My short documentary Dream World is about Jason Paul, a free runner who tries to find new ways in his daily life to fulfil his inner needs. On his journey to London he discovers that friendship and
companionship are essential values in life.

Jason Paul is an outstanding free running athlete and a good friend of mine. When he asked me to join him at the Red Bull Art of Motion event in London I was more than willing to break out of my daily routine as an animator and director. Free running is still a very young sport. An event like the Red Bull Art of Motion gives athletes from all over the world the possibility to meet, train and communicate in real life, instead of checking each other’s videos on Facebook.

On this particular trip my personal dream was to have a great time with all the athletes, while having the possibility to shoot my short documentary. From the beginning on I wanted to make a film about free running that is not based on difficult tricks or risky jumps, but on interesting characters and the philosophy that comes with it. We started our journey in Frankfurt, Germany, where we went to isolated run-down houses as well as crowded pedestrian areas. I myself had to climb quite a few times to get the shots I wanted or just to follow the guys on their run. I tend to let things happen or just let people do their thing, hoping to discover something within the moment.

All the equipment – including the light weight Panasonic GH2, GoPro HD, Panasonic 20mm, Panasonic 14-140mm, Panasonic 7-14mm, Zoom H4n, Rode VideoMic Pro, Joby Gorillapod and a small rig – fitted in one backpack and made it possible to follow the guys.

The Panasonic GH2 rig ready to shoot

The Panasonic GH2 kit all fitted neatly into a backpack

I use a lot of other HDSLRs, but for this particular project I chose the GH2. One reason is the amazing auto-focus system that is sadly only compatible with the Panasonic lenses. The film was completely shot without external monitor or viewfinder. During the two days of shooting, there was not a lot of time to set up a shot and pull focus. When I found a moment that I wanted to capture I needed it to be in focus in an instant.

Back home in Germany it took me two week of editing to finish the film. Jens Fischer did a great job doing the sound design. I am grateful to live in times where almost everybody has the opportunity to become a videographer, filmmaker, whatever, without going bankrupt. Everybody has got a story to tell.

Frank Sauer is a director, designer and animator located in Darmstadt, Germany:
With four years commercial experience, his clients include SAT1, BBC, Discovery Channel and a lot more. You can see more of his work at http://frank-sauer.com/

I usually shoot news and long feature pieces, but sometimes I get the chance to shoot something different. Bufori is a custom car company that hand makes luxury saloons and sports cars. They unveiled their brand new Bufori “Geneva” at the 80th Geneva International Motor Show and approached me about making a short film to showcase it, to be shown on various screens at the show. I decided to shoot this on my Canon 7D and also used three GoPro Hero Cams. In the old days I would have had to take a big broadcast camera and all the accessories to shoot something like this. Now I can take a much smaller DSLR camera, a few lenses and accomplish what you could only dream about a few years ago.

Bufori Geneva from Matthew Allard on Vimeo.

I shot both stills and a video for the company that were played on screens at the motor show. I decided to shoot the video on my Canon 7D using the following lenses – Canon 16-35mm f2.8, Canon 50mm f1.2 and a Tokina 11-16mm f2.8. For the on-board driving shots I utilized the GoPro HD Hero cams mounted on various parts of the car. I do have mounts and arms to put a full size DSLR on a car but decided against it (better to risk a $300 camera as opposed to a $1700 one!).

A GoPro HD ready to go

Inside the factory I shot various parts being manufactured and tried to concentrate on the detail of having almost every component made by hand. I cannot stress enough the importance of using good, fast glass when you shoot. Don’t let anyone tell you that it doesn’t matter as much which lenses you use when you’re shooting video, because it does. Would you put cheap tires on a Ferrari? In most cases you get what you pay for. My Canon 50mm f1.2 cost more than my camera but is worth every cent – the difference between the F1.2 and F1.4 is huge. My advice is to buy the most expensive lenses you can afford on your budget.

Dolly and 7D rig in action

For the shots of the car inside the factory I also utilized a broadcast jib and dolly. The Genus adapter plate is a fantastic piece of kit; it enables me to put my 7D straight onto my broadcast tripod or jib so you get rock-solid movement. I also used two Litepanels 1×1 LED lights to illuminate the car. I actually needed more light than I had but time constraints and the fact that I was doing this alone limited my options. The 7D was an absolute joy to use. It enabled me to work in low light with a small depth of field that allowed me to show incredible detail. I would not have been able to use a broadcast camera when shooting in the factory unless I used excessive light, something I try to stay away from.

7D ringlight rig

For the outside shots of the car I found a small road that had lots of twists and turns and plenty of character. By setting up in a variety of spots I was able to get plenty of different angles of the car without having to move around a lot. This was the first shoot that I used the Zacuto Z-Finder on. It is brilliant, but having said that I’m still waiting for someone to come out with an adjustable viewfinder so you can use it in whatever position you like. Coming from a broadcast background, I’m used to using cameras with viewfinders that move up and down so you can see what you’re doing regardless of where you put the camera. Someone needs to come up with one or take a leaf out of Sony’s Alpha range of DSLRs that have a moveable LCD screen on the back (are you listening Canon?). I spent a lot of time lying on the ground in the middle of the road to get some of the angles O wanted.

No matter how much I use the 7D, I’m continually blown away by the quality of the images. The DSLR has revolutionized the way I work. While it is not suitable for everything, it gives me a very useful addition to my arsenal of different cameras that I use on a daily basis.

Apart from the Hero cam vision all material is ungraded and shot on the standard camera settings. The entire video was shot in less than one day and I’d like to say thank you to Lee Ali, Mark Phillips and Felix Haller for all their help.