Very in depth tutorials / BTS of three shoots on the Sony FS100. How I light, set up shots, work out shoots

Education Lighting Tutorials

ETHICS STATEMENT: I was hired by Sony Europe to shoot these films and Zacuto are one of my main site sponsors. Read more on my ethics statement here. This was a one-off job and I am not on the payroll or under contract with them. I am 100% independent.

Last year and this year I shot, directed and edited 3 short films for Sony’s EXTRA-ORDINARY promotional campaign. 3 shorts films with in-depth BTS. Each film would look at different ways to shoot, different features of the camera, different ways to tell stories…one with mood, one with a process, one with a strong narrative.

Film 1 was at a shitty funfair 🙂 Film 2 was a famous cake shop and my favourite Film 3 was at an East end boxing gym…

No much else to say except watch them and enjoy. You should learn a lot from them. One word of warning. I do NOT look good at all in these…I have been seriously healthy after the last shoot and am now sexy, dashing and simply irresistible…well that’s what me mum says 😉

Evening Waltz from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Sony Extra Ordinary Tutorials With Philip Bloom Shoot 1 Film 1 from Threefold on Vimeo.

We follow Philip Bloom shooting on Sony’s Brand new NEX-FS100E, with a bunch of handy tips along the way.

In this film we go to a fair ground in Wembley to look at the low light and slow motion capabilities of the camera.

Shot By Tom at Threefold
Sound Aaron Young

 

Sony Extra Ordinary Tutorials With Philip Bloom Shoot 1 Film 2 from Threefold on Vimeo.

We follow Philip Bloom shooting on Sony’s Brand new NEX-FS100E, with a bunch of handy tips along the way.

In this film go to a fair ground in Wembley to look at the low light and slow motion capabilities of the camera

Shot By Tom at Threefold
Sound Aaron Young


Choccywoccydoodah from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Sony Extra Ordinary Tutorials With Philip Bloom Shoot 2 Film 1 from Threefold on Vimeo.

We follow Philip Bloom shooting on Sony’s Brand new NEX-FS100E, with a bunch of handy tips along the way.

In this film we visit Choccywoccydoodah in Brighton to film some amazing cake.

Shot By Tom at Threefold
Sound Aaron Young

Sony Extra Ordinary Tutorials With Philip Bloom Shoot 2 Film 2 from Threefold on Vimeo.

We follow Philip Bloom shooting on Sony’s Brand new NEX-FS100E, with a bunch of handy tips along the way.
In this film we visit Choccywoccydoodah in Brighton to film some amazing cake.
Shot By Tom at Threefold
Sound Aaron Young

Portrait of a boxer from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Sony Extra Ordinary Tutorials With Philip Bloom Shoot 3 Film 1 from Threefold on Vimeo.

We follow Philip Bloom shooting on Sony’s Brand new NEX-FS100E, with a bunch of handy tips along the way.

In this film we visit Repton Boxing Cub in East London, and show how the camera lends itself to being rigged in all sorts of inventive ways.

Shot By Tom at Threefold
Sound Aaron Young

 

Sony Extra Ordinary Tutorials With Philip Bloom Shoot 3 Film 2 from Threefold on Vimeo.

We follow Philip Bloom shooting on Sony’s Brand new NEX-FS100E, with a bunch of handy tips along the way.

In this film we visit Repton Boxing Cub in East London, and show how the camera lends itself to being rigged in all sorts of inventive ways.

Shot By Tom at Threefold
Sound Aaron Young

56 comments

      1. two questions -Can anyone use the electronic servo SELP18200(ncluded in the sony nex vg 50 & vg 900) lens on Sony Nex fs100 and works? -You know if Sony sells or intends to sell a new hand grip with servo zoom button to work with motorized zoom lenses or firmware for that purpose?

  3. Hello Philip,
    you have “Sony Extra Ordinary Tutorials With Philip Bloom Shoot 3 Film 1” embedded twice, but missing “Sony Extra Ordinary Tutorials With Philip Bloom Shoot 3 Film 2”.

    cheers

    Tom

  4. I really enjoy watching this videos ……a lots of information to catch and learn ……….and for the record ..yes Phil you look now much more better then you look in this videos …………

    keep the good work

    best regards

  6. These films are awesome, especially the boxer one, and it’s even better to see behind the scenes. Thank you for sharing this.

