I came here today to try to learn how to get a professional film look out of a Canon HDSLR. I learned an awful lot of little intricacies that aren't really covered in a manual. A little bit more like Industry Insider professional ideas that you can do to settings that'll help make the look of the product you're going to shoot, just like film. We were taught even more than I expected, especially about the equipment. He [Chief Instructor Fletch Murray] went into a greater range of detail about the various pieces of equipment that are out there; the ones that aren't good to buy and the ones that are good to buy and the ones that are really beneficial. 

The best thing about this class here, the Canon Boot Camp, is the fact that it's taught by industry professionals, who have hands-on experience in actual settings. So they aren't going to just teach you the finer points you are going to find on a piece of paper. They're going to teach you about real-world experiences. And I think that's the most valuable experience you're going to get out of a class like this. It's a small classroom with an awful lot of personable people and they not only teach you how to use the piece of equipment but why you'd use the piece of equipment. It's invaluable to me.

I would definitely recommend this boot camp to everyone out there in this field whether they are pro or amateur. It's going to make you feel comfortable with your piece of equipment. It's going to dispel any kind of fears that you might have of using it; I know I was always worried about tweaking a setting and messing with my camera because then I would never get it back, and it would be destroyed. This took all those fears away from me.

Garrett Warren
Stunt Coordinators and 2^nd Unit Director
 

The DVTec MultiRig gets a Workout by Garrett Warren from The Association/Canon Boot Camp on Vimeo.

Garrett does something not many of us would do with our beloved Canon HDSLR cameras.  He puts them in the middle of MMA fights, goes on high-speed car chases, drops them, crushes them and blows them up.

We had the pleasure of having one of Hollywood's most sought after Stunt Coordinators and 2^nd Unit Director, the charismatic Garrett Warren, at our August 2012 Canon Boot Camp. He is definitely no stranger to filmmaking, but instead of opting for cameras such as the Epic, he came to our Canon camera classes to learn how to achieve a filmic look with Canon HDSLRs.

In his line of work, the lighter the camera, the better.  I don’t imagine myself leaping from building to building any time soon, but if I were to do so, I imagine I would prefer to have a lightweight Canon HDSLR to a RED under such circumstances. 

To make his job easier, Garrett was introduced to, and subsequently fell in love with the DV MultiRig. He wasted no time in strapping it on and taking it for a turbulent test drive, which you can witness in the video. The beauty of this rig is that it becomes an extension of the shooter’s body, which is probably why it was hard to get Garrett to let go of it! Luckily, our friends at EVS, who turned us to this remarkable rig, have it in stock, so we can stop fighting over it now. 

You don’t need to be rich to promote your indie flick.

For those who love filmmaking but don’t have an endless supply of cash, there are other options. Now, just for full disclosure, I’m not personally a filmmaker. But I am good at creating visibility online, and I work with a film and video production company. So I’m in the industry, but I’m not in it the same way a filmmaker is in it.

What that means is I’m not “stuck” in the problem the same way a starving filmmaker might be, so I can offer a different perspective. But I’m around filmmakers enough to be aware of the promotional issues and lack of cash that can accompany producing your own film.

Let’s face it, filmmaking is an expensive proposition any way you look at it. Just the equipment alone is pretty pricey. No point in making a crappy looking film, so compromising on the right look isn’t an option. Fortunately, Canon DSLRs are paving the way to reducing these costs, and they are closely followed by innovators in lighting and rigs.

By actual calculation, The Association determined that using Canon DSLRs allowed us to reduce filming costs by up to 85%. That’s a pretty sizable reduction. Not only are the cameras a lot smaller (requiring less people to handle them) but since Canon DSLRs can use available light, it requires less equipment for that great shot.

Shooting by Candlelight from The Association/Canon Boot Camp on Vimeo.

When lighting is required, LED lights are leading the way in reduction of heat, size and cost. We’ve started using Zabolights in our Canon HDSLR camera classes and their quite friendly in all aspects. Stay tuned to our blog for future demo videos on Zabolights.

But back to promoting your films. I’ve written about blogging before, but it bears repeating. No matter what you are filming, there’s an audience out there that’s going to like your work. And be willing to donate or pay for tickets or whatever. Exactly how you end up interacting with that audience is up to you and them, but if your film, your work or you never make it in front of that audience, you won’t be able to interact.

Blogging is hands-down one of the most inexpensive and best ways to get in front of any audience. Why? Because everyone who’s online knows how to use Google to search! And they are there searching for you already, but if your work isn’t represented online, they’ll never find it.

It takes time (start early!) but once you build up visibility, you’re in! There’s no waiting for someone else to approve you or give you link karma, it’s just you and your words. Without getting super technical, there’s only a few things you need to do to achieve success in the online arena:

1. Blog daily, 150-500 words. About anything is better than nothing.
2. Be yourself, write about things that interest you, keep it real. Communicate your passion.
3. Blog daily.
4. Blog daily.
5. Did I mention blog daily?

