The Revolution Evolves… again.

From my first post on the Red and SI-2K to our own purchase of the Canon 7D of the DSLR craze, Sony beats Panasonic and Canon to market releasing the first large sensor Prosumer Camcorder.   We’ve been clamoring for it since Canon, Panasonic, and Nikon added HD video to their DSLR’s and have been making do with ergonomics, but this and Panasonic’s upcoming AG-AF100 are going to change the independent and low budget film market forever… well eventually.

Unfortunately Sony is taking baby steps with this system.  They were last to roll out HD video in a still camera, and still haven’t in their Alpha series DSLR’s.  It seems we’re in for a progressive evolution in the NEX series camcorders as well.  While it has an APS sized sensor and can take Sony E and A mount lenses (A Mount lenses require an adapter) in a true camcorder body, with viewfinder and built-in audio, they hobbled the system with no XLR audio inputs and 59.94 1080i video.  Non progressive?  No 24 fps?   That’s a huge turnoff for filmmakers.  You came so close Sony.  With Panasonic offering those features, plus HDSDI with an incredibly adaptable Micro 4/3rds mount, I think they’re going to capture most of that business when they release the AF100 at the end of the year.

What’s really exciting though, missing features or not, they are listening to the consumers and bringing these cameras to market, which will only spawn more innovation and competition to the benefit of filmmakers.

These camcorders should force Canon to put up or shut up and update their HD Camcorder line with APS and Full Frame Sensored camcorders as well.  But Canon, if you’re listening please learn from your competitors and make sure you offer professional audio features, HDSDI, 24P, and a robust codec like your new 50Mbps 4:2:2 codec featured in the XF camcorder line.   Or better yet a true Red Killer using the open Adobe CinemaDNG Raw video standard.  A fella can dream right?

It’s been quite a while since I’ve written about what I’ve been calling the “Film Revolution;” the advent of cheap digital film-making tools that are democratizing the art by allowing stunning film work at an affordable price point.

I’ve talked about the RED, SI-2K, and others, but have never written about what have become the true revolutionary cameras to hit the market. Video enabled Digital SLR’s. In the last year Canon, Nikon, and Panasonic have all released new Digital SLR hybrid still cameras capable of shooting varying flavors of High Definition video giving no budget filmmakers that sexy 35mm depth of field (most at the heralded 24 frames per second) without the need for cumbersome, light-eating, depth of field adapters, or tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. For the first time ever, full-frame 35mm digital hi-def imaging was delivered to the masses and for a price point under $3,000. Truly revolutionary.

In the capable hands of cinematographers who know how to push these small devices to their limits, some stunning short films, documentaries, commercials, and what I like to call, visual poems have been created.  See an example below.

Sea from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

That said these cameras are far from perfect. Putting video capabilities into what is primarily a still camera has its inevitable shortcomings including form factor, audio capabilities, aliasing, and rolling shutter artifacts. Pixel peepers and technicians will tell you that while these cameras produce so-called “Full HD” files their actual resolving power is more like SD video. If that sort of stuff interests you, you can read all about it here, and probably at lot of other blogs, forums, and websites. But that’s not that important to me, or most filmmakers. Stu Maschwitz summed it up so perfectly in his blog post when the 5D MkII came out, that I’m just going quote him directly:

Let’s get something straight. The video from the Nikon D90 and the Canon 5D MkII is not of good quality. It’s over compressed, over-processed, over-sharpened, and lacks professional control. It skews and shears and shuts off in the middle of a take. It sucks.
So why are we so excited by it?
Because the video from these DSLRs stimulates us emotionally. It’s contrasty, with sexy depth of field. It looks like cinema, if you don’t look to close. Guess who doesn’t look too close. Everyone.

- Stu Maschwitz – ProLost.com

That’s the appeal of these affordable digital cinema devices and the reason you need to get off your ass and go shoot something. That’s right; I’m finally getting around to the title of this post. Don’t Wait!

These cameras prove that technology is changing at a rapid pace, and has enabled filmmakers a freedom never offered before.  Has this given rise to the film revolution I’ve been prognosticating? Yes and no. While some filmmakers have embraced these tools and made wonderful films big and small, this ever changing technology has also given filmmakers excuses to procrastinate. I’ve been guilty of it myself.

