Canon has requested…
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Canon has requested that we take down “Nocturne.” As a professional courtesy I am going to honor their request until they can figure out things internally and our little film can be shown again in public. As some of you may remember this happened last year and all was fine a few days later. I’m sure they will be able to figure things out on their end and hope to be able to share the short with you again soon. The response so far has exceed that of “Reverie” both in terms of numbers and in terms of how fast it happened – something that I would never have expected.
I just watched it and it just seems a little self-conscious from some of the shooting angles to the plot. I mean as if the film is to aware of itself. Some of the close-ups of the men in the car and the meeting with the girl at the corner seem too contrived.
Diana Reply:
October 22nd, 2009 at 5:44 pm
@Davin Ellicson, what a ridiculous comment. His film was meant to show the capabilities of the camera, especially in low light. That it did and admirably. It wasn’t meant for Sundance.
Davin Ellicson Reply:
October 23rd, 2009 at 1:12 am
@Diana,
woops! sorry for the comment.
ryan tower Reply:
October 23rd, 2009 at 3:09 pm
@Diana, agree! But even with just a video to show capabilities of the camera (which it did) I thought the short was amazing as a story.
James Reply:
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:58 am
@Davin Ellicson, yeah, I agree with Diana – nonsense comment. I’m certain that in your filmmaking endeavours you are close to Stanley Kubrick Davin but it’s a pretty disrespectful thing to say to someone. Not very nice.
…and while we are picking nits I think the word you are looking for is “too” contrived
James Reply:
October 23rd, 2009 at 1:02 am
….an addendum to my comment – I loved this short – looks beautiful, neat little idea and lovely edit. Nice job Vincent. Look forward to seeing it in 1080
thx
Davin Ellicson Reply:
October 23rd, 2009 at 1:13 am
@James,
I have a MKII but am only just starting with video. I admire Laforet very much. Again, sorry for my commentary.
James Reply:
October 26th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
@Davin Ellicson, As much as I expected a terse self-righteous response I am surprised (and delighted) to see your answer. I often think the internet acts like a car, isolating people from the world and bringing out the worst in human nature. I am delighted to see you prove me wrong.
No harm, no foul. I am certain (having looked at your stills work) that you have a talent that will, given time, come good in motion. I wish you all the very best. J.
Gustav Johansen Reply:
June 12th, 2010 at 6:37 am
@James, Oh my freaking God, if the mission was to see the capabilities of the 1D in low light situations why would he use such a big crew and such a “large” production to show that? Davin was precise and gave a good constructive input and you call that nonsense. But like all of you laforet-fanboys you all get pissed by the least criticism. And then you go on and nitpick on his language – haha, you sir are a douche.
I just read the background behind the piece. . . I had no idea you did it under such short notice.
darrell Reply:
October 25th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
@Davin Ellicson, hopefully the lesson learned is to understand the whole situation before making comments that you will have to apologize for later.
Why would they request such a thing if I may ask?
Thanks and congratulations for the short, it is/was amazing.
Happy birthday, FCW.
In my own personal opinion. I think the film is absolutely awesome, especially considering everything was put together in just a few days!!!
Also that new Canon 1D has amazing low light and high ISO capability!!!
I look forward to seeing it back up soon. Congrats on the great work!!!
ow, what the hell?
Welcome to Fark. Over 8000 hits came from there. Too bad the video was taken down as more people want to see it.
http://www.fark.com/cgi/comments.pl?IDLink=4711734#new
Sorry Canon, already downloaded the full 1080p version!!
Lionel PASCALE Reply:
October 21st, 2009 at 1:52 pm
@Gary,
Is it possible to download the full 1080p version?
anyway the video is everywhere now… ! ;p
Dam! I watched the film briefly at work but by the time I got home it was gone. From what I did see I liked
Once again us mere mortals are left scratching our heads as to why a company would want a video “taken down” that shows the awesome abilities of a company’s product. Come-on Canon, let the world share the awesomeness of your newest baby!