If you did nothing else but blog daily, you’d win eventually.

This is because most sites that compete for that first page of a Google Search blog often, but only a small percentage blog often or daily. Every blog post is a “page” to Google, and the number of pages a site has is a huge factor in showing up at all. If you blog unique, relevant content that other people interact with, Google will love you and include you in their search results. Eventually you’ll make it to the top.

Is there more to know about blogging? Of course. But it’s pointless to learn more if don’t master the discipline of blogging daily. That’s the hard part, but it gets easier if you just do it. And Do it. And Do it.

For a 45 minute primer on how blogging and online promotion works (in basic terms), check out my free video.

Got some tips of your own? Please share in the comments below.

CBS Assistant Camera @ the Canon Boot Camp from The Association/Canon Boot Camp on Vimeo.

Nearly a year ago we wrote about using a DSLR to shoot green screen, and how it works really well. This year we have a followup clip with Meggins Moore, Canon Boot Camp Graduate, sharing her experience in learning how to shoot green screen with a Canon DSLR. 

It does just fine.

If you'd like to learn how to shoot green screen with a Canon DSLR 5D, come to the Canon Boot Camp and get your hands dirty. Our Canon Boot Camp is the longest-running workshop of it's kind, and it's the kind of instruction that exceeds expectations. Still photographers, amauters, industry pros and students have really enjoyed the process we take them through to get up and running with speed and skill on these industry-changing cameras.

For the rest of the year (and January 2013), win a seat at an upcoming boot camp by participating in our Facebook Contest. Just Like our Facebook Page, sign up for the Filmmaker's Notebook newsletter (that's how we'll announce the winners) and select the months you'd like to win. On the 15th of every month we'll pick a winner.

Part V: Telephoto Lens

This week features a series titled: “DSLR Filmmaking & Lenses: What You Should Know Now,” a series of blog posts explaining the importance and benefits of specific types of camera lenses (ultra wide, wide, normal, portrait, telephoto) by contributor Jeff Bauer

A telephoto lens is a very specific type of long-focus lens between 135mm and 300mm on a full-frame camera sensor. Inside these lenses are telephoto groups, which are sets of lenses arranged to extend the path of light through the lens, and into the camera. These groups also help keep size and weight relatively smaller than without them. The physical length of the average telephoto lens is also shorter than the focal length, and tends to allow less light pass through than shorter focal length lenses.

Lenses at this length typically have an extremely shallow depth of field, while also producing a flat or magnified image.  This isn’t always the case though. It has more to do with the distance at which you are shooting and the distance of the subject from the background, not as much with the actual perspective. This affects both the relative size and distance of objects and backgrounds, causing them to appear similar in size despite the long distance between them.

Telephoto lenses have a very narrow field of view, ranging from 30 degrees to less than one degree. So because of their long length and usually slower apertures, telephoto lenses are perfect for events such as sports and wildlife. For subjects to appear in focus, the distance between the camera and the subject must be farther away than with smaller, wider lenses. 

The slower apertures associated with Telephoto lenses allow for more of an object to stay in focus, but due to it’s long length that area in focus could still be as small as an inch. There are also minimum distance issues to be aware of, so being in a stadium for example, or filming outdoors, is going to be easier and result in a more flexible shoot. It is not recommended to use long telephoto lenses indoors unless the location is big enough to accommodate the minimum focus distance.

When using these long telephoto lenses, it’s important to take into account your ability to keep a steady hand. With such a long lens, even the slightest movement will cause blurring and shakiness, so it’s recommended to use a monopod or tripod to keep a nice steady shot. Being on average much larger and heavier than shorter length lenses, this can also effect the balance of your camera. For example, a 50mm or 85mm lens will balance much more evenly with your camera body due to it’s more compact size, but mount a 200mm lens and I guarantee you will notice how much more front heavy the camera is. This heaviness can be tiring after a long day of shooting, especially if you don’t have something to steady the camera. 

Overall I love a good telephoto lens. I think most people photograph better at longer focal lengths and from long distances, you can achieve beautiful landscapes as well. These are difficult lenses to work with, but once you know the limitations and the compromises needed, you can achieve stunning results.

If you liked my series, “DSLR Filmmaking & Lenses: What You Should Know Now,” please send us feedback and suggestions for other ongoing articles. We want to hear from you and your experiences!

Also don’t forget to check out our Facebook page for a chance to winning a free Canon Boot Camp!  It’s as easy as going to our Facebook Page and clicking on the “Win a Canon Boot Camp” tab. Good luck and hope to see you there.

