planet5D Exclusive! Shane Hurlbut (Canon Explorer of Light, DP on “Terminator: Salvation” and more (imdb profile) – oh, and don’t forget the “helmet cam“) released his new Canon EOS 5D Mark II short entitled “The Last 3 Minutes”. In this short written and directed by Po Chan, we watch a man’s last 3 minutes of life. I love the editing, the shots, the lighting, the music… ok, just about everything LOL!

Shane said this about the film:

“When the rumors about the 24p update for the Canon 5D were swirling, I was perfectly happy with my cocktail that I had perfected on the Navy SEAL film; 30p and then Twixtor to frame blend. Then, commercial production companies and the ad agencies started to inquire about needing 24p because they could not deal with the rendering time of all the Twixtor files, the 7D started to rise as the premium capture. That is when the aha moment happened for me. I wondered, why is everyone asking for second best when the Canon 5D is king? At that point, I knew I had to be a proponent of the 24p upgrade and to shoot something with it that would bring people back into focus about the camera that started it all.

So Lydia Hurlbut negotiated with Canon to sponsor a visual short produced by Hurlbut Visuals and Bandito Brothers Productions that showcased the 24p firmware update in the 5D to remind everyone of the power of this amazing tool. A tool that can inspire out of the box thinking. I wanted to feature the Canon glass to show what I had learned over the last 13 months shooting one feature, 12 commercials, and 20 short films with this platform.”

Here’s the movie – much more about the making of the movie ‘after the jump’ as they say… oh, a larger size is on Canon’s site too

Our thanks to Shane and Lydia Hurlbut for giving planet5D this exclusive!

Here’s the rest of Shane’s PR about the movie:

“Director: Po Chan

“The day when Shane asked me to come up with “The Last 3 Minutes” treatment I was so excited. I knew that I did not have to limit my vision and could go wild because of what this camera can do. I wanted to write a story which would enable us to showcase different kinds of lighting scenarios and extreme camera angles that will touch audiences hearts. Visuals without a story have no meaning. My own little philosophy about life is that life is like a BIG CIRCLE. We are all born INNOCENT. No matter how many wrong doings or right things we have done, at the last minutes before death we will again become innocent. This is the big circle of life and it is the inspiration behind “The Last 3 Minutes.” The main element in this film is the CRYSTAL that William carries with him, which represents the theme of INNOCENCE and William’s own conscience. A crystal refracts light, so when William looks inside it each refraction becomes a different memory in the course of his life. It is analogous to peeling back layers of an onion with the center layer being just at the moments before death. All of the elements in this film: casting, music, wardrobe style and color, make up (the lipstick color on the actress), hairstyle and color, set dress pieces and the texture of those pieces to the look of the crystal. Everything was carefully planned and considered to make sure every element worked in concert with the story, together in harmony.” For further questions about the concept please email Po at pchan731@yahoo.com.

Cinematographer and Executive Producer: Shane Hurlbut, ASC

“I asked Po to write this short and she delivered a phenomenally creative concept within a day. Po not only wrote a heartfelt story but a piece that took advantage of every unique possibility with the Canon 5D technology, especially because of her ideas with using a first person experience. A huge thank-you to Po for her tireless vision and leadership.

When Po and I discussed her creative concept, I believed that the Canon L series glass would be the perfect lens choice because of the close-focus ability and creamy quality. The Canon glass shined on this project and I was so impressed with the 35, 50, 85, 100mm Macro L Series lenses. Their contrast range and color knocked me out.

The main character in the short is William Turner, a janitor who’s life seems mundane and uninteresting on the surface but as it unfolds there are many layers. We shot his boring existence in the present day at 24p utilizing the new firmware. The story then goes on a journey of William’s life over a time period of 67 years which we shot 30p and pulled it in at 24fps so that it would have a slightly dreamy feel. The creamy Canon glass delivered the period look that we were going for as we went back in time beginning in the 1980′s and moving backward to end in the 1940′s.

image from Shane's blog - click image to see more

On the tech front, Doggicam came forth with an amazing new 5D helmet cam that put the 5D very close to the right eye and moved gracefully down the 3rd base line as well as crawling through the high grass in the Vietnam sequence. It uses Doggicam’s patented 5/8″ rod technology to put the camera wherever you would like. It is extremely lightweight and stable.

