What can I say about the House final episode?

The show looked great and you would never suspect it was shot on a small format camera, it's just more proof you can shoot a big TV show on a little camera. As the season finale episode of House proved, the HDSLR format can go in some very tight places. Here's Canon's press release on the the first network episode shot entirely on the HDSLR format.

CANON U.S.A. CONGRATULATES "HOUSE" ON COMPLETING THE FIRST NETWORK TELEVISION EPISODE SHOT ON A CANON DSLR

The Season Finale of HOUSE was shot entirely on the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Canon EF lenses

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., May 17, 2010 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging, would like to congratulate the cast and crew from the hit series HOUSE on filming the entire season finale episode on the Canon EOS 5D Mark II. This crowning achievement marks the first network television prime time drama episode to be shot entirely on a Digital SLR camera, making it an industry-first.

In addition to shooting the episode on the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF lenses were used for a complete Canon workflow for image capture. Recording every second of footage to compact flash cards, the crew for HOUSE took full advantage of a completely digital workflow and was able to complete filming the entire episode in just 10 days.

"We take great pleasure in congratulating the cast and crew of HOUSE on completing the first network television episode to be completely shot on a DSLR camera," stated Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A., "This milestone marks a paradigm shift in the way professional cinematographers and filmmakers capture HD video."

The season finale airs tonight, Monday, May 17 (8:00-9:01 PM ET/PT) on FOX. Canon encourages everyone to tune in tonight and watch. For more information on HOUSE, please visit www.fox.com/house.

HOUSE is produced by Universal Media Studios in association with Heel and Toe Films, Shore Z Productions and Bad Hat Harry Productions.

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Able CineTech has put together an HDSLR camera comparison chart . They've also made it a down-loadable PDF file too. However, I'm not sure why the Nikon D90 isn't included since they started the whole HDSLR trend.

At the time I made Rejouer, I only had the Canon 5D and GH1 to consider for making a feature movie. As you can see by the chart the GH1 provided a few advantages 24p, 1080 x 192o resolution and a disadvantage of no "live" monitor output. The chart also lists the GH1 as the only camera that can have a PL mounted cinema lense attached to it. That is because my technical consultant, Illya Friedman of Hot Rod Cameras created the adapter specifically to shoot Rejouer. This allowed us not only to capture a greater image using higher quality lenses, but also an easier work-flow on set since the lenses were designed for motion picture use, not still photography.

Oliver Peters at digitalfilms has an article on cutting Canon 5D HDSLR footage in Avid because FCP can't achieve a needed effect (a speed ramp) as well as FluidMotion does in Media Composer.

I'll be at the Entertainment Technology Expo breakfast this Thursday, Feb. 18th. Come, let's meet up and we can discuss HDSLR moviemaking. I'd love to hear about your project and let you know what I've learned about this new format.

Createasphere/EXPLORE: Entertainment Technology Exposition
FEBRUARY 18, 2010 | Universal Hilton | Universal City, CA

DSLR Video Track
Sponsored by Carl Zeiss

Welcome to the DSLR Video Track of the February 18th Entertainment Technology Expo. The world of filmmaking and photography are merging and it is exciting to see video DSLR education added to this event.

In addition to the workshops, there will be a video DSLR breakfast meet-up and orientation with interesting guests and great door prizes. Coffee and donuts should help get the ball rolling along with a quick rundown of the days DSLR topics. The Expo includes a trade show floor with access to some of the top companies involved in video DSLR and digital cinema. If you are serious about DSLR video, this is a no brainer.

• 10:00 AM-11:00 AM - DSLR Breakfast MeetUp and Orientation
  Thank you for your interest in the Video DSLR Breakfast Meet-up. This event is sold-out with the exception of workshop attendees who pre-register for "From the Camera to the Web - Your Files and What to Do With Them", or "Sound - An Audio Primer for DSLR and Small Crew Productions". If you are not planning on attending one of these workshops, please arrive early and sign up on the waiting list.
• 11:00 AM-1:00 PM - Canon Intensive Workshop - Canon EOS HD Video: New ideas. New Technologies
• 1:30 PM-3:30 PM - Transcoding Workshop: From the Camera to the Web - Your Files and What to Do With Them
  
• 4:00 PM-6:00 PM - Sound Workshop: An Audio Primer for DSLR and Small Crew Productions
  

Gizmodo has a good technical article (Why ISO is the new Megapixel) on the importance of ISO to your HDSLR camera.

HDSLR cameras are getting me closer to my personal holy grail, to only bring actors and a camera to set. Okay, okay, I know, I know, I also need sound, props, wardrobe etc... However, the point being that a camera's dynamic range effects how much available light you can use on set, which informs how much support equipment you'll bring, how many people y0u'll need to man it and how long it'll take to set up. All of these things add up to time and money.
In low budget moviemaking you quickly learn that what is in the screenplay or director's head may not necessarily be achievable at the actual location and to create it is beyond your budget or time constraints. So you must accept it and play the environment for what it is as opposed to what was envisioned. This limitation can be a blessing because if you don't fret over making everything precious, then you can concentrate on what is necessary - good acting and enough coverage of it so the audience can emotionally connect to the characters and clearly understand their situation. You'll essentially be rewriting your movie scene by scene in the editing bay using the footage you shot on set. So the greater the camera's use of available light, the more it can reduce set up time on set. Thus, giving you more footage in the editing bay to better help shape the movie. And who among us when screening our movies for others hasn't said to themselves during a particular scene or two, "if I only had more time to get another take I would've done it differently."

You can see the Hot Rod Cameras' PL Mount for the Panasonic GH1 we used on Rejouer in an article on HDSLR camera's in this month's (Feb. 2010) edition of HD Video Pro. It features a behind the scenes picture of the GH1 attached to a camera body rig (designed by our camera operator and additional DP, Carl Ratajski) harnessed to our lead actor, Lancer Dean Shull.