House Season Finale Filmed Entirely with Canon 5D Mark II

Michael Zhang · Apr 09, 2010

House Season Finale Filmed Entirely with Canon 5D Mark II housetwitter

The season finale of the popular TV show House, which will air on May 17th, was filmed entirely with the Canon 5D Mark II. cinema5D overheard the plan last month and Greg Yaitanes, the director of the show, has confirmed it through a tweet in which we made himself open to questions.

We’ll republish some of the interesting questions and answers here, interview style:

@MVRamunno: What is the difference in how it looks on a TV screen compared to a regular camera?

Greg Yaitanes: richer. shallow focus pulls the actors faces to forground [sic]

@oamad0101: How many frames per second and why a Canon 5D Mark II?

GY: 24p and wanted it for ease of use in tight spaces.

@unikissa: Ok, seriously. Can you tell us something about the lenses you used?

GY: all the canon primes and the 24-70 and the 70-200 zoom

@sarabury: Did you have to change any of your working practices to fit in with differences between the 5D and a typical setup?

GY: some. focus was hard with these lenses but more “cine-style” lenses are being made as we speak.

@marykir: were you using CF cards for storage or some sort of mass storage mod? seems like you would need a lot of cards :)

GY: some 18gb or something like that card. gave us 22 min of footage.

@Drdiagnostic: How was the quality as compared 2 the traditional camera used in shooting?

GY: i loved it and feel it’s the future. cameras that can give you these looks

@klizma: How did you manage to stabilize the camera in tight spaces? Any special kind of brackets?

GY: no. mostly gave it a hand held feel. or on a small tripod

This is quite an endorsement for Canon, with a network giant entrusting the finale of one of its most popular shows to the 5D Mark II (which happens to be the first digital camera to take the Presidential portrait as well).

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about the popularity of the show:

In 2008, House was distributed in a total of 66 countries. With an audience of over 81.8 million worldwide, it was the most watched television show on the globe and far surpassed the viewership figures of the leading TV dramas the previous two years

If you haven’t yet, check out the short film, The Last 3 Minutes, which we posted earlier today. It was filmed with the same camera.

(via Canon 5D tips)

KarelBata

This reminds me of when the last few episodes of ER were shot on the RED after having lensed gawdknows how many series on 35mm. It's a testbed for their next project, with no commitments, and garners a lot of publicity in the production community. Which is exactly what you want when a show is coming to a close…

Will be interesting to watch.
NameName

It must feel great to sit in your parents' basement in your underwear and know that you'll never ever make a typo, and know that it makes you so much better than all the people out there creating great stuff.
Chuckl

So, “he doesn't even know that there are no 18GB flash cards”?

Oh, really?

Last time I checked, there are at least six manufacturers making 18gb CF cards.

And the last time I worked on a production, the director was directing, … not shooting video, or doing sound production, or any of the dozens of specialized jobs on a set. That's why they call them “specialities” and “crafts”. The only time a DSLR has been used on set, up until this “House” episode, was for still photography and continuity (look it up). Do you think all those other directors knew, or cared, which DSLRs were used? Do you think they all know, or care, which video or film camera was used?

Get a life, for gawd's sake.
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Ed

24 uses Canon DSLRs, at least for the views outside of cars when driving.
aristocat

I'm using the Canon 5D Mark-II and it's has a very good video capabilities using prime lenses. The only problem I have with this camera is that shots including moving objects or shots with some panning always came out with a strange strobe effect. I've tried every setting possible, all frame rate that are now available via the latest firmware update with no success.
anyone else having noticed this problem? is there a solution to it?
someone suggested that it could be the CF card not fast enough, mine is a 16 GB SunDisk-Extreme 4 with a 45MB/Sec tag.
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tvtv

There is no reason a network tv director would chance shooting a full episode with a 5D no less a finale. Why? To save money? No way. I can understand maybe a 5 second shot inside a closet. If it were true, Canon would spend million on advertising the story so if they don't jump all over it I would be VERY skeptical.
Grafin

I suggest to check this Canon 5D Mark-II work:
Battle for Hearts and Minds Trailer
http://vimeo.com/6995256
robny66

To Aristocat,

The strobing your seeing is native to all CMOS sensor based cameras, which the Canon 5D MKII and 7D have. You can't do anything about it. It's the achilles heel of these new HD DSLR's. The only thing you can do is don't pan or tilt the camera too fast! Better yet use a proper film or digital camera that's not based on a CMOS sensor!
Name

Reply to tvtv:
What makes you think they aren't jumping all over it? Do you actually believe that someone just arbitrarily decided to shoot that “House” episode with a Canon 5D for the hell of it?

