Is HDSLR point of view (POV) going to be the next craze in moviemaking or music videos? Sure seems like it LOL – we’ve been sent yet another POV music video that we wanted to share with you. Sent to us by Tim Fok who made this very interesting movie that reminds us very much of the “Cinnamon Chasers” video we showed you a while ago (Tim even acknowledges this in his blog post).

Exotope – Rituals – Full Release » Tim Fok

Exotope | Rituals

Exotope | Rituals from Tim Fok on Vimeo.

Written & Directed by Sam Williams & Tim Fok
Cinematography by Tim Fok
Produced by Sam Williams

Blog: timfok.com/​2011/​03/​23/​exotope-rituals-full-release/​

timfok.com
juvenilescum.com
soundcloud.com/​juvenilescum

BTS info

Tim sent us a link to his blog where he documented much of their adventures making this music video. This is just a small snip – please read the whole thing!

I’ve been shooting video professionally for close to a year now, and in that short time I’ve noticed how easy it can be to forget your roots. With Rituals being one of the only commercial videos I have made to have complete creative freedom over, it was only natural to incorporate aspects that are true to me and the co-writer/producer Sam Williams.

I’ve been making videos for close to 10 years, and 7 of those years have been out with mates, skating, rolling, chillin’. It’s what ignited my passion in filmmaking, and what I plan to carry with me throughout all my work.
Sam Williams is a good friend of mine, and our decision to collaborate on a music video was nothing more than a chat over a few drinks. Looking at it from this perspective, it was a video made on no budget, with very limited resources.

With both myself and Sam living over a 100 miles away from each other, it was also a task coming up with a shooting schedule. The decision was made early on to use a concept that could benefit from our position. Using a POV technique, it meant we could potentially shoot at the same time, in different locations and wouldn’t be tied down by a presence of a singular protagonist.

There are lots of POV videos out there, and we have to give credit to work of Saman Keshavarz and Justin Gurnari on the Cinnamon Chasers Luv Deluxe video, as well as all of Mike Manzoori’s cinematography. With POV being an established technique, it also meant that there were many online theories of making the best rig for POV shooting.

We considered a full frontal helmet with attached camera, and used this technique for much of our earlier scenes. We ran my monitor via HDMI to direct as we shot, but this quickly highlighted a few problems. With the term guerilla filmmaking being quite fitting to our style and choices of location, a big helmet with a camera strapped round it brought a lot of un-wanted attention when ‘on-set’. Instead we found that simply holding the camera around someone was viable method, and meant we could shoot whilst remaining inconspicuous.

please read the whole thing!

Exotope – Rituals – helmet cam

(cover photo credit: snap from the video)

Earlier this week, we had a Point of View (POV) helmetcam for Nike – today, we have stillmotion’s POV they did for the NFL Combine (of course, shot on a Canon HDSLR – a Canon Rebel T2i/550D as a matter of fact). Patrick Moreau from stillmotion sent this in.

A bit of stillmotion discussion

(from this post which has more info)

we put together this helmet from mostly home depot parts with the idea of getting an entirely POV piece to show what it is like to be a player preparing for the combine. you may have caught a couple of our earlier posts about the construction of the helmet or our first shoot at radio row.

we put the piece together with the NFL Network team and the piece is aired on tv during the combine. you can catch it on NFL.com by clicking here.

the finished piece is a mix of our helmet cam with the DSLR as well as a gopro helmet or chest cam. the gopro was a good fit when the light was good, but it almost meant living with auto exposure and sifting through hours of footage for a couple frames that worked. both setups worked really well together and we couldn’t have done the overall piece without either.

Note: We’d love to include the video – but the NFL isn’t allowing embeds – but you really need to see that before seeing the BTS!

But we can show you the BTS!

combine open helmet cam behind the scenes from stillmotion on Vimeo.

I highly recommend you also see the two other posts stillmotion made on this helmetcam:

construction of the helmet
our first shoot at radio row

stillmotion's helmetcam from above

(cover photo credit: snap from the this stillmotion blog post)

Zack Mctee sent us his latest adventure – a commercial shot for Nike with a custom point of view (POV) helmet rig with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and parts from Redrock, Zacuto, and Jag 35 (and an unknown football helmet manufacturer – ha!). He also just today posted a bit of a BTS video showing off the rig to a few friends.