Dam! I watched some of the film when I was at work and was going to watch the entire thing when I got home but it was taken down already. I liked what I got to see though. Excellent!
Great Marketing Strategy
Do not understand why some companies have nothing better to do that mess with people.. well, seeing how they act has shot a sale on the EOS 5D Mark II I had sided with getting this Saturday. Good job canon – ruin some more sales!!! Woo Hoo
Wow! What a dumb move by Canon. Based on the specs for the camera, I wasn’t convinced that I should buy it….I was thinking 7d instead, or wait for the 5d3. After seeing Nocture, however, I pre-ordered the 1D4 from Amazon. I can’t believe that Canon would want such a useful marketing tool taken down. If anything, they should be paying you large sums of money and commissioning further work to help them sell their cameras
photopro Reply:
October 24th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
@5D user,
They already do… Laforet if I am not mistaken is a Canon Explorer of Light spokesperson. they provide him with all Canon equipment and I would think compensation as well.
he is not doing it for his health.
It could be that Canon is just checking with their legal department that there is nothing in or about the video that they would be liable for.
Vincent, direct links to the video are still working – I copied the embed code from smugmug and until I edited my blog after I saw this post, the video was still working. Adding a password to it didn’t solve the whole issue.
planetMitch
The last time this happened they had been overwhelmed with hits to their site(s) and were hit with a very large bandwidth spike charge–much more than most of us make in a year. Or two, or three. Every once in a great while, we are reminded that someone’s paying the bill for the big traffic.
They are awkward socially, but they mean well.
Now that doesn’t mean there isn’t another reason. I’m not an employee–I just know they love Vincent and they love what he’s done for them in the past, so the reason is probably pretty mundane.
Bob Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
@Noone YouKnow,
Put it up on BitTorrent and then no one foots the bill.
Great looking video working with the light, now I wish I just have 5 G’s to drop on a camera. Wow. Thanks, hope you can get it up again soon!
I’m glad the saw the video last night! It was amazing. And what the heck Canon? Vincent Laforet creates more buzz and good vibes than any corporate ad. Why knock that down? Fake Chuck Westfall answers: http://fakechuckwestfall.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/on-canon-taking-down-nocturne/
Anon Reply:
October 21st, 2009 at 10:32 am
@Brad, I have it under good authority that Fake Chuck Westfall’s blog is spot on, and this is held up by internal politics and a power struggle between Canon USA and Canon Japan…and the video’s being pulled has nothing to do with the quality of video from the camera or the content of the video. Japan is embarrassed that Canon USA has shown them up once again (after the same thing happened with Reverie), and bruised egos are causing orders to be handed to Canon USA preventing this video from being distributed.
Earlier I couldn’t download it because your bandwidth was maxed. I got maybe 20 or 25 seconds of the video. Now (8 hours later) I come back in hopes that I can see it, and you’ve removed it. Real classy, assholes.
Here’s a hint: If your server can’t even handle serving one popular video, then maybe you should think about upgrading your server or not hosting videos.
akbarfoto Reply:
October 21st, 2009 at 8:23 am
@Big B, kind of harsh on him don’t you think. come on, he was nice enough to make an amazing video with his own money and time. not to mention his close friends. and above all, the video was taken down by canon, not because of bandwidth. hope you can understand.
keep up the awesome work Vincent
Vincent Laforet Reply:
October 21st, 2009 at 9:11 am
@akbarfoto, This has nothing to do with servers or bandwith whatsoever. The videos are hosted by external servers on SmugMug and Vimeo so they do the heavy lifting. This blog was hit with a few hundred thousand unique visitors within the first few hours.
3stripe Reply:
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:21 am
@Big B, Sounds like you are the only asshole around here to me.
There are lots of good reasons why they would want this video taken down, not the least of which is that there are traditions to observe. We wouldn’t want people (and some technical reviewers) discovering that you can do more with a $5000 camera than shoot cats and maple leaves on the ground.
Great video,
too bad it’s down.
Just one question: How did you achieve the slo-mo effect when the guy jumps over the wall? I thought the max frame rate is fixed at 30fps?
