Tokyo test footage - attempting a Ridley Scott with the hacked GH2 and Olympus 12mm F2

[Andrew Reid]

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I decided to give my GH2 a tough challenge a few days ago – replicate the look of Blade Runner in the rain, in the side streets of Tokyo. The GH2 isn’t a weather proof camera but on this occasion I felt it may as well have been, it really did get that wet. At one point I had condensation inside my Voigtlander Nokton 25mm F0.95! The weather had been fine for the whole week I was in Japan and then it all went south with a vengeance which was perfect. Tokyo looks incredibly cinematic in the rain.

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[Guest marino manmannarini]

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Andrew, your work and this blog is always strongly inspiring. You were responsible for my at last deciding to step into video, AND to choose GH2 over Canon AND getting a craze for Anamorphic.
Thanks a lot!

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[Guest Andrew David Clark]

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Nice – those shots do indeed evoke Blade Runner. I was thinking about getting the SLR Magic wide with an anamorphic adapter, I’d wonder what that would look like for anamorphic shooting as opposed to the Olympus.

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[Guest B3Guy]

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+1 for the GOP1 settings. Once you suck it up and get the good Sandisk cards, there’s no going back. Simply the best for any controlled situation.

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[Guest B3Guy]

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So, I just had this awesome idea. Maybe it is borderline crazy, but it would be so awesome. All the GH2 owners across the world need to shoot a feature. All we need to do is create a character that can be played by various actors (either something simple, like they wear a mask, or more complex like Dr. Who). Then we come up with a script that involves all these insanely cool locations all over the world, and we each shoot part of it! That way, no single one of us has to shoot a whole feature, we have an unnervingly large, global scope (which itself adds a cinematic feel), and in the end, we get something far greater than all these 5-10 minute slice-of-life shorts.

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[Guest B3Guy]

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Hey . . . how does the LA7200 play with zoom lenses? (something from its wide end of 17mm to say, 35?) I’ve been frustrated with primes (which I do love using), because getting a good set together that is both fast and maintains similar contrast and color is proving difficult. If I could splurge once on a good fast zoom in that range, along with a compatible anamorphic, that would solve a lot of that trouble, correct?

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[Guest Umbrella]

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Asia is so cine, even today but it still takes skill and vision well done Andrew, parts of india have the same qualities (Minus the rain) but tend to feel more journalistic which i also love. rain also as an element brings about a rich cinema quality with strong colour/contrast puts you right in the mood giving a solid context of mystery or a revealing just as detective Somerset meets Mills out on the street for the first time in the pouring rain gives off an uneasiness at the same time revealing a mystery or an unfolding begining.(1995 Se7en) Certain blade runner scenes remind me of Man Hunter by my second biggest influence my first shared by Fincher and Bergman.

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[Guest Umbrella]

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smoke machine and crane.

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[Guest Reinout]

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wow. There it is. Ever since I’ve been following your blog & reading your books, I always imagined Blade Runner like footage coming out of the GH2 (I agree with your opinion of the film by the way), and here it is. This looks amazing! Even though it’s not anamorphic, the image is still extremely atmospheric and cinematic. The low angles, great compositions, the beautifully saturated colors, love it. (though part of me would be dying to see this kind of footage filmed with anamorphic wide-screen and lens-flares).

The sound of the city & rain also come through very nice. That scene where the umbrella ‘blows’ past sounds both loud and crispy clear with no audible distortion. Very Impressive!

So. GH2 plus a good set of lenses, a city that’s alive at night… just need a good script and some good actors to make a great neo-noir picture!

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[Guest JimmyBrun]

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Are you not into the low GOP hacks? I much prefer the look of them myself. Im waiting to snap up a GH2 for when it finally gets 25p, shame the silver one is not in the UK it looks so much better!

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[Guest Andrew Reid]

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Generally 12mm is too wide for any of the anamorphic adapters. That the 12mm Olympus and LA7200 just about go together is pure luck! The SLR Magic vignettes with it.

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[Guest DrTyrrell]

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wow looks good, but maybe you should sell some shiny umbrellas first to capture that true Blade Runner look [img]http://www.eoshd.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif[/img]

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[Guest treyvollmer]

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Extremely well done, Andrew. I love when the woman walks right in front of the camera and her umbrella makes that loud noise – wonderful. Love the colors, rain, music and framing of your shots too.

I’m considering selling off my 14mm Lumix pancake and putting the money towards a 12mm Olympus. I don’t see why I would need both other than the fact that the Lumix is more compact. What are your thoughts on that?

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[Guest johann]

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Did you actually record the sound on the DR-05 and synch it after or just use it for the mics? I’ve had mixed results with audio on the GH2. Line level from my preamp overdrives the input signal, but most battery powered mics work pretty well. Nice footage. Tokyo is a science fiction reality.

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[Guest johann]

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by the way, there are Oly 12mm lenses available from Korean dealers on ebay for $750. Thats about €560 which isn’t *that* bad. Has anyone order these?

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[Guest buskape]

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Amazing shots !

The 12mm is really great .

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[Guest alanhalfhill]

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Thanks Andrew. Looks superb. Well done. I am very impressed with the 12mm. It might have to join my arsenal. You did create that “Blade Runner” look. Showed to a some one and there jaw dropped and said no way that was shot with a GH2.

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[Guest zigmarszilgalvis]

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Superb job, this city is cinematic like no other:)

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[Guest apostolosn]

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It looks beautiful. Can’t wait for the comparison of all these lenses. Which hack were you using here, the 176 mbit AVC-intra? And if so, what cards are you using with that? Huge fan of “Blade Runner.” I’m going to watch it again today. But come on, you needed to throw in a little voice-over there, (even though the vo is not Ridley-Scott sanctioned, but the purists will always remember Harrisson Ford’s noir-esque vo). BTW, I live close to some of the locations where it was shot and when I was watching it, after I moved to LA, I realized that one of the scenes, where Harrisson Ford is called back in action and meets the police chief for the first time, was shot in LA’s Union Station, which is an absolutely gorgeous building, where I’ve shot stills many times for work and where you can at times see four or five local shooter shooting simultaneously.

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[Guest jaws]

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Im soo impressed with the GH2.
How did it hold up in the rain? Did you have it out in the pooring rain or did you use something to cover it?

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