Lux Shots

Here are some frame grabs from my first feature length film Bad Decisions. I started on the GH4, then shot some scenes on the GH5. I will finish this next year with the S5 and S1H if COVID-19 doesn't turn into COVID-20. 😬 I'm probably going to go straight to Amazon Prime. My budget thus far has been $10K and I have another $3K or so for the last two scenes. 
As so many of you know, no ifs, ands or buts about it; filmmaking is fucking hard!  This is probably why this is my last one. I've been discouraged so many times that I had pretty much decided to delete the whole film and just quit altogether. But looking at these grabs, and knowing that I lit that, I blocked that, I wrote that, I shot that and I directed that gives me the courage to complete what I've started. It would be nice if I break even, but even if I don't, I can say that "Hey, I did that!" And boy I didn't do that alone! I had so much help from friends, family and complete strangers that it's too much to even count! They were angels, there just when I needed them, and for not a moment longer,
There was one scene, that I was shooting straight guerrilla style. I needed to shoot on three city blocks at night, and I had to light it, and there was a gun scene that kinda made me nervous for the safety of the cast and crew. We have no permit process in my city, so I went to the police department, and explained what I was doing that night, and they were like "Ok".
As soon as it got dark around cast and crew call time was at 6pm. We went to the neighbors houses and let them know what we were doing. We started blocking, and laying down markers for lights tripods and actors. It got dark at 9pm, and we started shooting. We were shooting in moving cars, had special effects, and every scene was lit. We even faked a window getting shot out. We wrapped that scene at 5am the next day, right before the sun came up.
Do you know for the entire time we were shooting, not a single car drove up any block visible? It's like we rented 100 homes, paid everyone to stay inside and blocked off the area for a 1/4 mile radius! God was most definitely on my side that day, and it was one of the best scenes in the entire film!

This is one of my biggest mistakes of the production to be completely honest.
I shot most of the scenes with Canon FD 28mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.4 and 35-105 f/3.5. Beautiful glass, but you need to stop down a stop or two to get it really sharp. I lit all the scenes with LED Fresnel lights and panel lights, but sometimes that wasn't enough unless the lenses were wide open, so some shots are way too soft for my liking, like the black guy with the white guy in the car scene. I was away from power, so couldn't use my A.C. powered lights. 😥
When I rented the GH5 for some scenes, I also rented the Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 and Speedbooster. This is the lens that is shooting the scene with the guy and girl in the bar (shout out to my fine ass wife 💞).
In other scenes, I even used the Panasonic 42.5mm, 25mm and 20mm f/1.7 primes. That was just stupid of me. I even used the 14-45mm 3.5-5.6 in a scene because I needed a much wider shot indoors. The guy looking out the window at night was shot with this.
The one other thing I wish I had was an electronic gimbal. I had a vest with spring arm and mechanical stabilizer, but I really wasn't good at it at all. It would have been better for me to go into more debt to add better motion shots, as many were killed and just shot on sticks.
I went with the GH4 and GH5 because it was the camera I had. I made certain to always shoot out to a Ninja 2 and at the time I was using DNxHD as a codec. All in all, I'm very pleased with the quality.
You may be surprised, but low light shooting wasn't really an issue! Every single scene was lit, so I didn't go over ISO-1600 for any shot. This is why I really can't understand cameras like the A7S line (even though I eventually bought the GH5S myself) when it comes to filmmaking. For docu work, yeah, that's a perfect camera, for weddings it makes life super easy. But when you are trying to sculpt a look with light placement, when shooting a film in available light, you relinquish all control of the visual medium. Now you could use negative fills to great effect (never seen it done once on an indie set) or fly large diffusion panels and scrims, but what indie production can afford to do that?
The biggest  problem for this project is, well,  life.
Everyone in the film has jobs, businesses and careers. Getting the moons to align was quite the difficult task. Many a time it was a shoot day, and someone had to be at work early the next morning and couldn't make it. At that point, I just needed bodies for grip just to not loose another day. I even hired my handyman that does home repairs for me to do grip work!
Almost all shooting was done exclusively at night by design, but that worked out in my favor.
The budget went to craft services, location rentals and gear. I also paid a talent agency to wrangle extras for me for two scenes. At least these people had an interest in the business, as you really can't have just any Joe or Jane do this because more often than not, they will fuck up your shot by looking into your camera or talking when they aren't supposed to, etc.
I hope this helps!

