Here is one of the shots from our first day of filming Jamie O’Brien on the North Shore of Hawaii. To view the 1080p High Res click here. (You DEFINITELY WANT TO DO THIS)
It’s been pretty fantastic to get a chance to know Jamie, his dad and crew - I really think that this project has wings and I think that it’s fitting to start off with this shot from our first day of shooting. It was shot with a Canon 5D MKII and a 24mm Tilt-Shift lens mounted to a radio controlled helicopter. Tabb Firchau is joining our motley crew with what is definitely one of the coolest toys that we have on hand - a radio controlled helicopter that can fly inches off the ground and through very, very small openings. Tabb specializes in video and still aerial footage and travels regularly across the globe. He just came back from a National Geographic assignment where he almost got eaten by a shark - but that’s a whole other story…
We’ve had an interesting few days here in Hawaii - the weather played havoc with a lot of our travel plans (it took more than 48 hours for our editor to make it out here from Toronto - he got to spend a night on the floor at O’Hare) and our crew’s lost baggage stories have been almost comical given their frequency… Meanwhile we’ve been tinkering with a lot of our new toys from a variety of companies - most of them prototypes. It’s been a steep learning curve at times and that’s to be expected when you’re the guinea pig trying to use multiple prototypes together for the first time - to give you an idea: soldering was involved! (I won’t say to who’s gear though…) But we’re finally up and running and in full swing. I’ll be posting the first behind the scenes video tomorrow some time (thought I’d give our editor Ryan Hughes a good night’s sleep before throwing him into the mix) and we’re planning on showing you every detail of how this and other shots are being produced.
The best part of this trip for me has been meeting Jamie. I was told not to expect the typical surfer in Jamie - and I came very open minded and eager to find out more about him. Jamie pretty much shatters any and every stereotype that anyone might have of a surfer. I won’t go into too much detail but I can tell you that I have quite a bit of interesting material to throw into this film. Jamie is pretty fascinating - smart, disciplined, passionate, and incredibly focused - he’s a pro. He’s also patient and a total pleasure to work with. I hope he can say half as much about us.
Time to get some rest - we’ll post the first behind the scenes video in 24 hours.
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Very nice trailer.
Is this video postprocessed?
It looks like a “toy-world”. 
Now i regret not packing…back to the movie, when i wake up i’ll have a new direction for my day tomorrow.
Comment by Noah 12.26.08 @ 4:42 amI hope you keep on sending us “little bites” as often as possible.
Best Regards
Peter
Comment by Peter Fauland 12.26.08 @ 5:39 amHi!
Could you tell me please what the helicopter it was? What the model?
And I wat to know what does Red Rock DSLR Bundles do? It makes better focus???
I like your blog! It’s very interesting and amazing videos are here! It’s cool!
Alexander. Russia. Moscow.
Comment by Trukach 12.26.08 @ 5:47 amVery nice dreamy effect!
This RC helicopter sounds like a great tool for special footage.
That’s amazing. Do you guys set lighting when you’re outside or is it purely nature and then some aftereffects?
/chris
Comment by Chris 12.26.08 @ 6:24 amWow! This is beautiful. I really look foward to this project! I love surfing and I love photography/cinematography. You are lucky to get the chance to work on that movie
I just subscribed to you feed… I know this movie is gonna be awesome!!!
Awesome is the word to use here. That looks great. I’m really excited to see how this is going to evolve over the next weeks. Thanks again for all your hard work Vincent! Really appreciated. I can’t get enough of seeing your videos, be that actual videos or behind the scenes footage.
Szabi
Comment by Szabi 12.26.08 @ 7:59 amI hope no baggage got lost, even temporarily, with some of your gear in it! I’d be crapping my pants if that were me with 6 (?) new 5D Mark IIs and they were suddenly lost by the airlines…
Comment by Scott 12.26.08 @ 10:02 amVery neat footage. I can imagine a lot of interesting things coming from it.
I have to admit, it made me laugh when I saw 13-14 seconds of that 34 second clip dedicated to plugging your website (the one I was already watching the video from).
Comment by Seinberg 12.26.08 @ 10:06 amHi–
Did you use any sort of steadying system for the camera? (like a KenLab gyro or the like?)
Comment by Matt Cashore 12.26.08 @ 10:28 amVincent, you must be kidding. I asked myself how you did this. first seconds: it’s a crane, oh, thats a looong crane, this can’t be a crane, it’s a helicopter. It can’t be a helicopter, where’s the wind?! haha, pretty amazing! You must have a great pilot for that little toy
One question though: How did you do the focussing? It looks like it changed 2-3 times …
Comment by Wolfgang 12.26.08 @ 11:19 ami’m more crazy about surfing than i am aboutphotography (and that’s pretty crazy). can’t wait to see the final video!