Dude (or Dudette), YOU are advertising for Canon right now (as are we all).
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lechatnoir

Of course the quality of the picture is nice. But don't expect to produce a fine grain like the cinematographer who are working for that “house” show. You need the best lighting equipment , the finest lenses and the most qualified color grading artists out there.
http://twitter.com/danbaker30 Dan Baker

Am I the only one to wonder why even bother? Not to discredit the DSLR but are the current video cameras that inadequate?
chrizzles

that's not the sensor causing the strobing. it's 24p and you have to deal with it when shooting film as well.
Name

“Last time I checked, there are at least six manufacturers making 18gb CF cards.”

Yeah, I just found a bunch using Google. Of course none of them were actually 18GB flash cards. They were just 4, 8 & 16GB cards that were put into a filler page to give Google something to post.

Did you actually check those cards that you “found”?

“Do you think all those other directors knew, or cared, which DSLRs were used? Do you think they all know, or care, which video or film camera was used?”

Yah. Maybe they were using 5DMk2s and just didn't know it.
Yeah!
Name

“Probably because such issues are not the concern of the cinematographer”

Seriously this is the most inane excuse for someone elses' mistake that I've ever heard. “It's not their job, so they wouldn't know anything about it”.

Unfortunately for THEM that didn't stop them from TALKING about it, did it.
Name

…what, behind the assertions that a 5DMk2 was used to shoot entire episodes of Caprica and House?

Aren't “identities” already behind these assertions?

Now if only they could be verified, along with the assertions!
Name

Seriously think about it with all the shows out there that they could possibly shoot with a 5DMk2, why House and Caprica?

Why not NBC Nightly News and ABC's Wide World of Sports?

Why not American Idol and Survivor?

Have you ever heard of any other TV shows that were shot with a 5DMk2 in their entirety?
http://ssett.com/blog TheAuthor

No, behind your assertion that this guy is a fake. Maybe, just maybe technology has surpassed your ability to understand it, and there are people in the world with more skill, talent & imagination than you are able to comprehend, let alone achieve. But we don't know that because you're hiding behind anonymity.
Name

It matters because so many people are used to using cheap point & shoots to produce their video. If it's true that House is now being shot with a 5DMk2, the bar has been raised and they will have to run out and buy $2500 fullframe DSLRs with 1080p and fullframe lenses to go on them instead of shooting their videos with cameras they can buy for $100 on eBay. They're worried that they will be priced out of the game.
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aristocat

Thanks a lot for the info. for a moment I thought my camera had a problem!
by the way, I watched a short movie, shot by Laforet, “reverie” were there is lots of car and helicopter shots with a good a mount of movements, and surprisingly the movie is smooth and strobe free! I wonder if there's anything that can be done in post!
Anon

Are you shooting under artificial light? Note that all lights that directly use a mains AC (Alternating Current) supply flicker (because at two points in each AC cycle the voltage across the light source is zero – and most countries have mains frequencies of either 50Hz or 60Hz) so it is possible the camera could be capturing these dull periods of illumination in some frames. However, should the issue be occurring under natural light there is another issue at work.
KarelBata

You have got a problem! All 5Ds have this problem. You just have to work around it. Take inspiration from this awsome short shot on the 5D http://vimeo.com/10570139 and here's some 'behind the scenes' http://bit.ly/MakingOfLast3Minutes (and what ass above said it can't shoot video? Every time there's a 5D article like this it gets trolled.)
KarelBata

And now Zeiss unveils some lenses for use on DSLRs http://bit.ly/ZeissDSLR
aristocat

no matter where, under sunlight or indoors with artificial lights… motion objects or panning is not smooth. it looks like if there's 1 frame loss each couple of seconds. hard to explain.
i'll upload a couple of small videos to my iDisk so you can see what i mean.

http://public.me.com/roudy
password: aristocat
http://blog.vanitybride.com AC

wow this is great news!!!
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KarelBata

At NAB Panasonic have announced a four-thirds video camera based around the chip they used in the Lumix. Which makes me wonder: have they fixed the shearing problem? Is that why it costs $25,000 compared to $1,000 for the stills camera..? But it shows the problem *can* be fixed.
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Name

You're a douche.
NameNameName

My thoughts exactly.
Name

Not only did I check, I bought. Look more closely next time. I've got Kingston 18gb and 32gb CF and SD/HC cards in four cameras right now.

