Duraid Munajim is a Toronto-based director of photography who has shot music videos, short films and documentaries. In this article, he discusses his experience with the Sony 24p format on the documentary Acrobats & Maniacs, about Quebec-based Cirque Eos, acrobats who incorporate choreography, music and special effects.

Directed by Michael Jarvis (Angelique), the 16-week shoot, ending in mid-April, has filmed in Toronto and Quebec City. The project is aimed at domestic and foreign TV.

Highlander Production Group approached me a few months ago to shoot a documentary on an acrobatic troupe called Cirque Eos. Acrobats & Maniacs involved shooting live performances as well as behind-the-scenes footage and a handful of interviews. The documentary was to be shot for a video finish.

Producer Michael Currie was very excited about shooting in high definition, namely with the Sony HDW-F900 camcorder, which captures in 24-frame progressive mode (24p), as opposed to most video cameras, which record in 30-frame interlace mode. One of the primary advantages of shooting in 24p over motion picture film (or Betacam, for that matter) is the length of the tapes – about 50 minutes per tape in 24p mode. This was to be my first gig in HD, and given that my previous experience has been largely in 35mm and 16mm film, I felt some hesitation going in.

The 24p HD image has a slight feeling of ‘flicker,’ which mirrors film projection and makes the overall look more cinematic. Having the opportunity to do a lighting/filter test was tremendously helpful, and I would recommend it to anyone approaching HD for the first time. I was given a day at Panavision to test the camera and settings, and scheduled enough time to familiarize myself with the camera system, look at the effects of filters and go over the menu settings.

I was primarily interested in the effects of diffusion and correction filters. I find that high-resolution video has a look I would call ‘hard’ rather than ‘sharp,’ due to the electronic image caught on a fixed light-sensitive CCD chip. 35mm film, by contrast, has a light-sensitive emulsion made up of millions of randomly dispersed silver halide grain particles. This ‘randomness’ gives the look of grain, which can, I believe, be sensed even when watching slower film stock. What I found in these tests was that lighter grade diffusion filters helped in adding a slightly softer, gentler look. My filters of choice were the Classic Soft and Gold Diffusion EFX series. One tip: given the greater depth of field of HD, it is important to stay as wide open as possible, otherwise you will ‘see’ the filter through the lens.

Knowing Betacam even a little helps here because all the terminology is written in video language. With more than 25 pages of user-menu settings, terms like ‘knee,’ ‘matrix’ and ‘black gamma’ might seem confusing at first, but are really relatively simple concepts for those with some video background.

The Sony 24p HDCAM allows you to alter sensitivity, latitude (especially in the highlight and shadow areas – ‘knee’ and ‘black gamma’), and color gamut. Generally, HD does not have the latitude or dynamic range of film, but being able to control the contrast settings of the image either on set or beforehand can be very useful, especially when trying to render unique looks or moods to different scenes. A memory stick reader on the camera allows the DOP to dial in up to five settings per stick.

Limited latitude

I think it is somewhat misleading to compare HD to reversal film stock, as is often done, despite both formats’ lack of exposure range. There are several pros and cons when comparing the two.

In HD, the DOP is able to set the exposure with the zebra stripes in the black-and-white viewfinder, which is much easier than verifying with a light meter or looking through a traditional internal metering system. On the other hand, reversal film offers strong color saturation and a more visible feel of grain (if shooting in 16mm). One is not able to achieve the same depth and richness of color with HD.

HD camcorders have a gain setting, which gives a similar effect to pushing film, though it can be adjusted from shot to shot as opposed to film, which is roll by roll. This proved beneficial when shooting the Cirque Eos show because we were able to switch the electronic shutter to 1/250th of a second, thereby allowing a sharper image from frame to frame during the show’s speedy acrobatics.

I use my eye for lighting with film and a light meter to verify my exposure. Usually I set fill levels by eye. In video, I use the monitor to light, and in fast situations rely on the zebra settings in the viewfinder.

With negative film, depending on whether I am finishing on tape or print, I know I have a healthy amount of latitude to be able to shift exposure, change color and place my highlights and shadows. With HD, about 90% of the grading must be done on set, and there’s a minimum amount of color correction that can be done in post. This is simply because HD as of yet does not have the dynamic range of negative film. Therefore, certain situations can take longer to light.

Judging my lighting by the HD monitor adds further time to the lighting process. It was not very practical on this project to have an operator, so I found myself constantly running back and forth between the camera and the monitor to check light levels and colors.

Resetting the camera can also take longer because of all the cables involved. Besides the video cable (either the standard three-cable ‘umbilical cord’ or the one cable with the SDI adaptor), the camera is also hooked up to sound. When the camera has to move fast, either the sound man comes along for the ride or the cables have to be disconnected then reconnected when the camera settles in its new place.

Also, it is a myth to think you need less light on HD than on film. Compared to slower film (HD’s relative sensitivity hovers around 320 ASA), one would in fact need less wattage light, but not less units of light. If the shot calls for a backlight on a character, for example, HD will not magically create one for you.

It would be nice to see HD camcorders exhibit a little more latitude and increased color depth. It is good to already see a wider range of lenses becoming available, however, particularly with primes. Although there is plenty of room for improvement with these cameras, one must keep in mind that the format is still in the early days of its genesis.

-www.sony.ca