IntoTheForest - Cinematic

Hey everyone,

nice to meet you. Im new here and looking for people to connect to and also looking for critism/feedback.
Few month back I started with video making with my Canon 1200D DSLR.
I really love making these kind of videos and hope to become a much better videographer with you :)

It would be much appreciated if you could tell me what do you think about it and where I would need to improve.

Looking forward to hear from you.

youtube.com/watch?v=GjRTxbRWdZI
 
Hey everyone,

nice to meet you. Im new here and looking for people to connect to and also looking for critism/feedback.
Few month back I started with video making with my Canon 1200D DSLR.
I really love making these kind of videos and hope to become a much better videographer with you :)

It would be much appreciated if you could tell me what do you think about it and where I would need to improve.

Looking forward to hear from you.

youtube.com/watch?v=GjRTxbRWdZI


Very cool! You have some nice inspired shots there. Now, come up with a loose abstract story, get a couple performers, dress them up in some costumes that connect to the story/world, and make a real music video! You definitely have the kno-how!

I like your footage, but if you can sell that thang and get a 5D Mk 3, and use the Magic Lantern firmware, it will look a million times nicer. Not that it's necessary, your stuff looks good, but there's always different quality levels, and it's DSLR so you will be familiar with it. It DOES take some significant post processing though.

One thing, if you haven't already, just sharpen your DSLR footage SLIGHTLY in post, by like 5-10 points. In Resolve, only 5 points. If you are using Magic Lantern, or some other sort of RAW, or CinemaDNG format, you won't need this. But I've found if you are shooting H.264 or Prores with a DSLR, a tiny bit of sharpening in post helps a lot. Make sure to turn off any sharpening in camera.
 
@CamDoz Thank you very much for your response. In 2 month I have birthday and will finally get a new camera. I geared up on lenses to cover more focal distance. This will definitely improve the quality of each individual shots.

Anyway, yeah I do some sharpening in post already, but I think finding the best balance is something I still need to learn, or colorgrading.

I always wondered what Magic Lantern does to your camera, how it can improve your workflow or image quality. But I heared it can trash your camera software? meaning a camera becomes unusable anymore? So I was kinda scared even trying this on my 1200D.

What benefits would bring that to a high end camera? (The one I want to get is actually the 5D Mark IV :) )

PS: Sry for late response, Im usually quite fast responding, but did crazy overtime last couple of days, because of the Squadron42 (Star Citizen) Trailer airing tonight.
 
@CamDoz Thank you very much for your response. In 2 month I have birthday and will finally get a new camera. I geared up on lenses to cover more focal distance. This will definitely improve the quality of each individual shots.

Anyway, yeah I do some sharpening in post already, but I think finding the best balance is something I still need to learn, or colorgrading.

I always wondered what Magic Lantern does to your camera, how it can improve your workflow or image quality. But I heared it can trash your camera software? meaning a camera becomes unusable anymore? So I was kinda scared even trying this on my 1200D.

What benefits would bring that to a high end camera? (The one I want to get is actually the 5D Mark IV :) )

PS: Sry for late response, Im usually quite fast responding, but did crazy overtime last couple of days, because of the Squadron42 (Star Citizen) Trailer airing tonight.

HAHA, Squadron 42 eh? I'm a competitive dogfighter in Star Citizen and participate in tournaments lol! I'm in the org HHN.

Anyway, Magic Lantern will give a 5D Mark 3 the ability to record RAW video in 14 bit color (yes, 14 bit...a that's a ton, but that's what it does last I read). It looks amazing....the best stuff I have shot with my DSLR was Magic Lantern stuff, for certain. However, yes, it could potentially cause you problems. I have NEVER had an issue with my personal 5D mk3 that I put Magic Lantern on. However, I put it on a work camera for a test one day, and even after removing it, it seems to be freezing 1 out of 10 times that I turn it on. Whoops...oh well. Still works. Another thing to think of is that you need VERY fast cards, at least 1000x, to record that RAW video. Post processing is a bit of a bitch with that format too....and the files are enormous....It's a solution for creating cinema quality images, for very specific goals with a cheaper camera...not a solution for corporate field productions or a lot of practice....or even for paid work if you want things to be quick and reliable.

