Here's a little Q&A by Jeff Whitley (JW) with Vincent Laforet (VL) about his short montage Reverie, shot in a few days with a pre-release Canon EOS 5D MKII sigital still camera.

JW: How much fun did you have? What was your best memory during shooting ?
VL: Most fun I've had in a long time. Ranks up there with being on the needle of the Empire State building. Best memory was seeing the footage for the first time - my jaw literally dropped.

JW: What Lenses did you use specifically, all Canon? What Models ? I can see a few EF lens adapters, for example.
VL:
7.5mm custom lens
15mm 2.8 fisheye
16~35mm II 2.8
50mm 1.2
85mm 1.2
135mm 2
200mm 2
400mm 2.8
500mm 4 

JW: What shots with what lens gave you what effects?
VL: 200mm 2 was key in getting the blown out background, but the 50mm and 85mm were [used] in all medium shots - everything was shot at F2 when the lens allowed for it.

JW: What do you think of 35MM lens adapters?
VL: Never have used them.

JW: How much video were you able to shoot at any single time?
VL: Around 12 minutes.

JW: Any special camera settings?
VL: 30 fps 1080p H.264 .mov file. Contrast, Saturation and Sharpening set to lowest settings.

JW: Was there any color correction or tweaking involved?
VL: None. Period. You are seeing the raw footage, which is an unbelievable testament to this camera.

JW: How many hours in editing?
VL: 4-6 logging, 4 editing.


JW: The shots were beautifully lit and composed, any comments on how this was done?
VL: No sofware, nothing. Just one Profoto 7b head, which is a strobe pack, using only the modelling light. Regular reflector and beauty dish, both with grids at times. We also used an LED light for the car and helo shots.

JW: Do you believe the way in which you shot your video will impact how video will be shot in the future?
VL: No. there are plenty of really talented DPs out there already.

JW: And a helicopter ride? You pulled out all the stops!
VL: Had to... that's my "thing" couldn't resist.

JW: You must have had a lot of cooperation: Can you share who they might be and what they provided and contributed to your project?
VL: I have established strong relationships with Canon, Apple, Bogen, Profoto, Think Tank and Lexar, but none contributed to this project in anyway. It was a solo project. They did help me learn to use their hardware/software/gear over time and that was key.

JW: How interested was Canon in what your were doing? It doesn't appear they minded putting it up on their website by the way, excellent job!
VL: Neither they nor I expected anything out of this. I was just borrowing the camera over the weekend. When they saw the video things changed!

JW: Any audio recorded on set or was it all from Moby?
VL: Doing audio would have been too much trouble. We didn't have a sound technician or the gear, so we knew if would set to music. Moby has always been on of my very favorites.

JW: What was the audio recorded with?
VL: You'll have to have an external audio and device a shotgun mike/boom/ lav. That way you can shoot stills and video and cut around and have continuous high quality video to work with.

JW: This obviously was not your first time behind the lens. What's your next projects that we can be on the look out for?
VL: I'm working with SmugMug on a national search for top talent to help me produce the next film. They've committed $25-50K towards that project and we are working on getting other sponsors. I'm also looking at a surfing film toward the end of the year, a pilot for a TV series. [I've got] some commercial photography jobs in the works and some other longer terms projects. My schedule has literally filled up quite a bit for the next 3-5 months in the past 4 days.

JW: What role did Apple's Aperture (photo software) play in the video?
VL: I used it to edit the photographs. Aperture does not handle .mov files. I am encouraging them to move in that direction...

JW: Any other specialized software, effects, or stock footage?
VL: Nope. I have FCP studio which is quite powerful, but none was used in this film.

JW: What Legal Issues had to be worked out?
VL: Model releases, NDA contracts with EVERYONE and rights with Moby. A LOT of legal work in an incredibly short time.