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“Filmy Flavor” – Sony EX1 and Letus Ultimate at Fenway Park
 I work as a professional sports camera operator high up on the left field roof at Fenway Park covering the Boston Red Sox. I have seen countless games from my perch next to the foul pole and pointed my $100,000 high definition camera with 75x lens at baseballs as they fly over the infamous green monster.
But today, I am doing something else. I am not operating my camera number 7 on the left field roof, I will be walking around the ballpark before, during and after the game to capture two things: Fenway atmosphere and the elusive “film-look-for-video”. This footage will be used by Red Sox and New England Creative Services for promotional footage during the playoff and possibly used as a bigger part of a 100 year Fenway Park documentary that is in the works.
I grabbed a few shots at the base of the famous Green Monster before batting practice early in the day. I used a fisheye and a 50mm f1.4 Nikon lens to “scrape” the monster as I traveled down the ten feet of dolly track. I shot all the footage at 1080 30p. I also used a Red Rock Micro matte box with a polariser filter to remove glare from the monster and really get the green paint to pop off the wall.
I was shooting with the Sony PMW-EX1 and the Letus Ultimate. I really love the workflow of Sony XDCAM EX and the television station I freelance for simply gives me a drive to dump the footage on. This only takes a few minutes with my Mac Book Pro as the go-between. The client is then able to transfer the XDCAM EX footage right into their AVID/Final Cut Pro systems.
I was very happy with my Vinten Vision 10 AS pan head and Vinten baby legs. This new tripod system (along with a two stage carbon fiber set of sticks) worked well. The head is able to take the weight of the camera, Letus, lens, and matte box. I was even able to tilt the camera straight up into the air and still get perfect balance and control with the Vinten pan head.
I next moved in front of the Red Sox dugout to shoot long lens shots of players, grounds crew working on the field, and artsy shots of equipment on the field. I used a Nikon 300mm f4.5 lens without the matte box for this stuff. I love the new two stage Vinten carbon fiber tripod with the mid-level spreader. It is very light and easy to setup and adjust on the fly.
I moved my dolly into the old and paint chipped seats to capture the crowd arriving. This park has a ton of character and I tried to capture it with a very selective shallow depth of field. The dolly movement added a dynamic cinematic flare that the television station had never seen before. When the game started, I walked around the park capturing the essence of a Red Sox game from the fans point of view. I did a few dolly moves from the roof decks, a bunch of portrait shots with a 55mm f1.2 and shot the crowded stands with long lenses. This footage is copyright New England Sports Network and none of these images or the video footage is to be downloaded or distributed. I did not include any in game footage from the field of play because of copyright issues. Special thanks to Brian Fadem for taking these blog pictures and working as my assistant camera on this shoot. Apparently he dresses up like a hot dog and travels around with a guy who looks like Jesus. He has a blog located here. I don’t know what else to say… 20 comments to “Filmy Flavor” – Sony EX1 and Letus Ultimate at Fenway Park |
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Copyright © 2012 Tom Guilmette - All Rights Reserved |
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Nice baby legs
i know you want them, rob.
Tom,
Why didn’t you use your 5D MK2 for this? Especially if you are shooting 1080 30p? Just curious, I have an EX and Letus but am getting a 7D (on order!), wondering why you are going back to the EX/Lex setup?
going back to the ex1/letus setup? going back?!
i have never left it! i use my ex1 and letus for broadcast tv work because it is a REAL camera!
the canon 5dmk2 is great in low light, yes, it has the ex1/letus beat on that, but i will continue shooting with the ex1/letus because of the workflow, ease of use, look and the fact that EX1 is a proper television camera.
AWWW man! I was really looking forward to seeing some footage but I did enjoy the pictures :O)
the video is up. search out alex couture on this site to find it!
tom, just saw your shot on SC last night of the home run. are we going to be able to see a little piece of what you got?
i am going to post something from fenway soon shot with EX1/Letus Ultimate. keep an eye on this site!
Paul: He should have been shooting with the 5D mounted on the helmet AND using the EX1 for the shots he was getting. Talk about “fans view”!
i lugged a ton of gear over tow days up and down that mountain!
Tom, why don’t you have anything holding your dolly tracks together? Don’t the pipes have a tendency to shift around a lot?
no. the wheels on my dolly platform keep the dolly track (pipes) in line. works great. super fast to setup and you can run it ten feet on the pipe (or add more pieces for any length using inserts to create seamless joins)
I want to see the video!!!!
haha! Tell them they can give the footage to you as your retirement. 
yes. i will post something soon. i shot more stuff at the old ball park tonight!
Hi Tom
Love your work. Keep visiting your site everyday for inspiration. I am planing on making a dolly like yours, would you have any tips and links for me to get things right? And thanks for sharing your talent.
cheers from Sri lanka.
Nice Job!, ex1 is an excellent camera, here is my first work with ex1 with it’s original lenses http://www.vimeo.com/6966663
Congratulations for your work, greetings from spain!
Hi Tom i love your work and editing style
I,ve been at the ball park alot since 2004 shooting photography and video for the Masschusetts Lottery.
I love the look of the sony ex1 I’m currently shooting in hd with the
Panasonic hmc150.
The hd picture is great but it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles
of the EX1.
Next time i’m in the park (next spring)i’ll stop by and introduce myself. I will be at the Garden on Monday to introduce the new Bruins ticket. Keep up the great work.
Peter L
Tom, love it. Also love the response to why you’re not using the 5d or anything similar. I run an EX3 set-up and will be shooting a documentary in Mexico over the next year using the Letus array coupled to a Zacuto shoulder mount; crazy, crazy environment (we shoot in the Sierras… I mean IN; like 9000ft, and often hike 1-2k feet from a road to a stream), but the end product is going to be amazing (we shot on the XL2 the first time, then the story became bigger, so we’re re shooting on a PROPER camera, haha).
Great work… (I’ve enjoyed all your stuff on vimeo) I think I’m going to jump on the Letus band wagon. Do you think the ultimate is “overkill” for the EX1 only? (Notice you also have it on a 2/3″ camera) I’m having a hard time swallowing the price difference considering I’ll just have in on my ex1. I’m looking at the Extreme with Achromat Kit. (Still need the rails, lenses, rails and a follow focus)
That video looks GREAT! So amazing! Watched it a couple of times… Hope all is well for you at Fenway