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12. Lake People - Letus Extreme EX1 Film - HDTV
2 years ago
Check out my new website at tomguilmette.com for blogs and more.

This video was shot in a few hours at Ashland State Park in Massachusetts. The weather was finally beginning to warm up and people were out enjoying the outdoors.

I brought my PMW-EX1 camcorder with the Letus Extreme, a Vinten Vision 3 tripod, my homemade dolly system, three lenses and two filters.

I used PVC pipe and my dolly for the slow slides and trucks. I do have to be careful because even a speck of dirt makes the camera vibrate in the dolly system.

The three lenses I used was a Sigma 18mm f3.5, a Nikon 24mm f2.8 and a Nikon 300mm f4 telephoto. I used the telephoto lens to get tight shots of people fishing from across the lake. I also used it to get shots of the turtles basking in the sun.

I recycled a few shots from previous trips to the lake. The macro shots of the Garder snakes was from a video I shot a month ago called “Snake Eye View”. I used a Nikon 55mm f2.8 macro lens for these intimate snake shots.

I used a Tiffen 52mm circular polarizing filter to help with the sky and water reflections. This made the water a deep dark hue and created a very blue sky. I also used a four point start filter for the sun smear you see at the end of the video.

I edited this in Final Cut Pro and color graded with Magic Bullet Looks. I over-saturated the colors in the video.

TRT: 4 minutes

Music by: James Newton Howard
For more info go to: tomguilmette.com

Credits

Set credits

314 Likes

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  • Moayad Hassan plus 2 years ago
    I can't tell you just how impressive this it!

    Great composition, focus and camera movements. I liked the 3D feeling the dolly created.. it's surreal.

    Amazing work... even though I think it it a little too saturated for my taste :)
  • Tom Guilmette plus 2 years ago
    as you can tell, i like vivid colors. thanks!
  • Moayad Hassan plus 2 years ago
    At the end it's just a matter of test :)
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  • astute 2 years ago
    This is by far the best work you have done!
    I love it, a lot.

    It's also very daring to dub the video. I think you narrate it very very well.

    I never been amazed by a video on Vimeo as I have been with this one.

    Thank you for this one, you made my day.
  • Tom Guilmette plus 2 years ago
    thanks astute. i hate using my voice for stuff...
  • Scott McLeod 2 years ago
    Are you kidding? Your voice is perfect. I wish my voice sounded half-decent for voiceovers...
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  • Tom Guilmette plus 2 years ago
    i pulled "lazy lake" because it did not match my other videos. i will stick with the default picture profile for now. i used default for all my videos, except that one. thanks for checking these out.
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  • Paul Frederick 2 years ago
    Awesome job Tom! I like the fact you did the narration, it made it more personable. You knew when to let the music play out and when to step in....

    Again, very nice work!
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  • ANTHONY JACKSON plus 2 years ago
    Man dude you stuff looks great, I got to upgrade !!!
    the Sony is way better the the panasonic HVX200 By far.
    keep making more films i'll be stoping by
    take care.
  • Tom Guilmette plus 2 years ago
    i agree.
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  • DeCristo.TV plus 2 years ago
    Tom, that was pretty awesome. Love the narration. I know what you mean about the track I ran into the some problem several times.
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  • Mike Gill 2 years ago
    well....wow. the quality of the film is awsome. I'm gonna have to go with Anthony on this one and also upgrade...nice work.
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  • Daniel Hayek staff 2 years ago
    I have so much too learn about film and video. Thanks for posting.
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  • eric cwiertny 2 years ago
    Very nice work!
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  • chiu 2 years ago
    Great Job Tom! i like your work and always visit your blog as well. what is the picture profile for this? still using "bloom"? is it 1080/60i?
    thanks.
  • Tom Guilmette plus 2 years ago
    i have not had very good results with "bloom" picture setting. i am currently using the default sony picture setting. all color grading is done in post with magic bullet looks. thanks for checking my blog. i will try to update it more!
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  • Samu Ainesmaa 2 years ago
    Oh wow... Very nice very nice. Loved the colours and movement of the camera. The focuses were very precise and on-point also.

    What kind of dolly system do you have? I've been looking to fix myself some railing and a dolly but can't come across any good write-ups on it.