    I don’t know if it’s me or if it’s a creative decision that was made in the grading, but do the colours seem a bit other worldly or a bit strange? Seeing all these FS100 films together, and comparing them to some of the other films like the Tracker and the Banker or the Projectionist, it seems like the colour handling of this camera might not be on a par with the Canons?

    There is some interesting comment here, on the topic of colour fidelity and the design of the sensor: http://www.xdcam-user.com/2012/11/raw-is-raw-but-not-all-raw-is-created-equal/

    And some tests here showing that Red cameras are struggling with skin tones: http://jonathanyi.com/wp-jonyi/ikonoskop-versus-red-the-most-unfair-camera-test/

    And on this page: http://blog.vincentlaforet.com/2012/08/29/canon-c100-leads-to-murky-future-for-mid-to-upper-range-video-hdslrs/ Vincent Laforet says there are “…problems with getting the colors and image right out of those two Sony cameras [the FS100, FS700] these days – especially in mixed light. That being said: once you tweak your camera you can get great results with those cameras. Out of the box – far too many people I’ve spoken to have found those cameras frustrating to say the least.”

    Any thoughts?

    1. it’s actually a creative decision Tom. The flat image is quite lovely. I went for 3 strong looks for each…the greens of the sonys are a bit strong but you can always bring them down.

      watch my piece “the sea water drinkers” shot on the FS700….very natural grade

      p

  8. Hi Philip, Thanks so much for these BTS videos – find them super helpful.

    I was wondering: for the cake video I noticed that you were shooting with the 100mm makro from Zeiss and that it had a follow focus gear ring attached to it. As I understand it, that lens’s barrel extends out from the mid-section. How do you work around that and get it rigged with a follow focus?

  9. Fantastic BTS videos. Thanks for all that you do. Whether you know it or not, you certainly make an impact in our industry. Especially us small production companies. 🙂

    I recently started my collection of Zeiss ZF.2 (25mm, 50mm, 85mm) and I noticed they gave of a slightly greener cast than my Canon lenses. Do you ever use WB compensation in camera to offset that especially if you ever mix lenses? I have had a bit of a hard time trying to make them match in post.

    P.S. Thanks for sacrificing your health to really fit the part of a carny. I kid. 😛

  10. You sound like you’re working too hard in the boxing videos Philip, your voice sounds like it was about to go.
    Really enjoyed the bts stuff, would love to see more like this.

    Regarding the 2k light in the last boxing vid. Could you have taken the gel off the light and gel the window so you get the most out of the 2k?

    Top stuff.

  12. Hi Philip
    can i ask you : what the PPF you used on the camera in the boxer ?
    i have searching for the good indoor flat ppf for fs100 and your’s is so great… 😉
    pleas help me to choose and sorry for my English dude… 🙂
    thank you

  13. Mr. Bloom nice work. My favorite is also the Portrait of a Boxer. Great use of sound design. That often overlooked aspect really brings intimate projects like that to life. The contraption that was built for mounting the camera onto the boxer is really great! Is there any info/tutorial on how it was built?

    Thanks mate,
    Iain

  16. Hello Mr Philip Bloom, I would like to just say your work is extraordinary with these 3 films. One thing you rarely see nowadays, is directors and DP’s willing to share some of the techniques behind their workflow when filming. BTS are one of the main reasons that so many new directors become inspired with new ideas and ways to shoot, which lead to new levels of filming our projects. Great work especially with Portrait of a Boxer. I only have one question, which is how did you maintain such a wide DOF when he was hitting the bag, yet you only used a spot and some fill light? It looks as if you used maybe F5 – F7.1 but I’m not sure.

    Thanks for all of your advice. Leon

  18. Hi Sir,

    I’ve loved Portrait of a boxer in many ways, the photography the editing the music, all serving the narration.

    I have a question regarding the color grading, how did you get it? Towards wich colors did you push the shadows the midtones and the highlights? I’d love the color and I have a subject that could be fine in these color.
    When I shoot a short doc or a short movie I like to push the shadows to the blue, the mid and the high toward the yellow or the green, sometimes all the three to the yellow but I’d like to know how did you get these colors?

