The DSLR Filmmaker's Handbook

Real-World Production Techniques

Barry Andersson

• Publisher: Sybex
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781118983515
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Digital Media

Learn to shoot professional-quality HD footage with your DSLR Camera

The DSLR Filmmaker's Handbook, 2nd Edition is the expert guide to getting professional movie-making results with an HD video-enabled DSLR camera. Fully updated to reflect the latest technology, this updated edition provides guidance toward best practices and techniques that maximize results. Shooting HD video with a DSLR has many benefits — and also a few tricky drawbacks — but this guide gives you the insight and training you need to overcome these challenges as you learn what to anticipate, how to work around it, and how to fix imperfections in post-production. Award winning independent filmmaker Barry Andersson walks you through the shooting process and shows you what to do before, during, and after filming to ensure high quality results.

Most of today's DSLRs have the capacity to shoot HD video. This, combined with incredible low-light capabilities, shallow depth of field, and relatively low price point make these cameras an extremely attractive entry point for would-be independent filmmakers. This book shows you how to exploit your DSLR's capabilities to produce beautiful film, with step-by-step expert instruction.

• Understand the limitations of DSLR video
• Learn what to plan for before filming begins
• Exploit HD capabilities to maximize the film's visuals
• Produce professional-level, film-quality footage

With thorough explanations and expert instruction, The DSLR Filmmaker's Handbook, 2nd Edition is the training you need to start shooting beautiful HD footage.

Chapter One
Fundamentals of DSLR Filmmaking

When choosing to shoot with DSLR cameras, you need to know some of the basics. Whether your background is with a traditional video camera, as a still photographer, or as a filmmaker, you’ll see some overlap in equipment and terms you are familiar with. However, some unique processes, gear, and workflows apply specifically to shooting video on DSLR cameras, so don’t just skip ahead and assume you know everything.

Features of DSLR Cameras

Until Nikon released the D90 in 2008, buyers had to choose between a digital still camera and a digital video camera. Filmmakers were using film or traditional video cameras for production. When the D90 and, quickly afterward, the Canon 5D Mark II were released, you finally had the ability to shoot digital stills and HD video on the same device. Since then, every major camera manufacturer has added DSLR cameras that can shoot video.

At the time, HD video on a still camera was controversial. A lot of photographers worried that improvements to the still camera would be limited because it seemed all the attention was being placed on the video side of the camera. Independent filmmakers took one look at the early footage and realized the vast potential of this new technology. HD video has been around since the 1990s but was practically available only on traditional video cameras. The design and function of traditional video cameras prevented a lot of the cinematic qualities that traditional film cameras provided.

DSLR cameras allowed filmmakers to easily and inexpensively use interchangeable lenses to craft the look of their film more like traditional filmmaking. These factors, along with an available shallow depth of field and low-light capabilities, were not available on most traditional video cameras. These issues, coupled with the price and quality of the video image, helped supersize the growth of the DSLR market.

As stated previously, since the launch of the Nikon D90 and the Canon 5D Mark II, manufacturers have released an endless string of DSLR cameras that shoot video. The still/HD video hybrid has become the norm for capturing video. You can now just compare models and find the right functions and price point for your project and start shooting.

Sensor Size

If you are not a photographer and not accustomed to dealing with sensor sizes, let’s put it in motion-picture film terms. Sensor size is a bit like choosing whether to shoot on 8 mm, 16 mm, Super 16 mm, 35 mm, Super 35 mm, or 70 mm film. Just as you would with motion-picture film stock, you choose your sensor size based on your budget, the depth of field, and the aesthetic look for your film. In general, the bigger the sensor, the more expensive the camera (just like 35 mm or 70 mm film); the smaller the sensor, the cheaper the camera. This is a generalization, because some higher-end cameras have smaller than full-frame sensors.

A full-frame sensor is approximately the same size as a single frame of 35 mm film from a traditional still film camera (Figure 1-1).

Any non-full-frame sensor is referred to as a crop sensor (Figure 1-2). These sensors vary in size but are smaller than a single frame of 35 mm film from a traditional still film camera.

Figure 1-1: A full-frame sensor and 35 mm still film are the same size; the sensor area is 36×24 mm, or 864 mm².

Figure 1-2: A crop sensor is smaller than 35 mm film. The Canon APS-C sensor area is 22.2×14.8 mm, or 329 mm².

The sensor size affects the “grain” in your image, the light sensitivity, and the depth of field aesthetic for that camera. At the time of this writing, there are two dominant sensor sizes: full-frame sensors and APS-C crop sensors.

Figure 1-3: Nikon APS-C (left) vs. Canon APS-C sensor (right). The Nikon sensor is also used by Pentax and Sony. Notice that the Canon APS-C sensor is slightly smaller than the Nikon APS-C sensor.

APS-C is currently in all non-full-frame Nikon cameras and the Canon 7D Mark II, EOS 70D, and Rebel T5i. To make things slightly more confusing, there is a slight difference between the Canon APS-C and Nikon APS-C sensors (Figure 1-3): specifically, the Nikon APS-C sensor (22.2×14.8 mm, or 329 mm²) is slightly larger than the Canon version (~23.6×15.7 mm, or about 370 mm²).

Figure 1-4: Field of view comparison between full-frame sensor (blue) and crop sensor (red)

If you are using a crop sensor, be aware of how this affects your lenses. When you’re shooting with lenses from traditional 35 mm film cameras, the field of view will not match up with the given focal length on the lens. This is due to the fact that the sensor is smaller than the area the lens would normally be filling when shooting with 35mm film or a full-frame sensor camera.

Some people say that the focal length will be changed when used on a crop-sensor camera, but that is not accurate. Standard still lenses were designed so that the field of view would cover the full frame of the 35 mm film (Figure 1-4). A crop sensor is smaller than a standard 35 mm film frame, and when a standard lens is used, the field of view is greater than what is captured on the sensor (Figure 1-5). This creates a magnification effect. For example, your 50 mm lens will have a narrower field of view. This does not in any way change the actual focal length of the lens, just how much of the area of view is captured (Figure 1-6).

Figure 1-5: Full-frame sensor captured with an 85 mm Zeiss lens

Figure 1-6: APS-C sensor in the same camera position with the same lens. Notice the magnification effect as compared to the full-frame image in the previous figure.

The various sizes of crop sensors have their own multiplication factor specific to that size of sensor; these are referred to as either the crop factor or the focal length multiplier. Specific crop factors range between 1.3 and 2 depending on the size of the sensor. The way the crop factor is determined is a simple division of the size of the sensor by a full frame. For example, a full-frame sensor is 36×24 mm, and a Canon APS-C sensor is 22.3×14.9 mm. Dividing 36 by 22.3, we get 1.614, which we round to 1.6. If you are using a standard 24 mm wide-angle le...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Titlepage
• Copyright
• Credits
• Dedication
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Introduction
• Chapter One: Fundamentals of DSLR Filmmaking
• Chapter Two: Gear and Recommendations
• Chapter Three: Testing and Custom Settings
• Chapter Four: Cameras and Lenses on Location
• Chapter Five: Camera Motion and Support
• Chapter Six: Lighting on Location
• Chapter Seven: Sound on Location
• Chapter Eight: Organizing and Storing Data in the Field
• Chapter Nine: Troubleshooting
• Chapter Ten: Converting and Editing Your Footage
• Chapter Eleven: Audio Crash Course
• Chapter Twelve: Color Correction and Grading
• Chapter Thirteen: Compressing Your Film
• Chapter Fourteen: Post-Production Looks
• Chapter Fifteen: Workshops
• End-User License Agreement