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Gear List For My Feature Film – Split

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I am currently in production for my second feature film titled Split. The film focuses on the dissolution of a marriage between Jack, a recovering alcoholic who lost his first wife in a drunk driving accident, and Bethany his new wife – who suffers from Borderline personality disorder.

Unlike my first feature (Footsteps) which was shot on RED, I decided to shoot this one on the BlackMagic camera. Because of the nature of this film, the budget and crew size, I decided that using a smaller camera would give us a better end result. Essentially I wanted more time to focus on the story, actors and other important elements. The only problem was, the BMC camera wasn’t released in time and as a result I needed to choose a new camera for the shoot. I considered many options including going back to RED or shooting on mixed formats, but ended up deciding to use my GH2 after all that.

At first I was hesitant to do this as I had never used this camera (or any DSLR) on a project of this scale, and wasn’t certain it was up to the task. I took a risk though, invested in new some gear and lenses for the camera and it has paid off. The quality that I have gotten from the camera has really been superb and I am continually impressed by this little machine.

Here are a few lightly touched frame grabs from the shoot so far:

 

To make this camera useable in the context that I intended it for I did need a substantial amount of gear. Below is a selected list of some of the gear that I am using with the GH2 right now. Over the next few weeks I will be giving some reviews on these products and describe how they held up on this shoot:

Cinevate Atlas 10 FLT Slider

Jag35 Offset DSLR Shoulder Rig & Follow Focus

DiCAPac Underwater SLR Case

Western Digital My Book Studio – Metal

Sachtler Ace Tripod

Marshall M-CT7 7″ Monitor

 

Some stills from on set with the gear:

 

 

 

 

 

 

About Author

Noam Kroll is an award-winning Los Angeles based filmmaker, and the founder of the boutique production house, Creative Rebellion. His work can be seen at international film festivals, on network television, and in various publications across the globe. Follow Noam on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for more content like this!

10 Comments

  • Howard
    at

    Hi Noam, planning to shoot a super low budget feature with my GH2 and wondering what sound gear
    you have used and recommend. Thanks for all the good stuff.

    Reply
    • Noam Kroll
      at

      Hey there – Congrats on the feature! I really like the Rode NTG 2 and NTG 3 mics and often use them with my Zoom H6 with great results. If I need anything bigger than that I will typically hire a dedicated sound recordist, but those two mics and the Zoom are a great way to go. I also like the Sennheiser wireless lavs if you need to shoot wide or be more discreet.

      Reply
  • Brian
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    I really appreciate all that you do and your site has provided me some valuable insight into the world of film making. I currently own a GH3. I was wondering of there are any settings you’d recommend in terms of picture style you’d recommend if I wanted to attempt to do some decent color grading in post?

    Reply
    • Noam Kroll
      at

      Hi Brian – Sorry for the late reply, and glad to hear you’re enjoying the site. I typically shoot on the GH3 using ‘Natural’ with everything at -5 except for saturation. Most important is that contrast is as low as possible at all times. Hope this helps!

      Reply
  • Sri
    at

    Very inspiring. I was well on my way to get a BMCC for a mid November shoot. Then decided on a GH2. And like you, it has opened up a whole new world of equipment I’ve actually purchased – A professional Rig with Mattbox, power solution, lenses, Dolly Slider and more.

    Mine is an out and out low budget Bollywood feature being filmed in Fiji and New Zealand.

    I am very keen on knowing the hack you’ve used, lenses, settings etc. Feel free to drop me a note: sri at nimbootv dot com.

    Reply
  • Xiong
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    Great stuff, cant wait to hear more on this shoot. Im planning on getting a GH2 soon. Hope to hear some info on the gear used as well as the difficulty of shooting with the GH2 compared to maybe the RED. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Noam
      at

      Hi Xiong, please check back soon as I will keep updating the blog regularly with more details regarding the shoot and gear. The GH2 is really an amazing camera and definitely a worthwhile investment if you are a DSLR shooter.

      Reply
      • Xiong
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        Yup, got your update on my RSS feed. Will e looking forward to it 😀

        Reply
  • Brad batchelor
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    Thx forposting….this little gh2 has been valuable to me on tv pilot, 3 music videos and feature film intercut with hvx200/redrock/ gopro/ 5d mk111 and used with many canon , nikon, voightlander glass with covenience and quality results…i will use this for years

    Reply
    • Noam
      at

      Great to hear! I’m always amazed at how many DP’s haven’t even heard of this little camera. It’s always nice to see it in action. Thanks for visiting.

      Reply

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