Corrupt Frame, Inc. wrote:Kholi wrote:I'm sorry, but the comment about "explosion of short films" on Canons?
No.
Outside of Vincent LaForet's 30P short film, the actual short film on a D90 or 5DMKII was NON-EXISTANT in the beginning. They were ALL tests, or Phillip Bloom's faces videos. I was there for that entire explosion, saying that there were shorts done immediately on any of those cameras is complete falsehood.
The 7D was over a YEAR later than the 5D, and the 5D 24P update didn't happen for some time after that.
It wasn't until the 7D and 5D that you got more than random test footage being shown.
This is how every single camera release goes, and was the same way with RED when it started shipping. Again, I was rather involved at the start of either of those (Had the first D90 in the US delivered days early, first GH1 in the US delivered weeks early, and RED #81 was our tool for some time) and it was ALL tests for a good year if you surfed the web/forums.
Tacked on, most people can't actually share footage from paid jobs. That's how it's always been. When the GH1 first popped up I put it on a Heineken National and couldn't share a single frame for over six months afterward.
The 'explosion' came almost immediately after the release of the 7D. Because the 7D solved a lot of the problems the 5D had by adding 24p etc... The 5D MKIII was an infant that wasn't designed for filmmaking. It was extremely limited and new technology that took a lot of time to mature.
The Blackmagic cameras are not. They have their qwerks. But there is absolutely no reason in the world that people can't make the same kind of shorts they've been making on Canon cameras with them...
Also I'm not talking about "paid gigs" I couldn't care less about commercials... I'm referring to all the people who go out and shoot B-roll of generic things rather than even attempting to tell a story. I'm talking about creativity, and lack thereof. And I think that's what the OP was getting at as well.
A lot of people have become so hung up on the technology that all they can do anymore is pixel peep, and "test". They aren't producing anything of substance.
I guess we define explosion differently, which is okay. There really wasn't any explosion of creativity from my point of view, but instead a lot of footage that looked different than the preceding prosumer cameras (HVX200, EX1, XH-A1) with 35mm Adapters which were finally getting to a place of constant use.
It was mostly test footage, the D90, 5D, GH1, and all the way up until the following year after the 7Ds release. I spend WAY too much time on forums, but my memory is quite good, there wasn't much to show for on any of these cameras but this was ALSO a different time: anything with shallow DOF looked amazing, so it all seemed "new".
I definitely do not agree that the 2.5K or Pocket Camera are mature... if they were, there wouldn't be several topics on how to expose the camera, how to shoot LOG, etc. You're talking about a method of shooting that a lot of people in this price bracket are not accustomed to. Still learning how to handle color in post, still learning what the camera likes and does not like.
It's nowhere near as simple as shooting a 7D or 5D if you're shooting LOG, not even in the same ballpark.
As far as tests go, it's a knowledge base for cameras. There are Directors and DPs that cite Vimeo in magazines, claiming that they've seen footage on Vimeo that inspired them to try different things, not just a camera that they've never heard of (GH2-Hack) but a technique that "some kid" was using to accomplish a shot. This is not a bad thing, at all.
And lastly... attempting to tell a story... well, go out and do that? If it's that easy to do. It's not, because then you have people asking if that story was worth telling, or if you told it the way they think you should have, so on and so forth. Just telling someone to "go and shoot a story" is basically like telling someone to "Make a cake".
I didn't even say a "good" cake, I just said make a cake. It sounds simple, it isn't easy.
People shouldn't be discouraged about shooting what's in front of them, and even sharing what they've discovered with others. I've literally watched some new forum users' eyes develop through videos they've posted on Vimeo, and I can name at least one that I've paid VERY close attention to, whom I interface with online often, that has finally had the chance to start shooting narrative and because he spent SO much time following his daughter around or shooting trees, beaches, rocks, well he's good.
Just plain good.
IN the days when the GH2 first came out, I thought it wasn't all that great, until I saw his test videos with his daughter. I immediately sold my 5D and bought a GH2 the next day because of his tests.
Here, have a look at his Tests on vimeo, mixed with some footage from his first feature, with the 2.5K:
That's it from me, sorry to cut in, carry on!