My thoughts on the BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera - From a videographers perspective

For a few weeks now I have owned and used the BMPCC/Pocket Cinema Camera for a variety of different types of videos including but not limited to: Music Video, 2 wedding videos, a Promo video, Yoga Class videos and a TV Commercial.

An example of how to make the tiny BMPCC a slightly less tiny BMPCC.

While I was initially overwhelmed by the cameras size, image quality, video file size and flat image (more on this in a sec) I am happy to say that my investment is one I consider the best I've made in a while.

This camera is a workhorse, warts and all. The image quality is amazing and holds up well... even in the current days of 4K. My choice to buy a Full HD Cinema camera instead of investing in a 4K camera like the GH4 came down to my views on 4K still in its infancy (the quality is great though!) and very little in the way of showing that 4K quality outside of a cinema. I don't shoot for the cinema screen, I shoot for the web.

Behind The Scenes - "A Couple More Miles" Music Video shoot.

When I first started using the camera I was shooting in the "Video" colour profile... basically giving me a pre-colour corrected image straight out of the camera (similar to what I'd usually get from my Panasonic GH2 and G6) that looked great. I could then tweak contrast and colour more as I pleased. But after a while I began experimenting with the "Film" profile... which gives me a very desaturated and "Flat" image straight out of the camera. Those well versed in the video world will know what this means, so I won't go into detail describing it. You can look at the images below:

Flat image - Straight out of the camera

Final grade - Utilizing a mix of "Film Convert" and "Magic Bullet Looks". View final video here.

All of a sudden my images were opened up to some serious manipulation. I've dabbled with grading quite a bit in the past, but never got anything close to the images I get now. I still have a LOT to learn about grading an image though.

The BMPCC is an odd choice of camera for a wedding videographer. Many prefer the offerings from Canon (5D Mk2-Mk3) for ease of use. I've been using my Panasonic mirrorless cameras now for two years in wedding environments and they have served me well. Now the BMPCC has thrown a spanner in the works, giving me even better video quality than I could reach previously... but complicating my workflow by adding the extra need to colour grade my image (and match that to those I get from my Panasonic cameras). As a videographers tool, I have to say the BMPCC isn't truly designed for the task (the hint is in the name, particularly the "Cinema" part) but the trick is preparing yourself with research and a little common knowledge in order to "Whip" the camera into the tool you need it to be.

Tony & Della - Ungraded Still

Tony & Della - Graded Still. Final video here.

For promotional video purposes this camera is hands-down the best camera you can get for the money. You will be able to shoot images perfectly capable of web distribution as well as community TV/broadcast. Maybe not at BBC level, but definitely smaller local TV stations.

Reviewing a take - 'Couple More Miles' Video Shoot

I recently used the camera to begin shooting a music video that a local musician wishes to air on a national cable music video channel. This is where the camera proves it is able to produce what it says it's capable of: Cinematic images. Of course, this doesn't just come down to the camera... it comes down to the operator. I'm not a cinematographer by any stretch, but in my opinion this tool has become an extension of myself and my skills.

A Couple More Miles - Ungraded Still

A Couple More Miles - Graded Still

A Couple More Miles - Ungraded Still

A Couple More Miles - Graded Still

To sum it up... this is probably the best camera I've owned... yet. Despite its shortcomings, such as crop factor (which do bother me, but I work around it) and form factor (it's so tiny!)... it packs some serious punch. My only real gripe comes down to how power hungry it can be... but the battery life is a well documented flaw that other reviewers have harped on. There are workarounds, such as my Sony Battery work around... that combat this issue.

I'm looking forward to using this camera for many productions in the future. I would love to see how well it works in a feature film environment!

 Till next time folks!

Taking your 16:9 footage and making it Anamorphic.

Clicking the links will open screenshots ;)

Those of you who live and breath films will know that Anamorphic aspect ratios are pretty much a standard in todays Hollywood film market. What you probably don't know is: How to make your own films look just that little bit more cinematic. You could go out and buy an Anamorphic lens for your camera, which is hard enough to do if you don't own a high end camera; or you can do it digitally with your NLE (Non-Linear-Editor)... which is how, in many cases, Hollywood does it. Maybe not with the same tools, but... they do it cheap ;)

What I will show you today is pretty much the same way Hollywood does it, but cheaper.

Prep.
Now, this won't work for all situations... considering most people don't consider framing when they're filming, but there is a few things you can do to help you out. First off, take some masking tape, and put two strips on the top, and bottom of your Camera's LCD screen. This pretty much simulates where your framing will need to be. For added effect (and it will work SO MUCH BETTER), use a wide angle lens... even for close ups. This will help you fit more into the frame, and will give you as close-to-Anamorphic as you can get without buying the lens. Remember, when framing up with your LCD screen, that where the tape is covering, will be be what you are cutting out later in editing.

After Shooting, and on to editing.

I'm going to show you how to simulate this anamorphic effect in Sony Vegas 8 pro, but I'm pretty sure you can use the same method in Premiere Pro. To my knowledge, Final Cut Pro has a preset built into the program that allows you to actually do this effect automatically.
Bear in mind that my method isn't quiet accurate (but it does the job) and that you will probably want to experiment to get it just right.

Firstly:
Import your footage. Before you begin to crop and split your footage, make sure you DO AS I SAY. If you don't, you will spend a lot of time going through all your little snippets doing this one bloody thing. If you don't want to do it this way, you can always edit, render your file, and then re-import the rendered file... and do it this way. Quicker, easier... simpler. Your footage can be in 16:9 or 4:3 format... but bear in mind that A LOT of your footage will be cut out. Heres my footage imported into SV8


Once you've rendered out/imported a clip into the time line, right click that clip, and select 'Video Event Pan/Crop'. Type in the following details, and disable the 'Lock Aspect Ratio' button to the side of the dialog box.


You may need to tinker with the framing depending on your source file (in my case, I'm editing the stock .m2t file that I imported from my HighDef cam... in your case, SD DV may need tweaking) Also keep in mind that my timeline is set at a PAL DV preset (I chose 4:3, for DVD tranfer) and not HD. This method WILL work when rendering out in 720p or 1080p, but will look a tiny bit different.
Rather than type in every single number on every single clip, just click the box with the preset title 'Unknown', type in 'Anamorphic' and hit the save (floppy disk icon) next to the box. You can then simply cycle through the presets later on and select the custom preset. Once you've finished editing, render out and play in your preferred video player.

With my own clip, I added a bit of colour grading to give it some more cinematic effect.

Just experiment, you'll get it ;) HAVE FUN!