FYI, Google doesn't really have a need for “filler pages”. If you call-up flash cards, of any size, you'll get returns for similar items. You need to learn how to refine your search.

And if you can find a director who actually knows which specific equipment their DP is using, I'd love to meet him, or her. Rare, indeed.
Name

Jonas:

Great to see your post. Two of your comments hit home with me, since they echo my own sentiments when I first read the article on the “House” episode: …”game changer” and “The future's arrived”. Abso-friggin-lutely!

The last time info of this sort made me stop and take notice was a few years ago, when “FilmLook” was announced.
http://www.federerphotography.com Minnesota Joe

Well, everyone has been saying it was going to eventually happen — interesting to see it finally come true. Thanks for the interesting interview and good information.
Name

really, which one of these is it?

http://www.kingston.com/flash/cf_ultimate.asp
http://www.kingston.com/flash/cf_elite.asp
http://www.kingston.com/flash/cf_standard.asp

maybe you ought to contact the FBI and tell them that you've gotten ripped-off by some Internet shyster LOL
Name

…either that or maybe I'm right.

Hm, how to tell.

Wouldn't be really hard to spoof a House episode with a 5DMk2 and show the world that it really is capable of shooting an entire episode. Again: why just this show, why just now?

The 5DMk2 has been out for almost 2 years now. And you're telling me that *just now* someone is shooting an entire mainstream TV show with it? That's just not credible.
Name

The 5D can't shoot video. Unless you're talking about “stop-action” LOL

It's a simple technical fact. Deal with it without calling the guy an ass just for saying it.
Name

…there is a difference between the 5D and the 5DMk2, just as there are differences between 720p and 1080p and 24p.

The only way that you can shoot video with a 5D is to keep hitting the shutter or use a remote-trigger and use a video editor to assemble the stills into a video.
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dfulish1

You nut, it's obvious he's referring to the 5D MKII.

Don't be such an ass and it's obvious you're just a nikon fan.

Keep an open mind mate.
Dan

you must be really stupid, really bored, or both.. sheesh
Name

How is it “being an ass” to point out that a camera that cannot shoot video cannot shoot video?
Name

Why don't you be smart, go entertain yourself and buy a brand-new 5D and try to go shoot some video with it?
Name

The biggest problem with photography these days, with just about any mass-market issue, is that given that the number of practicioners are in the millions, the number of people who don't know what the hell they're talking about is *also* in the millions.

This is a very simple issue. The 5D CANNOT SHOOT VIDEO.

The 5DMk2 can shoot video. The D90 can shoot video. The Canon A610 can shoot video. Just about every pocket point & shoot that you can name can shoot video.

The Canon 5D CANNOT shoot video.

Very, very simple. Yet here we have 500 numbskulls saying that it can. Even the guy who supposedly is shooting for House is saying that it can.

But it can't. PERIOD. End of story.
Name

…um, why would shooting with a 5DMk2 specifically generate a “huge equipment-cost saving” for a company that is already shooting video with equipment that it already owns?

The big deal here is that it would let every yahoo claim to be a “television-level cinematographer” simply because they have shot video with a 5DMk2. As if there is a huge difference between the 1080p that you can shoot with a 5DMk2 and the 720p that you can shoot with a D90 or even the 480p that you can shoot with a Canon A640. The real difference is that you can shoot the 5DMk2 at much higher ISOs than you can shoot the A640 and still get decently-clean output, otherwise the A640 will shoot 35mm effective at F2.8 which is kind of hard to beat with a 5DMk2. Oh and it won't autofocus during the video either.

So there are probably 50,000 people with videos on YouTube that could make that claim as well…and who actually have a portfolio of videos on YouTube. But some people here are too stupid to realize it. this is about as much of a “big deal” as the guys who put a point & shoot in a box, tied it to a weather balloon and took pictures of the Earth from space. They're still just pictures of the Earth from space. When you get to shoot an award-winning TV show? You really won't give a damm what camera they want you to use. You'll happily use whatever they tell you. On the other hand you can go out and buy 10 5DMk2s today and you still won't be shooting for Fox tomorrow.
DeeplyIrritated

Who is this complete pedant?

What is the name of the article up top? Isn't it blindly obviously that every reference to the 5D here is about the 5D MkII?

What is your problem?

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House Season Finale Filmed Entirely with Canon 5D Mark II