Using What I Have Part 1: Magic Lantern

     As technology advances, we get googly eyed over the newer and enhanced capabilities of cameras, computers etc. And unfortunately, we forget that the gear we already own could produce unbelievable results. So for the next few posts, I'm going to only use gear that I already have to create short films. First up, the Canon T1i w/ Magic Lantern RAW 2.0.

     Lately I have been looking into purchasing a used 60D for my video work. But thanks to modern programming (e.g: Magic Lantern), Cameras like my ancient T1i can shoot extremely high quality DNG (or RAW) video. But to be honest, I didn't know my camera was capable of loading that specific module. I assumed because it was a very old/beginner style camera, it couldn't handle the amount of data DNG files take up. I'm glad I was wrong.

     Shooting of this vignette was extremely simple. I just took my Ti1 & 40mm Pancake w/ me to lunch with my family and shot. The following photos are my settings in Magic Lantern:

I set up MyMenu w/ shortcuts to access these items without hunting for them.

This is the resolution I was shooting at. To make it 1280 x 720, I had to stretch it vertically 167% in post.

This is where I control the FPS of the finished video. I have it set to the standard 23.976ps.

     After I shot the footage, I needed a way to view it. Fortunately, I came across a post by Cinetic Studios about how to view/edit MLV RAW files. If you have the time, I highly recommend reading it if you use Magic Lantern RAW.

     Once I knew which clips I wanted, I exported as DNG files. One of the reasons I did this instead of ProRes 4444 files is that it's much easier for me to grade DNG files than ProRes 4444. I'm not a colorist, but I am a photographer who deals with RAW files (Canon .CR2), and this is very similar to that.

Screenshot of me grading another sequence soon to come.

     I finished grading, then I exported the photos as JPEG's and imported them to FCPX. After combining each individual image sequence into a compound clip, I just cut it like I would a normal sequence. And there you have it! A vignette shot on a camera that can't even shoot video.

     Next week I'll be showing how to get cinematic visuals from an iPhone 4S, and my method for editing. Hint: I didn't import any footage into the computer. Until then, take care!