During the Digital Cinematics workshop, I was introduced to Philip Bloom’s film “Sofia’s People” which was entirely filmed with the Canon 5DMK II and one single Zeiss 50mm F1.4 lens. Our lecturer Stuart Moore told us about the strong impact it had ten years ago when it was first published: Even though Bloom himself described it as “just a simple little bit of filming and editing” (Bloom, 2017), this video showed the potential that this revolutionary stills camera had.
Bloom, P. (2009) N/A. Available at: https://philipbloom.net/blog/8yearssincesofiaspeople/ (Accessed: 07 December 2019).
Philip Bloom got his footage in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Bloom (2017) wrote in a blog post how he took the Canon 5DMK II out in the streets in the evening, mostly to test its low light ability. He planned to show the footage to the attendees of two workshops that he led during his time in Bulgaria. The whole film is shot entirely handheld with a Zeiss 50mm f1.4 Nikon lens (with an adapter). Bloom explained that this lens made up for the lack of manual controls of the Canon camera. The ISO was kept low, never higher than 1600 to keep the noise levels acceptable (Bloom, 2017).
I was really inspired by the cinematic aesthetic of the video: the shallow depth and blurred background, the natural light and slight slow-motion. The colours are nice as well. “Sofia’s People” is the perfect proof of the good quality one could get with a stills camera like the Canon 5DMk II.
Bloom, P. (2009) N/A. Available at: https://philipbloom.net/blog/8yearssincesofiaspeople/ (Accessed: 07 December 2019).
Philip Bloom (2009) Sofia’s People. 18 May. Available at: https://vimeo.com/4704533 (Accessed: 02 December 2019).
Bloom, P. (2017) 8 Year Anniversary Of My Key Canon 5DMK II Video “Sofia’s People”. Available at: https://philipbloom.net/blog/8yearssincesofiaspeople/ (Accessed: 11 November 2019).
header photo: Bloom, P. (2009) N/A. Available at: https://philipbloom.net/blog/8yearssincesofiaspeople/ (Accessed: 07 December 2019).
Documentation of MEDI512 "Experiment" 