Shooting a stunning fashion short with the AU-EVA1

5 minutes Neil Matsumoto

Available for only a few months, we’re already seeing visually impressive work shot with the AU-EVA1. The EVA1 is a compact cinema camera that contains a 5.7K Super 35 sensor that delivers 14-stops of dynamic range and Dual Native ISOs of 800 and 2,500.

Brisbane-based director/cinematographer Dane Hansen is a self-taught filmmaker who has been shooting films and photography since childhood. “I am primarily a director, and went through university here in Australia (and partially in England) as a writer and director,” says Hansen. “I’ve made a few short films, and started shooting more for myself once I started to get into the corporate/commercial space. Most of the projects I work on are fashion based at this point, but I’m heading more into the TV/commercial/film scene.”

Hansen recently completed a short film, Hotel Mysteria, for BlackMilk Clothing. The film consists of beautiful models posing in colorful outfits against the backdrop of soft lighting, rich tapestries and staircases. “I have been working with BlackMilk as a recurring client for the past two years,” explains Hansen. “We have a good working relationship and a good amount of trust between us. The shoots are usually very rushed and require a large amount of handheld, fast run-and-gun camera work.”

The main reason Hansen went with the EVA1 was because he needed a small and lightweight camera package that was maneuverable. “The EVA1 is so light and very easy to use on many different types of gimbals (GlideCam, Ronin MX, etc.) and then quickly switch over for handheld shots. It also has an EF mount and internal ND filters – both an absolute must for me.”

According to Hansen, the Hotel Mysteria shoot was straightforward. “The nature of my shoots normally requires me to see the location the day that I turn up to set, so its normally a case of working to the strengths of the location, which generally influences the visual style/edit of the piece,” he says.

Hansen shot most of the short at 4K, 8-bit 4:2:0 in LongGop 100Mbps. “The reason for this was that I could switch between varying frame rates quickly, from 25fps, through 33, and up to 50fps,” says Hansen. “At times, I switched over to 2K mode to shoot at 100fps.”

Hansen also shot at native 2,500 ISO for most of the shoot. “The place we shot at is a club, and it was a very large space and had very little available lighting,” explains Hansen. “I did not have a dedicated gaffer or a huge lighting kit, so I relied on increasing my ISO to get the ambient lighting I needed. I didn’t need to change it off 2,500, as the dynamic range and saturation was the same as it was at 800 and was providing a good enough exposure that I didn’t need to go higher.”

Hansen used his Zeiss ZE prime lens kit, which gave him incredible sharpness, as well as an affordable price compared to typical cinema style lenses. “They don’t have AF or OIS, but using the internal EIS was a good enough trade off, and I rarely have used AF in the past for video anyway. The Zeiss lenses also have a great focal ring throw.”

For lighting, Hansen employs bi-color lighting kits. For moving shots, he used an Aladdin 2×1 LED panel on a boom pole powered by a V-lock battery to create a beauty light just above his models and out of frame as a soft source. To light a difficult shot of a model walking down a staircase, Hansen used a RAYZR 7 Fresnel light with a couple of LEDs as backlight.

For post, Hansen did a minimal amount of grading, occasionally using power windows. “That’s one of the great things I’ve found with Panasonic colors – you can tweak a bit, but what you are getting straight out of camera is phenomenal,” reveals Hansen. “I used Panasonic’s Rec709 LUT and that did most of the work for me. I then took it through DaVinci to make a few tweaks here and there, but nothing major.

“Shooting with the EVA 1 has been a great experience,” continues Hansen. “The lightweight design really helps me in the way I shoot, which is more run-and-gun. The fact that the color is already great saves me a lot of time in post, and the 4K is super sharp. I love that I can shoot to SD cards and back up straight away to my laptop without additional card readers. I also like that I can shoot in a format that requires little space, but retains a very healthy amount of data to keep a very high-quality image. I personal feel this camera has a very good balance between image quality and practicality, which is the reason I chose it, and will continue to do so for my future products.”