if any of you remember, a few years ago i filmed a feature film using the non hack GH2, and made this preliminary basic "Shots" clip:

yea it was 4 years ago. and at the time i had to "bury" it because i felt it failed completely, i showed it to some producers who basically thrashed it and said it was worthless. it was very painful and traumatic experience.

well after 4 years, i suddenly decided to confront the project and see what can be done. i understood 2 things: my vital mistake then, was trying to edit the footage as a feature length, not thinking of the possibility it may not hold 80 minutes as i planned, so the first thing i did, was to cut 30 minutes and make it the best edit i could do. even if it's only 50+ minutes atm, it's still considered "feature length" at festivals, and at least now the film is "tight".

the second thing was the music. i tried composing my own ideas back then, and now it seems it was a mistake, a totally misguided feel for this kind of film once i gathered some new reference music (mostly tension drones, more horror feel), the film started to "work" much better, and this new direction guided me throughout the process. it made me produce a much more creative, efficient, interesting and better product.

so now i know exactly what's needed to complete the film. maybe a 1-2 extra scenes, i hope.

i will now start letting people watch it and see where it leads me. my main goal now is the target this to festivals that my have interest. i hope some producers/distributors here in Israel will now "dig" this film (which is kinda weird, dark, "arthouse" horror film) and help me finish it and sending it to festivals. i will even uses a kickstarter if i'll have to get the rest of the money needed.

anyway, i will be glad to hear your thoughts, experience, tips or any other words ;)

P.S - lucky i didn't sell the GH2. i already put it for sale but was too lazy to sell it.

The basic premise is of an older Gringo feeling lost and told to slowdown by his doctors, his friends, and to an extent by his government up North. He goes searching for a final frontier and ends up with a plantain farm in the jungles of Central America, well beyond the end of the last dirt road. Things don't go exactly as 'planned', of course, and various hijinks ensue. It's heavily Fitzcarraldo and Mosquito Coast influenced with the man against nature and himself themes, though on a much more comedic scale overall. I'm writing, directing and shooting, William E McEuen (The Jerk, The Big Picture, etc) is producing, local crew from my commercial gigs will be assisting in places, the lead character is an amateur actor but lifelong performer and I'm rounding out supporting roles with television actors and real extras.

This community has been the first stop and a great resource for my journey through learning all of this, and I'd like to share a bit of my process as things get more serious going forward. I also want to be able to speak frankly about various questions and challenges and have had a difficult time pinning folks down with regard to very specific technical questions on twitter and other forums.

I've shot 95% of the current footage on a Driftwood Moon T5 or T7 hacked GH2 with a LA7200 Anamorphic Adapter, with the 20mm Pancake, 14-140 and a mix of Rokinon and Nikon primes. I've shot enough with the adapter and liked it that I am totally committed to the aspect ratio and the anamorphic feeling, but the challenges presented by the LA7200 mean that I'm light on close-ups and most of what I do have was shot spherically and cropped, which I'd rather avoid going forward. I've since been equipped with a GH3 and 12-35 and 35-100mm lenses, which, I like better than a lot of people, especially behind the LA7200. The 12-35 and the LA7200 is a pretty impressive combo on a GH3.

Due to the extreme conditions of a lot of this shooting, I do not believe a Blackmagic or a 5D3 Raw or a similar low budget 'cinema' solution that is currently in vogue is the correct way to go. I have a certain love for the 1DC but it's out of the question for this budget and doesn't make sense with the current anamorphic tech. So unless the GH4 really does come out in February I'm not interested in a camera upgrade, and either way I'm committed to Lumix, which I rather love, especially out in the field in this country.

My biggest tech purchase decision right now rests on whether or not to jump on the Letus AnamorphX, which seemed like an absolute godsend when announced but has been a bit lacklustre or hard to figure out since it's release. I've offered to pay for someone to rent it from DivisionCamera in LA and do some testing, I've tweeted Ryan Connolly who used it on 'Proximity', I've written detailed emails to Letus with relevant questions...all with little useful or no response. It seems like everything I need but warning bells are going off in my head. Maybe no one responds and the only tests are on 7Ds, weirdly un-squeezed or with shitty grading because they're selling so many no one cares to correct it...or maybe Letus is ignoring the situation because they'll make a lot more money on the GoPro and iPhone Anamorphic adapter gimmick thingies and just don't give a shit. I do not know.

Beyond that, I'm mostly going for a hand-held aesthetic and so have been working on my rig a bit, slipping in a Shape pad and handles into my Geni situation after feeling them out in person on a trip to NY last year and finally being able to purchase them. My ideal look for handheld cinematography has most recently been demonstrated in 'Captain Phillips'. Not frenetic like the Bourne trilogy, but very immediate, real, and practical from a shooting perspective on location. Not to mention when it occasionally pulls out for a smooth helicopter shot it provides great contrast. The key to this look of course will be having something relatively heavy and well balanced on my shoulder. For a time last year in little dugout canoes I ignored my rig and I believe the naked Gh2 and Varavon loupe, while feeling nice in the hand, was too light and unadorned for the look I want.

One slight obsession point, then, is the rig I'm using. I feel slightly sick when I see threads full of everyone's frankenrigs and I wonder how much use we all get out of them. Yet that same sentiment fades when I realise the aesthetic I'm trying to achieve and the conditions I'll be working in. For the same reasons I'm learning to carefully select shoes, a lumbar support and gloves, I need to have the right setup on my shoulder to go the whole day. I'm feeling pretty good about my current setup but there is a lot of unnecessary metal in the Gini handle assembly and I am worried the Varavon Loupe and GH3 screen are going to be a weak point under extremely heavy use. I am considering moving the GH3 back farther onto the shoulder, and using a Swedish Chameleon Cage and Zacuto EVF to really solidify things. With the Letus, the snap on Mattebox and the Skier ND filters on the front I'll be dealing with some weight, and moving things back and locking it all in sounds like a plan, not to mention the focusing aids and the ability to see anamorphic un-squeezed on the Zacuto. Of course the price on the Swedish Chameleon is disgusting, especially next to the $99 GH3 cage out there, but, I like the semi cage for the ability to still handhold the camera in a real pinch. Zacuto seems tough and I already own a Z-finder...that plastic takes a beating, seems proper. I am DISGUSTED by how expensive EVF mounts are, but know that I'll kill myself if it's loose all the time.

So that's what I'm dealing with right now. Got my story and my people in shape, scheduling on track, some money in the bank. The idea of $4,000-$5,000 in additional equipment right now makes me queasy and feels like I'm focusing in the wrong place, but I don't see much of a way out. Either way from there on in, it's going to be Bananas, Dugouts, extras, actors and food when it comes to budgeting.

Any thoughts, help, observations and the like that the community can provide would be wonderful. Beyond that, I'll share as much of the process as I can (if it's ok with Vitaliy), moving forward.

I used the 50Mbps mode and Lomo lenses, mostly a 50mm, which I stopped down to between 5.6 and 8 because our locations were so important to the story.

Compared to my GH2, I really loved the battery life and how the HDMI image doesn't do anything funky when you hit record. The display info always disappearing was frustrating though.

Anyway, let me know what you think.

Thanks for looking!