9 Canon 5Ds Capture The Shot on Goal for Yahoo Sports – WORLD CUP 2010
In May of last year, I was hired to shoot a web interactive game for Yahoo sports in the LA Coliseum. The director was Jason Zada who helms at the production company, Tool of North America. He saw the short film The Last 3 Minutes, loved the look of it, and wanted to try the Canon 5D technology in the sports arena.
Canon 5Ds for 2010 World Cup Spot
The game was one that you played online to get people all fired up about the 2010 WORLD CUP. It was a shootout where you could select to be the penalty kicker or the goalie. From there you would select where you were going to kick the ball or as the goalie, where you were going to leap to make the save.
We shot the spot over 2 days and I employed the same kind of lighting style that I used in the drum battle at the end of my film Drumline. I used a very controlled, super soft source from overhead that fell off quickly.
This lighting effect was used to showcase the kicker and the goalie, while all the other elements in the stadium fell off to black.
Here you see the wide shot and the fall off of our huge overhead soft source, in post we added the flashbulb effects, and sound design for the crowd and I lit the tunnels of the LA Coliseum to give it a little depth
The same effect was used with the kicker’s direction as well as the goalie’s. This gave us the ability to shoot 360 degrees with 9 cameras and still have wonderful contrast and color
Using the shallow depth of field of the Canon 5D sensor we were able to take a 24mm Canon L series 1.4 lens and throw the goalie out of focus in the background so that the overlaid circles popped off the screen
Kicker Celebrates after a score
The goalie readies herself for the shot. I lit the arches at the Coliseum to give more depth along the retaining wall
Canon 5Ds and Canon L Series Glass
We shot with a total of nine Canon 5Ds with all Canon L series glass, from a 24mm to a 800mm. Over the course of the two-night shoot, we had over 158 setups planned.
With synergy and support from several of my talented Elite Team members: Darin Necessary, 1st AC Mike Svitak, 2nd AC Derek Edwards, 1st AC and Chris Mosely, Camera Operator we brought this baby to life.
Every set-up required us to repeat all of the shots again with a different kicker and a different goalie. Once again, the power of this platform and its nimble ability to capture wonderful moments were showcased. Here are some screen grabs from the interactive game as well as a BTS.
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About Filmmakers Academy Cinematographer Mentor Shane Hurlbut, ASC
Director of photography Shane Hurlbut, ASC works at the forefront of cinema. He’s a storyteller, innovator, and discerning collaborator, who brings more than three decades of experience to his art. He is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers, the International Cinematographers Guild/Local 600, and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Hurlbut frequently joins forces with great directors: McG’s Netflix Rim of the World and The Babysitter, plus Warner Bros. We Are Marshall and Terminator: Salvation; Scott Waugh’s Need for Speed and Act of Valor; and Gabriele Muccino’s There Is No Place Like Home and Fathers and Daughters. His additional film credits include Semi-Pro; The Greatest Game Ever Played; Into the Blue; Mr 3000; Drumline; 11:14, which earned Hurlbut a DVDX nomination; and The Skulls. Notably, his television credits include the first season of AMC’s Into the Badlands.
Massively Cool Shane!
Where the shots on this BTS filmed with a 5D as well? Because those test kicks at 4:45, the whip pans show no Rolling Shutter. Just curious and keep up the good work!
Darren, thank you so much for the kind words. The BTS was filmed with a Canon 7D.
Very nice. Intersting.
Brendan, thank you so much for your support.
wow!wow!wow!
Great post and video!
Question about lighting: Would it be the same effect, if u shoot 18K HMI up (or a couple of them) into an ultrabounce rigged on top of the field. I saw a similar setup done for ‘Gangs of NY’. Was your setup cheaper than dealing with HMI’s?
Thanks a lot for sharing!
You definitely a great teacher!
Alex, Thank you so much for your wonderful words. Yes you could use HMI’s, no problem. I used the batton lights that I designed because we needed to be able to shoot 360 degrees. If I had 18k’s bouncing from the ground then I would be limiting my camera placement and having to move the lights all over the field. This seemed to be the right way to go, along with the limited budget that we had. You are very welcome and look forward to more comments. Always feel free to ask as many questions as you would like. I am here for all of you.