I use the entire Flashpoint system, and they really do work great! I use the Flashpoint XPLOR 600 and the Zoom LiOn.

This is one of my biggest mistakes of the production to be completely honest.
I shot most of the scenes with Canon FD 28mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.4 and 35-105 f/3.5. Beautiful glass, but you need to stop down a stop or two to get it really sharp. I lit all the scenes with LED Fresnel lights and panel lights, but sometimes that wasn't enough unless the lenses were wide open, so some shots are way too soft for my liking, like the black guy with the white guy in the car scene. I was away from power, so couldn't use my A.C. powered lights. 😥
When I rented the GH5 for some scenes, I also rented the Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 and Speedbooster. This is the lens that is shooting the scene with the guy and girl in the bar (shout out to my fine ass wife 💞).
In other scenes, I even used the Panasonic 42.5mm, 25mm and 20mm f/1.7 primes. That was just stupid of me. I even used the 14-45mm 3.5-5.6 in a scene because I needed a much wider shot indoors. The guy looking out the window at night was shot with this.
The one other thing I wish I had was an electronic gimbal. I had a vest with spring arm and mechanical stabilizer, but I really wasn't good at it at all. It would have been better for me to go into more debt to add better motion shots, as many were killed and just shot on sticks.
I went with the GH4 and GH5 because it was the camera I had. I made certain to always shoot out to a Ninja 2 and at the time I was using DNxHD as a codec. All in all, I'm very pleased with the quality.
You may be surprised, but low light shooting wasn't really an issue! Every single scene was lit, so I didn't go over ISO-1600 for any shot. This is why I really can't understand cameras like the A7S line (even though I eventually bought the GH5S myself) when it comes to filmmaking. For docu work, yeah, that's a perfect camera, for weddings it makes life super easy. But when you are trying to sculpt a look with light placement, when shooting a film in available light, you relinquish all control of the visual medium. Now you could use negative fills to great effect (never seen it done once on an indie set) or fly large diffusion panels and scrims, but what indie production can afford to do that?
The biggest  problem for this project is, well,  life.
Everyone in the film has jobs, businesses and careers. Getting the moons to align was quite the difficult task. Many a time it was a shoot day, and someone had to be at work early the next morning and couldn't make it. At that point, I just needed bodies for grip just to not loose another day. I even hired my handyman that does home repairs for me to do grip work!
Almost all shooting was done exclusively at night by design, but that worked out in my favor.
The budget went to craft services, location rentals and gear. I also paid a talent agency to wrangle extras for me for two scenes. At least these people had an interest in the business, as you really can't have just any Joe or Jane do this because more often than not, they will fuck up your shot by looking into your camera or talking when they aren't supposed to, etc.
I hope this helps!

What were the lenses you used? What made ya go with the GH4/5? Did you find shooting in low light to be a problem? What would you say was the most difficult thing? BTW! It looks good! Please let us know when it's available! 

Congratulations on your project dont give up man.

