Sony announced a new baby brother to the FS7 at IBC.

The FS5 is a Super 35mm 4k Camcorder recording 100mb/s 8 bit 4.2.0 onto SDXC cards XAVC-L

We teamed up with Filthy Look Films in Sydney Australia to produce the launch films.

This is the third time we’ve worked with Sony on launch content. Last year we launched the PXW-FS7 working with James Tonkin of Hangman Studios in London and in 2013 we shot the A7s launch alongside photographer Drew Garner of Gardner Creative in the UK.

 

While my background is as a lighting cameraman and DP I’ve found myself adopting and evolving into a more of aProducer role in the last few years.  I actually enjoy producing more because I get to work with and collaborate with very talented people on each project. I’m also fortunate that I’ve been behind the lens for over 20 years and am continually looking for new challenges.

In fact I became so used to being the producer that after being asked again and again by filmmakers how to run a production and still maintain a good operating margin I wrote the book Busines for Filmmakers.

 Download a free preview chapter here

This year was no different.

It’s always interesting when we’re asked to do projects like this because the audience is brutal… In many ways,  you are damned from the start because when you are making a launch film your audience are all filmmakers and so naturally everyone has a subjective opinion on how they would have done it differently.   However,  the beauty film is only one element of the brief and this is generally the film most people focus on. However there are multiple stakeholders and agendas on any corporate project and these films are no different, but I think ultimately we get hired agin and again because we deliver, consistently and exactly what the client wants. We also work fast.

There were 5 deliverables on this project.

• A BTS film with no dialogue or narration that could ‘sell’ the virtues of the FS5 in any language or culture]
• A beauty creative film
• A BTS features video with interviews
• Slow motion examples
• A 4K technical image ‘wow’ film
• PR photographs for websites, brochures, on-line etc.

We only had a 3 day schedule to accomplish this.

 

Here’s an overview of what the PXW-FS5 does and doesn’t do…

 

The biggest challenge for us was the weather on this shoot.  We had one of the few wet grey days at Bondi beach in Sydney   that meant our plans for a glorious sunny shoot went right out of the window and there was no budget to go into contingency days for weather.   So as with all things filmmaking we had to get imaginative.

Originally we’d planned to open the film with an aerial shot of Bondi but the sunrise just didn’t appear and so as an alternative Mick came up with the opening silhouette which I think is actually a far more epic shot.

You cannot get through these demanding schedules without a great team.  This project was no exception.  In total,  we had 19 people on set and we filmed in  4 geographically distinct locations.  Just moving the unit around was a fairly big logistical affair let alone filming the 5 components.

 

4K deliverables

Sony wanted all the content (except the slow mo with is an HD feature) to be shot and edited in 4k.  We had the luxury of not being tied to just using Sony lenses like we had on previous productions.  This meant we could take advantage of the E-mount Zeiss Loxia 2/35 and 2/50 as well as the Zeiss Batis 2/25 and 1.8/85.

 

Free Spirit

So for the beauty film we created a narrative around 3 young people on a road trip.  This enabled us to factor in a range of locations that would put the camera under some pressure.  One of the key features of the FS5 is its small size and Sony were very keen to have us showcase it being used in tight spaces and in a very mobile way. We wanted to put a lot of movement into the shots so used theMovi M5 on the BTS and the main film to help the flow.  Shooting 4k needs to be handled with extra care and so fluid slow movement enhances the viewer experience when watching on a 65″ screen at close viewing distance.

 

 

Check out the film Mick created

 

Then there was the BTS film that had to highlight the key features without any narration.

 

 The final piece of content was what the guys from Sony coined the ‘4k Wow’ footage which was largely directed by an engineer.  But when viewed on a 4k monitor does show off the resolution that this little camera is capable of recording

 

Summary

I cannot be impartial when we were hired to produce the filmed content for launch but if you know me I’ve never really been a blogger/reviewer so I won’t pretend to start now.  The reality is, there are probably 6o different camera options available for to you to choose from and so you won’t be stuck when choosing a camera or cameras for your next purchase or project.  This is certainly a very ergonomic and small package option and the fact it records 4k onto SDXC is a real bonus.  As always get your hands on it and Judge for yourself.

 

How to Win a PXW-FS5

Sony are running a worldwide competition.

 

Here’s what they are offering (from Sony)
Monday, we announced an exclusive competition; where one lucky winner will be able to claim a brand new PXW-FS5. This is a global competition and entrants are invited to submit a two-minute film under the theme of “No More Limits”, which will be scored on creativity and uniqueness as well as the difficulty level of the shots captured.

Eligible submissions should be uploaded to YouTube and entered via the Sony Professional form by 31st October. The videos which receive the most YouTube ‘likes’ from the 1st-15th November will form regional shortlists, an Independent expert from each region will select their favourite. These regional finalists will each win a Sony A7S (or equivalent), and will be entered into the global final to win the PXW-FS5. The global winner and regional winners will be announced during the webinar on 17th December.

Click on the image to be taken to an entry form

The post Win a Sony PXW-FS5 and behind the scenes on the launch films appeared first on F-Stop Academy.