"Prepare to be transfixed by the opening shot in The Messenger, a new documentary about songbird declines. A Black-throated Blue Warbler, closer than you’ve ever seen one, flies in slow motion against a black background. Slo-mo can make anything look graceful (even creatures as clumsy as Hollywood actors) so just imagine what it does for a warbler in full breeding glory. It’s the most beautiful footage of a bird in flight I’ve ever seen."
The Messenger is a visually thrilling ode to the beauty and importance of the imperiled songbird, and what it means to all of us on both a global and human level if we lose them. I am not familiar with the documentary so I am unaware of what the consequences of losing songbirds are, but I did some research, and the documentary has done surprisingly well for a bird documentary. It got an 8.4 out of 10 on IMDB and a 100% out of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and is being screened all across the United States as well as Canada.
If that doesn't make you want to see the documentary, then maybe this will! Ithaca's very own, Andrew Farnsworth, makes multiple appearances throughout the doc!
Andrew Farnsworth
Definitely a documentary to check out if you have the time. Great flick for the family as well as for education!
Recently I was able to make a huge investment for myself as a filmmaker. I introduced myself to a new camera, the A7s. I have had my eye on this Sony product for quite sometime now. I have been blown away by it's dynamic range and high ISO capabilities displayed online and now I finally get a chance to use this in a real world setting.
(A still from the A7s, Sigma Art 35mm 1.4)
So where to start? The Sony A7s has so many favorable traits its hard distinguish a starting point. I'll start with my three favorite features and move on throughout each blog post, addressing individual features as we move along. For myself there were a few things that I found desirable about the camera that swayed me to switch from Canon to Sony. First off, variable frame rates. I previously shot on the Canon T3i as it was my starter camera and boy did it get me through some times. However, the highest frame rate you can go is 60fps at 1280x720. This is universal through most Canon DSLRs.
(Tokina 11-16mm 2.8)
The 5DmkIII, which previously ruled the DSLR world, couldn't compete. The A7s can also be boosted to 120 fps with the downgrade to 1280x720. It can't compete with the Phantom or RED, but for a Full-Frame DSLR, this variability will get the job done. The video posted below is shot completely in 60fps. All footage is played back in realtime until brought into post to be altered.
While the variable frame rates are so much fun to play with, thats not all there is to this beast. The ISO is off the charts. Most of the footage above, besides what was indoors, was filmed at upwards of 30,000 ISO. This was my first day with the camera and I really was enjoying this party trick. Grain in the image began to increase as I went up, however it is quite clean around 20,000. Some 50,000 iso footage can even be salvageable. Once you increase upwards of this threshold you will need to use plug-ins like Neat Video to decrease grain levels.
(Sigma Art 35mm 1.4)
Many filmmakers have highlighted in reviews this outstanding feature, and I hope to learn how to take advantage of this feature and really get some outstanding footage. Once difference I noticed is that the Video ISO is much cleaner at much higher ISOs than the photos. This is due to the sensor only having 12.2mp, thus the pictures suffer loss of quality in order for the video to prevail. Although the resolution is not quite up to par with Cameras like the 5D or even the A7s older brothers the A7 and A7r, the pictures produced still look very nice when paired with the right glass.
While these two capabilities are useful and help with more advanced shooting, you can never forget the little things. The live recording punch in feature is so handy and is something I've been looking forward to for quite some time. Paranoia strikes at the strangest times, especially when conducting interviews. The everlasting battle of not being able to tell if you have something in your eye or if your shot is soft. Being able to punch in and check focus is an amazing feature especially when it comes to doc work, not only in interview settings but out in the field too. The back tilt able LCD screen paired with an amazing EVF makes this camera very diverse.
(Sigma Art 35mm 1.4)
Using the EVF paired with the punch in focus feature will be great when recording in the field and you need that extra assurance that the subject of your shot, whether that be an animal, mountain top, you name it, is in focus. There are multiple custom keys on this camera that you can arrange which ever is most comfortable for you. I prefer to have my C1 button (located on the top right corner diagonal from the shutter release) to be my short cut to this handy feature, but to each their own.
I'm very excited to start using this new investment for personal projects, thesis films, and even try my hand at time-lapses. It feels weird making the next step of your career goal and being faced with new and unique situations. While the learning curve in this industry is always changing, this factor is what drives me to be the best I can be. There will be plenty more reviews to come in regards to the time-lapse capabilities, picture profiles, and much more. Until next time.
When I got to the gym late Tuesday night, I managed to catch the last half of the sixth game of the World Series. I watched as San Fransisco shortstop, Brandon Crawford, threw a runner out at first in the bottom of the sixth inning. There was no doubt as to whether or not the umpire made the right call, however, the out was then replayed in slow motion from three different angles. First we saw the play from an angle behind the shortstop, then in slow motion from an angle looking down the first base line, and, for no apparent reason, an angle looking up from the ground at the play happening above it.By the time the three minutes of unnecessary shots was over, I was bored with the game and ready to change the channel.
As well as slowing down an already slow-moving game, camera and special effects technology makes the work of an umpire much more difficult. Editors are able to create a virtual strike zone on footage recorded from previous innings in order to analyze how the pitcher has been throwing the ball. Though this is helpful in analyzing the pitches, it also points out any errors that the umpire has made to the viewers. A pitch even a centimeter outside of the strike zone is easy to see with this animation.
I have been an umpire for my local Little League for the past five years, and it is a very stressful job. You have to constantly be aware of the ball, the players, the coaches, and even the fans. Sometimes, even though you are at least 20 years younger than most of the parents and coaches present, they will yell and scream at you if they don’t think you made the right call. Imagine being an umpire in major league baseball. These MLB players play baseball for a living. They are depending on the umpire to always make the right call. Millions of Americans are also relying on the umpire to ensure that their team will win. This job is more stressful than playing out on the field, for if you make a bad call, there is a good chance that most of America will hate you.
This new technology makes the work of umpires much more difficult. For now with slow motion cameras and an animated strike zone, we can see any errors that the umpires may make, no matter how small. They are open to ridicule from a large number of people with little or no experience officiating, or even playing, the sport.
The whole game of baseball is based upon errors. When a pitcher throws a less than perfect pitch, the batter gets a ball. When a batter swings and misses the ball, he gets a strike. There is even an “Error” statistic which keeps track of how many times a player drops or misses a fielded ball. These errors make the game of baseball thrilling and exciting. Though we have created new technology to ensure that every play is called perfectly, that is not the point of baseball. By creating this system where we can see everything that goes wrong, we make the umpires’ jobs more difficult and take away the excitement of the game.
As the end of the semester nears, I start to reflect back on everything we learned in Fiction Field 1. I have to say, I was glad to finally know what "shutter speed", "ISO" and "frames per second" meant, as we didn't really learn all of those terms in Intro to Field. I also gave me a great new respect for this new YouTube channel I found.
They call themselves "The Slow Mo Guys". And they very well deserve it too. They film some pretty cool stuff at insane number of frames per second. Wanna see?
It amazes me. One thing we learned in Fiction Field though is the higher the FPS, the less light comes through the camera. So shooting at such high FPS must cause some type of lighting issues for these guys. I would love to see the camera they shoot these on.
I spent hours watching these videos, it's awesome how things look in slow motion. They don't even look real.
