Sony XDCam EX1

Sony is due to release a new camera in this November to replace the familiar Sony Z1, and it looks like its shaping up to be a very decent camera and worthy replacement. Some of the big changes to Sony's traditional camera lines are the tapeless recording medium, no SD recording or down conversion options and bigger 1/2 inch sensor chips. I thought it would be interesting to compare a few technical specifications between the Z1 and the new EX1, as well as compare them to the recently released Holy Grail of digital movie cameras, the Red One. Although some might say this is rather like comparing Apples to Oranges, both the Sony EX1 and Red One are targeting the high end Prosumer markets which will appeal to Indie film-makers, and the price range isn't too dissimilar to compare the two. The results are below: (scroll down for the table)

Camera	Sony Z1	Sony EX1	Red One	Sony CineAlta F23	Panavision Genesis
Sensor Type	3x ¼ inch CCD	3x ½ inch CMOS	1x 1.1 inch CMOS	3x 2/3 inch CCD	1x 1.1 inch CCD
Effective Pixel Count	1440 x 1080 / 1.1MP	1920 x 1080 / 2.2MP	4520 X 2540 / 12MP	1920 x 1080	1920 x 1080 / 12MP
Sensitivity	F10	F10	F11	>F12	<F10
Signal/Noise Ratio	52 dB	54 dB	66 dB	62 dB	63 dB
Frame Rate Ranges	25/29.97fps	720P 1-60fps, 1080P 1-30fps	2k 1-100fps, 4k 1-60fps	1-60fps	1-50fps
Recording Formats	108050/60i 25Mb/s onto MiniDV	108050/60i 25Mb/s, 1080P 35Mb/s onto Express Cards	2540P, 4K, 2K, 1080P, 720P onto CF Cards or RAID	1080P HDCAM SR	1080P SSR1 or HDCAM SR
Color Compression	4:2:0 8 bit	4:2:0 8 bit	4:4:4 RGB 10 bit log	4:4:4 RGB 10 bit	4:4:4 RGB 10 bit log
Weight	2.2KG	2.8KG	4.5KG	5KG	6KG
Price Range	$5 000 US	$12 000 US	$17 000 US	~$80 000 US	$10 000 / Week Rental US

It's important to remember that there are a few major differences between the Sony EX1 and RedOne camera. With the EX1, you recieve an all inclusive package which includes batteries, a fixed lens, 2x 8GB Express Cards and charger etc. With the RedOne you only receive the camera, and must purchase all extras separately. There are two reasons I can think of behind this decision, the first being to keep the apparent camera price low, and the second to make the camera highly customizable and upgradable, especially in regard to changeable lenses. Thanks to DVUser (http://dvuser.co.uk) for the images and be sure to check out this in-depth article on the first impressions of the Sony EX1

Edit: I added the CineAlta F23 and Panasonic Genesis, due to their use in motion pictures. It is interesting to compare to cheaper cameras to these more professional orientated ones, as there is less of a difference than what you would expect. The new Sony EX1 compares really well to the Sony F23, as does the Red One to the Panavision Genesis, despite their major price differences.

Environmental Effects in the Digital Revolution

Since it is Blog Action Day (probably tomorrow for most of the world), and the theme is Environmental Concerns, I began to think how much of a difference changing over to Digital over Film in production would affect the environment. Although I doubt it would make much of a change during the Pre- and Post- stages of production, Digital may actually come out surprisingly as being more green and eco-friendly than Film.

There are two main factors that I can think of - the first being the creation and processing of film as opposed to digital storage and acquisition, and secondly the single use reality of film as opposed to reusable digital storage media.

I imagine that the millions upon millions of miles of film used around the world would take their toll in both its creation and processing. The film making process involves using heavy metals such as silver and nitro cellulose. Getting the film processed and developed involves using many chemicals to retrieve the pictures from the medium. Although the film creation and development methods have increased in efficiency and safety over the years, a lot of chemicals and heavy metals are still unfortunately required. Compared with digital, the only environmental cost is the initial creation of the storage devices, which may include gold and some other metals and plastics. Once the storage device is created, there is no environmental cost during its use.

The other main advantage to digital is the ability to reuse digital storage devices many times, compared with the single use function of film. This, combined with no processing costs involved with digital acquisition (the media is simply downloaded onto the required editing system or archival system) means that digital can drastically decrease wastage and harm to the environment.

So, surprisingly, I think that the Digital Revolution will in fact contribute positively to the environment, and is a cleaner and greener medium of which to work on compared with the older method of film.

Important Life Lessons in Scarface

Finally got around to watching Scarface, which is a masterpiece of a film. Early on in the film a couple of lesson's are imparted to Tony Montana. I decided to add a couple more, seeing as how he managed to break all the rules and do away with such lessons.

#1 Don't underestimate the other guy's greed.
Tony, paranoid and obsessed as he became, eventually succumbed to this.