Our shoot encompassed 17 different location over 4 1/2 days. The project was a labor of love from the Hurlbut Visuals Elite Team Members and all the production staff from Bandito Brothers. This would never have been possible without their time, expertise, willingness to donate gear and take on whatever roles the project demanded. Jacob Rosenberg and his post production Elite Team from Bandito Brothers knocked it out of the park!! For specific post questions, please email Jacob at jacob@banditobrothers.com. A big thank you to Andrew Huebscher for his amazing color correction and Brett Novak for his beautiful crystal transitions. The biggest thank you goes to my wife and collaborator. She was the glue that held this little short together with countless hours on the phone connecting people, arranging the deal, coordinating the finances, working with the parents to schedule all of the children and watching over the kids on the set which was a daunting task.”

Producer: Greg Haggart

“My team and I knew that we had the task of making this project go off without a hitch. Our job is to anticipate potential problems so we can avoid them to stay on time and within the budget. I location scouted with Po and asked many favors from equipment vendors and the special effects team members from “Act of Valor.” I believe that the Canon 5D encourages the essence of what film making is all about. Everyone giving it their all; whatever needs to be done for the love of the project with the end result of putting the highest quality image possible up on the screen.” For further questions about production, please email Greg at greghaggart@mac.com

Editor: Vashi Nedomansky

“Po asked me cut “The Last 3 Minutes” and then brought me super-detailed storyboards and the script that proceeded to act out every shot, angle and transition. What I realized right away was this was to be no ordinary short film. Once I received the footage, I had confirmation. As an editor, I have seen the best and worst shot footage from every camera. What Shane can do with the 5D mkii will make your jaw drop. The images are so organic and pleasing that we spent most of the time looking at the reference monitors in disbelief. The edit was a smooth one and with so many choices for each scene, I let the visuals do all the work. I did hide a couple zero-cuts in the edit to blend two takes together but otherwise I tried to stay out of the story’s way. It’s amazing how a cinematic image can instill more emotion into a scene. That, along with the shallow depth of field, really gives you more tools to tell your stories in the most visually interesting way.” For further questions about editing, please email Vashi at vashikoo@yahoo.com.

Behind the Scenes of “The Last 3 Minutes”

Stay tuned for a sizzle reel of the Behind The Scenes video of “The Last 3 Minutes” directed and edited by Elite Team Member Tim Holtermann. In the Behind The Scenes footage, we break down how different scenes were done and discuss how a particular scene was blocked, different camera angle choices and unique lighting set ups. It will be released on Canon’s Digital Learning Center usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=3409 as well as the Hurlbut Visuals website and the HurlBlog.”

About the equipment:
The files used to create this video were color graded in IRIDAS SpeedGrade DI, and compressed for ¼ resolution display on our website.

Canon EF Lenses used in the making of The Last Three Minutes:

* EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM
* EF 35mm f/1.4L USM
* EF 50mm f / 1.2L USM
* EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM
* EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

Picture Style(s):

* Neutral, with -4 Contrast and -2 Saturation

Shutter Speed(s):

* 1/50th sec

ISO Setting(s):

* Day exteriors: 160 (with Tiffen ND filters)
* Interiors: 320 and 640

(Photo credit: snap from the video)

Canon has released a fix for the much desired ‘cinema’ firmware for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II that had a bug… 2.0.4 is available now.

Canon notice for the new firmware

Download

I’m sure you want to get right into it… so here’s the download link!

And if you’ve never done the firmware update before, here’s a movie showing you how to do it from start to finish…

New Features (includes 2.0.4 fix data)

In the Version 2.0.4 firmware, the following phenomena that occurred with the Version 2.0.3 firmware (which was to enhance the movie functions) have been corrected.

