By Jon Silberg
VIDEOGRAPHY
Although designed primarily for still photography, DSLR cameras are increasingly finding a home in moviemaking.
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(From Left) Jon Witmer, Russell Carpenter, Svetlana Svetco and John Guleserian
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The Tuesday panel discussion “Small Profile, Big Results? The Advantages and Challenges of DSLR Cinematography” gave a lively look at the current state of DSLR filmmaking.
Moderated by American Cinematographer Associate Editor Jon Witmer, the discussion featured cinematographers Russell Carpenter, ASC (“Titanic”), Svetlana Svetko (“Inside Job”) and John Guleserian (“Like Crazy”), each of whom came to adopt these cameras in their motion picture work.
All agreed that the cameras under discussion — primarily Canon’s EOS 5D Mark II, 7D and 1Ds Mark IV — can make beautiful pictures and their small profile allows people to shoot almost anywhere without attracting the attention of passers-by or the authorities.
Carpenter, whose work is primarily for studio features and major commercials, was interested in DSLR’s low-profile characteristics.
He recounted how he used one for just a handful of shots in a recent production shot in New Orleans. “We wanted to shoot a scene of Kate Hudson riding a bike to work,” he explained, “but we weren’t allowed to shoot in certain areas so we just rigged a little DSLR to the handlebars and she rode all around and we got some beautiful shots.”
Likewise, Guleserian, who shot the indie feature “Like Crazy” entirely with a DSLR, discussed how he was able to shoot in any number of locations, including aboard a commercial flight, without arousing anyone’s suspicions.
For him and director Drake Doremus, this approach helped shape the aesthetic approach they would take throughout the production. “We had permits to shoot in Heathrow Airport and in a number of locations, but Drake would say, ‘Make the shots look stolen.’”
Svetco, whose work has often been on documentaries and smaller indies, discussed the cameras’ much-vaunted low-light capabilities. Admitting that at ISOs way up into the 6400 range, the images will definitely yield some noise and degradation, she said, “If it’s a choice between getting the shot and not getting it, I want to get it.”
While H.264 is a robust codec — and the images Svetko and Guleserian displayed on the large screen in the hall held up — the cinematographers all expressed hope that they will soon be able to get some kind of RAW images out of these cameras.
“I hope the manufacturers can open the floodgate and let us shoot in RAW,” Carpenter said.
Crewing a DSLR production, the panelists agreed, can involve fewer people, but generally there is a price to be paid. “I miss my first [assistant cameraperson] when I go out with a camera,” Svetco lamented. “And it is always better to have a real first AC pulling focus.”
In the brief Q&A that followed, the questions primarily focused on the future of DSLR production and whether or not some of the newer cameras, such as the Sony F3 with its larger chip and more motion picture-centric design, would eat into the use by cinematographers of what is essentially a still camera with a video feature tacked on.
“As long as these cameras continue to make beautiful still pictures, they are here to stay,” said Svetco, who added that she would likely still use a DSLR today for work she’s used them on previously. “I would love to shoot with an F3 for a different kind of project.”