film making

Episode 0033: Interview with Film Maker Shane Hurlbut

by Dave Warner on January 12, 2010

LensFlare 35 is a weekly show brought to you by Dave Warner. In this week’s episode, Dave interviews film maker Shane Hurlbut. Shane is the pioneering leader of the team who first recognized the creative possibilities of the Canon 5D Mark II camera for shooting film. He has described it as a “game changer” because the platform is uniquely suited to both commercials and features due to its small size and infinite versatility.

A wonderful sense of humor and memorable personality are Shane’s most endearing traits. He is passionate about making moving images come to life, thinks quickly to generate a solution to the myriad of challenges that arise when shooting and is always able to make it work.

In this episode, Shane talks about his background, how he became interested in film making, the first project that he used the HD DSLR’s on, initial problems, unexpected surprises, hardware that had to be invented to use them, and projects that he’s currently working on. In addition, he covers how these cameras are going to change not only the film industry, but still photography, as well as whether it’s better to just get a good HD Cam, or bite the bullet and buy the accessories needed to shoot video on the HD DSLR’s.

This exciting new footage (above) was shot by Shane Hurlbut, ASC and produced by Bandito Brothers production company using the Canon 5D Mark II and 7D cameras. The full podcast interview with Shane can be listened to by hitting the Play button, below.

Movies Shane has been involved with: The Rat Pack, Drum Line, The Greatest Game Ever Played, We Are Marshall, Terminator Salvation to name a few.

Equipment, Software and sites mentioned in this podcast: Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 7D, Canon 1D Mark IV.

Show Sponsors: ExpoImaging, Inc., ScanCafe (provide code LF35 for a 20% discount off your first order), Podcast network commercials from Rosh Sillars New Media Photographer, Jim Goldstein EXIF and beyond, and Martin Baily’s Photography Podcast

To listen to the full podcast interview, click on the player’s forward arrow below. You can also play the Podcast in a pop up window, download it OR subscribe to it via iTunes. You can also download a List of Questions (PDF format) that I ask in the interview.

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Philip Bloom Does it Again- The Tale of Lucasfilm, Skywalker Ranch, Red Tails, Star Wars and Canon DSLR’s

by Dave Warner on December 12, 2009

Well, film maker Philip Bloom seems to have done it again. He starts out by telling you how he missed an email from Rick McCallum, producer of the Star Wars prequels and many other films and TV shows at Lucasfilm. In his blog post, he details what it was like to be invited out to Skywalker Ranch in California. Seems like the Lucasfilm folks wanted to know more about the capability of the video DSLR’s, and in particular the Canon 5D and 7D. So, Philip was excited and jumped on a plane to head out there. But what he does next, is the amazing part of the story.

He gets to the ranch and starts shooting. In his mind he has a plan of how he is going to shoot several different kinds of footage, in different lighting and weather conditions to show the power of these cameras. I don’t know if he storyboarded the whole film ahead of time, or just shot tons of footage and then figured it all out when he got back to his room. This film has all kinds of cool things going on, from the use of focus, a glidetrack, time lapse photography, etc. Philip gets it all downloaded to his computer, converts it to 24P (the 5D Mark II footage – 7D footage shot in native 24P), then puts the production together and has it shown on a 40′ screen with George Lucas, Quentin Tarantino and others in the audience. All this in 24 hours! They were blown away with the final product and so am I.

I don’t believe that I’ve seen a better example to date of what these video DSLR’s can do. On top of that, I’m amazed that one person can have the vision, shooting experience, editing ability AND the capability to put together a final product to music that synced as beautifully as Philip did. This is another reason why he’s becoming the defacto expert on these cameras. Each time he makes a film with them, he breaks new ground.

Watch the video, visit his blog, buy his DVD’s if you haven’t figured this stuff out yet, or follow him on Vimeo or F-Stop Academy. If you have an interest in using the video capability of your camera, he’s the one to watch.

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