I meet and discuss projects with lots of up and coming filmmakers who say things like, “I’d like to shoot my epic, but I only have a standard def camera and can’t afford to HD. I’ll wait until they’re more affordable.” Or worse, the snob effect,” I have to shoot it on film.” Or “I like those HDSLR’s but I’m waiting for that firmware upgrade that enables (fill in the blank here).” Or a myriad of other excuses for not going out and making your film. I don’t care if you shoot your film on an iPhone. If your script is ready, go shoot it. Shoot it now with whatever camera you have available. You’ve got a Canon 7D? Great! My old standby Canon XL2? Perfect. An old Sony VX100? Fine, just go shoot it.

Ayz Waraich has proven that you can make a beautiful, emotional film with a ton of heart on a cheap HD consumer camera with hardly any manual controls. Don’t believe me? Watch “White Red Panic” embedded below and prepare to be blown away.

If that’s not proof enough, I submit that if well told, your film may not even need to look that good. Take a look at the Award Winning film “Once.” It’s a great film but the cinematography is mediocre at best, mostly shot with flat available light on prosumer video cameras. Sure it’s a bit shocking at first, but then you get sucked in by the story and characters. Years before that Edward Burns won the Sundance Grand Jury prize with “The Brothers McMullen“.  Another poorly shot film that transcends its imagery, with heart, character, and emotion.

So with the end of the year upon us, I’d like to ask all aspiring filmmakers to make a New Years resolution to stop worrying about the technology, and for God’s sake don’t wait.  By the time that feature or camera you’ve been waiting for comes around, you’ll likely be waiting for the next breakthrough. In the meantime you’ve got nothing to show for it. So shoot now with what you’ve got. It’ll force you to use your creativity to deliver a film that goes beyond the technology and touches your audience; which is what it’s all about.

End of Rant.

Move over RED ONE and Silicon Imaging there’s a new kid in town.  Ikonoskop a Swedish company known for small form factor 16mm cameras introduces an HD Raw digital film camera the A-cam dII

This small file based camera sports a Super 16MM sized CCD sensor with global shutter.  That means no jello-cam on fast moving shots like you might see on the CMOS based Red One, SI-2k or even the Sony EX-1.

The camera specs from their website:

Special features:
1:1 pixel zoom in viewfinder while recording for checking focus. Histogram. Preview monitor on right side for directors and sound people.

The preliminary price is €6.950 (about US$9,800) and includes 1 battery, 1 Ikonoskop 9mm lens and 1 Ikonoskop 80GB Memory Cartridge.

I love the fact that they are using the open standard of DNG files (pioneered by the folks at Adobe) , though a workflow will still need to be developed.

This doesn’t get you the resolution or depth of field characteristics of a Red One, but is a great alternative for 16MM film productions, or low budget independents who still can’t afford a Red with all it’s required accessories.  I’m glad to see the revolution continues.  We’ll all benefit from it.

A shout out to Stu Maschwitz for posting first!

UPDATE: now with video:

Speaking of RED, and more importantly the idea of getting high quality, high resolution image acquisition gear at a modest budget, enter Stu Maschwitz, film-maker, technologist, and author of the DV Rebel’s Guide who has taken this concept to the next level.

That rig on his shoulder (photo courtesy of Stu’s blog Prolost), is capable of recording full 1080p resolution images with 35mm film depth of field at the true progressive film cadence of 24 frames per second (fps) and can be put together for roughly ~$4,000. Yep $4K give or take a few hundred dollars worth of accessories. That’s not a type-o.

The system is what may be the perfect Digital Video Rebel camera rig, for those who want high quality HD images but still can’t afford a RED or Silicon Imaging Rig with all the accoutrements.

What you see here is a Canon HV20 HDV camera. A consumer HDV camera that has an impressive 1920×1080 CMOS sensor capable of recording progressive scan images at 24 frames per second (24P). Street price ~$1000. However as a consumer camera the lens and level of image and exposure control is pretty lax. Enter the Red Rock Micro M2 35mm adapter. Street price around $550 for the adapter, $2500 tricked out with rails and what not. This adapter attaches to the front of the camera and creates a new 35mm sized imaging plane that the HV20 focuses on. Once set, you can use traditional 35mm SLR lenses (Stu is using a Nikor 50mm f1.4 lens here) to enhance the optics and regain the image controls not available on the HV20. So now you’ve got high quality 35mm lens optics with the depth of field that goes with it being sent to the HV20 image sensor and then out digitally to disk or tape. Essentially the same concept as the RED or Silicon 2K, and only maxed out at HD resolution and without variable frame rates. But still, pair it up on Red Rocks’s prototype shoulder rig and follow focus like this:

