Over the past year, we have done an extensive amount of research on gear. After shooting Justine & Barry, we knew it was only a matter of time before we would need to upgrade our Canon 7D. With Harley, we shot two cams, the Canon 7D alongside a Canon 5D Mark II. Going through color grading, it was obvious that the sensor in the Canon 5D Mark II beat the Canon 7D significantly.

Playground was shot on the Epic in 4K which immediately gave us an image we could manipulate by zooming in and reframing without losing much resolution. We’ll be getting to the coloring process soon, and I can’t wait to see how it holds up, especially since we will be using DaVinci Resolve.

DaVinci Resolve is the color grading software that is used on many Hollywood feature films. It also comes with the Blackmagic 4K camera for free. Pretty amazing!

 Blackmagic 4K setup with Filmcity shoulder mount

DaVinci Resolve Color Grading Software

I love coloring shots.  I normally use AVID’s color grade system as a temp grade before I move to another program more suitable for the final coloring. With Resolve, there are so many choices, and it’s one I am very excited to explore!

The Blackmagic will shoot in film or video mode. The video mode, color corrects for you using a sensor,  so if you are going to spit out a project day of, this is the best mode to shoot in. However, you don’t have much flexibility for coloring after the fact. Most of the time, we will be shooting in film mode (Log) which gives you a basic flat image. If you are used to DSLRs, you probably set yours to a standard film mode (Log) too which gave you that flat image perfect for color grading.

Shooting in RAW will give you the best range for coloring, but it’s not recommended because it will eat your hard drive space.

However, if you are shooting green screen, RAW is the way to go. When it comes to designing special effects, you need that latitude. Since Brad is amazingly talented in this area, we plan to shoot in RAW when it comes to our Sci-Fi projects and fantasy based features.

I particularly love the following shot which has been color graded in Resolve. It reminds me of the lake in my neighborhood that looks incredible on film. I cannot wait to test shoot this area and color in Resolve.

All this new software is prepping us for features we can shoot at a low budget with a very small crew. I love the sense of freedom that gives me as a filmmaker. The Blackmagic is a rather low-cost 4K camera, but you must buy several accessories to get it to work properly which include extra batteries, charger, drives, cage, etc. The good news is, this camera takes Canon lenses, so for those of us coming from a Canon DSLR, this jump is seamless.

Having worked out several budgets for features, I know you can spend upwards of $8,000 just on a camera operator. As someone who not only went to film school but also has been behind the camera since I was seven, I love framing and capturing my own shots. Now that I have my own 4K camera, I can do this on a professional scope that takes us to a whole new level of performance. I am starving for footage to play with, which is why we are planning these short films. They are so important as learning tools for this new camera, so we can jump to bigger and better films soon with a knowledge of what works and what to avoid.

Producing Harley, taught us so much about the limitations of the Canon 7D, and jumping to Playground, taught us the importance of 4K. Everything we produce has helped us grow exponentially and will really pay off in terms of final product when we start to regularly produce features. We are building to that outcome. It’s only a matter of time. For me, I love being in complete control. From the script to casting, I get to decide what I will be producing and who is involved. I get to frame my shots, coach my actors, edit my film and color it. We even built our own sound tools to use in production which we used on Playground, a direction Rode mic with a boom pole which records to the  Zoom H4n Handy Recorder. The sound was amazing, even beating the sound on Harley which used a third party Hollywood vendor. We have a huge knowledge of gear, and a high level of expertise and artistry that puts us in a unique position. It’s rare to have such control over your final product in the movie business.

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