As always, thank you so much for sharing your experience and knowledge at this blog. I’ve been reading this blog since the day you started sharing your thoughts about canon 5D and been a huge fun of your work.
For this shoot, have you had any problem regarding moire issue with the goal net when you shot the WS of the goalie? I was wondering if that’s the case, whether you had to fix it either in production or post.
Thank you for your time and looking forward to seeing more of your amazing work.
Teru, thank you so much for those kind words and all your support since the beginning. This is much appreciated. No moire issues at all on the nets. It worked out very nicely.
Thank you very much for your response.
Shane,
Awesome as usual. I love the look of this. What are you using for your batton lights? I’ve noticed you use these a lot – it’s a cool design.
Matt short, thanks so much for your support. I designed these lights on Mr. 3000. I love them the only controlled soft source. It is R-30 spots in either 4′ or 8′ strips.
I love the idea of turning all those point source lights into linear arrays. Ingenious. how much power did they consume? did you have to use a generator?
Tim Kang, an 8′ strip consumes just under 18 amps. But they put out the output of a 10K fresnel. Yes we had a generator powering up the baton lights as well as all the tunnel lights and arch lights.
I seriously want to be just like you when im out of college. god…. I can only wish.
Cam, thank you so much for your kind words. Hard work, passion, unrelenting energy and a never say die attitude. You can make it happen. I love what I do.
Enjoyed it very much Shane, thanks for sharing!
I really get inspired by all this.
okay, back to work :-)
P
Pepijn, you are very welcome, thank you for your support.
Great Job, Since the 5D does not shoot 60p. What did you do for any slow motion shots? I would of thought you might of used a 7d for slow mo? Thanks for sharing Shane.
Travis
Travis Guerra, we didn’t use any slow-mo on this. It was all real time.
Shane,
Thank you again for another informative post.
Could you fill us in a little more on your Baton lights? You tend to use those babies often it seems, and I personally would love to see a blog post on them.
Also did you design a custom picture setting for this shoot as you did with the Navy SEALS feature? The colors with this footage just pop and are absolutely wonderful. I am curious as to just how much or how little coloring you did with this footage since I remember how you’ve disavowed the superflat picture profiles.
D, You are very welcome and thank you for the support. Yes, I designed these lights on the movie Mr. 3000 starring Bernie Mac. I love the soft but controllable quality of them, I am currently using 40 8′ batons and 40 4′ baton lights on Kin/Blackbird my next film that I am shooting in Montreal as we speak. The picture style was an ektachrome that I made a while back to pop colors and contrast.
Ektachrome was a picture style? I’m assuming you mean you colored it in the camera? As an editor, I’ve always been hesitant to lock myself into any picture styles in camera. Though, as I said before, it does look awesome.
Matt Short, I went for on this one because I knew it was a BTS and I knew there would be no color correction done. Thanks for your support.
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing, Shane. Will have to practice some to get up to this… :-)
Erik Sundland, you are very welcome, never loose sight of your passion and what you love to do. I set my sight on becoming a cinematographer and never lost focus. Lots of hard work, this is not an easy profession but I feel it is one of the best jobs ever.
I watched the videos you posted on B&H and you just made things so much brighter in my head as a new 48 year old aspiring filmmaker.I have to say you remind me of Tim Allen alot and you can be the host for american most wanted, you will be good as the host if the original host decides to step down.Thank you for all the information you are awesome with the way you explain, I have a t2i right now and I am looking to purchase a 7d. You help me to understand about the heating up of my camera. I am using a32gb card and it gets hot in 20 minutes and no one really had answers, but you did explain alot in the short time you were on.Nice work and I learned alot from you.
sidney, thank you so much for those kind words. I am glad you found them informative. This was a labor of love for Hurlbut Visuals to continue to educate and inspire one filmmaker at a time. Tim Allen, HA HA. LoL Thanks
Shane,
The soccer stuff looks awesome. Another question about the batons: I’ve used similar rigs before but I noticed on Blackbird that you had the house set’s ceiling lined with the suckers. Were they just there to pop on and off as warm, dim backlights or was that for some kind of light gag effect?