There was a phenomenon in which the manual recording settings made in C1/C2/C3 were changed and sound could not be recorded if manual sound recording was used in the C1/C2/C3 settings and the camera was subsequently turned off (or if Auto Power Off was activated). This does not occur in modes other than C1/C2/C3.

The Version 2.0.4 firmware includes the movie function enhancements listed in items 1 through 5 below, and also incorporates the correction listed in item 6.

1. Adds or changes the following movie frame rates.
   NTSC:
   • 1920×1080 : 30 fps (changed – actual 29.97 fps)
   • 1920×1080 : 24 fps (added – actual 23.976 fps)
   • 640×480 : 30 fps (changed – actual 29.97 fps)

   PAL:

   • 1920×1080 : 25 fps (added – actual 25.0 fps)
   • 1920×1080 : 24 fps (added – actual 23.976 fps)
   • 640×480 : 25 fps (added – actual 25.0 fps)
2. Adds a function for manually adjusting the sound recording level (64 levels).
3. Adds a histogram display (brightness or RGB) for shooting movies in manual exposure.
4. Adds shutter-priority AE mode (Tv) and aperture-priority AE (Av) mode to the exposure modes for shooting movies.
5. Changes the audio sampling frequency from 44.1 KHz to 48 KHz.
6. Fixes a phenomenon where communication between the camera and the attached lens is sometimes interrupted after manual sensor cleaning. (This phenomenon only affects units with Firmware Version 1.2.4.)

(Photo credit: snap from the video)

Philip Bloom has announced that several of his recent movies have been done on the new Canon EOS 5D Mark II firmware version 2.0.3 that includes the native 24fps frame rate.

I urge you to download each of these in full size as well to see their full beauty… you can get a free membership on vimeo which will allow you to download them in full size.

Here they are:

Sea: Canon 5DmkII native 24p from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Shot at Sutro Baths in San Francisco

Music by James Newton Howard from “Lady in the Water”

First section of water has no colour correction and is straight out of 5D. Shot of people in cave on is graded using Magic Bullet Looks (get 20% off with code bloom20 at www.redgiantsoftware.com)!

Shot native 24p!

Lenses used are 100mm Macro F2.8L. 70-200 IS F2.8. Canon 50mm F1.2, 90mm TS, 14mm F2.8L

Above Skywalker: Canon 5DmkII Native 24p from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Shot native 24p on Canon 5dMkII

Music is by Claude Debussy

Read more on my blog here: http://philipbloom.co.uk/2010/03/15/24p/

and last but certainly not least!

Monarchs: Miles away. 5DmkII native 24p from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Performed by Celeste Griffin from Monarchs

Filmed in native 24p on a Canon 5DmkII

Shot, edited and direct by Philip Bloom

http://philipbloom.co.uk/2010/03/15/24p/ for more info

(Photo credit: snap from the Monarchs video)

We’ve known it was coming, but now it is finally here! The firmware that gives the Canon EOS 5D Mark II 24fps has arrived and we’ve got full coverage for you!

Download

I’m sure you want to get right into it… so here’s the download link!

And if you’ve never done the firmware update before, here’s a movie showing you how to do it from start to finish…

New features:

Besides 24fps, what does the firmware give us? I’ll give you the short version and the long version is over on Canon’s site.

• 24fps in video
• Sound Recording (Audio Gain Control)
• Tv manual movie recording (auto everything else)
• Av manual movie recording (auto everything else)
• Histogram in live view (before recording only – but also works for stills)
• Sound sampling frequency changed to 48 KHz

Interestingly, Philip Bloom says there’s a hidden change as well – “Other good news is we have increase in recording bit rate to around 44 mbits now, up from around 38 mbits.” — so the video now spits out of the camera at a faster rate — that may cause problems with really slow CF cards tho?