Comment by jesse 12.26.08 @ 1:55 pmNice footage, great work on Reverie.
Question-Doesn’t the MK II shoot in H2.64 at 30fps? and isn’t it a distribution/exhibition format? DO you need to convert it to something else- DVCProHD, ProRes, etc to edit it in real time?
David Reply:
December 26th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
I’ve had great results transcoding to Apple Prores HQ 30p or 60i
Thanks Vincent - love watching your work… still tracking you on the 5d wiki - with the most 5D2 samples on the planet! http://planet5d.com
Comment by planetMitch 12.26.08 @ 3:57 pmIncredible work Vincent! Your work is extremely inspiring and innovative!
Comment by Steele 12.26.08 @ 5:25 pmAmazing! Can’t wait to see more!!! Now I wonder if you plan to mount the red camera on the mini chopper?
p.s vince any top tips for a 19 year old photographer?
http://www.edstonephotography.com
Comment by Ed Stone 12.26.08 @ 6:24 pmIf you’re going to dangle “1080p high res” clips in front of us, you DEFINITELY WANT TO give us real 1080p files (not the 720p that you’ve uploaded here). And c’mon, it’s only 3mbps. That’s less than half the resolution & over ten times the compression of the original footage. This particular clip is exactly the type of subject (solid color, fine textures) where heavy-handed h.264 compression KILLS the image quality. Smugmug’s bandwidth can handle files bigger than 13 megs, can’t they?
Comment by Ben 12.26.08 @ 7:44 pmGood stuff, looking forward to some “kid in the candy store” behind the scenes shots.
Have fun, be safe, and remember……helicopters can’t swim;)
Comment by Derek 12.26.08 @ 7:48 pmVincent,
Jack, Biily amd I are watching with great interest as we’re experiencing paradise in Ubud, Bali. Wishing you all a Happy New Year and continued adventures!
Best, the 3 of us
Vincent,
I just started viewing your site a few weeks ago when i received
my 5dmkll and saw reverie. You have inspired me with not only your creative prowess and technical abilities but in the nature of
how willing you are to share. Thank you and keep up the good work!
Michael Woodall http://michaelwoodall.com
Comment by Michael Woodall 12.27.08 @ 1:53 amYeah Vincent could you please tell about the choper what brand was it and where we can get it .
Comment by Umer 12.27.08 @ 9:25 amGreat shot. And thanks in advance for all the time & effort in sharing you’re production with us.
Comment by Robert Matichak 12.27.08 @ 5:35 pmLooking really awesome. I am always looking forward to see what new stuff you are putting out with the new cameras and what not. Keep up the good work!
Comment by Marc 12.28.08 @ 5:41 am[...] Taking off! Jamie O’Brien Project: DAY ONE [...]
Pingback by Vincent Laforet - Taking off! Jamie O’Brien Project: DAY ONE - Digital Labrador Digital Labrador 12.29.08 @ 4:32 amWOW! this is exactly what a proper teaser should be - now I cannot wait to see the full footage.
you are really getting the most out of the movie capabilities of the 5DmkII
Comment by matt 12.29.08 @ 8:51 amHi Vincent,
I like the composition and color work a lot in this shot. But there seems to be quite a bit of clipped highlights in the sun/sky. Is that a limitation of the dynamic range you could get out of the 5D MKII given the exposure that you wanted for your foreground? If so, can some of the highlights be recovered in post the way you can with RAW formats, or is it impossible on the 5D MKII?
Or maybe you were fine with some clipped highlights as a cinematographic decision…?
Vince,
Surprisingly, I was actually more stunned by the Mark II images rather than the Red footage. Are there post coloring processes that you did differently?
Comment by Tracey 12.30.08 @ 12:10 pmVery nice work Vincent…I have been waiting to see someone use RC tek to cover surfing. A few years ago I made a waterproof RC photoplane that can be launched and retrieved by boat, I mucked around with some surf and wildlife shots and the results were amazing for how little time I actually spent shooting with the rig. The helicopter sounds really cool…is it powerful enough to carry the 5D ? Best of luck with your project, Simon. boomafilm.com
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Vincent Laforet Reply:
December 26th, 2008 at 4:19 am
@CEEA, It’s shot w/ a Tilt Shift lens - ergo the “toy-world” look - pure optics - no post other than light color grading in Apple’s “Color” software (part of Final Cut Studio)
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