Thanks for sharing!
Vincent Laforet Reply:
October 21st, 2009 at 9:12 am
@stephan, The camera shoots at 60 fps in 720 p – we uprezed the 720p footage to fit within the 1080p footage and it looks great.
Why? I mean I can’t uderstand why? It is ad for them. Great work with great equipment.
What a massive PR Retardation!
Come on Canon. Get a clue. In the mean time I have made a post with some media sizzle from video mapping to digital video graffiti to get your fix.
http://www.timreha.com/blog/entry/new_digital_video_media_ideas_digital_paint_to_mapping_video/
Great work on the Film Vincent. I saw it for 10 seconds then figured I could come back and watch it again. NOPE! just like last year.
#canonfail — Tim Reha
Wake up Canon, for once people are enthusiastic about your products, it has leaked into Youtube and other sites anyway.
What an stupid request.
I had a chance to see it and thought it was really superb. Great ADVERT for the gear.
Someone at that bloody company needs their head testing. Then sacking.
I watched it twice a couple of hours apart. Nocturne is astounding. It’s simple and actually tells a story with NO dialogue. The acrobat is great too. Can’t remember his name though.
Absolutely Stunning!
View it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPPtKVManek&fmt=22
Glad I downloaded the 1080p version – I’ve shown it to about 25 people on my MacBook pro and iPhone within the last 24 hours.
Massive props on the film, Vincent. I hope canon pulls their shit together… big companies can be super-lame sometimes.
Keep it real bro!
Nocturne is extremely well done, and demonstrates this new camera in a way that Canon just can’t seem to grasp. If Canon can’t seem to “get it”, maybe they don’t *deserve* the business… and I should go switch to Nikon…. Hmmm…
Either way, very well done, Vincent! Sorry the corporate entity are a bunch of boobs….
Fine film vincent, but what about the stills? We should all remember that this Camera, as well as the 5D mark 11, 7D, are meant to be primarily still cameras..I am not sure why there is so!!!! much attention being paid to these camera’s video capabilities only. As you well know, The main fault of Canon’s Mark 111 was its flawed auto focus system. I think film making is wonderful, these are great tools for telling stories, etc, and i am truly happy for your personal success using these cameras, working with crews, D/ping etc. However, most photographers are interested in this cameras ability to take still pictures that are consistently sharp. Canon has a lot to explain and prove beyond high ISO and video capability, and i think we should all reserve judgement until that is better defined. For those wishing to make films, i can see that there are advantages to this camera’s capabilities, but where is the beef on if this camera gets canon out of the doghouse with the thousands of photojournalists of the world disappointed with the Mark 111?. Good luck making films and advertisements etc Vince i wish you all the very best success, but i for one am more interested in what the stills look like. thanks man good luck, see you soon.
So glad I caught the whole she-bang before it got pulled. Great first go with the cutting edge V, and again you have set a very high bar for others to aim for.
Sorry to see that Canon marketing/PR still has no idea what they’re doing. If they didn’t want a film going up why did they send you a camera? Duh.
http://www.fubiz.net/2009/10/20/nocturne-by-vincent-laforet/
Like any large company, Canon wants to control their messaging. Corporations are always grinding their ad agencies for “viral,” but when the real deal happens it scares the pants off them. They’ll hyperventilate for a day or two, and then let go.
What I’d love to know is how may pre-orders were rung up directly upon seeing “Nocturne.” I’ll bet a lot. I know I did. The camera specs were kind of a big meh until you see the low-light capability.
I did the same thing after seeing “Reverie,” and I’ve never been happier with a camera. Until, I think, the Mark IV arrives. I believe the 5DII and the 1DIV will be a formidable combo.
Maybe its because of the crews shadow @2:25 into the film.
few days too late, i really wanted to check out the movie, i guess i will have to check back later. looking forward to watching the movie. aloha
The HDVideo Slr have the one problem!