A lot of filmmakers are stretching their wings with the Canon 5D DSLR.

Light and DSLR Canon Cameras

When you look at the work you see that absence of fill light is where the Canon DSLR's shine.  The more boring shots are shot outside at high noon or with that milky overcast sky.

But take the camera inside (or provide blacks that will bring you "negative fill") and the Canon magic starts to happen.  Check out 'Streak and the Raven – Speed of Light,' practically an exercise in how to film in low light:

Streak and the Raven – Speed of Light (OFFICIAL) from OTSO FILM on Vimeo.

SINGLE FRAME EDITING-

Another video that is pushing the envelope of visual comprehension with single frame cuts is 'Aimless Arrow'

CONVERGE "Aimless Arrow" from Max Moore on Vimeo.

KINESTASIS

My first film in college was all single frames on film.  The technique is called "kinestasis" – It means moving stills.  You expose each frame individually in the camera.   I was emulating Chuck Braverman's 'American Time Capsule', which is comprised of exposing single frames.  It won awards.  So did mine.  Chuck's piece was featured on the Smothers Brothers comedy hour years ago.

More kinestasis examples.

If you want to see MY college kinestasis film you'll have to buy me a coffee.  Short of that, drop me a line and I MIGHT send you a link.  But I'd rather hold out for the coffee. 

Anyway, to shoot a Kinestasis project you have to plan all your stills in advance because you expose them individually in the film camera.  You can use a remote trigger device so you don't shake the camera.  And you need a lot of pictures.  24 per second at the maximum.   And you have to plan how you're going to move them. 

The beauty of the Canon DSLR is that it can shoot stills in sequence and you can lay them on the timeline or you can shoot on the video side and chop the sweet spots out of each scene into single frame events on the timeline.  

If you're doing a thirty second film, that's ahhhh….thirty times twenty four, which 720 pictures. Try it.  I was trying to see if I could really rivet someones attention by showing them glimpses of images.  They say that if a person talks fast people tend to comprehend more of what they say.  So I was trying the visual side of that equation.   How fast can we comprehend and how good is our visual "buffer".  When does it fill up and we have to pause the movie?    So, let's try some kinestasis.  See where your buffer chokes.

Here is a stunning time lapse film shot on the Canon DSLR 5D from Sheldon Neill and Colin Delehanty.

It really shows what you can do with a motion controlled dolly, like the one by Dynamic Perception.

I learned four things from my personal experience shooting time lapse with the Canon 5D. 

1) Watch your foreground,

2) What setting to use for your still photographs,

3) How to find where and when moonrise happens and the phases of the moon

4) Benefits of having a real compass instead on the one on my iPhone to find where the moon's coming up.

But for this installment let's just talk about foregrounds, flowing water, size of frame and mosquito repellent.

1) FOREGROUNDS IN TIME LAPSE LANDSCAPES – I was trying to set up a dramatic show with a palm tree in the foreground on a clear night in June when the moon was supposed to be at the fullest.  I put the palm tree in the foreground and took a still frame every 50 seconds.   The sky was not pitch black when I got there so I decided to get the moon about an hour later.  I traced the trajectory and set up my shot so that the moon would "probably" cross through the frame (on a diagonal but that's fine.)  I had a palm tree in the foreground.

When I played back the sequence I had a twitching palm tree in the foreground. It's quivering movements distracted from the graceful arc of the moon and the clearing clouds.  

FLOWING WATER – One of the scenes in the Yosemite film shows the water in the bottom of the frame.  Water time lapse doesn't look as pretty when you set a high shutter speed for each of your time lapse stills.  I would suggest you might want to experiment and lower your shutter speed so you get a more "smeary" frame for the fast moving water. The mountains aren't moving so you don't need to be shooting at a fast shutter speed.

SIZE OF FRAME – Also, don't shoot in "L".  Shoot in "S".  All you need is a frame to fill your 1920 by 1080 frame. Shooting higher than "S" fills your card faster and eats a lot of hard drive space when you go to edit.  

MOSQUITO REPELLENT – Mosquitos know when you're shooting time lapse at night.  They alert all mosquitos in a twelve mile radius.  They know you can't move for at least an hour even if you have a digital controller. You'll be checking your shot and making sure people don't walk off with your tripod.  And they like to land on your lens and watch you freak out as you countdown to the exposure.

WELL-MEANING RELATIVES – Relatives also know when you're shooting time lapse.  I'm on the flat deck of my house shooting the moon moving up slowly through the clouds and they all come up on the deck to see.  And the deck, being a deck sags a little with their weight.  Later in editing I see that the moonrise has a hitch in it.  Not to mention when my relatives were leaving I turned to say goodbye and nudged the tripod.  I tried to get it back where it was, but alas, it was not to be. So now I have a great moonrise with a missing middle.  

