{"id":789,"date":"2011-01-07T09:57:16","date_gmt":"2011-01-07T17:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rustinmichael.com\/blog\/?p=789"},"modified":"2013-04-16T09:20:02","modified_gmt":"2013-04-16T17:20:02","slug":"my-experience-filming-absentia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rustinmichael.com\/blog\/2011\/01\/07\/my-experience-filming-absentia\/","title":{"rendered":"My Experience as the Director of Photography for “Absentia”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Preface<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s been 6 months since we wrapped principal photography on the\u00a0psychological thriller\u00a0“Absentia,”<\/a> in which I made my Director of Photography debut. Below you can find some thoughts about the shooting experience, technical notes, goals for 2011, and what I learned. You will also find some stills from the film and the original teaser trailer along with the official feature film trailer. I hope you enjoy.<\/p>\n

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My Background<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0I have loved watching and making movies for as long as I can remember.\u00a0 Before I ever dabbled in still photography I was making short films with my parent\u2019s video camera. I would get a bunch of my friends together and we would decide on a plot and characters and shoot a short film. I would then try to edit the film using 2 VCRs and even try adding sound effects. It was always fun, and not a bad way to spend a summer day while on vacation from school. As my friends and I got older we met less and less to shoot our fun short films but I still had that love for storytelling.<\/p>\n

In high school I discovered still photography. I loved going into the darkroom and seeing the magic of one of my images appearing right in front of me. I still wanted to work in film\/video but was having a blast taking stills.\u00a0 After graduating from Towson University\u00a0with a B.S. in\u00a0Computer Information Systems and working in the defense industry for a couple of years,\u00a0my wife, Victoria, and I packed\u00a0our\u00a0bags and moved from\u00a0Baltimore, MD to Los Angeles, CA in October 2007\u00a0so I could pursue my love for\u00a0photography and film.\u00a0 Just one year later, in 2008, Canon released the revolutionary 5D Mark II<\/a> which would open up the\u00a0door for storytellers.\u00a0\u00a0 I immediately placed my order\u00a0to upgrade my 12.8 megapixel Canon EOS 5D<\/a>\u00a0to the EOS 5D2<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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A New Era<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

What made the Canon 5D2<\/a> revolutionary wasn’t the ability to shoot stills at\u00a021.1 megapixels, which is\u00a0nice for my wedding clients,\u00a0but the addition of\u00a0a new video feature able to capture video in comparison to\u00a0what you see in the theaters.\u00a0 In August of 2008 Nikon introduced the first DSLR that could shoot video, just 3 weeks later Canon announced the 5D2 with a video feature.\u00a0 The Nikon D90<\/a> could shoot 720p HD video at 24fps, a film like frame rate but not true HD resolution.\u00a0\u00a0Even though the Canon 5D2 could shoot in true HD at 1080p,\u00a0the frame rate was limited to 30fps, which isn’t ideal for film-like work.\u00a0 Even with\u00a0the 30fps constraint the Canon 5D2 was preferred by many budding filmmakers for it’s large sensor, which allows a super shallow depth-of-field, and it’s incredible low light capabilities. \u00a0Finally in early 2010 Canon released a firmware update to add 24fps to the Canon 5D2.\u00a0\u00a0 Even with the ability to shoot incredible video DSLRs are still designed to mainly be used as a still camera.<\/p>\n

Since the introduction of the 5D2 and other subsequent DSLRs that shoot HD video many cinematographers in Hollywood\u00a0have included them in their toolkit.\u00a0 Their small size and low cost allow them to be placed in locations that a typical camera wouldn’t fit or could possibly be damaged.\u00a0\u00a0Here is just a short list of some of the projects\u00a0that DSLRs\u00a0are\u00a0being\u00a0used on:<\/p>\n