dalemccready
05-10-2007, 06:56 PM
Here's an excerpt from the latest New Zealand Technicians Guild Mag for your enjoyment (Jarred I hope this is okay, let me know if not) ...
Meeting Boris & Natasha
With much curiousity aroused by the many rumours running around about the new Red camera, we set out on a mission to find out just what was going down... We contacted Kiwi DP Richard Bluck (Black Sheep), who had worked with the Red on Peter Jackson's 11 minute World War I drama, to see whether he could help us sieve the hype from the facts.
Q: What was your experience with this new beast?
Richard Bluck: I was the cinematographer on a short film that was shot in the Wairarapa by Wingnut Films, as a demonstration of the ability of the Red camera to perform in a production situation. The film was post-produced at Park Road Post and Weta Digital, and shown in a small 40 seat theatre Red had created at NAB. James Cowley shot the aerials, and also with the 2nd camera.
And what was it like?
It was an exciting experience, shooting an 11 minute First World War drama in just over two days. The technology was new but quickly became secondary to the story we were telling. A fantastic crew put all their effort into making the film and shaping the workflow to support the production.
Did you work with a prototype or market released version?
The two camera that were provided were prototype cameras, named Boris and Natasha. They had only one button that worked - the record button - and were set to 24FPS, 180 degree shutter. They had no viewfinders, so we used 8" Marshall monitors, which we strapped onto the cameras.
They had none of the beautiful rod systems and accessories that you can see on their website. The cameras were very much prototypes, and I have since seen the latest models shown at NAB and they are as beautiful as the website portrays.
Was your experience with predominantly on an aerial set? If so, would you explain how it responded to aerial filming? What changes/modifications had to be made for this? And were they easy to do?
Dion Hartley, Tony Reed, Brian Harris and Dominic Taylor created our own mounting system in a day. We used Arri base plates and accessories, Preston remote focus systems, and shot with Cooke S4 prime lenses, as well as the Optimo 17-80mm and 24-290mm zooms. Sean Kelly, Andrew Stroud, Phil Smith and Garth Maxwell put it all together and tested the cameras and they did a great job of keeping them running and everything sharp.
We used them handheld, and put them on a Steadicam, a 3-axis remote head on a crane, a dolly, and on Brian Harris' remote aerial mount. We shotnear Masterton airport, both the aerials and the drama in the trenches. we had amazing skies as the weather rolled over the Tararuas, contrasty weather patterns that tested the cameras.
Red vs Film - how do they compare?
I see digital as another format in the marketplace. Film has varying subtleties, represented by Fuji and Kodak, while digital has different subtleties, as represented by the Genesis and other cameras in the marketplace, and now the Red.
I found the final grade told the story of the film, and I was able to achieve what I wanted to achieve. I believe Park Road Post will follow through with an output to film, as that is still the accepted viewing format for most cinema movies.
Any problems you encountered?
Our experience was based on prototype cameras that have since been further developed, so the problems we had were problems that have substantially been delt with. But we have also had our chance to put forward our ideas to the Red team and influence their developement of the camera and work process.
It is the concept of what they are trying to achieve that I see as important.
They are building a 4K camera that can be reformatted to shoot in a number of different modes, depending upon your requirements - recording on drives or flash modules, with a defined workflow - "Redcine" - as part of the package. To allow you to take your production through to completion, it's integrated with Final Cut Pro, which now incorprates the Final Touch grading software, renamed "Color", as an integral part of the system.
The team that I have met is responsive to their clients, and is dedicated to achieving their goals. The company is small enough to respond to innovations and says it will strive to achieve the best. The team that showed up at NAB was the team that developed the camera and the work flow, not a marketing team, and on the Reduser sites they are out their maintaining a dialogue with the potential users. I saw that as a positive, and I would support anyone who is interested in purchasing or shooting on the Red.
Any further comments?