Thomas, thank you so much. Yes I line the whole perimeter of a room with them. So no matter which way we look I turn one on to back light or three quarter back light the actors.
Hi Shane, thnx for sharing once again
I saw alot of Sachtler tripods standing around on the BTS…
Is that your weapon of choice regarding DSLR’s and if yes which one do you recommend for a simple Set up (Sachtler System FSB 4, System Cine DSLR…)
Regards
Hi Shane,
Thanks for all of the great information! I was wondering what you think of the new Sony NEX FS100 since it is basically the same size as a DSLR but it has made some of the sensor issues better, i.e. rolling shutter and moire? Do you think you’ll have a use for it on your projects either in conjunction with your DSLR’s or instead of them in some cases? Thanks in advance.
Paul
Hi Shane,
I see you receiving a lot of thanks for the time and effort you put in to educating others and I must join in and thank you as well. I’m sitting on the other side of the planet in South Africa and with the joys of the internet I’m able to follow along with what is happening out there. Your work and even more so your method and willingness to share is inspiring. I started in film some 10 years ago with no formal training, just got myself on set and learnt the hard way when I used to live in LA. Back in SA, cost is quite a prohibitive factor and I created a little production company but had to shoot everything on HDV which wasn’t too inspiring and I subsequently left the business. With the rise of the HDSLRs, things have changed :) After watching your videos and reading your blog I have invested in a 60D a range of lenses and audio equipment and…WOW. I feel like I’m back shooting film, at least creatively which is fantastic. Your boot Camp looks incredible, I’m trying to figure out a way to get out to the USA to do one, a long way to come for a weekend, but worth it I’m sure, so I hope to meet you in the near future (PS: keep the BTSs coming, they really do help us budding film makers)
Best, Tyler
Tyler Bizzell, it is great hearing from you all the way from South Africa. We had another South African come to our bootcamp last year, his name was Clive Mohale. Awesome filmmaker. As it stands right now my schedule will not allow another bootcamp in 2011. I am slotted to shoot another feature in the fall. I thank you so much for all of your kind words and support. I am very happy that I am helping you. These comments are what inspire me to keep on doing what I am doing. Plenty more BTS on the way.
Hi Shane,
congrats to those great images and thanks for sharing the BTS video!
Could you give us some more information about that light setup? I´ve seen you using the same on “The last 3 minutes” aswell. What kind of bulbs do you use (color temp, output?)
Thanks a lot in advance,
Jassin
Jassin, thanks so much. The baton lights come in 8′ and 4′ lengths. I use 65 watt spot globes. The color temp. up full is 2800 degrees, I use them dimmed down around 2100 Kelvin.
Dig the baton rig, Shane … loved that style of lighting in Drumline, reminds me also of what Salvatore Totino did on “Any Given Sunday.”
Great multi-cam set-up, did you guys rig any cam’s inside the goal (upper corners) with wide lens? Let me know if there is a hi-res version of the final cut, love to check it out … btw, great “air canon”-lol, … all the best, thanks man.
‘J-dog
Hey Shane!
I’m a high school student that’s involved with the theater department (on the tech side of course), with an interest in film too. When it comes to lighting a set like this, what type of board do you use? We use an ETC Express at our school, but what you’re using seems a little more complicated than the Express. How many channels did your massive rig occupy? I’m really impressed with the look that it gives.
By shooting with 5D’s, do you ever run into issues with batteries going dead midway through a shot, or do you switch them out as much as you can?
Anyway, thanks for posting these BTS clips. It’s really inspiring for the aspiring.
Andrew K, we use Whole Hog II boards, that is what I used on Terminator Salvation, I think we used an Expression Board on Yahoo. The rig occupied about 180 channels. Yes we replace the batteries when they give us 2 lines.