    Great short :)
  • Tom Guilmette plus 2 years ago
    i made the dolly system myself out of pvc pipe and a piece of plywood with skate board wheels on it. go to my blog at tomguilmette.com and read "the warehouse behind the scenes" for pictures and more info on it.
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  • Michael Kozak 2 years ago
    wow ! awesome video ! excelent narration ! very smooth panning - right on mood developement - it really put me into the scene while I was watching it.
    The only thing that distracted me and kept me from enjoying it totally was the star filter - I kept staring at the star effect and I missed what was actually in those scenes. But other than that, I was very impressed.
  • Tom Guilmette plus 2 years ago
    if i did not use the star filter, the camera would have produced some sort of unnatural star due to the birghtness of the sun. i like the four pointer much better.
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  • Paul Siwko-Bajon 2 years ago
    Beautiful work. Perfect narration (it just fits with this type of picture along with that particular soundtrack = great combination). I agree with Michael Kozak's comment. If the star filter would be used only in one particular shot then the whole film would be absolutely perfect. The dolly works great! Did you have to change the lens mount from Nikon to Sigma on your Letus Extreme while shooting this movie? Overall absolutely gorgeous stuff. I am outdoors enthusiast as well and would love to see such films more often on Saturday's ESPN Outdoors shows, or Discovery Channel. Bravo, Tom!
  • Tom Guilmette plus 2 years ago
    the sigma lens was a nikon mount. i own all nikon lenses. however, i did have letus send me a pentax k and a canon mount in case i buy those type mount lenses in the future.
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  • Haidar Hakim plus 2 years ago
    WOW, Great work Tom, i love it, and your voice is really nice.
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  • Patrick Lenard 2 years ago
    Intoxicating.
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  • Swami 2 years ago
    simply...GREAT!
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  • JHWF plus 2 years ago
    Amazing film Tom..I'm patiently waiting for my Letus to arrive here in the UK. Totally inspired by this film.
  • Tom Guilmette plus 2 years ago
    it took almost two months for me to get mine. it was absolutely worth it. keep in mind you may have to back focus it.
  • Tom Guilmette plus 2 years ago
    Letus now has an upgraded nikon mount for the letus. it can be back focused with a few set screws. check out letus35.com for more info.
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  • Philip Bloom plus 2 years ago
    wonderful Tom. I will be using NiN Ghosts for my Death Valley stuff
  • Tom Guilmette plus 2 years ago
    I look forward to seeing it.
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  • Daniel Hidalgo 2 years ago
    That was awesome! Great shots, incredible music to go with, organic indeed. I loved the sun shots, beautiful color, keep them coming!
    Peace and Blessings,
    Hidalgo
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  • Gert Kracht plus 2 years ago
    Total inspiration....
    The colors! Great work!
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  • ►Alex Leahu◄ 2 years ago
    This is AMAZING, the colors, shots, movement, everything.
    I love nature, and this video reminds me of fishing, can't wait to go fishing on a perfect day. Keep up the great work.
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  • planesman 2 years ago
    Wonderful film! I hope I can one day film with half your talent.
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  • This was my first experience with HD vídeos,
    Just Great
    Vanderlei from Rio de Janeiro
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  • Matt Hughes 2 years ago
    What I love about this film is that it shows off the best of Vimeo.com, your shooting location, the PMW-EX1, and your abilities all in one go! :-)
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  • Brad Halstead 2 years ago
    Wow, great work. I signed up to Vimeo about 5 mins ago and this is the first video i've seen on here. Pretty good start I must say. Also, I'm the proud owner of an EX1 also, and am shooting a short film on it next weekend, so pretty keen to run it through it's paces as I've not had a chance yet to really test it. I'm curious about the 35mm lens adapter, I'd heard of them being used on the ex1, but not seen it in action so this was great. Do you have any pics of it mounted on the cam?
  • Tom Guilmette plus 2 years ago
    check out my website at tomguilmette.com and click on my blog for more info on the letus and pictures of it in action.

    thanks.
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  • Matt Schleicher 2 years ago
    Beautiful footage Tom. None of the "stutter" that people often complain about in the panning and tilting on the Ex1/letus combo. What did you encode with?
  • Tom Guilmette plus 2 years ago
    i use final cup pro's quicktime conversion export and set the encode to h.264 and set the data rate to 3000kb/sec. i set the size to 1280x720 hd keyframe auto frame blending on and set the audio to 128mb ACC mp3 44.1 kHz.
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  • Daniel Alexander plus 2 years ago
    wow, not very often i say that word. I rekon if the discovery channel heard your voice you may get snatched up for a job or two. One of my fav vids on vimeo so far
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  • Emile van Zeeland 2 years ago
    A very big applaus from the Netherlands!