The Nike promo

Two years ago we brought you the Nike iD Royale design challenge. If you missed out on the fun, well guess what, we’re bringing it back for a second round! Got skills? Ever dreamed up a design that would destroy the game? Well now is your chance to show us what you got. It’s tourney time and March is definitely going to be MAD, both on the basketball court and on the kicks.

Kicking off on March 13th at Niketown New York and Nike Sportswear at 21 Mercer, anyone is welcome to join the contest by submitting a sneaker design at either location. Once the designs are submitted, the top 32 will be chosen to go up on the official Nike iD Royale Facebook page where voting for the hottest shoes will begin. The top 16 shoe designs will move on to the following rounds for a chance to go head to head with some of New York’s greatest in an effort to be crowned the Nike iD Royale 2011 King or Queen of NEW YORK! Be sure to check the Facebook page for the official rules of the contest and what prizes are in store for the winners of each round. Bring Up the Roar NYC!

The BTS of the helmet cam!

RedRock Micro Advanced: Custom Helmet Camera w/Canon 5D from Production Junction on Vimeo.

Yo,

Wanted to link everyone to this new video I just did for Nike.

Attached is the image of the custom helmet cam I made for my 5D, it was heavy but pulled through like a champ.

zackmctee.com/​video/​nikeidpov.html

and a little writeup about the event:

levimaestro.com/​2011/​03/​nike-id-royale-design-contest-2011/​

Best,

-zack

(cover photo credit: snap from the video)

We found this one on twitter somewhere last night – it was originally posted on this thread at cinema5d. Looks like it might be hard to walk behind, but the video coming out the front end is darn impressive. My teenage daughter was most intrigued by the probable reaction of this guy’s daughters… “Dad, don’t make one of those and wear it around me… OK?” she pleaded – HA – sounds like a great idea now! (shhh – don’t tell her I mentioned her in the blog ok?)

Marrakech.Travel from Julien Widmer on Vimeo.

Shot with 5D mark 2 in Marrakech, Morocco

Music by Nikkfurie / La Caution “thé à la menthe”

This Showreel regroup 34 different films, in “first-person” point of view, for the interactive visit of marrakech on www.marrakech.travel

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Montage extrait de 34 films tournés en vue subjective pour la visite interactive de marrakech sur le site www.marrakech.travel

See more images and discussion at cinema5d. If you’re wondering, he used a Panasonic FT-1 for the water shots (not the 5D2).

(Photo credit: snap from the video)

Yesterday, we posted about the Canon EOS 5D Mark II Helmet Cam reported to us by Rodney Charters (Director of Photography (DP) on the FOX TV series 24 – IMDB profile) and it has gotten a lot of attention! This morning, we found out how the helmet cam was really used – to promote the new movie “Terminator Salvation“!

We got to talk to Shane Hurlbut (imdb profile) – the Director of Photography on the movie “Terminator Salvation” who sent us this information:

“Shane Hurlbut, ASC designed the helmet mount for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera for 9 “Terminator:Salvation” webisodes that were part of the interactive marketing campaign for the movie. The webisodes were produced by Bandito Brothers, Warner Brothers and Wonderland Sound and Vision. The greatest benefit of the helmet mounted camera design is the small size, lighter lenses and the ability to capture the action in new and unique ways with amazing depth and sharpness.

Shane also used the helmet mount for the Canon 5D Mark II to film a roller coaster ride experience video for the “Terminator:Salvation” ride at 6 Flags Magic Mountain starring Moon Bloodgood and Common. The video was produced by Halcyon, Bandito Brothers and 6 Flags Corporation. It was designed to capture action shots from the first person perspective and create an intimacy to make you feel like you are in the middle of the action. (Editors note: here’s the Six Flags page for the ride – watch the video!)

Currently, Shane is filming “I Am That Man” directed by Scotty Waugh and Mike McCoy for Bandito Brothers, Legendary Pictures and Warner Brothers. He is using the Canon 5D Mark II camera in combination with traditional film cameras to capture the unique, undercover operations of the Navy Seals.”

Here’s an episode from the interactive website resistorbeterminated where the webisodes are posted.

planet5D thanks Shane for helping us understand more about the helmet mount!

UPDATE: 1pm Shane provides this additional tidbit:
“The helmet in the picture is a Tony Lee Carbon Fiber. It is the lightest helmet out there. We are doing upgrades to this technology weekly as we discover things while we are shooting.”