Photography to Cinematography - a learning curve

These days, I am shooting more and more video than still pictures.

This trend started after I owned a Canon 5D markII. My previous camera (Leica V-Lux1) has video capability too, but the control and video quality... hmm... nothing comparable to the cinematography looks, I mean the shallow Depth of Field (DOF) 5D markII is offering.

Due to full frame sensor, the bokeh of 5D markII video is really attractive when use with fast lenses; it produces very shallow DOF something like the Hollywood film. I only have the chance to try up to 2.8f as that is the largest aperture opening my 16-35mm L and 100mm micro have.

I started getting serious in making motion pictures after learning some tips from Philips Bloom. Your will not be persistence in learning something if you have no clue at all on how to do it right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNNqUm_nSXk this is where I first heard of him and learnt about how to set my 5D markII for shooting video.

I then begin to follow more and more about his sharing in cinematography in vimeo as well as in his blog.

Probably you too (just like my wife) would think that there is his shadow in my works. But this didn't bother me at this stage, as I am still very new in cinematography so some level of imitation is unavoidable until I am ready to create something really original.

My editing software is Sony Vegas, and grading tool is Magic Bullet Looks.

There are so much to learn in cinematography from shooting to editing. In this sense, probably my photography knowledge has shorten my learning curve by 35 percent, as the same composition rules, exposure control, etc are the same in still and motion pictures.

Some considerations involve in motion picture like frame rate, sound recording, camera motion i.e. panning, tracking, etc., and editing are all totally new to me.

Ya, choosing the right music or song for my video is equally important for a success work.

Finally, if I am to pick one of my works that I think the best by far (hard decision), how about this 'Maiko Experience'