To put that in perspective, its sensor is almost the same resolution and size as the lauded Panavision Genesis used to shoot Superman Returns. However what makes RED truly impressive is that it outputs full 4K resolution files, while Genesis downgrades everything to 10-bit log 1080p. While 10 bit log 444 1080p is no slouch (in fact I’d be happy to shoot a feature with the Genesis), it’s only about a ¼ of the potential resolution of it’s sensor and what RED can output as RAW files. Oh and did I mention that the RED sells for only $17,500 and can use almost any standard Super 35mm or 16mm film lens while maintaining the same depth of field characteristics…?

Now that you’re all drooling lets face facts that RED still hasn’t been released, and their website only gives an ambiguous “early 2007” date. That’s not stopping them from releasing some footage and images on their website, or organizing the first public screening of their footage, which takes place next week in Santa Monica. If this camera lives up to what it boasts, it’s going to make things very interesting in the coming months.

Another camera bursting onto the indie film scene is Silicon Imaging’s SI-2K camera. This camera is 2K resolution (slightly better than HD) and captures direct to disk at 24 fps at its highest resolution and up to 72 fps at 720p HD using Cineform’s proprietary RAW 10-bit intermediate wavelet codec. This necessitates the need to edit with Adobe Premiere Pro which has been the red-headed step child of NLE’s for years, but has matured of late and really isn’t a bad system.

UPDATE 11/9/06: I have learned that this camera can also record RAW Uncompressed 12-bit content that can be exported to DPX or DNG frame sequences. These can be wrapped in QT and used in Final Cut Pro or other editing systems.

One thing that Silicon Imaging’s camera has over the RED camera is that it currently exists. The film Spoon was shot with this camera, and the workflow, trials, and tribulations are detailed on the Indie Film Live blog. I also had the opportunity to see this camera up close and personal last week at HD Expo. After cursing myself for forgetting my digital camera to snap some pics, I examined the camera head and it’s remarkably small size and high image quality. They had the camera head only version on display which requires a laptop or other PC connected via gigabit Ethernet to record, but also have an integrated solution. They have images and WMV-HD files you can view on their website to see for your self. At packages starting at around $12,000 they’ll be giving RED a run for their money.

Now how does all this relate to the title of the blog entry and more importantly to you? Well simple, these tools are going to change the landscape of independent film production forever.

With the introduction of cameras at this resolution at these prices, and ever quicker and more powerful non linear editing desktop computers, it’s going to be easier than ever to make a feature film on a modest budget that looks like a Hollywood blockbuster. At 4k and 2k resolutions with the ability to use standard cine style film lens, we’re talking Hollywood caliber camera equipment finally within the grasp of the grassroots filmmaker. It’s a democratization of film production where for a percentage of the cost of a Hollywood feature film, you can get a RED or Silicon Imaging camera, couple it with a PC or Mac with your favorite NLE software and make a 4K or 2K resolution movie ready to distribute for film-out, digital projection, HD-DVD (or Blu-Ray whichever wins the format war), or standard DVD and you’ll never have had to even look at a Hollywood Studio. This technology coupled with an independently financed production model will turn Hollywood on its ear. These tools bringing the costs down enables storytellers not to need a big studio to finance their story. No studio means no studio notes. No studio notes means filmmakers will be able to try quirkier, weirder, more experimental methods of storytelling. It’ll be a film revolution fought in the trenches by independent filmmakers, and the viewing public will reap the benefits of new and interesting storytelling.

Now, I’m not saying a camera alone makes all the difference. You’ll still need a group of talented collaborators to work with, and a fantastic script to guide you. And sure, the accessibility of the technology and the proliferation of cheaply produced films will likely produce a whole lot of stinkers… but there will be those diamonds in the rough from trailblazing, innovative filmmakers who might have never gotten the opportunity to make a film without this technology. They will change the landscape of film as we know it.

Are you ready for the revolution?

[EDIT - HD For Indies just posted a head to head in depth comparison of the cameras and workflow. A must read. Check it out.]