LESSONS LEARNED: Be careful about the foregrounds.  In the Yosemite films you can see some of the shots they framed the "twitching" grass out of the frame.  Consider slowing your shutter speed. Set the frame size to "S". Use mosquito repellent. Don't tell anyone you're shooting time lapse.

(more next time)

Contest Rules and Regulations FAQs

Welcome to the Canon Boot Camp Contest Page. Since you’ll have a better chance to win if you understand the rules and regulations involved, here they are in plain English:

Who can submit entries?

Anyone may enter. We are assuming only still photographer and DSLR Filmmakers would be interested, but really, anyone may enter. As long as they fulfill the qualifications, it’s all good.

What’s in it for me?

The Canon Boot Camp is a value-packed, 2 day-intensive DSLR workshop that’s great for beginning filmmakers as well as complete Pros and anyone in between. It’s probably worth about $2500, but let’s just say you’d save about $1000 if you win the contest. There’s some other benefits to getting into the class:

• Connections with Industry Professionals
• Getting listed on our Graduate list with a link to your website
• Possibly exposure in our blog for your business and future DSLR projects/films
• Possibly getting DSLR film projects when The Association isn’t available or appropriate for requested projects we receive

Can I submit more than one entry for the month I want to attend?

Nope. Only one chance per month. But during the entry process, you may check each available month (see the available event dates on the right side of this blog) in order to submit ONE entry for EACH available month. The only other variable on that statement is when it’s after the 15th of each month. That’s because the contest for the current month ENDS at midnight on the 14th of each month. Otherwise we don’t have time to pick a winner for that month so they have a chance to actually arrange arriving at the Boot Camp.

You can try submitting more than one email address, but that would only be annoying for both you and the contest administrators. For one thing, you’d get our newsletter multiple times. We’d eventually figure it out and cancel the 2nd win to pick someone else.

I’ve already done the Canon Boot Camp. Can I submit an entry anyway?

If you attending the Canon Boot Camp before, you don’t need to submit an entry. Graduates are eligible to come back for a refresher on any later date. So in a way, you’ve already won! You may submit an entry and win a boot camp for someone else, such as a friend, relative or colleague. If you win, you’ll have to let us know specifically who the boot camp is being gifted to so we can make sure administration is taken care of on our end.

What are the qualifications and requirements in order to submit an entry?

• You must have clicked on the “Like” button of our Facebook Page.
• We have to know which event month you’d like to win a seat for.
• You must have an active subscription to our Email Newsletter.

If I submit entries for multiple months, am I eligible to win more than one Canon Boot Camp?

You may only win ONE Boot Camp.

My schedule doesn’t allow me to attend until after all the currently listed event dates. Will the contest be continuing after the currently listed events?

The contest applies to all listed dates and future dates until notification otherwise. We reserve the right to end the contest at any time.

We’ve been to Prague, we’ve been to Palm Springs, but this weekend, the Canon Boot Camp went where we’ve never been before: the cemetery. We brought ten of our Canon Boot Camp students and a can of zombie repellent with us to Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, CA. (Disclaimer: The above photo is NOT the cemetary in Altadena.)

No, we were not shooting a zombie thriller—that would have been too cliché (although we could have cranked up the shutter speed on our Canon cameras to make a really cool one). We were shooting the last scene of a twisted murder thriller written by our very own “office mom”, Nancy Murray. Sure, she passes out cookies around the office and tells us to take our vitamins, but behind that smile lies the lethal Black Widow.

Without ruining the plot, let’s just say that the past two boot camps have taken a dark turn, unlike our previous two fantastical videos, one of which is The Sonnet. Knives, guns, handcuffs, and a cemetery doesn’t sound like a typical Canon Boot Camp to me. To help ease the creepiness some might associate with cemeteries, we were lucky to find one of the most beautiful cemeteries in Los Angeles. We were the only bodies there on a Sunday afternoon. The groundskeeper, John, kept an eye on us although I promised him we’d behave ourselves.

The most patient actress in the world, Anna Easteden, and our Canon Boot Camp students.

The ladies of the Canon Boot Camp setting up for a beautiful ending shot to our killer short.

Coincidentally, the Mountain View Cemetary is the same location used by Ron Howard as a location for a short film entitled, “When You Find Me” as part of the 2011 photo competition sponsored by Canon.

As you can see from the photos, it’s a hands-on activity and requires teamwork. We have plenty of equipment and students are able to really get involved in the shooting, the footage of which eventually becomes a short film. So far we have submitted one Canon Boot Camp short film (mentioned above – The Sonnet) with another short premiereing soon. Students are of course in the credits and may use the footage on their own reel.

We’re looking forward to the September Canon Boot Camp. Join us! If you can’t attend, then be sure to sign up on our newsletter to keep in touch for other dates.