#2 Don't get high on your own supply.
Nope didn't happen. The massive pile of 'snow' on his desk took over from his small lines of cocaine.

#3 Live and let live.
Didn't really follow this one, seeing as how killing basically set him up right from the beginning. The only downside was, with so many names on his belt, it was inevitable to get killed himself.

#4 Turn the other cheek.
Instead of turning away, a high pitch sound reminiscent of the siren played in the Kill Bill films begins playing, as Tony's anger takes over. He ended up losing his best friend this way.

#5 The best things in life are free.
Supposedly not, as in Tony's words - First you get the money. Money gets you the power. Power gets you the women. After becoming the top dog with all the money, Tony wonders if all the paranoia and stress are worth it.

I find it hard to believe that Tony Montana is the idol of many 'gangster rappers'. Can't they see that in the end he ends up with nothing? Where's the glamour in being filthy rich, whilst always worrying about people trying to take you out / kill you. I guess Tony imparted little wisdom on the waves of materialistic souls. This film reads as a warning to the dangers of a distorted view of the 'American Dream', and does it very stylishly. A true classic of a film that shouldn't be missed.

Car Burnout pics

Finally got around to obtaining some stills from the car fire that I mentioned quite awhile ago... Some of the footage turned out really well, there's a piece where the wind blows the fire around in a weird circle, and it spirals. There were 4 cameras shooting at the same time during the burnout, so there are plenty of angles. Good usage of an otherwise useless car!

Abandoned Hospital Wing

A couple of days ago I was involved in a shoot in the abandoned wing of the Invercargill hospital. The area is huge, and has been abandoned for the last three years since the new hospital was built. The cool thing about the location is how it has just been left, and is almost totally furnished with old desks and hospital beds etc. It looks really run-down too, with trash everywhere and empty medicine bottles. The area includes many offices, hospital rooms and even an operating theatre.

The place basically looks like something out of Silent Hill. I'm trying to write a short script based around the location, just a three minute one, and try to make it as spooky as possible. Will try and have the location secured for shooting this coming Friday if I can book out all the gear. Sure wish I had a camera to take some pictures with...

How to be a Millionaire Stills

As promised, here are some stills from the film I worked on.

Conan the Barbarian

Last night I decided to relax, and watched the 1982 classic Conan the Barbarian. I have to say, this has to be one of my favourite movies. Directed by John Milius and based off the stories by Robert. E. Howard, Conan the Barbarian basically set the standard for all following fantasy styled films, and kick-started the Dungeons and Dragons movement. While watching the film it is hard not to notice how much later films and even games have borrowed from this title.

A young Conan starts off in a small Norse looking village, listening to a story from his father about the riddle of steel, and how he cannot trust anyone except his sword. A short time later the village comes under siege, and although the strong villagers fight valiantly they ultimately fall prey to the marauding attackers, which look like Teutonic Knights on steroids. The leader of these is the charming James Earl Jones. After a fairly intense staring battle between Conan's mother and the Earl, her head is misplaced and falls to the ground, while Conan is whisked away to a child slave camp. The whole home village attack scene has been duplicated in many films, and even reminds me of the beginning of Fable. Where some films and games get this wrong, however, is when they start with the invasion right off the bat. It's hard to care for characters if you haven't learnt anything about them yet, so if you feel motivated to use a similar scene to start things off, make sure you have some time before the invasion to establish the characters etc.

Conan the Barbarian is set in a strange world that is not too dissimilar from our own, and seems to be a mixture of time periods. There are definite Egyptian, Arabian and Norse influences, but these are mixed together to create a unique and thriving world. With an inexact time frame, many liberties could be taken with magic, wardrobes and set designs, and adds to the whole fantasy feel of the film. The whole lack of green screen work, except perhaps for the first two shots of the film, adds greatly to the believability. In modern day films, it is hard to imagine doing any non-green screen work. But for Conan, since all the locations were real and all the lavish sets were real, we are drawn into the world even further. I believe that in the recent Batman Begins film they opted to take a similar route, and restrained themselves from using too much green screen (or blue screen, you know what I mean).

The dialogue through most of the film is fairly minimalist, but some comedy seems to come through in this relatively short space of wordage. For instance, after having some Black Lotus drug Conan and his side kick Subotai are making their way out of the city, when a prostitute tells them that she can protect them from evil. Subotai remarks that he is evil, and Conan remarks that she is a slut. Furthermore there is a whole conversation on flowers between Conan and the wizard. Another thing I found humorous in the film is the random laughs, when one character will begin laughing heartily and the characters around them will follow. Almost reminds me of the laughing moose scene in Evil Dead 2.

All in all Conan the Barbarian is an excellent title for anyone interested in fantasy/adventure films, and has really nice cinematography. Get to see Arnold the Governer Schwarzenegger in all his bloodthirsty glory.