Back in Ohio my friends and I have an expression that we hold dear to our heart. We like to say, “Blow it up like ham.” I’m not even really sure how that saying came to be. Anyways, I feel as though that best describes my latest shoot in College Station, TX. I was shooting for the G4 Channel. We were doing a behind the scenes shot for a GFuel short film. I was working with the talented Kristin Adams again and yes; there were plenty of things blowing up.
I was shooting on two cameras for G4. The first was the Sony F3 accompanied by the new Fujinon 19-90mm PL mount ENG lens. This combination is pretty sweet. The depth of field, rich look, and ENG lens feel make this lens a must have when shooting a run and gun shoot like this one. The other camera I was shooting on was the Sony FS 700. This camera was brought on the shoot to capture slow motion footage of things blowing up, guns discharging shells, helicopter blades spinning, and anything else that looks cool at 120, 240, 480, or 960fps. At 120 and 240fps you get slo-mo in full 1080p glory. At 480 and 960fps you get an above SD quality. The image is a bit soft looking but it’s pretty cool when you need extreme slow motion but have a smaller budget. To get close to the action of explosion, etc I used Canon’s 30-300mm lens on the FS 700. I also had the Tokina 11-16mm PL mount lens standing by to be used on the F3 or FS 700.
For two days we captured all the action that goes into a short film involving a National Guard Special Unit. On top of capturing behind the scenes stuff we also followed our talent, Kristin Adams, as she learned how to fire weapons, interviewed cast and crew, and even flew in a Vietnam era helicopter. This was probably one of the coolest and most intense shoots I’ve ever been on. Juggling two cameras was a task in it’s self but my audio guy was cool enough to help me out with that. Since we were both able to get in the helicopter we brought both cameras along. I had him operate the FS 700 with the 11-16mm while I handled the F3. When time came to blow up the big base we had both cameras on it as well.
When it was all said and done we walked away with some really cool footage. I can’t wait to see how this all gets cut together. It’s pretty cool when your job allows you to ride in old school helicopters, work with Special Forces soldiers, and shoot on the latest and coolest gear. All and all, I’d say we blew it up like ham.