At the time, I didn't care at all about my 5D bricking....I used this build years ago for a ton of projects, and I was so at the end of my rope with my career that all I wanted to do was make some videos I was hired to make look as good as I possibly could, so that I could leverage it for more work. I didn't get more work from those lol, almost positively because I was stabbing in the dark for clients for over a year, BUT the work looked awesome lol, and many of those pieces are still on my site.

Magic Lantern doesn't make a firmware for the 5D Mark IV as far as I know. Maybe they will, but I wouldn't count on it. I also don't know a ton about the Mark IV, but I know it does 4k.

Here is how I would feel personally about the 5D Mark IV, and keep in mind, as far as any personal projects go I am only interested in creating work that is of the utmost cinematic quality....I'm not saying I do that a lot, or that I've accomplished anything amazing, it's a new philosophy of mine because I'm unsatisfied with what my work has gotten me.

But honestly I am no longer interested in needing to take nice pictures, I don't need a super fast workflow, I don't need to worry about drive space, and I don't need to favor convenience. I want shadows that don't clip, no noise, no goulash, and I want large format with variable frame rates. If you can afford to kit this camera out, I would get the Blackmagic URSA Mini 4.6k camera, or the Pro version of that if you have another $1,000:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...inecamursam46k_ef_ursa_mini_4_6k_digital.html

You will have to get batteries, rails, cards, cables...probably will spend $7,000 total when you are done. But it's an awesome cinema camera. It's not a low light camera....you will see noise in your blacks if you don't have some light in there....but if you use your lighting the right way, the blacks and highlights are great, was very impressed by it for my last short film. When the lighting gets low, you will see a bit of grid pattern in your image....that's the price point though....we can't all afford Red Epics. It's specifically a cinema camera, IMO.

But, if that is all a bit too much, go for the 5D Mark IV brutha. Those would be my only two choices in their respective price points.
 
Great response. Thank you. Im trying to use what I have and I guess the 5D Mark IV will give me much improved quality. I think I can work with that, but thanks for the suggestions :)

Im really curios how your Videos look like..have you uploaded them to Youtube/Vimeo?

Hehe cool so you are playing Star Citizen. I guess I will at some point.."see you...aaarround the verse" :)
 
No problem. Below is a thread with a short film I made last year. We used a Sony A7s2, and I didn't really like it to be honest, but most of that we recorded with an Atomos Shogun which really improved the image. My DP owned the camera so it was convenient and worked out fairly well. ALSO, lol...I have a Machinima I made with Star Citizen...I am pretty proud of it heh heh, was VERY difficult to make with the game in the state it was in...took months. It's NSFW, there is bad language, but it's comedy, all in good fun, just for mature audiences is all. First link is the live action short film:

Franklin
http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?p=439943#post439943

UEE & Me (the Star Citizen thingy)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEZ2nKU-81Y

I will put up my website on my profile soon, which has some more videos, just redesigning right now.
 
Last edited:
Yeah your videos look cool. I liked the story on your kids short movie. Creating Machinimas is incredibly difficult when not having proper tools for it. I started creating Machinimas with the Dragon Age Origins Engine. That was some fun times. But even today Im struggling with the tools from StarCitizen Engine (But why do I complain, it is still much more convenient/powerful then capturing stuff from the actual game with it ;D) Looking forward to create my own story machinima using our Timeline tool (Trackview) when Squadron is more finished.
 
Yeah your videos look cool. I liked the story on your kids short movie. Creating Machinimas is incredibly difficult when not having proper tools for it. I started creating Machinimas with the Dragon Age Origins Engine. That was some fun times. But even today Im struggling with the tools from StarCitizen Engine (But why do I complain, it is still much more convenient/powerful then capturing stuff from the actual game with it ;D) Looking forward to create my own story machinima using our Timeline tool (Trackview) when Squadron is more finished.

Thanks for checking them out :)
 
Back
Top