Black & White is Still Beautiful « Videomaker Community Forums

composite1
Moderator

I ran across this video by DoP Phillip Bloom shot with a 5Dmk II DSLR camera. Shot at night in the city of Prague Phillip makes everyday life in that wintry city look like something that should've been in an Audry Hepburn flick. The Mk II is hardcore in color, but shows that in the hands of someone with an eye can kick butt in B&W too!

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H.Wolfgang Porter, Composite Media Producer
Dreaded Enterprises Unlimited, Inc.
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Posted 2 years ago #
CraftersOfLight
Member

One word...

Awesome!

Just watching and studying the composition and editing techniques may take one several days and they will still find something new. Thank you for sharing this jewel.

Life is not a guided tour nor a destination.
It is a journey. Take the time to enjoy your family, friends and surroundings.
Build memories. Share experiences. Travel at sight speed not light speed. (C)

Posted 2 years ago #
composite1
Moderator

Awesome indeed. My main hope is that any beginners or intermediates will look at this stuff and not get 'punked out' feeling that they couldn't possibly do well with what they have. It's not that Phillip did anything spectacular, in fact the shooting is really simple and he used the basics many of the regular forum contributors always hear me harping on. This video is startling because with his command of the basics, he took a great camera and made a beautiful memory of a night in Prague. I guarantee the guy (or anyone else with similar skills) can do the same thing with a lesser camera. Now, obviously the imagery will not be the same because of the capabilities of the Mk II. But, you could still get a similar look using good composition, good focus and good exposure.

Posted 2 years ago #
SargeHero
Member

Amazing. When I was watching for some reason it remind me of Citizen Kane. The composition is so good and the music fits perfectly. Really like it.

The meaning of a movie are the characters, the life of the movie is the music, but the magic is in the editing.
Luis O. Maymí
Follow me on Twitter @lomaymi

Posted 2 years ago #
ophelia
Member

Thanks for bringing B&W back into focus - haha - (a still photographer's joke). Personally, I like B&W best, and it always shows the caliber of talent of the shooter (or lack thereof...). This is probably a noob question, but do you know how Mr. Bloom created the transition where the falling snow fades and then overlaps the next scenes?

Posted 2 years ago #
film814
Member

Beautiful. The great depth-of-field possibilities in the new DSLRs like the Mark II are fantastic. I think one can certainly masterfully control a lesser camera, but I also think that the the DOF and selective focus that is realized with better equipment is the one thing that would make many great videos greater.

Posted 2 years ago #
composite1
Moderator

Ophelia,

Off the top of my head it looks like he used transparency overlay (i.e. the 'snow clip' is laid over the following clips.) Since it was lit snow on a black sky, it wouldn't have been hard to do. Just another example of simplicity being beautiful.

Film,

I agree. The thing I want newbs and intermedi8s to understand that until you master the basics you won't be able to take advantage of advanced capabilities like DOF and Selective focus. Not on purpose anyway.

Sarge,

I'm glad you and the others are enjoying this video. Too often I hear people get bent over having to watch something in B&W. Shooting in B&W and making it look good is in some ways more difficult than shooting in color. Light, Shadow, Tone and Contrast are all you've got to work with and if you can't adjust your video is going to look awful.

Posted 2 years ago #