Here are some frame grabs from my first feature length film Bad Decisions. I started on the GH4, then shot some scenes on the GH5. I will finish this next year with the S5 and S1H if COVID-19 doesn't turn into COVID-20. 😬 I'm probably going to go straight to Amazon Prime. My budget thus far has been $10K and I have another $3K or so for the last two scenes. 
As so many of you know, no ifs, ands or buts about it; filmmaking is fucking hard!  This is probably why this is my last one. I've been discouraged so many times that I had pretty much decided to delete the whole film and just quit altogether. But looking at these grabs, and knowing that I lit that, I blocked that, I wrote that, I shot that and I directed that gives me the courage to complete what I've started. It would be nice if I break even, but even if I don't, I can say that "Hey, I did that!" And boy I didn't do that alone! I had so much help from friends, family and complete strangers that it's too much to even count! They were angels, there just when I needed them, and for not a moment longer,
There was one scene, that I was shooting straight guerrilla style. I needed to shoot on three city blocks at night, and I had to light it, and there was a gun scene that kinda made me nervous for the safety of the cast and crew. We have no permit process in my city, so I went to the police department, and explained what I was doing that night, and they were like "Ok".
As soon as it got dark around cast and crew call time was at 6pm. We went to the neighbors houses and let them know what we were doing. We started blocking, and laying down markers for lights tripods and actors. It got dark at 9pm, and we started shooting. We were shooting in moving cars, had special effects, and every scene was lit. We even faked a window getting shot out. We wrapped that scene at 5am the next day, right before the sun came up.
Do you know for the entire time we were shooting, not a single car drove up any block visible? It's like we rented 100 homes, paid everyone to stay inside and blocked off the area for a 1/4 mile radius! God was most definitely on my side that day, and it was one of the best scenes in the entire film!

Here are some frame grabs from my first feature length film Bad Decisions. I started on the GH4, then shot some scenes on the GH5. I will finish this next year with the S5 and S1H if COVID-19 doesn't turn into COVID-20. 😬 I'm probably going to go straight to Amazon Prime. My budget thus far has been $10K and I have another $3K or so for the last two scenes. 
As so many of you know, no ifs, ands or buts about it; filmmaking is fucking hard!  This is probably why this is my last one. I've been discouraged so many times that I had pretty much decided to delete the whole film and just quit altogether. But looking at these grabs, and knowing that I lit that, I blocked that, I wrote that, I shot that and I directed that gives me the courage to complete what I've started. It would be nice if I break even, but even if I don't, I can say that "Hey, I did that!" And boy I didn't do that alone! I had so much help from friends, family and complete strangers that it's too much to even count! They were angels, there just when I needed them, and for not a moment longer,
There was one scene, that I was shooting straight guerrilla style. I needed to shoot on three city blocks at night, and I had to light it, and there was a gun scene that kinda made me nervous for the safety of the cast and crew. We have no permit process in my city, so I went to the police department, and explained what I was doing that night, and they were like "Ok".
As soon as it got dark around cast and crew call time was at 6pm. We went to the neighbors houses and let them know what we were doing. We started blocking, and laying down markers for lights tripods and actors. It got dark at 9pm, and we started shooting. We were shooting in moving cars, had special effects, and every scene was lit. We even faked a window getting shot out. We wrapped that scene at 5am the next day, right before the sun came up.
Do you know for the entire time we were shooting, not a single car drove up any block visible? It's like we rented 100 homes, paid everyone to stay inside and blocked off the area for a 1/4 mile radius! God was most definitely on my side that day, and it was one of the best scenes in the entire film!

Here are some frame grabs from my first feature length film Bad Decisions. I started on the GH4, then shot some scenes on the GH5. I will finish this next year with the S5 and S1H if COVID-19 doesn't turn into COVID-20. 😬 I'm probably going to go straight to Amazon Prime. My budget thus far has been $10K and I have another $3K or so for the last two scenes. 
As so many of you know, no ifs, ands or buts about it; filmmaking is fucking hard!  This is probably why this is my last one. I've been discouraged so many times that I had pretty much decided to delete the whole film and just quit altogether. But looking at these grabs, and knowing that I lit that, I blocked that, I wrote that, I shot that and I directed that gives me the courage to complete what I've started. It would be nice if I break even, but even if I don't, I can say that "Hey, I did that!" And boy I didn't do that alone! I had so much help from friends, family and complete strangers that it's too much to even count! They were angels, there just when I needed them, and for not a moment longer,
There was one scene, that I was shooting straight guerrilla style. I needed to shoot on three city blocks at night, and I had to light it, and there was a gun scene that kinda made me nervous for the safety of the cast and crew. We have no permit process in my city, so I went to the police department, and explained what I was doing that night, and they were like "Ok".
As soon as it got dark around cast and crew call time was at 6pm. We went to the neighbors houses and let them know what we were doing. We started blocking, and laying down markers for lights tripods and actors. It got dark at 9pm, and we started shooting. We were shooting in moving cars, had special effects, and every scene was lit. We even faked a window getting shot out. We wrapped that scene at 5am the next day, right before the sun came up.
Do you know for the entire time we were shooting, not a single car drove up any block visible? It's like we rented 100 homes, paid everyone to stay inside and blocked off the area for a 1/4 mile radius! God was most definitely on my side that day, and it was one of the best scenes in the entire film!

