French film director Sébastien Devaud uses EOS C300 to make
‘Out of Tunes’

January 2012

In an exclusive interview with CPN, the French film director Sébastien Devaud describes how he shot his short movie, Out of Tunes, with Canon’s Cinema EOS System, including the EOS C300 digital cinema camera and more than 20 EF lenses.

Out of Tunes was the first official European short movie filmed with the EOS C300 EF mount digital cinema camera. Devaud’s three-minute film was produced in eight days, with scripting, shooting, editing and composition each taking two days. The result is a stunning visual feast that illustrates the ability of the Cinema EOS System to capture beauty and emotion in the hands of a great filmmaker.

Devaud’s three-minute film, Out of Tunes, was the first official European short movie filmed with the EOS C300 EF mount digital cinema camera.

Devaud calls Out of Tunes “a short modern tale for our generation”. There are four distinct ‘chapters’ based around four different pieces of music. “The C300 is a storyteller’s camera,” Devaud tells CPN. He was amazed how quickly he and his crew were able to learn to use the EOS C300. “It’s easy to forget about the technology and focus on the subject,” says Devaud, who since the launch of the EOS 5D Mark II has become an expert in DSLR moviemaking.

He likes to shoot in both low light and bright light, and praised the EOS C300 for its ability to capture the clean footage he wanted “without aliasing and noise”. Having access to the wide range of Canon’s EF lenses, from the EF8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM to the EF400mm f/2.8L IS II USM, including Macro and Tilt-shift lenses, also helped him to create beautiful shots, he says.

Once he had shot the film, post-production was made easier by the fact that no conversion was necessary, and he was surprised that he was able to use just one battery for a whole day’s shoot. As a long-time user of Canon’s XF-series of HD camcorders, he was also pleased that his existing accessories worked with the EOS C300. He calls the camera “a unique tool for filmmakers.”

A behind-the-scenes look at the making of Sébastien Devaud’s Out of Tunes. The film was directed by Tom Doumaux.

Biography: Sébastien Devaud: Sébastien Devaud is a French film director and producer with more than 15 years’ experience, including music videos and TV advertising. He admits that his life changed when Canon launched the EOS 5D Mark II in 2008 and he went on to become an expert in DSLR filmmaking, publishing a book on the subject called, ‘Tourner en video HD avec les reflex Canon’. His film, Out of Tunes, made with Canon’s EOS C300, was first shown at the camera’s European launch in Berlin in November 2011.