Blending Footage from the Sony EX3 and the Canon 5D
For the most part we shoot on a Sony EX3, but occasionally we have to use different cameras or even blend footage from two different types of cameras. The Tipton Branding commercial was one of those occasions. Tipton asked Master Track to make a Branding commercial that would featuring their gun cleaning tools. They wanted to focus on the Tipton Best Gun Vise but also show many of their other gun cleaning tools and supplies in action. After some brainstorming we decided on a concept. We wanted a lot of quick close up shots of the various Tipton products as we show how they make gun cleaning easier.
However once we started doing some testing with the Sony EX3 we noticed that it did not have the narrow depth of field we wanted for the close up shots. So we rented a Canon 5D. The Canon 5D is a DSLR camera that uses regular still camera lenses and has the narrow depth of field we wanted for the close up shots.
The down side to it is that it has an extremely narrow depth of field and no auto focus. This meant that the opening and the closing dolly shots would be difficult to film with this camera. We decided to stick with the Sony EX3 for the open and closing dolly shots and use the Canon 5D for the rest of the commercial.
Once we had the footage we needed to blend the Sony footage with the Canon footage. First we used the Color Corrector in Final Cut Pro to adjust the color on all the footage so that it was a better match. I then added some brightness and saturation to the Canon footage and brought up the blacks on the Sony footage. Finally I added a vignette to the Sony footage and made the edges darker and more out of focus. Although a sharp eye can still see the difference in color between the two sets of footage, the adjustments were crucial in making the commercial feel seamless. Tipton was pleased with the results and the commercial will be airing nationally on various cable channels. You can see the final commercial below.
