Super 8 - Corrected VS. Uncorrected

Sample frames of 7217 Vision 2 Super 8 Corrected and Uncorrected (flat) in the transfer. It is essential to make sure that your transfer house has the controls to properly manage the colors, contrast and density of the new (fabulous!) negative film stocks. We've had to do a number of 'retransfers' for people who have had their films transferred elsewhere and were not satisfied with the results.
Stock: 7217 200t
Format: Super 8mm
Camera: Canon 1014xls
Cinematographer: Justin Lovell

Upgrading our Color Correction Management

Check out some of the frame grabs from the new color corrector we're testing out (click to enlarge). It's pretty sweeeeeeet. Allows to load full 1D/3D LUTS. For those familiar with photoshop, we can now do color corrections in Curves. This is awesome for digging out information in the shadows. Also amazing for being able to selectively build a look by selectively modifying the gamma curves for each primary color. Each correction can be stored as a seperate scene file along with the histograms/RGB parade stored with a still frame. This allows us to technically and visually match up shots scene by scene. So much cool stuff in the new remote, I just can't get into it all in one post... exciting!

On Location- "ICON"

I got a great opportunity to shoot a short film for Kathleen Smith last week. After many discussions, we decided to shoot on the HVX 720p and super 16mm. The film is a narrative piece influenced by the work of Werner Herzog. Shot over the course of a day, Smith walks 35kms from Bloor/Bathurst (toronto) to the Metro Zoo (5:30am-7:30pm).

I really wanted to steer clear of the typical handheld, reality tv, documentary feeling. So in taking a more cinematic approach to documentary storytelling, I shot 80% of the film on our Jib arm and dolly track. Fellow cinematographer Guy Godfree was on location and helped develop a solid workflow with the Jib that took us mere minutes to have it out of the wagon and ready to shoot.

A large portion of the film was shot at 30 -48fps to give a more poetic look and to allow the narrative to breathe. We would have shot more film, but unfortunately the spring snapped on our bolex during our first roll. Sad day, but worked out for the best as we really couldn't afford the reload time. Camera is back with our Pal, Jean-Louis, at Concordia University for repairs. He is the only guy I will trust with my camera (he did our super 16 modification).

Premiere screening June 5th at The Theatre Centre 1087 Queen St. West 8pm.

Stock: 7246 250D
Format: Super 16mm / 720P P2
Camera: Bolex Super 16 / HVX-200
Director: Kathleen Smith
Cinematographer: Justin Lovell

Super 8 Timelapse- K40

Click To Play

Some super 8 timelapses I shot across Canada for Tell Us the Truth Josephine: A Bitter Immigrant Story. First shot was done on the 1 frame every 5 seconds interval setting. The rest were shot on the Nizo variable interval settings. (Awesome camera for timelapse- has a B setting to keep the shutter open for night timelapses and a fully variable intervalometer).

Stock: Kodachrome 40
Format: Super 8mm
Camera: Canon 1014xls, Nizo S800
Cinematographer: Justin Lovell

On Location- The Adrenaline Project- YTV

Now that the show has aired on YTV, I can post some stills from the shoot. The show is called The Adrenaline Project- an extreme sports reality show for kids. I was hired on to teach the kids how to dirtsurf, and to also shoot some B camera ride along footage with Toronto DP Kevin Wong's HVX-200. Super fun time out with the guys. Frame Discreet cinematographer Barry Cheong was also shooting on 2nd unit.