DSMC cinema

There is a new generation of digital still cameras that are capable of shooting HD video, and in very low light. The artistic implications are that we're approaching the promise of cinema verite's "the truth 24 times a second" manifesto, or even Dziga Vertov's vision of the all-seeing Kino Eye. Or at least some decent looking home movies.

Check out all or some of this 7 min short, called
Nom Tèw by Pierre Deschamps that was shot on the canon 5dmk2.... mostly daylight under a dark green jungle canopy. It's got plenty of flaws, and the real action doesn't start until 2 minutes in - feel free to skip ahead, there isn't really any plot, but this is an excellent example of the type of image making that is possible now with DSLRs enabled with video, or as RED ONE calls them, DMSCs, (digital motion/still camera) even though they haven't got one on the market yet. Two people made this film, with no lights. The camera is small and less intimidating to people, many of whom will assume isn't even capable of shooting video.

Tragically, this Canon won't shoot 24p, only 30p HD which means you wouldn't want to make a film-out from it but this sort of thing is certainly pointing the way for the future - very small, very non-intimidating cameras capturing life in natural light with great results in the right hands. Documentary film making just got a rocket-assist, I think and we're all in for some cool films by this time next year as people figure out the ways to use these things.

I found this NOM TEW video through a mention in an interview with the DP of the TV thriller show "24," who mentioned this forum in regards to his his lusting for the sort of small-footprint documentary image-making people are starting to do with the Canon D5 mk2. If you are interested in more of this sort of moving image-making, check out the community site for Canon D5 film makers

Supposedly there are more great clips and shorts being submitted; but this was the first one that jumped out at me after a cursory look on the site. It's more the possibility suggested than the specific example I am citing here... the original canon D5 short "Reverie" is a self-admitted faux perfume ad but it too blew a lot of minds last September when a NYC fashion photog got his hands on a prototype for 48 hours. This one really spotlights one of the camera's true strengths, it's low light capability - this is all shot with tiny lights and a crew of three.