Congrats. If one doesn't have a very effective team, filmmaking is usually a very difficult job. Especially for Independent Filmmakers, on much smaller budgets. Congrats on making it this far. 

Looks good!
It's very hard work working on any low or no budget project especially one that takes months/years to complete.

Congrats on being close to wrap!!! The stills look good.

I use the entire Flashpoint system, and they really do work great! I use the Flashpoint XPLOR 600 and the Zoom LiOn.

Here are some frame grabs from my first feature length film Bad Decisions. I started on the GH4, then shot some scenes on the GH5. I will finish this next year with the S5 and S1H if COVID-19 doesn't turn into COVID-20. 😬 I'm probably going to go straight to Amazon Prime. My budget thus far has been $10K and I have another $3K or so for the last two scenes. 
As so many of you know, no ifs, ands or buts about it; filmmaking is fucking hard!  This is probably why this is my last one. I've been discouraged so many times that I had pretty much decided to delete the whole film and just quit altogether. But looking at these grabs, and knowing that I lit that, I blocked that, I wrote that, I shot that and I directed that gives me the courage to complete what I've started. It would be nice if I break even, but even if I don't, I can say that "Hey, I did that!" And boy I didn't do that alone! I had so much help from friends, family and complete strangers that it's too much to even count! They were angels, there just when I needed them, and for not a moment longer,
There was one scene, that I was shooting straight guerrilla style. I needed to shoot on three city blocks at night, and I had to light it, and there was a gun scene that kinda made me nervous for the safety of the cast and crew. We have no permit process in my city, so I went to the police department, and explained what I was doing that night, and they were like "Ok".
As soon as it got dark around cast and crew call time was at 6pm. We went to the neighbors houses and let them know what we were doing. We started blocking, and laying down markers for lights tripods and actors. It got dark at 9pm, and we started shooting. We were shooting in moving cars, had special effects, and every scene was lit. We even faked a window getting shot out. We wrapped that scene at 5am the next day, right before the sun came up.
Do you know for the entire time we were shooting, not a single car drove up any block visible? It's like we rented 100 homes, paid everyone to stay inside and blocked off the area for a 1/4 mile radius! God was most definitely on my side that day, and it was one of the best scenes in the entire film!

Here are some frame grabs from my first feature length film Bad Decisions. I started on the GH4, then shot some scenes on the GH5. I will finish this next year with the S5 and S1H if COVID-19 doesn't turn into COVID-20. 😬 I'm probably going to go straight to Amazon Prime. My budget thus far has been $10K and I have another $3K or so for the last two scenes. 
As so many of you know, no ifs, ands or buts about it; filmmaking is fucking hard!  This is probably why this is my last one. I've been discouraged so many times that I had pretty much decided to delete the whole film and just quit altogether. But looking at these grabs, and knowing that I lit that, I blocked that, I wrote that, I shot that and I directed that gives me the courage to complete what I've started. It would be nice if I break even, but even if I don't, I can say that "Hey, I did that!" And boy I didn't do that alone! I had so much help from friends, family and complete strangers that it's too much to even count! They were angels, there just when I needed them, and for not a moment longer,
There was one scene, that I was shooting straight guerrilla style. I needed to shoot on three city blocks at night, and I had to light it, and there was a gun scene that kinda made me nervous for the safety of the cast and crew. We have no permit process in my city, so I went to the police department, and explained what I was doing that night, and they were like "Ok".
As soon as it got dark around cast and crew call time was at 6pm. We went to the neighbors houses and let them know what we were doing. We started blocking, and laying down markers for lights tripods and actors. It got dark at 9pm, and we started shooting. We were shooting in moving cars, had special effects, and every scene was lit. We even faked a window getting shot out. We wrapped that scene at 5am the next day, right before the sun came up.
Do you know for the entire time we were shooting, not a single car drove up any block visible? It's like we rented 100 homes, paid everyone to stay inside and blocked off the area for a 1/4 mile radius! God was most definitely on my side that day, and it was one of the best scenes in the entire film!

