The Short Form

How DSLRs have had a major impact on shorts, spots and vids

By Iain Blair

This Article Features Photo Zoom

Cinematographer David Myrick has shot nearly a dozen music videos with the Canon EOS 5D Mark II.

Since first appearing on the market in 2008, DSLR cameras have had a big impact on filmmaking, especially in the indie market. The format is gaining ground not only in the world of music videos, where DPs and directors have always liked to experiment and push the limits, but also in the commercial and shorts arena, long a bastion of traditional glossy-film values, whether 35mm or 16mm film.

As Aussie award-winning commercial director Craig Gillespie, whose feature film credits include the critically acclaimed Lars and the Real Girl and the recent Fright Night, puts it, "When I did a recent commercial for Verizon, after being off doing a movie for a year, the crew was shocked I was still shooting film. They just assumed we'd be using the [Canon EOS] 5D [Mark II], or that and a RED or ALEXA, as that's how so many commercials are shot these days."

Filmmaker David Dugan and Myrick with a 5D Mark II and a Redrock microShoulderMount.

Award-winning cinematographer Ross Richardson has shot high-end commercials for Nike, GM and Coca-Cola, as well as music videos for Michael Jackson, Metallica and Linkin Park, and is a big fan of DSLRs. "About 60% of my jobs this year have been some form of HD, and although the 5D craze of last year has slowed a little, there's still a lot of demand," he reports, "especially as a second camera or for getting shots that would otherwise be tricky or take a long time to rig with another camera."

Richardson cites cars and skateboards and underwater sequences as "perfect applications—places where you just can't go with a conventional film camera. It's just so much simpler and easier to handle and rig a DSLR."

The DP has shot more than 15 commercials with the 5D Mark II where it has been "either 100% 5D—such as the Revo sunglasses spot and a Bank of America spot—or used in conjunction with the ALEXA or RED," he states. And like other DPs, he cites the 5D Mark II's larger sensor, as well as its HD capability, as the main reason so many people have embraced it. "It gives you a very beautiful look, where the depth of field is very shallow," he comments. "It's almost like shooting 70mm. Compared to shooting 35mm film or an ALEXA or RED sensor, it has this really amazing quality to its depth of field, and that's what makes it so seductive."

Richardson owns a 5D and 7D, and depending on the nature of the shoot, will pick one or the other. "They allow you to do some pretty amazing things," says the DP, who shot the Revo spot on a glacier in Argentina with just one assistant. "We had to hike in with all our gear, and the 5D was the right tool for the job; we got amazing images, and because it's so lightweight, we could carry everything in a backpack. And for getting in the back of a car and shooting handheld, it's really fantastic, and the image is extremely high quality."

For the Revo commercial, the DP also brought along a Zacuto Z-Finder, "which magnifies the LCD screen on the back," he notes. "And that was invaluable for the job because I was pulling my own focus."

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