Demo

Here at planet5D, we want to give you everything you need, so here’s a visual walkthru of the new features:

Resources

Places you can visit for more information:

• Original planet5D post describing the features in the new firmware
• planet5D wiki page for the firmware
• Canon’s page with the details on the firmware and detailed instructions
• Canon’s download page

Someone forwarded this on twitter (sorry don’t recall who), and it is a must see video if you’re learning how to make movies.

From the MacVideo site: “In this, Part 2 of the MacVideo interview with Stu Maschwitz, he tells why shooting and replay at 24 frames per second is so important to the filmmaker..

Stu Maschwitz is a highly regarded director, writer and visual effects artist based in San Francisco.”

Jump over to watch on MacVideo

(Photo credit: snap from the video)

In a news release that hit my inbox a little bit ago, Canon has released details of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II firmware update that is now officially due in “mid-March” (which matches rumors).

The “firmware upgrade 2.0.3 for the EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera will be coming in March of 2010. 2.0.3 meets the demands of both professional movie producers and aspiring filmmakers alike by adding 24p video acquisition and changing the 30p video frame rate to 29.97 to comply with TV production standards. In addition, audio capability is enhanced for professional use, adding manual audio level control, and increasing the audio sampling frequency to 48KHz from 44.1KHz.”

Here’s the press release:
“London, 2nd March 2010 – Canon today pre-announces the release of a firmware update for the multiple award-winning EOS 5D Mark II. Originally announced in late 2009, the update adds 24* and 25 frames per second (fps) recording to the camera’s EOS MOVIE video function, and will be available as a free download from the middle of March.

Developed following feedback from photographers and cinematographers, Firmware 2.0.3 further enhances the EOS 5D Mark II’s excellent video performance. The addition of new frame rates expands the camera’s video potential, providing filmmakers with the ability to shoot 1080p Full HD footage at 24fps (actual 23.976fps) – the optimum frame rate for cinematic video. 25fps support at both 1920×1080 and 640×480 resolutions will allow users to film at the frame rate required for the PAL broadcast standard, while the new firmware will also change the 30fps option to the NTSC video standard of 29.97fps.

A new histogram display for shooting movies in manual exposure, shutter-priority (Tv) and aperture-priority (Av) have been added, and exposure modes will also be available in movie mode. Improved audio functionality will allow users to set sound record levels manually using a sound-level meter displayed on the LCD screen. The audio sampling frequency has also been increased from 44.1KHz to 48KHz, providing the optimum audio signal typically required for professional or broadcast material.

With its full frame CMOS sensor and compatibility with Canon’s wide range of premium lenses, the EOS 5D Mark II is already recognised for its outstanding HD video performance. Launched in September 2008, the camera immediately created a wide range of new possibilities for photographers and videographers, and the addition of new frame rates and manual audio levels extends those possibilities even further – allowing movie makers to shoot stunning movies to suit practically any creative purpose.

Extreme sports photographer Richard Walch was one of the first to be given the chance to use the newly updated EOS 5D Mark II to shoot the snowboarding movie “I Love My Friends”. Commenting on the EOS 5D Mark II’s video performance, Richard said: “The addition of the new frame rates opens up a whole new range of possibilities. If you’re a cinematographer, independent film maker or just enthusiastic about making your own movies, get out there and give it a try”.

firmware

“I Love My Friends” shot by Richard Walch on the EOS 5D Mark II with the new firmware includes a look behind the scenes video is available to view at http://www.canon-europe.com/eos5dmarkII. (ed. note – right now, there’s nothing there!)

The firmware will be available to download from mid-March from the Canon website http://www.canon.com/eos-d/

*Actual frame rate: 23.976fps”

(Photo credit: snap from canon’s announcement)

Will the Canon EOS 5D Mark II get 24p video? The answer is unfortunately no.

We’ve heard rumor after rumor about some people in Hollywood beta testing a version of the firmware with 24p, but it just doesn’t seem like it is going to happen. In the last couple of days, more and more tips are floating in that it is just too difficult.