Here are some frame grabs from my first feature length film Bad Decisions. I started on the GH4, then shot some scenes on the GH5. I will finish this next year with the S5 and S1H if COVID-19 doesn't turn into COVID-20. 😬 I'm probably going to go straight to Amazon Prime. My budget thus far has been $10K and I have another $3K or so for the last two scenes. 
As so many of you know, no ifs, ands or buts about it; filmmaking is fucking hard!  This is probably why this is my last one. I've been discouraged so many times that I had pretty much decided to delete the whole film and just quit altogether. But looking at these grabs, and knowing that I lit that, I blocked that, I wrote that, I shot that and I directed that gives me the courage to complete what I've started. It would be nice if I break even, but even if I don't, I can say that "Hey, I did that!" And boy I didn't do that alone! I had so much help from friends, family and complete strangers that it's too much to even count! They were angels, there just when I needed them, and for not a moment longer,
There was one scene, that I was shooting straight guerrilla style. I needed to shoot on three city blocks at night, and I had to light it, and there was a gun scene that kinda made me nervous for the safety of the cast and crew. We have no permit process in my city, so I went to the police department, and explained what I was doing that night, and they were like "Ok".
As soon as it got dark around cast and crew call time was at 6pm. We went to the neighbors houses and let them know what we were doing. We started blocking, and laying down markers for lights tripods and actors. It got dark at 9pm, and we started shooting. We were shooting in moving cars, had special effects, and every scene was lit. We even faked a window getting shot out. We wrapped that scene at 5am the next day, right before the sun came up.
Do you know for the entire time we were shooting, not a single car drove up any block visible? It's like we rented 100 homes, paid everyone to stay inside and blocked off the area for a 1/4 mile radius! God was most definitely on my side that day, and it was one of the best scenes in the entire film!

Here are some frame grabs from my first feature length film Bad Decisions. I started on the GH4, then shot some scenes on the GH5. I will finish this next year with the S5 and S1H if COVID-19 doesn't turn into COVID-20. 😬 I'm probably going to go straight to Amazon Prime. My budget thus far has been $10K and I have another $3K or so for the last two scenes. 
As so many of you know, no ifs, ands or buts about it; filmmaking is fucking hard!  This is probably why this is my last one. I've been discouraged so many times that I had pretty much decided to delete the whole film and just quit altogether. But looking at these grabs, and knowing that I lit that, I blocked that, I wrote that, I shot that and I directed that gives me the courage to complete what I've started. It would be nice if I break even, but even if I don't, I can say that "Hey, I did that!" And boy I didn't do that alone! I had so much help from friends, family and complete strangers that it's too much to even count! They were angels, there just when I needed them, and for not a moment longer,
There was one scene, that I was shooting straight guerrilla style. I needed to shoot on three city blocks at night, and I had to light it, and there was a gun scene that kinda made me nervous for the safety of the cast and crew. We have no permit process in my city, so I went to the police department, and explained what I was doing that night, and they were like "Ok".
As soon as it got dark around cast and crew call time was at 6pm. We went to the neighbors houses and let them know what we were doing. We started blocking, and laying down markers for lights tripods and actors. It got dark at 9pm, and we started shooting. We were shooting in moving cars, had special effects, and every scene was lit. We even faked a window getting shot out. We wrapped that scene at 5am the next day, right before the sun came up.
Do you know for the entire time we were shooting, not a single car drove up any block visible? It's like we rented 100 homes, paid everyone to stay inside and blocked off the area for a 1/4 mile radius! God was most definitely on my side that day, and it was one of the best scenes in the entire film!

