“Through genuine moments of Japanese lifestyle, this film shows the harmony of coexistence between tradition and modernity.”
Japan is one of the countries on my travel list. From beautiful Geishas to blooming cherry blossoms, immaculate gardens and the mysterious Samurai, its a culture that is a veritable smorgasbord of eye candy just waiting to be captured by my camera. AmnesiArt felt the same way and beat me to it.
[REWIND: An Interesting New Look Inside Sigma’s Aizu, Japan Factory]
AmnesiArt is a film and Fine Art photography production composed by Nick Arcivos and Ryan Earl. Originally oriented towards photography, film production has joined its activities with the release of DSLR cameras with video capacity.
Nick and Ryan took some time to answer a few questions for us about their project.
Japan – A Journey Between Tradition and Modernity
Tell us a little about the project.
We have been fascinated by Japan since a stay in this fascinating country a few year ago which made us want to create a film on its culture and architecture. The shooting took place in Kyoto to Tokyo, through Nara and lasted 14 days.
What gear did you use to shoot this short film?
We chose to shoot with the Canon 5D Mark II for its portability, low light sensitivity and because we own a wide range of Canon L series lenses:
- Canon 16-35mm f/2.8
- Canon 24-70mm f/2.8
- Canon 70-200mm f/2.8
- Canon 100mm macro f/2.8
- Canon 85mm f/1.2
- Canon 50mm f/1.4
- Canon 15mm fisheye f/2.8
- Zeiss Planar T 1.4 50mm
We mostly used 2 Canon L series, the Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 which was excellent for wide angle shots and the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 for close-ups. We had to use ND filters to cut the day light and being able to get a shallow depth of field using a wide aperture to fully bring out details.
We also installed the Technicolor Cinestyle profile to get the largest dynamic range needed for the post production. We wanted to be able to color correct and grade our footage as close as we would have on a photo.
What was production like?
We chose to shoot at 24 frames a second to create a cinematic atmosphere. This fabulous country offers so many contrasts, that it was really interesting to capture each scene. We wanted to focus on strong symbols to fully represent the land of the rising sun.
We spent at least 10 to 12 hours a day shooting as we carried all of our gear with rolling bags that can be transformed into a backpack if need be.
What drew you to Japan, enough to make this film?
The idea behind the film was to make people want to travel to Japan and discover all the wonders this fabulous country has to offer. Our expectations has been fulfilled with all the wonderful feedback we have received, and that our audience shared their emotions with us.
In order to create great projects, you must be passionate about what you are shooting. You need to be 100% dedicated on each step of the production to get the best result possible. Every detail counts so if there are flaws, you must correct them all, and try to get it as perfect as possible. The most important thing to keep in mind is being confident in what you create.
To summarize it all, hard work definitely pays!
If you want more information on our work, you can visit our website and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
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