    My regards and very nice job again

  20. Philip thank you for posting these incredible short films, and the informative BTS. Inspiring work and insights! You have a fine eye for detail and emotion. Great storytelling. I love the FS100 image. I was curious how you recorded the footage for the “cake” shoot? Is that off the internal card or an external like Ninja?

  21. Hi, Philip!

    I really want to know your opinion or even get your advice. I bought the FS100 and try to select the manufacturer of adapters for Nikon lenses (my first lens Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S DX). MTF or NOVOFLEX – the price difference is impressive, the difference in functionality is not obvious ….. wheel aperture (NOVO) vs. slider (MTF)? I do not understand – is displayed on the camera set the aperture value or not? Displays the values ​​of the focus in feet / meters? What is the difference other than price? Which adapters to choose based on the ratio of quality and price? Your word, COMRADE 🙂

    P.S. On how much worse picture of the camera in the application of full-frame lenses ….. by light entering the inside but not on the matrix?

    Thank’s, Vlad.

    1. What the crap? Three days in the status of the message is “awaiting moderation”! How long it will last is not clear – but now I can say: thanks for the help and attention! It is so nice … and unfortunately not the first time. Bravo!

  22. Hi Philip,

    Absolutely great post and docs! Mmmm, cake…

    Had a question on a recommendation though. Saw you using Litepanels 1×1’s in these pieces, and quite a bit in general, and I’m looking at making an investment in a small kit (probably 2) for myself. What’s your preference as far as flood vs spot beam angle? I would think, it’s easier to diffuse a spot than vice versa, but I’m not intimately familiar with the quality of LED light.

    My limited experience with Litepanels left quite an impression and I’m sold on the technology and usefulness, but I haven’t had the opportunity to compare apples to oranges as it were.

    Thoughts?
    Thanks!

  25. Hello sorry for my bad english!

    Is Notably recording in HD (1920x1080i) the difference in image quality between sony nex fs100 and fs700?
    and two questions on nex fs100 if you know:
    two questions if you know:
    -Can anyone use the electronic servo SELP18200(ncluded in the sony nex vg 50 & vg 900) lens on Sony Nex fs100 and works?
    -You know if Sony sells or intends to sell a new hand grip with servo zoom button to work with motorized zoom lenses or firmware for that purpose?
    Thanks a lot from Argentina!!

  27. Hello Phillip Bloom, I would like to say thank you for being so generous and sharing these videos! The final results are impressive for a low budget and the tutorials are simple to understand. I am 24 years old and am from Lima, Peru but I am going to study Cinematography here in the U.S and possibly specialize in Film Composing in the future. I am just starting my dream and you are a great example to follow. Thank you for your patience and generosity! I live in WPB, Florida so I will do my best to attend to your Master Class this upcoming Saturday, February 2nd down in Miami for the Filmgate Festival.
    Thanks Again!
    Chas!

  28. Hi Philip,
    Once again very thankful for your kindness in sharing such an enormous amount of your knowledge and more importantly your time. I know how long it takes to do all of this and it takes a unique person to do it. I am going to do a post on my site and link to this page if that is ok. I would like more people to recognize how special it is what you do here. I love that in these pieces you are talking about how you are working and how certain aspects of the camera helps in certain areas. It is not ALL about the camera but exhibits how the mind of a Pro DP works. If some of the people who seem to think it is all about having the best or newest piece of kit actually got that, they would learn much more from what you are sharing. In reality you could shoot a really beautiful story with an Iphone if it took your fancy. All the best and I hope you are getting a bit more personal time in your life.

  30. Hi Philip. These shorts and their tutorials are just marvelous. I enjoy your enthusiasm for an unusual or unexpected camera angle, or juxtaposition of alluring images as with the slow mixes in the fun fair piece. But by far my favourite was the boxing film. The combination of a well told visual story with interesting background sound and, where applicable, the right music bed is almost always compelling. But for me when those are used in combination with an engaging individual talking about something about which they are passionate – Boom. Alchemy. Loved it. Thanks.

  31. Great information. I have considered this camera vs the F55. I shoot corporate videos mostly, but have gotten into shooting features and docs. This may be a viable option to keep cost down. Thanks again for your site and its information.

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