F3 used in Reebok Short Films
Mark Jenkinson, Director at Production Company Superglue, found the PMW-F3 the ideal camera for his series of docs for sports brand Reebok. Combining a Super35 sensor with PL mount adapter, it enabled him to choose his own glass and create the ideal look for his films.
One of Agency Superglue's recent campaigns for Reebok has been the relaunch of the Reebok Classic brand of trainiers.
The strategy was to raise awareness through a series of short documentary films about the lives of Reebok's brand ambassadors such as singer-songwriter Labirinth and Bluey Robinson, which would be viewable online
'The idea was to get to know the musicians over a couple of months and ultimately put together a series of intimate interviews at home or on set in which we talked to them about their inspirations and passions," explains director Mark Jenkinson.
"We wanted the films to be cinematic and include a lot of close ups to make the films more visually dramatic," says Jenkinson, who decided to shoot on the PMW-F3 hired from VMI Camera Rentals because of the advantages that the camera had over DSLR cameras, well know for issues such as rolling shutter and wobble. "The other big benefit of shooting with the F3 was that it provided more latitude so we would be able to push the visual style in the grade, and we could use 35mm lenses," adds Jenkinson.
"At one point on Bluey's music video we were on a hill by a little forest and it was pitch black outside, but we found that the camera picked up a lot more than our own eyes could. Although we filmed with tiny lights we were able to see Bluey's face perfectly clearly when the image was boosted in the grade."
The production was recorded at 1080p in the Pro Res 422 codec via an external recorder at 50Mb/s onto 32GB Compact Flash, backing up media onto SxS cards. Data was handled by a digital imaging technician who ensured there were always two back ups on a 2TB drive. Jenkinson recommends using 32GB CF cards instead of the 16GB cards because they work more reliably with the external recorder via the camera's HD-SDI output. "If you use HDMI output make sure you check both units are recording - camera and recorder," he warns.
Zeiss CP.2s were Jenkinson's lens choice. "It's a really affordable glass which on the F3 produces a really soft and subtle lens flare. CP.2s also work well because they are chunky and easy to focus pull. We shot without a matte box because we were constantly changing lenses with our 'run and gun' shooting style and had to work quickly. A matte box would have slowed us down a lot."
Reebok Presents: Bluey Robinson & Labrinth from wearesuperglue on Vimeo.
When shooting exteriors, light was controlled by the F3's two stage ND filter. "The two stage filter is a really useful addition, which meant that we could shoot outdoors without matte boxes and keep the lenses wide open for the shallow depth of field look that we wanted. The F3 was light enough for a lot of handheld camerawork, getting facial close ups which we used to produce arresting crops in the edit on Final Cut Pro."
Jenkinson adds: "I'd definitely use that set up again because I felt that you could really trust it. It worked well and I also thought that the F3's sensor coped really well in low light. Best of all the images graded up beautifully. Compared to DSLRs, the F3 is leaps and bounds ahead."
But there is one thing which would have made the set up even better for Jenkinson: a zoom lens for the F3 with a rocker switch for use in a range of shooting situations without the need for regular lens changes. The good news is that Sony has just launched the SCL-Z18x140 - a high powered zoom for exactly this type of application.
