In May I was hired to film a flamenco dance performance of Amador Rojas’ “Mandala”. Quite a phenomenal show with intricate flamenco dancing and inspired music.  Afterwards the producer contacted me about creating a ten minute documentary showcasing Amador which would be used to get financing for a feature length documentary about Flamenco.  I am scheduled to fly to Sevilla and Madrid at the end of July to film the rest of the doc.

Jahan Raymond. Age 8.

In June of 2010, I was hired to film and edit and short video highlighting Jahan’s musical abilities for the America’s Got Talent contest.

The first song, entitled “A Walk in the Woods” was composed by Jahan. The following tracks include Bach’s “Solfeggietto” & Chopin’s “Prelude in C Minor”.

Are you looking for professional video training with the Canon 5D and 7D EOS cameras or just trying to decide which camera is the right one for you?

With the release of Canon’s new 5D and 7D EOS cameras, that shoot stunning video footage with cinematic depth of field, DSLR’s are being used to shoot advertisements, music videos, and even feature length movies.

With this new technology comes new techniques and tricks!

Learn the ins & outs of these new DSLR cameras in a casual hands-on environment.

Learn the shortcuts. Make your images ‘Pop’!

We have camera’s to practice on and a whole line of accessories and lenses to turn that DSLR into a fully functioning machine.

To set up your first training session please email: damon@rareformfilms.com

VJ Fader is demonstrating faderTouch (rear projection touchscreen) controlling visualSynth, an interactive visualizer app programmed in Processing.

Soundtrack: Rubicon by Bluetech
Shot on Canon 5D by Damon Cirulli

We decided on four locations around Hollywood, my favorite being a dark tunnel with amazing color reflected on the walls.  I used a 70-200mm lens to take the portraits, with a silver reflector kicking up some extra light.

Here are a few of my favorite shots (you can view the rest here!):

Canon has finally released  the new firmware for the EOS 5D Mark II! Oh wait they just recalled it.

I installed the new firmware yesterday only to have it get recalled a day later.

Of course the good news is the new software enables 24p video recording. Also the 30p video frame rate has been corrected to 29.97, while the audio sampling frequency has also been increased from 44.1KHz to 48KHz with manual controls available for the input levels.

Other improvements include a new histogram display that enables monitoring, and a heightened shutter priority AE mode or aperture-priority mode.

Unfortunately it does not appear to include a 60fps 720p recording mode. I guess Canon can’t give all the goodies away at once. Also there seem to be some bugs in the firmware when dealing with the manual audio adjustments which is why the firmware was temporarily recalled.  I also had an issue connecting an external mic after updating, which I hope Canon or Magic lantern can fix soon.

]]> http://www.rareformfilms.com/2010/03/new-firmware-update-for-the-5d-mark-ii-24p/feed/ 0 http://www.rareformfilms.com/2010/02/the-future-of-dslr-updated/ http://www.rareformfilms.com/2010/02/the-future-of-dslr-updated/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:19:19 +0000 rareform http://www.rareformfilms.com/?p=769

Well it’s been a year since I wrote the first “Future of DSLR Video” post and a lot has happened to the DSLR market.

Mainly I am referring to the release of canon’s new line of EOS cameras, the 7D and 1D, which are both capable of shooting stunning footage at 24-60fps (60 is at 720p though). The 5D is still a legit contender; though it feels slightly like a horse waiting to be put back in the race once the firmware update arrives giving it 24-60fps.  Where you at canon??

Unfortunately, we are also still waiting with baited breath for the release of Red’s new line of cameras: the Scarlet/Epic. The pre-emptive hype has died down now but the potential seems well worth the wait. In the meantime, Canon’s new EOS DSLR’s are steadily kicking ass and becoming a professtional tool for shooting music videos, advertisements, web series, and even feature length movies. Vincent Laforet’s video “Nocturne” demonstrated the amazing light sensitivity of Canon’s new 1D Mark IV, which was shot at night in ambient light without any added external lighting.

Recently I have been presently surprised to see the 7D being used on webisodes and a few low budget features in the Los Angeles area.  The fact that the 7D is affordable, shoots 24p and has a more forgiving Depth of Field then the 5D, makes it the prime candidate for the 2010 Underdog Award that I am just making up as you read this. The main drawback to the 7D is also one of it’s strengths: the smaller chip size. Granting it a easier-to-work-with depth of field but lowering it’s sensitivity to light.

So what are a few of my favorite accessories for the canon’s DSLR video arsenal? Red Rock Micro’s Captain Stubling is a solid portable rig that comes with a follow focus and minimal rails for a affordable price. Redrocks second version of the follow focus is a little gritty (Zacuto’s is smoother) but is well built for the price. The rails and handles feel sturdy and light.

Rode’s Videomic microphone is a inexpensive accessory that mounts onto the top of the camera and is great for run and gun shooting.

I’ll add some more of my favorites soon. In the meantime, let me know what you use!