Not yet have the auto focus in video…
Maybe it’s because of the dead/stuck pixel on the camera? 😉
Lot’s of versions of Nocturne available… so I thought it was re-posted. Not likely. So I’ve looked at a less than pristine version… looking forward to the “real thing.”
http://vincentlaforet.smugmug.com/Laforet-Videos/Nocturne-Canon-1DMKIV-Video/10024122_sqhwE
photos.smugmug.com photos 686345820_EeDCa-1280 mp4
If people are interested in still images still I urge them to pick up a Leica M9. . . I use Leica in daylight and Canon at night.
Nice work Canon! I’m glad your marketing/PR folks don’t make your cameras.
Nocturne FULL HD for download
ed2k://|file|Nocturne_1920%20-%20Canon%20EOS-1D%20Mark%20IV_Vincent%20LaFloret.mp4|206093231|F0F529CFB02B9FE68FFB7C689E5D9F0B|h=2BEZY3Q2VADJZXUBHWMBHJ2YNTHXZGHT|/
It’s a great demo for the camera and even though the visuals look nice the shots don’t work together to push the story. You get into the action almost right from the start but there really is no drama in it. It really lacks in storytelling (even considering the short deadline).
To me, it is very apparent that this is made by people that work with still photography. This would probably be great as a series of stills. But now…
That WAS NOT a nice demo for the camera…bad lighting and dolly grip…I understand CANON…it looks like a bad student movie…with too many people working on it…
Devin G Forbes Reply:
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:13 pm
@padde, Dude chill the hell out. Have a little respect and actually read what went into the project. They developed that in 72 hours – I dare you to try and do better. Oh and actually read the credits. Natural light and no dolly (beyond grip trix, which is more like a camera truck if you ask me). They deserve props, not your attitude.
Trevor Meeks Reply:
October 23rd, 2009 at 1:05 am
@padde, wow, you must be joking you freaking moron…i’d love to see you do that with any other camera in identical lighting/time conditions.
padde Reply:
October 23rd, 2009 at 10:30 am
@Trevor Meeks, i wont do that u dumbass, i let my dp do that stuff…all i can say is that there is not ONE nice shot in this so-called-“showcase”…tell me, why should someone watch that stuff? boring story…(what story) and lame images..
72 hours? pah…
http://www.paddefilm.com
Devin G Forbes Reply:
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:10 pm
@padde, The point was to push the camera – not to shoot in ‘pretty’ lighting but to show what it could do with absolutely terrible lighting that cinematographers would never dream of shooting under. And as far as story, again, it was developed in 72 hours…
As for your judgments on quality, I really don’t feel that you are in any position to be so insulting. Not to start a mud flinging session, but your highlight reel on your site really isn’t all that great.
You need to be humbled. Go grip for Roger Deakins or something and maybe you’ll realize that you haven’t earned that kind of an ego. Honestly, no one has – people just need to be respectful and take a minute to appreciate other work.
Grow up.
Hey Vincent, your 5D short was great but I didnt get to see your new one yet. When I saw Reverie my jaw dropped.But I hope its OK to post here a link to my first ever Music Video and using a Canon 7D. I shot it two weeks ago in Washington DC (Im in NJ) with the band SilentJ. Very last minute, practically no planning and I was armed with only 1 7d, 1 8Gig card, 1 battery, 1 tripod. Check it out…its shot in Full HD 24 p (though this version is was not edited in FullHD 24).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru84ys7_zWw
Thanks and looking forward to seeing more of your work.
Well guys and gals, I had the good fortune to watch Vincents latest short film Nocturne, a couple times and it rocked. From a person who shoots the other camera, you know the one that starts with a N, I was very impressed with 1D4 attributes. Low light capabilities are outstanding. Clarity of the picture is very much on par with the video industries big guns especially with only available light.
My feeling from Canon Corporate, Japan, giving an outside the box perspective, being I shoot the other brand, is that they, corporate, probably wanted to demonstrate the 1D4’s capablities to Nikons new D3s with more of a head to head type of shoot. If you would have seen D3s demo video, it demostrates stills combined with motion. Unfortunately, Vincents latest short only shows one side of Canons flagship. Just a outside the box view of why?!