This morning, I had a nice video iChat with friend of planet5D Kip Beatty (@kipb on twitter) about the Canon Live Learning EOS Essentials Mini-Conference. Vincent Laforet (Reverie) was presenting and told the story of how he got the 5D mk ii in order to film Reverie. You can read the story over on Vincent’s blog.

After the presentation, Kip asked Vincent if there were any chance that Canon was going to be releasing a 24p version of the firmware. Vincent didn’t answer other than to point to Chuck Westfall and said ‘ask him’. (Note: since this story was relayed to me second hand, the quotes aren’t exact – they’re there to give you the flavor of the conversation without the expectation that they’re exact).

Kip related that Chuck was very polite and offered his opinion. “I doubt you’ll see it” Chuck stated. He went on to tell about how the recent firmware upgrade was tough, but necessary to add features that were missing. But the issue isn’t with the software but with the Digic IV chip. It was designed with 30fps in mind. It does all the heavy lifting of the processing of the video – video capture, throwing out some of the sensor data (since the video is smaller than the full size stills), compressing the video at 30 frames per second and then writing it all to the card. “It is just too monumental to expect that they can change all of that in the firmware” he said.

“I’m not saying we’ll never see it, but it is very difficult to do.”

We’ve also heard these things on twitter today:

5tu said “Talk on the CML that a Canon rep stated no 24p update coming for 5D MkII. 24p will come in the replacement for the 1Ds Mk III.” And also this: “I think it’s Canon clutching at any opportunity to make a $$$ pro body desireable over the popular 5D2.”

And a couple of replies to @5tu: @timescapes said: “@5tu someone i know very close to canon also told me recently there will be no 24p on the 5D2. they are saving it for future cameras. ”

@mikeseymore replied to @5tu: “spoke to Canon too, got “1D is the Pro camera – 5D is not, 1D will have more ‘Pro video features”. I see a 1D in my future!”

So, like Chuck Westfall, I’m not saying it isn’t gonna happen, but it sure doesn’t seem likely. I believe that Canon wanted to make the 5D2 a better camera by fixing the manual video issues with the latest firmware patch, but if they were to put 24p in the 5D2, then there isn’t that much that separates it from the more expensive cameras. There may be a “5D Mark IIs” (as Kip called it), where they release an new 5D2 with a different Digic chip, but don’t count on a 5D2 firmware upgrade.

But what you will see in future cameras is video! You can mark my words, all new Canon DSLRs will be DSLRVs and you can count on planet5D to watch the future progress!

(Photo credit: snap from an earlier story with @timescapes with a panavision lens on the 5D2)

Philip Bloom is a filmmaker (bio on his site, imdb bio). Recently, he’s been using the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and learning a bit about it as he goes. He’s also sharing some of that knowledge as he goes. We’ll cover one or two of his posts here on our blog so in case you haven’t seen them.

He used this process on the video he created (and we shared it in our forums here) called “Sofia’s People: Canon 5dmk2 25p by Philip Bloom”

In this blog post, he’s sharing his tips on how to convert from 30fps to 24fps… he’s created this video to go with the blog post:

How to convert Canon 5dmk2 footage from 30p to 24p from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

A tutorial using Final Cut Studio 2 on how to convert footage shot in 30p to perfect 24p… Used in the short Sofia’s People
http://philipbloom.co.uk/films/35mm-films/sofias-people-canon-5d-mk2/

Thanks to Denver Riddle for his original workflow.

For additional information on AUDIO for your movies, including more from Philip Bloom, check out this additional post on planet5D – Great Audio Options

(Photo credit: snap from the video)

Canonrumors.com has posted a rumor that I’ve also had confirmed from another source.

Have a tip, a video, or a Canon 5D2 product to announce? Give us a shout

Part of canonrumors’ post is (I highly suggest you read the whole thing – didn’t think it was fair to just copy all of their text):

“The 5D MarkII will have 24p, it is already in a firmware running in testing.  It was not released due to time but it was planned to be released with the manual control.”

Thru another source, I’ve also heard that there’s a version of the firmware that has 24p included.

Please read the whole post over on canonrumors