    Zeer mooi gemaakt, geweldige muziek keuze.
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  • Eric E. Anderson 2 years ago
    Fantastic stuff here, man. The water at 02:22 - dang!!
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  • Bass Pig 2 years ago
    Nice relaxing imagery, Tom.
    I rather liked the saturation and the star effect on the sunset, though the sky seemed more purple than blue.
    How did you luck out to run into a friendly father/son fishermen there?
  • Tom Guilmette plus 2 years ago
    there were many people fishing that day. i asked them if i could get a few questions answered on camera and they gave me permission.
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  • Oren plus 2 years ago
    That would have made a wonderful commercial for preserving parks (in general). You should be showing this to the Mass parks dept. If they don't buy it on the spot, they're dolts! Super!
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  • Tom Guilmette plus 2 years ago
    Bass,
    If you went to this place, you would understand how easy it is to just go up to people and ask them if they would say a few words for a video project. Everyone is very relaxed and I had no problem finding a father/son interview.
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  • VendelasCity 2 years ago
    Tom, this is stunning!
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  • Nicolas Bryant 2 years ago
    Bravo really great work, I'm on to your blog to check out your different techniques :)
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  • Sean Stockman 2 years ago
    How do you get such smooth slow motion? Are you shooting in 24P. What are you using to edit?
  • Tom Guilmette plus 2 years ago
    I shot in 60 frames per second using 720p and I edited on final cut pro.
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  • Ian Hughes 2 years ago
    Tom... I've been mulling over getting an EX1 and I think you just tipped the balance! Excellent work. LOVED the shot of them kicking the boat off the shore at around 3 mins. Cheers dude!
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  • DaVincicode plus 2 years ago
    Tom wonderful job capturing Ashland State Park in MA. What I really enjoyed you doing was the narration and what kind of lenses you used. And your dolly is amazing. But wanted to say how filmic it does look especially the opening shot. And nice to bring in the Dad and son fishing. I take my hat off to you for showing how good this camera is and the lenses. Bravo..
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  • Mike Cohen 2 years ago
    videos like this demonstrate how god awful YouTube is, and more to the point, shows that there are a lot of very talented people making quality videos. Good job.
  • Tom Guilmette plus 2 years ago
    I really like vimeo. Currently, this is the only online video community I use.
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  • James Barber 2 years ago
    Beautiful. So beautiful it hurts. Now I want two things, a 35mm adapter, and to visit the US to see this for myself.
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  • rick ash 2 years ago
    i just love everything about this entry, it is a river runs through it, on the golden pond, everything beautiful, you are a great cinematographer, i would invite u to my first entry
    peace, which i no u have
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  • David Roth Weiss 2 years ago
    I hate to be picky, but... There is vignetting on on many shots. Is one particular lens doing that or is it something that can possibly be elliminated somehow by tweaking the 35mm adapter in some way?
  • Tom Guilmette plus 2 years ago
    I did not push far enough though the Letus Extreme adapter. It is more evident on wide shots where I want to maximize the full ground glass inside the Letus.
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  • Andy Miller 2 years ago
    Great shooting. I've been looking for my next camera. I think you might have sold me on the PMW-EX1. Thanks a lot. You have a great eye.
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  • eric 2 years ago
    its abs perfect!
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  • stw254 plus 2 years ago
    Awesome colors and shallow DOF. More amazingly, how did you manage to squeeze 4 minutes of 720p HD in 86MB of mov h.264 file? Do you have to work hard with FCP to achieve this compact file or did it just do it. I tried to do it with Canopus Procoder and the h.264 mov file it creates is always > 3Mbps regardless of what I told it to do. Time for more experiment.
  • Tom Guilmette plus 2 years ago
    i will post my video settings that i use in final cut to my blog in a couple of days. i am just too busy right now.
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  • Pierre 2 years ago
    A beauty: well done Tom. Nature can be so nice.
    You seem to like ssssnakes... we have more rabits around here.
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  • Dan Valentine plus 2 years ago
    Thanks for posting all the information of how you created this. I wish I had the extra cash to buy some of the equipment.
  • Tom Guilmette plus 2 years ago
    no prob.
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  • Skyler Media 2 years ago
    wow this is beautiful.. when i was watching it, i felt like i was at my cottage, only difference is this video looks 100000 times better. perfect camera work. absolutely stunning.
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  • monso 2 years ago
    awesome.wonderful.............
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  • Rick Horton 2 years ago
    Tom, I actually teared up a little bit. I love your perspective. We have a very similar style, in a way.
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  • rhondar 2 years ago
    Omg! u rock!
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  • Indigoverse 1 year ago
    Absolute Perfection!, I knew there was a reason I wanted this Camera!
    "Thank you for the inspiration for both the equipment & the film!"
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  • RaceFox 1 year ago
    Lovely footage and really nicely put together too. This is the second movie I've seen done with one of the EX1, definately an impressive bit of kit (but only as impressive as the person using it!) I'd like to see the last minute or so of that movie done with some proper creepy music - I think you could totally change the tone.
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  • The Fibro Twins 1 year ago
    This video makes me wonder if should just toss my equipment off of a bridge....I'm in awe
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  • Gabo 1 year ago
    do you have another version of this? a version without dub?
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  • Julio Aguiar plus 1 year ago
    Beautiful !!!! How long do these generally take you to make?
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  • Patrick Lucas 1 year ago
    Is the darkening of the image on the sides because of the lens or something in post?

