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(Page 1 of 7 pages for this article 1 2 3 > Last ») Filed under: Cameras •Lighting •Production •Tips •Training • The Making of an Epic Media ProjectA RED ONE, a small but agile crew, and a 2k 60’-wide screening in an Omnimax theater. This, truly, is a modern day epic.
Rambus is a company of big ideas, and they wanted their 20th anniversary celebration to include a theatrical production that accurately reflected who they are and where they came from. The resulting short film—shown in an Omnimax dome at the San Jose Tech Museum—moved Rambus founders and employees to tears.
That’s a high compliment indeed for Santa Cruz-based production company Compass Rose Media, whose creative director’s vision left no room for dry eyes. “Think epic,” he said when we had our first conversation about the project. “It’s an epic corporate video, but on a budget.” “No problem” was my response. Stretching the visual dollar is a craft I’ve more than perfected over the years. I’ve worked with Jono Schaferkotter on other Compass Rose projects, as well as on some spec spots and music videos. Jono has a great sense of style, and very early on he decided that the RED ONE was the only way to go. As the final deliverable was only 1.9k we could have shot on any number of cameras, but his feeling was that the 35mm feel of the RED, coupled with its high resolution (an effective 3.2k for a 1920x1080 finish), was the right look for a project whose stated goal was to be a modern corporate “epic.” I completely agreed, given that oversampling always gives the impression of increased resolution—especially when the final project will be projected on a massive screen. Originally there was talk of releasing the project in Imax format but that proved to be cost prohibitive—the output to film alone ran $2 per foot!—so the final piece was projected 60’ across onto an Omnimax screen at 1920x1080 resolution. Our camera package consisted of a RED ONE and a set of Zeiss Super Speeds from Chater Camera. Bret Allen of Gearnex loaned me a prototype Gearnex gear head, Part of our epic “look” involved setting the camera to 4K HD mode and recording in variable speed mode at 30fps for a 23.98fps finish. 4K HD mode’s resolution is a multiple of 1920x1080 (3840x2160) and, in theory, yields sharper images with less processing time when shooting for 1080i delivery. Shooting off-speed at 30fps slowed everything down just enough to give movement a little more mass and drama. I normally rate the RED at EI 160 to crush the shadow noise into the blacks. That was especially important for this project given the projection parameters. The RED ONE is the only camera I’ve worked with whose EI I can comfortably change to suit the look of the project, thanks to the fact that most of the image processing happens in post instead of in the camera’s digital signal processor (DSP) before recording. The shoot took place over five days, with each day split between two locations. Not all locations made it into the final piece, so I’ll just cover the sequences that did. First, let’s take a look at the finished project:
And now, the bonus behind-the-scenes featurette:
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The Best of Stunning Good LooksA directory of my best articles, sorted by topic.
This entry is a guide to my best articles, sorted by topic. Enjoy! |
NAB 2012: Assorted SnapshotsA few cool things I saw at the show that didn’t fit into any other articles.
NAB is too big a show in too short a time to see more than a fraction of it. I’ve covered a few things in some depth (as have other PVC folks), but there’s plenty more that slips by without proper coverage. Here, I have a few photos… |
NAB 2012: REDRED’s Ted Schilowitz discusses 2012’s products, and a photo gallery.
RED’s “Leader of the Rebellion” Ted Schilowitz held a press conference at NAB on Monday, describing the projects and products RED is working on. Rather than paraphrase him, I’ve got him on card (well, it’s not “on… |
NAB 2012: Camera SupportA few of the interesting bits ‘n’ bobs that make cameras usable.
At NAB I found support vendors at the affordable end of the spectrum I hadn’t seen before, comfy Aaton-style handgrips, F65 tweaks by Carlos Acosta, and a “drive-by demo” of a handy zoom/focusing lever. |
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