Secretariat Partly Shot With Olympus m4/3

[deirdre]

Cinematographer's talk:
[ame=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnZjvFbm42w&feature=player_embedded]YouTube - Olympus Behind the Lens: Dean Semler[/ame]

Trailer:
[ame=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v19Ol1Ltu3c&feature=player_embedded]YouTube - Secretariat Official Movie Trailer[/ame]

Thanks to Ians Tata on fourthirds-user.com for the heads up!

 

[BBW]

Thanks Deirdre! As I said over on Serious Compacts, I'm a sucker for a horse movie with good photography. I'd be interested to know if they "lost" any PENs during this filming as in did they get broken or ruined - clods of dirt flying, horses hooves... It would be great to see how they actually did the filming with these cameras.

 

[deirdre]

You know, now I'm actually going to have to see the movie!

 

[BBW]

I will probably want to see it, too, even though one review from the Christian Science Monitor was not too hot. That said, I really enjoyed "Seabuscuit", though I will probably wait for it to come to Netflix.

 

[VisualFX]

So who does he know at Olympus? This sounds marketing to me. So he is taking a camera that records in 720p, and using those scenes in a full production movie that is going to be shown on the huge silver screen? And because of the 16:9 aspect ratio, it has to be cropped further. Sorry, but 720p will look very soft on such a big screen without a lot of digital enhancement and edge sharpening. Recording in only 720p or even 1080p is just nonsense for a big theatrical screen. There is not enough resolution.

Anyone remember when the new Star Wars was shot digitally? George Lucas shot at 1920x1080 and composited those shots into the larger film area. I saw the movie several times in multiple theaters, and it did not look sharp at all, but very soft. You need at least 3-4K digital resolution to approach film, and to get a sharper image on the big screen.

 

[deirdre]

The point was that, for those shots, they could do things with a PEN they couldn't do by conventional means for various reasons.

The entire budget was 35 million, which is almost nothing these days; I remember reading about how constrained the filming of Twilight was -- and it had a higher budget and a bunch of unknowns.

So, part of it was likely budget, part may well have been a deal with Olympus. So what if it were?

Focus isn't everything if you can't get the shot.

 

[dixeyk]

So who does he know at Olympus? This sounds marketing to me. So he is taking a camera that records in 720p, and using those scenes in a full production movie that is going to be shown on the huge silver screen? And because of the 16:9 aspect ratio, it has to be cropped further. Sorry, but 720p will look very soft on such a big screen without a lot of digital enhancement and edge sharpening. Recording in only 720p or even 1080p is just nonsense for a big theatrical screen. There is not enough resolution.

Anyone remember when the new Star Wars was shot digitally? George Lucas shot at 1920x1080 and composited those shots into the larger film area. I saw the movie several times in multiple theaters, and it did not look sharp at all, but very soft. You need at least 3-4K digital resolution to approach film, and to get a sharper image on the big screen.

Having seen Secretariat I'd be hard pressed to point out where the used the PENS. It was very skillfully done.

 

[shoturtle]

When star wars came 1920x1080 editing was at it's early steps. Allot have advance, so it is not to easy to id the sceens shot at 720 with the pen.

 

[Hyubie]

methinks someone is holding a Panasonic body ...

Peace!