On which dSLR cameras did you shoot the movie?
Night Drive was shot on two Canon 5D Mark II cameras with various lenses.

How did shooting on digital cameras differ from shooting on regular video cameras?
In recent months these little still cameras have become the darlings of the local film industry. Essentially they are high-end still cameras which also have the ability to shoot 2K (higher than HD) picture at 30 frames per second (fps).

What challenges did you encounter?
It was necessary to run separate sound as the cameras have only a rudimentary microphone – but we shot on multiple cameras so it made sense to slate every shot for sync later. Conversion from 30 fps to 25 fps is very time-consuming but no more than RED or other HD formats.

But the benefit to cost was significant?
By using Canon 5Ds, we could get away with using far less lights and generators, and it proved to be cheaper than other 2K or 4K digital video systems. Due to the size of the cameras we were able to build body-mount and camera rigs to get into places that few films on our budget level have managed to do. It’s insane to think that we are producing footage that can compete against high-end rigs on a digital video budget!

How many GB worth of data did you shoot per day?
We shot roughly 50 GB of data a day. This data was backed up onto separate drives. The 5D shoots a compressed H.264 video file which has to be converted from 30 fps to 25 fps. Altogether we shot roughly 5 TB of footage which increased to 8 TB after conversions to ProRes QuickTime.

So would you say that HD functionality on dSLRs is changing the game?
Absolutely. Once firmware upgrades come out that will allow different frame rates, I think the more established camera platforms are going to be given a run for their money.

Tell us a bit about Night Drive. When will it open in SA?
The movie is a gritty South African thriller/horror where an eclectic mix of tourists is left stranded during a night drive. It is only when they realise that they are being hunted by a group of poachers that the terror truly begins. We are looking at releasing country wide in theatres around May 2010.