I am a Mark III user, and very impressed with the machine, even after Canon has a few boo boos. The spec on this new one is probably more than anyone could have ask for, but since not too many reviews on the stills, the video aspect of it, which was shown in here, was absolutely stunning. I am not a video shooter, but at this kind of light with insane ISO, and this is not even full frame. I have to agree with Vincent, that Canon really did a great job. Lets hope they didn’t blow it like the 50D with too much resolution on the stills, and hope that gapless microlens improvements are really justified for them to make a leapt in 60% more resolution.
Nocturne in FULLHD for download
The program for used for download is eMule
Nocturne_1920 – Canon EOS-1D Mark IV_By Vincent LaFloret.mp4
Devin G Forbes Reply:
October 23rd, 2009 at 5:21 pm
@Jonh, a torrent would be awesome for us Mac users, since eMule is a Windows-only program. Thanks for posting it though!
Nocturne in FULLHD for download
The program for used for download is eMule
ed2k://|file|Nocturne_1920%20-%20Canon%20EOS-1D%20Mark%20IV_By%20Vincent%20LaFloret.mp4|206093231|F0F529CFB02B9FE68FFB7C689E5D9F0B|h=2BEZY3Q2VADJZXUBHWMBHJ2YNTHXZGHT|/
Why did Canon request to take down Nocturne?
Its still on youtube if you haven’t seen it.
Having dealt with Japanese companies over and over, I can understand your frustration. It seems that they all have gate-keepers at unpredictable points in the various processes, and when internal consensus finally gets around to becoming predominant, pathways clear and doors open magically.
All of which is not to suggest that American companies are free from similar phenomena.
Fortunately, I downloaded a medium size copy, and my reaction to the fact that ISO 12,800 is a viable motion capture option is much the same as yours. It opens up the basic premise that dogs every film shoot.
The question of How Much Lighting now becomes a matter of How Much Authenticity can be achieved by using night ambient light in many cases. It also bodes well for portable, low intensity, battery operated LED units and smaller Grip Trucks.
Savings will come in many ways. Even gas.
But it opens up the production options for many filmmakers who have something to say and almost no money where their mouth is.
Holy cow. Good thing I downloaded it in full HD last week.
This video is pretty amazing. I think Vincent does the best job at showcasing the abilities of the sensor.
I just don’t get why canon is hurting the ones that help them the most. If anyone from Canon is reading this, know that everyone is less than impressed with the PR image you create every time you do this.
Can’t wait to see the video 🙁
Any news from Canon as when it can be shown again?
I’m still fascinated to know why did Canon pull the plug on your just-after-midnight Nocturne emission?
(sorry, couldn’t resist the wordplay..)
did not you guys find any problems in it? cannon is trying to hide something
i think that was good-hearted move on your part. sure it seems like Canon is trying to hide something, but sometimes some things need to be kept private.
hopefully all will be resolved soon so you can put it up again.
Its wonderful stuff you’ve written up in here. Have been looking for reviews on this all around. Good work.
Hi webmaster, commenters and everybody else !!! The blog was absolutely fantastic! Lots of great information and inspiration,
I love reading your posts Vince, keep up the hard work! Thanks
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I love reading your posts Vince, keep up the hard work! Thanks
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Eazy DIY
First of all I would like to say wonderful blog! I had a quick question in which I’d like to ask if you don’t mind.
I was interested to find out how you center yourself and clear
your mind before writing. I have had a tough time clearing
my thoughts in getting my ideas out. I do take pleasure in writing however it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes
are usually lost just trying to figure out how to begin.
Any suggestions or hints? Kudos!
Vincent Laforet Reply:
June 25th, 2013 at 9:57 pm
Those 10-15 minutes are actually the most important – it saves you a lot of re-writes.. and sometimes I spend 10-15 days (on average) prior to writing a blog post and as many months at times too… hope this is a real person despite the link/avatar as it’s a good question…event though it IS spam.. got to give it these guys once in awhile 😉