24.06.2022

X-H2S: Short Film "Life of Three" x Doğacan Aktaş

When I started developing ‘’The Life of Three’’ story, I wanted to create a story that would best reveal the potential of the lens. I have developed relationships between the materials of three different art movements through the common interests of the artists.  Wanted to make a film with a cinematic aesthetic and be a part of that film. Planned scenes where shooting in difficult conditions would be done in large groups.

While we were shooting in the field, we worked on the plans that required the production team, camera team and lighting team to move very quickly in an integrated manner. Almost no department was more than one person. Although this situation gave us difficulties in capturing these momentary beauties, the speed of the lens was our biggest advantage in revealing the beauty.

              In a very short time, it was necessary to change the angles and supplement the fictional scenes with new scales, without violating the smoothness of the program and its naturalness. Preparing and filming many of the scenes, rehearsing the actors, arranging the staging and artistic details in a two-day scenographic work that lasted a total of 18 hours, had to be carried out without interruption in the program flow. Given the variety of shots in many scenes, I think we can show the dynamism that the lens and camera add to the team.

In my story, I tried to give examples of all lens values, including narrow, normal and wide. I tried to ensure that the audience was in the story with the right picture, without breaking away from the emotions of the film.

If in the first part of the film I preferred colder tones, then in the second part I preferred warmer tones and palette. I wanted you to see the different camera color experiences in different results. In these scenes you can see different ways to use our handheld camera, gimbal, drone and stabilized results. As an example of what we can do with a lens, trying to zoom in and out as I move using various camera stabilizers has allowed us to add extra energy to shots. In addition, there are motion focus studies that we did with various camera stabilizers throughout the film.

I wanted to give an example of the ‘vertigo’ effect. Thanks to the power zoom function, we were able to capture these scenes easily with the calf cart. In these scenes, we tested the night performance of the camera and lens. We tested how colors look with different effect filters. The way the camera and lens reproduced the different color tones in the scene was very important for us to understand the harmony of those colors and create the film’s aesthetic.

We connected the three characters in the movie with transitions that we designed with the zoom feature. This experience benefits our storytelling and the director’s point of view. In addition to the fact that documentary filmmakers have great advantages in their field work, this is also an element that will encourage creativity in fiction films.

In our script, where we talked about the relationship between the artist and the art material, we tried to explain the importance of the materials that are available in the various fields of art to allow you to express your creativity. In the third part, dedicated to the filmmakers, we made the lens used in the shooting part of the story.

As a result of all our experience, we have seen this; For all the filmmakers who want more with small teams, the XF18-120mm is a great companion for film making with its wide range, power zoom, fixed aperture and ergonomic ease of use.