I hope I get a chance to test the new version of the camera, perhaps in a more technical way. But I have to say we took that camera and created a story, played it out on a Sony 4K projector and the audience enjoyed it - they were entertained.
an E-Interview by Rowena Singh
Meeting Boris & Natasha
With much curiousity aroused by the many rumours running around about the new Red camera, we set out on a mission to find out just what was going down... We contacted Kiwi DP Richard Bluck (Black Sheep), who had worked with the Red on Peter Jackson's 11 minute World War I drama, to see whether he could help us sieve the hype from the facts.
Q: What was your experience with this new beast?
Richard Bluck: I was the cinematographer on a short film that was shot in the Wairarapa by Wingnut Films, as a demonstration of the ability of the Red camera to perform in a production situation. The film was post-produced at Park Road Post and Weta Digital, and shown in a small 40 seat theatre Red had created at NAB. James Cowley shot the aerials, and also with the 2nd camera.
And what was it like?
It was an exciting experience, shooting an 11 minute First World War drama in just over two days. The technology was new but quickly became secondary to the story we were telling. A fantastic crew put all their effort into making the film and shaping the workflow to support the production.
Did you work with a prototype or market released version?
The two camera that were provided were prototype cameras, named Boris and Natasha. They had only one button that worked - the record button - and were set to 24FPS, 180 degree shutter. They had no viewfinders, so we used 8" Marshall monitors, which we strapped onto the cameras.
They had none of the beautiful rod systems and accessories that you can see on their website. The cameras were very much prototypes, and I have since seen the latest models shown at NAB and they are as beautiful as the website portrays.
Was your experience with predominantly on an aerial set? If so, would you explain how it responded to aerial filming? What changes/modifications had to be made for this? And were they easy to do?
Dion Hartley, Tony Reed, Brian Harris and Dominic Taylor created our own mounting system in a day. We used Arri base plates and accessories, Preston remote focus systems, and shot with Cooke S4 prime lenses, as well as the Optimo 17-80mm and 24-290mm zooms. Sean Kelly, Andrew Stroud, Phil Smith and Garth Maxwell put it all together and tested the cameras and they did a great job of keeping them running and everything sharp.
We used them handheld, and put them on a Steadicam, a 3-axis remote head on a crane, a dolly, and on Brian Harris' remote aerial mount. We shotnear Masterton airport, both the aerials and the drama in the trenches. we had amazing skies as the weather rolled over the Tararuas, contrasty weather patterns that tested the cameras.
Red vs Film - how do they compare?
I see digital as another format in the marketplace. Film has varying subtleties, represented by Fuji and Kodak, while digital has different subtleties, as represented by the Genesis and other cameras in the marketplace, and now the Red.
I found the final grade told the story of the film, and I was able to achieve what I wanted to achieve. I believe Park Road Post will follow through with an output to film, as that is still the accepted viewing format for most cinema movies.
Any problems you encountered?
Our experience was based on prototype cameras that have since been further developed, so the problems we had were problems that have substantially been delt with. But we have also had our chance to put forward our ideas to the Red team and influence their developement of the camera and work process.
It is the concept of what they are trying to achieve that I see as important.
They are building a 4K camera that can be reformatted to shoot in a number of different modes, depending upon your requirements - recording on drives or flash modules, with a defined workflow - "Redcine" - as part of the package. To allow you to take your production through to completion, it's integrated with Final Cut Pro, which now incorprates the Final Touch grading software, renamed "Color", as an integral part of the system.
The team that I have met is responsive to their clients, and is dedicated to achieving their goals. The company is small enough to respond to innovations and says it will strive to achieve the best. The team that showed up at NAB was the team that developed the camera and the work flow, not a marketing team, and on the Reduser sites they are out their maintaining a dialogue with the potential users. I saw that as a positive, and I would support anyone who is interested in purchasing or shooting on the Red.
Any further comments?
I hope I get a chance to test the new version of the camera, perhaps in a more technical way. But I have to say we took that camera and created a story, played it out on a Sony 4K projector and the audience enjoyed it - they were entertained.
an E-Interview by Rowena Singh