    Also, I never got my homemade dolly + PVC pipe to be a hundredth as smooth as that.
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  • Julian Kuntorov 1 year ago
    Glorious HD.. Amazing job :)
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  • The Funky Monkey plus 1 year ago
    Got to say.. best thing i have seen on Vimeo so far, Amazing!!!
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  • michael tichonuk 1 year ago
    my first view of viemo. I'm a still guy. Well, was...Incredible work Tom! Just unbelieveble!!!!
    Mikey!!
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  • Thierry PERIOU 1 year ago
    Video is perfect
    Music is perfect
    Comment is perfect
    I could never see/hear so fantastic video.
    Please again and again.
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  • The colors in you video are so amazing every time. You have the good feeling for that, thats your talend!
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  • mos 1 year ago
    It is so beautiful. Makes me wanna be there. Great work! thanks for sharing
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  • Andrew Paterson plus 1 year ago
    Tom, beautiful stuff, it captured the spirit of Laneo and I blogged it here > tinyurl.com/4bsj7w
    Bravo !
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  • Steve Moroboshi 1 year ago
    a-ma-zing
    kick ass stuff
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  • Byron Friday 1 year ago
    Totally awesome "}
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  • HASHANGAH 1 year ago
    What an awesome ad for PMW-EX1! No kidding ! I want to buy one, now!
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  • Mark Jensen 1 year ago
    Wow! amazing!
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  • Xtremevideo 1 year ago
    a very inspirational video!
    a link to my post on Avid Liquid forum
    forums.pinnaclesys.com/forums/256003/ShowThread.aspx#256003
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  • Keith Rivers plus 10 months ago
    wow... check out my parody video of hey there delilah
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  • Matt Stapleton plus 6 months ago
    Tom,

    Townsend has two state parks and a sweet waterfall called Trap falls. NH is a stones throw away from my house. I am lucky enough to live right at the start of NH corridor 13 and can snowmobile right from my garage.

    I moved out here to get the NH feel without the property taxes. Great job as usual.
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  • Charles Wyatt 6 months ago
    High definition brings us so much closer to reality. I love films that focus on landscape and yours is beautiful. However, I just wonder how you would cope with our British weather. It can turn on a sixpence. Do you need lots of sunshine to film or just plenty of cover?
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