded xdcam picture to compare the graded s log.
To answer a few questions.
SLOG: is a method of capturing more image data, to a high quality video signal.
As far as tossing data, the grade exists to merely make the image look natural. Perhaps because you haven't seen raw sLog, its difficult to grasp.
Jon perhaps we can make a three tile side by side of raw xdcam, raw slog, and curve corrected slog. I that will alleviate a lot of confusion.
Cosidering the time constraints this sort of test should be taken with a grain of salt, and understand that technical perfection cannot be achieved.
Great stuff guys! Always seem to push the envelope! Can't wait for the next!
Well done and congratulations to the entire production and post production team!
The new Angenieux 45-120 compact zoom look fantastic and was a pleasure to fly on my rig all week.
Robert Starling, SOC
Steadicam Operator
Las Vegas, NV
Thanks Noah and Robert.
Robers - you are the man. such a mentor and amazing person.
*Robert
Wow - you guys actually removed my previous comment.
I posted a response that was honest explaining how your test was awful and you guys actually remove it because it wasn't kissing your ass.
Its so lame how you can't take criticism but you can endure censorship when it benefits your ego.
Filmmaking isn't about kissing ass to your friends its about being real and honest so that we can all progress.
And to be clear I wasn't dismissing your skills as filmmakers it was just the means at which you went about it.
I would've removed it too. I do whatever I want with my blog, certainly when it comes to people who bad mouth me. If I didn't like something someone did, I might send them an email, but I probably really wouldn't care enough to. Instead you grumble about it in public, implying how much better you are than them-Hah, get a life. NLP, thank you again for shooting some gorgeous stuff, and for inspiring me to get out there to try to do something similar. Heck, I might even copy you a little, because you obviously know what you're doing, and I only try and mimic/copy people I respect. Keep up the great work!
No test is perfect. I did not read your last post, but I promise you, there isn't much we can do to please everyone. We can test for what we need to see. I saw the camera perform in a way that made me excited to shoot. What we proposed to do in vegas excited many manufacturers and we earned their support. We wanted to share what we did. I am sorry if you couldn't see the good in it.
Thanks Daniel & Timur for your comments!!
Rob, Your comment was rude and very inappropriate. If you want to give constructive criticism then feel free to leave a comment, however saying "kissing your ass" & "your test was awful" without explaining why is far from constructive my friend.
Not every test has to has to be as technical w charts, camera setting detail, etc.. As Timur mentioned, we tested for what we were curious to see & learn.
Rob, instead of hating, think about what you are saying first. For this specific test, a 10 year old kid turning the camera in and out of S-Log on the NAB show floor would have had the same effect. We realize that. All we wanted to do was a quick test in a couple real world locations to learn how we/the rest of the world would be able to benefit from the S-Log. We apologize for trying to do people a favor by showing them technology that has not yet been released. Im sorry that you think it sucks.
Personally, I think we could have done a lot better too, given we had a little more than 10 hours to shoot/produce this in a place we were completely unfamiliar with. Next time, Rob, give us your direct contact so we can include you in the test to make sure it is top notch. As a matter of fact, next week we are being given a few more prototypes. What is your e-mail/cell number? We would love to have you involved. Cheers.
-Jon
I didn't see the original comment by Mr. Wise but it's a small world and an even smaller profession so harshing someone on their own blog is very unprofessional.
I've been in this business for 33 years and have worked with Jon and Khalid. I was also directly involved in the submission and approval of their support from Angenieux; in fact I suggested it and took it to the company.
The entire team that put this test together at NAB accomplished a nearly impossible feat; professionally and creatively. Manufacturers like Sony, ARRI, Cooke and Angenieux don't let just anyone walk out of the building with $500,000 + in gear, especially one-off prototypes. They also don't let people test their new gear who could potentially do more harm than good.
It took a talented crew to pull all this together in a matter of 6-8 hours and then cover so many set ups in 12 hours with no sleep.
They followed through as promised with a timely edit and demo of the gear. This wasn't presented as a scientific technical test or an award winning reel. It was simply a real world let's see what we can do with what we have.
I don't have to imagine what this team can do with more time and resources, I know they have talent, dedication and the commitment to working and acting professionally in our industry.
Instead of judgement and hating, you should applaud these young filmmakers for their accomplishments on this project and credit the manufacturers for having the faith and the vision to risk multi-million dollar R&D projects in the hands of these guys.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it! Anyone have a problem with it, my phone number is on my website.
Robert Starling, SOC
Steadicam Operator
Las Vegas & Los Angeles
International Cinematographers Guild
Society of Camera Operators
Steadicam Operators Association
Steadicam Guild