A Start...

There are a couple of reasons I am starting this blog. Firstly, and selfishly, I hope it will give me a place where by writing down the challenges and (hopefully) solutions to them, I'll be able to put some order to what I'm sure will become a full and chaotic headspace. Secondly, and more importantly, I hope it can offer a place where I can share the process of shooting on a martial arts action feature - Serbuan Maut (aka The Raid).

The blog will, naturally, look at the technical side of the movie-making process. For more information on the project, I would highly recommend the director of the movie, Gareth Evans' blog, where he will be talking about the project throughout, and obviously covering all aspects of production.

Just briefly to mention the most important part of the film from my side - the cameras. For the project we will be using two of Panasonic's new AG-AF100s for our Cam A and Cam B, as well as a Panasonic DMC-GH2 DSLR, Panasonic AG-HCK10 POV Cam, and also a Panasonic AG-HPX500. I used the HPX500 as Cam A and B on Merantau Films' previous feature Merantau, but we decided early on this would be too big for the shooting style of Serbuan Maut. From very early in this project's process, Gareth and myself spoke at length about the shooting style on this film, and were already leaning towards the at-that-time unreleased AF100.

Panasonic AG-AF100 body. Lots of things to add to it over the coming weeks.

Using a very new piece of equipment in itself throws up extra challenges, first and foremost in that there are very few third party rigging options and accessories available. Which is where the DIY techniques come in. I'll be sharing details on rigging for the camera that we are designing and in some cases, building for the project - including special setup rigs - Birds Eye View rigging, special dolly rigging, and other special setups we will be using to give the film its unique style. I'll also be sharing lighting setups, and general subjects that crop up throughout preproduction and shooting. We'll be using plenty of guerilla filmmaking techniques in this project, and my hope is that this blog can help inspire indie filmmakers and show what can be achieved with the AF100's, themselves an incredible piece of kit at their price point.

Its going to be a kick ass film, and hopefully a kick-ass project ...