THE FLEET - MEET MY DIGITAL CAMERA COLLECTION

Lots of professionals say the camera is just a tool and it doesn’t matter what one you use if you have talent.  I agree with the sentiment of that but I have loved cameras since I was very young and a camera will always be more than just a tool to me.  They are magic boxes capable of capturing beautiful memories both from the real world and also from our imaginations. I love holding them and I love owning them.  

Me with a camera around 2 years old.

Below im going to take you through each digital camera I own, going through why I bought it and how it fits into my productions and workflow.

Canon EOS C70

I bought the C70 during the covid lockdown at a time when I was trying to downsize my kit.  This camera replaced my Sony FS7 as my workhorse camera that has a great image, XLR inputs for good sound and most importantly internal ND filters up to 10 stops.  I was shooting Canon EF glass on my FS7 with a speed booster so moving over to a Canon camera with its better out of camera colours and useable autofocus was very much a no brainer for me.  I use this with the speed booster making it a full frame EF mount camera.  75% of my work is done using this camera.  

Canon R5C

This camera was bought mainly as a B camera for the C70 seeing as it shoots the same colour profiles and file types.  As a bonus it also finally replaces my Sony A7R2 camera that was stolen in Ecuador 3-4 years ago as my main high resolution stills camera.  When filming, this camera spends its life on a gimbal or motorised slider mostly.  It does shoot 8K so would become an A cam for any projects that demand that kind of resolution but im yet to shoot any 8K on it.

Red Komodo

I have owned many Red cameras over they years as I always like using them on feature film projects as I love their RAW workflow and colours. This Komodo replaced my Red Gemini as I no longer wanted to own a camera worth £25K and also liked the Komodo as it was smaller and lighter so fitted into my downsizing ideas.  I use it with the Canon speed-booster  which gives me a slightly larger then full frame (large format) look.  I jokingly call this camera my Mini-Monstro.  I have shot 3 feature films so far with this and it has paid itself off many times over.  The first Red I have ever owned to do so.  Great camera!

Fujifilm X100V

This camera was mainly bought as a compact high quality stills camera with cool film simulations  that could be used as a ‘Behind the Scenes’ camera on larger film productions.  Its a great fun camera to shoot with and gorgeous to look at.  However in all honesty I have only used it as a travel camera so far but for that purpose, it could be my favourite stills camera I have ever owned.  Have never shot any video on it although shooting video with the Fujifilm Eterna simulation would be cool. 

GoPro Hero 11

I have never been a huge fan of GoPro’s and feel they are often overused.  However there’s no denying that for anything near water or mounted to a car or other fast moving object in bright daylight they give you images easily that are hard to get with other cameras.  As long as they are never used at night the image is not awful and has improved over the years.  Im in love with the hyper-lapse mode which I use a lot.    

DJI Mini 3 Pro

And finally….How this camera fits into my workflow is fairly obvious…….aerial shots.  I had a Mini 2 for a while and crashed it flying backwards into a brick wall in London so the Mini 3 caught my eye as it has front and back sensors to stop that happening.  Since flying it I have managed to crash sideways into a tree.  So hopefully the Mini 4 will have side sensors as well! I do still have a certain amount of flying anxiety with all the rules and ease of which drones are to crash. However I only use it on my own productions and never advertise myself as a drone operator.  I have got it out for simple shots on commercial jobs Im DOP on as one quick aerial shot can add value to a project.  I love the images coming off this drone and its also great for stills especially with its vertical mode. Being under 250g means the rules are a lot more relaxed for flying as well. 

Thats a quick breakdown of the cameras I use on my productions. Next I will take you through all the different types of lenses I use including vintage glass! Take care and thanks for reading.

TJK

5 THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN SHOOTING YOUR FIRST MUSIC VIDEO

• KNOW YOUR STYLE…….Be confident and knowledgeable about your look and style and know what you want to portray. This should be consistent and fit the type of music you produce. The meaning of the song can come into play here as well but its best to have an consistent style that you put through all your video work.

