It was my first time attending Cars and Coffee Morrisville, and I brought my FX30 with the Surui Saturn 35mm Anamorphic lens. It was definitely a challenge trying to get the perfect composition, exposure, and focus at the same time while keeping the camera as steady as possible. That really made me get in the zone and just focus(no pun intended) on the shot, seeing as I had a lot to control. But overall, this camera and lens combo produces amazing, cinema-like shots.
Please, comment any feedback, as I'm always trying to better my skills as a creative. I've already taken note of some things I need to work on for next time...
1. Understand the proper stabilization mode to select in the camera while using an anamorphic lens. I don't think I had the right stabilization set seeing as many shots right out of camera were "warpy" which made it difficult to use those clips. I know I had it on normal steady shot, but did I select the right focal length in the setting? is digital stabilization better? or no stabilization at all? I don't know, but thats something I need to experiment with and I will share my results once I figure out what works best.
2. Take more time with each clip and be intentional with every shot. When I reviewed the footage, a lot of the clips were unusable, 3 seconds clips. Either because I was too focused on the composition, that I wasn't steady enough and/or didn't nail the focus. Or I nailed my focus and stabilization, but the shot wasn't composed well or it had no substance that adds to the overall video. Honestly, that comes from me not having an end goal for a video in mind. I really just wanted to do something with my camera so I brought it to get shots. Making a video was in mind but I had no idea what it would look like. Just like with anything in life, moving forward with the end goal in mind makes the process much smoother. If something doesn't get you closer to achieving that goal, ignore it and move on. If I gave myself the goal of only recording certain types of cars or specific shots, it would streamline both production and post production. Another challenge is that I wasn't familiar with the layout of the event. I was learning my way around, checking out the cars, and trying to get good shots simultaneously. Next time, i'll make sure to take it one shot at a time and really be intentional every time I press record.
Large storage solutions and reliable mirrorless cameras have really spoiled filmmakers and photographers, making us lazy. Sometimes, we don't put much effort into getting quality shots. Instead, we focus on capturing as many shots as possible because we know our camera can handle it, and we'll probably get some good shots among the hundreds we take. Once we're done, we filter out the good ones, format our cards, charge our batteries, and repeat the process.
If you knew your camera could only take 10 clips or pictures, how much more thought would you put into it?
4k, 29.97, S-Log3, Handheld(enhanced with Davinci Resolve stabilization), Created to be posted on Instagram.
Follow me on instagram - / nez.vid