The first time I visited the production of a television show I saw three good looking people standing on the set with small cardboard signs hanging from their necks. In large black letters with a jaggedness that comes from writing the line of the letter over and over in an attempt to make it more bold, each sign displayed the first name of the one of the stars of the show.
Gale Tattersall the DOP (Director of Photography) from House MD, has launched a new website and announced an HDSLR workshop in LA.
Our HD DSLR Workshops are uniquely formatted to develop over four consecutive Saturdays. This will allow students time to absorb knowledge and test their newly-learned techniques on their own in between classes.
Level One Workshop (November 6, 13, 20, 27, 2010)
Gale will be assisted by a talented team of filmmakers and photographers, all of whom will be accessible during the week as the workshop progresses. In addition, every student will get the chance to work in small groups with each instructor, as well as one-on-one time with Gale himself. 5D mark II cameras will be available for students to experience hands-on, as well as … Continue Reading
Airing tonight, May 17th 2010, is the episode of Fox’s House MD that was shot on the Canon 5D Mark II. I am pretty sure this is the first appearance of HDSLR footage on a major network’s prime time show but it is definitely not the last. A little birdie over at Redrock Micro told me that the camera department from House MD will be very well equipped to shoot HDSLR next season.
The interesting thing here is that small HDSLR cameras were more than likely chosen because of their ability to shoot in tight spaces on this episode. Being able to quickly and easily place small lightweight cameras into situations that would be virtually impossible with larger 35mm film cameras is really the game changer for a lot of productions. It opens up new opportunities for storytelling, letting a crew spend more time shooting and less time waiting on camera set up and rigging. We’ve seen how indie films like “Road to Nowhere” cut over 60% of their budget by using HDSLR cameras but the other side of that coin is when you have a set budget and a tight timeline, this camera technology can be used to stretch the number of shots captured per day. This is a luxury even on projects with healthy budgets.
16×9 Cinema blog has an audio interview with Gale Tattersall, DP of Fox’s House MD. The interview is a result of the recent buzz about how the season finale of House was shot using Canon HDSLR’s.
Gale discusses the reasons why they chose to use video DSLR’s to shoot the season finale and his experience and impression of using these cameras. Also, in this episode, Gale talks about the challenges of filming episodic television – sticking to traditional shooting schedule while more producers are seeking a cinematic style of filming.
You can access the podcast here