Still from my music video I shot for the Chemical Brothers song ‘One Too Many Mornings’

• SEE THE IDEA THROUGH…….Many musicians and bands change their mind before a video has been finished. Being too fickle can cost you time and money as reshoots are often similar in price to paying for a video all over again. If you are a solo artist this is far easier to achieve. If you are in a band I suggest hiring a manager before making a music video who can help advise and be your point of contact with the person creating your video.

• BE BOLD……..A music video is a great chance for you to build your fanbase so try to create a video that has not been done a million times before. Standing out from the crowd is the name of the game here and this can be achieved with elaborate set piece shots, the clothes you wear, lighting and editing techniques. Don’t worry, not everything you do has to be completely original. As long as you take inspiration from many different places and put them together in an interesting way you can find your own unique style.

Still from a short film called ‘Terror London’ I shot in 2019.

• USE COLOUR………It can be a good idea to build the look of your video using 2-3 core colours. Then any props or costumes can adhere to this colour scheme. This kind of thoughtful production design can really elevate your video above others. This idea can be accentuated using colour grading to complete the look. Ask your shooting director to create a mood board for the video so that everyone is singing from the same hymn-sheet.

• LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION………By far the most important aspect of creating a memorable music video is to find some visually interesting locations to film in. Its important that the location has some contrasting colours as well as details that can enhance the videos mood. If finding amazing locations becomes too difficult then shooting in a more familiar location at night with battery powered lights can make that location look completely different. TJK

A still from a fashion shoot collaboration with Khari Holland, shot in July 2022.

If you would like any more advise or hire me to shoot your music video then feel free to contact me on info@tomjkelly.com. Music Videos

GETTING STARTED AS A COLOURIST - 5 Steps To Get You Going...

• COMPUTER……Of course having a relatively fast computer will help you as working with proxy workflows is less useful with colour grading then it is for editors. This is because when colour grading the footage you want to see the full quality of the file and have all the colour information so you can make informed decisions when grading. So if you can buy a system that’s no more than a few years old you should be fine.

• DAVINCI RESOLVE…….Im biased because this is what I use however its commonly used throughout the industry and the basic version is completely free to download and start using. What I did is used the free version until I had earned the money needed for the studio version through my colour grading work. Another tip I would say is that the makers of this software Blackmagic Design offer a training course and exam that you can take making you a certified end user of DaVinci Resolve software. I did this and not only do you learn lots about the software and colour grading in general but being certified shows potential clients your efficiency at being a colourist.

• CONTROL SURFACE……Or balls! This is the one item that will make you look more like a professional colourist then any other. While colour grading you often have to grade many many clips in a day and have physical controls can really speed up your workflow. Blackmagic Design make their own ones which are probably the best ones to use with DaVinci Resolve however I decided to buy a Tangent Ripple which is made by a British company and the benefit of this one is you can use it within other editing systems to grade there and not only DaVinci Resolve like the Blackmagic one.

Tangent Ripple

• CONTROL AMBIENT LIGHT……Its very important to control the lighting in the room that you are colour grading. This is because our eyes are very sensitive to changes in the colour of the light and will adjust your perception of colour. Obviously what you don’t want is your grading to be different at the start of the day to the end of the day because theres a large window in the room your grading in. The solution is to use heavy curtains or blinds and buy a smart bulb. With this smart bulb you can set it to 5600K or 6000K which is fairly neutral and it will stay like that for as long as you are grading for. The smart bulb I bought was from a company called LIFX and they have a great app that makes everything really easy.

LIFX Bulb

• MONITOR……Finally probably the most important thing is to have a reliable monitor that is calibrated correctly. As this is what you will be basing all your creative decisions on so it better be accurate. Spending a bit of money on a monitor that is designed for either colour grading, photoshop or graphics work will cost more but will be better in the long run. Calibrating the monitor from time to time will also help and theirs many tools that allow you to do that yourself. The thing to remember is that you can’t control what screen people choose to watch your film or content after you have finished grading it. Thats why its good to check what your grade looks like on popular consumer products like ipads and tv screens to make sure its in the ballpark on all of these. Another last tip is to make sure the client giving you notes is using a good display to view your work otherwise you could be singing from two different hymn sheets.

So that’s all I have for now. Let me know your thoughts down below…..TJK Colour Grading