Here are some frame grabs from my first feature length film Bad Decisions. I started on the GH4, then shot some scenes on the GH5. I will finish this next year with the S5 and S1H if COVID-19 doesn't turn into COVID-20. 😬 I'm probably going to go straight to Amazon Prime. My budget thus far has been $10K and I have another $3K or so for the last two scenes. 
As so many of you know, no ifs, ands or buts about it; filmmaking is fucking hard!  This is probably why this is my last one. I've been discouraged so many times that I had pretty much decided to delete the whole film and just quit altogether. But looking at these grabs, and knowing that I lit that, I blocked that, I wrote that, I shot that and I directed that gives me the courage to complete what I've started. It would be nice if I break even, but even if I don't, I can say that "Hey, I did that!" And boy I didn't do that alone! I had so much help from friends, family and complete strangers that it's too much to even count! They were angels, there just when I needed them, and for not a moment longer,
There was one scene, that I was shooting straight guerrilla style. I needed to shoot on three city blocks at night, and I had to light it, and there was a gun scene that kinda made me nervous for the safety of the cast and crew. We have no permit process in my city, so I went to the police department, and explained what I was doing that night, and they were like "Ok".
As soon as it got dark around cast and crew call time was at 6pm. We went to the neighbors houses and let them know what we were doing. We started blocking, and laying down markers for lights tripods and actors. It got dark at 9pm, and we started shooting. We were shooting in moving cars, had special effects, and every scene was lit. We even faked a window getting shot out. We wrapped that scene at 5am the next day, right before the sun came up.
Do you know for the entire time we were shooting, not a single car drove up any block visible? It's like we rented 100 homes, paid everyone to stay inside and blocked off the area for a 1/4 mile radius! God was most definitely on my side that day, and it was one of the best scenes in the entire film!

Same. It's incredibly frustrating, because I'm in a state that actually did well (Vermont) but I can't go to any of the neighboring states for work without having to quarantine because they didn't do so well. And even if I could, it's not worth the risk to myself or my loved ones. 

I use the entire Flashpoint system, and they really do work great! I use the Flashpoint XPLOR 600 and the Zoom LiOn.

That sounds like a good decision. I'm so impressed with the S5 I'm thinking about picking up a used S1R for photography. 

I own the S1H and the S5. and there are a a whole lot more issues than you think!
The 8-bit stuff is only 4:2:0, and it's still H.264, not H.265. The same issue exist for the S1H, but we don't care because we don't have time limits. The 1080p VFR stuff is completely wrecked. The 100Mbps 1080p MOV files have been replaced with 28 Mbps MP4 trash. The timecode feature is a complete waste. If you can jam sync it, or get a jam from it, what the hell is the point? The only thing between the S5 and the S1H that is the same is 4K 4:2:2 150Mbps IPB in 24p and 30p everything else is 8-bit 4:2:0. If you buy this cam, do it knowing you are going to add a Ninja V for ProRes RAW. Other than that get the S1H. Battery life is good though. But with the limitations, don't think that this is gonna be a killer B cam, because what it can do is too limiting. Maybe if you think of it as a FF GH5 with full V-Log for gimbal work, that will meet your expectations.

Highlights aren’t clipped until 109 ire tho. “Overexposing” gives me super clean images. As long as they aren’t clipping 

Zebra must set to 85% for Vlog 

I own the S1H and the S5. and there are a a whole lot more issues than you think!
The 8-bit stuff is only 4:2:0, and it's still H.264, not H.265. The same issue exist for the S1H, but we don't care because we don't have time limits. The 1080p VFR stuff is completely wrecked. The 100Mbps 1080p MOV files have been replaced with 28 Mbps MP4 trash. The timecode feature is a complete waste. If you can jam sync it, or get a jam from it, what the hell is the point? The only thing between the S5 and the S1H that is the same is 4K 4:2:2 150Mbps IPB in 24p and 30p everything else is 8-bit 4:2:0. If you buy this cam, do it knowing you are going to add a Ninja V for ProRes RAW. Other than that get the S1H. Battery life is good though. But with the limitations, don't think that this is gonna be a killer B cam, because what it can do is too limiting. Maybe if you think of it as a FF GH5 with full V-Log for gimbal work, that will meet your expectations.