Brett McGinnis
First-time independent filmmaker Jono Oliver has realized his dream of shooting a cinematic film made for the big screen on a super tight budget. Much of the magic of Home, the story of a mentally troubled young man trying to live independently, is credited to the ambitious crew and Canon’s EOS C300 Digital Cinema Cameras and Cine Zoom lenses.
The film crew shot 110 pages of script in just 20 days in New York City. They accredit the portability, functionality and low profile of the camera for helping them achieve this feat. “The small body of the EOS C300 let us tell a better story because we were able to get into real places, among real people in real situations without calling a lot of attention to ourselves” says Oliver.
There were usually 2 C300’s shooting at once. The “A” camera was fixed with a prime lens, while the “B” camera was fitted with the Canon CN-E30-300mm T2.95-3.7 L SP cine zoom lens. Oliver says that if your film is limited to one lens, the Canon CN-E30-300mm is a great choice since it covers a range of different lenses. Oliver says, “The 30-300mm zoom enabled us to capture the streets by going wide, and then seamlessly go super-tight on people working in that environment without having to stop and change lenses. We got a lot of great coverage that way”. The EOS C300 weighs less than 4 pounds and due to it’s minimal lighting requirements, Oliver claims to have taken no more than 10 minutes to set up between shots.
On the post production side of things, a lot of credit is being given to Canon’s “log” feature. Canon log allows for the full 12 T-stop exposure latitude of which the camera is capable. This is important for color grading for film-style dynamic range between shadows and highlights. Apparently the image is so spectacular that people are actually a bit confused, “People who’ve seen footage think it was shot on film..” claims Oliver.
The film’s producer, Daniela Barbosa is quoted as saying “There’s no reason why every independent filmmaker shouldn’t get a EOS C300 and start shooting. It will totally revolutionize the independent filmmaking market.”
Home is currently in post-production. You can keep updated on the film at the official website homethefilm.com
For more information on Canon’s EOS C300 Digital Cinema Cameras and Cine Zoom Lenses, visit Canon USA’s official site
http://usa.canon.com/cusa/professional/products/professional_cameras/cinema_eos_cameras/eos_c300