NEW MONSTERS Big sensor cameras
NETFLIX NEST
Three shows from the streaming giant
THE REAL THING
Reality TV adds cinematography
DOWNSIZING
The disappearing drama definitionmagazine.com
February 2018
£4.99
How tech is opening job markets for shooters 8K fan base
Why resolution is everything Panavision’s latest research reassesses eye performance Reviews
FCP 10.4 NLE LACIE 2BIG STORAGE VITEC FLOWTECH TRIPOD
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Bright Publishing Ltd, Bright House, 82 High Street, Sawston, Cambridgeshire CB22 3HJ UK
EDITORIAL EDITOR Julian Mitchell
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CONTRIBUTORS Phil Rhodes, Adam Garstone, Adam Duckworth SENIOR SUB EDITOR Lisa Clatworthy SUB EDITORS Siobhan Godwood, Felicity Evans
ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Matt Snow
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SALES MANAGER Krishan Parmar
THE WINNERS: Escape Technology’s first short film competition in association with Definition.
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Definition is published monthly by Bright Publishing Ltd, Bright House, 82 High Street, Sawston, Cambridge CB22 3HJ. No part of this magazine can be used without prior written permission of Bright Publishing Ltd. Definition is a registered trademark of Bright Publishing Ltd. The advertisements published in Definition that have been written, designed or produced by employees of Bright Publishing Ltd remain the copyright of Bright Publishing Ltd and may not be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. Prices quoted in sterling, euros and US dollars are street prices, without tax, where available or converted using the exchange rate on the day the magazine went to press.
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Welcome
In a screening event held at the prestigious BFI on South Bank, London, the winners of Escape Technology’s first short film competition were announced. The event – which also featured a panel discussion with industry professionals Hasraf ‘HaZ’ Dulull, John Sellings and Caroline Pires – was attended by filmmakers, VFX artists, students, and teachers. Following the screening, the winners were announced in the BFI’s NFT3 cinema. First prize went to Marco Dela Cruz’s film Infinite – his first submission to a film competition. Runners up for Two Face and Scarcity were teams Hodgetts & Berry and See Forty One. Run in collaboration with Definition magazine, Adobe, Boston, Wacom, Red Giant, Boris FX, AV3, and PNY, the challenge saw teams compete to win over £5,000 worth of prizes. Teams had six weeks to deliver a complete film up to three minutes in length that featured a visual effects element. “It’s great to see so many people turning out to learn from industry professionals and enter this competition,” commented Mark Cass, managing director of Escape Technology.
JULIAN MITCHELL EDITOR @DEFINITIONMAGS
FEBRUARY 2018 DEFINITION
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TITLE SEQUENCE THE CROWN
TITLE SEQUENCE
Dif fused Royalty Quoted as the first $100-million TV series, The Crown certainly left its budget on the screen. The Crown 2 is more of the same ast year we loved The Crown from Netflix and its superb shooting style designed by DOP Adriano Goldman. His use of diffused light with a minimal light array seemed to kickstart the pattern of high-end television drama
playing more with de-tuned lighting set-ups. The good news is that Adriano and the Sony F55 camera are back; as is Asa Shoul the colourist from London’s Molinare, who used his Baselight to fine tune the Sony footage with great results.
IMAGE Director Stephen Daldry directing Clare Foy and Matt Smith as The Queen and Prince Philip in The Crown Season Two with the Sony F55 shooting and Adriano Goldman as DOP.
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THE CROWN TITLE SEQUNCE
07 © NETFLIX
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NEWS INTERVIEW
SECOND SIGHT We asked Panavision’s lens expert Dan Sasaki and Light Iron’s Michael Cioni why they are re-evaluating the eye’s resolving ability
ABOVE Panavision chose an 8K sensor for their DXL camera, their new research seeks to prove why they were right to do so .
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Definition: What are the advantages of the extreme resolutions that cameras like DXL are offering? Michael Cioni: DXL captures images using a sensor built by RED Digital Cinema. This one-of-a-kind sensor has both a high pixel density coupled with a large sensor area size. In fact, in the motion picture market, it’s the combination of these two characteristics that makes it unique from every other sensor available. In total, DXL’s sensor has an active area of 8,192 horizontal pixels and 4,320 vertical pixels producing images that are over 35 megapixels. What’s more, DXL is able to capture this
resolution at up to 60 frames-persecond, another feature only RED technology has been able to achieve. Initially we were unsure what this many pixels would do to an image. Over time, we learned that the core of every remarkable image this breakthrough sensor creates is tied to resolution. When you start with more resolution over a greater area, the dimensionality, depth, colour and control of an image dramatically increases. Similar to the principles of IMAX and 70mm film, creative control comes from the ability to sculpt images to your liking, and resolution is the core of this.
Definition: How do you explain the relationship between perspective, magnification and resolution/ contrast for acquisition? MC: The difference between an image captured on a smartphone compared to one captured on DXL is not limited to colour, compression or dynamic range. While these tenets will always be important to creating an image, they are relatively easy to manipulate or change using post-production toolsets. Sensor size, pixel pitch and depth-of-field are not things that can be adjusted because they are part of the optical (analogue) DEFINITIONMAGAZINE.COM
INTERVIEW NEWS
portion of image acquisition. It’s the relationship between these elements that produce dimensionality. This dimensionality changes the entire relationship of viewer to foreground, subject and background. On a small sensor with fewer pixels, images always appear flatter and have more contrast (which gives the perception of undesirable sharpness). DXL’s large sensor allows this relationship to produce more realism through roundness and is engineered with custom optics to produce the most dimensionality in an image; something every DP shooting with DXL is quick to notice. Definition: Can you explain how directors like David Fincher use resolution as a tool? MC: A common technique filmmakers used when shooting on 35mm was to frame images in the camera based on the exhibition (output) aspect ratio. When our industry made the switch from film to digital, this technique was somewhat replicated, with the most common aspect ratio evolving to 16:9. In the early days of digital high definition (1920x1080), there were barely enough pixels to photograph a high-quality image, so it was common to capture and master using the same 1080 framing. Visionaries like David Fincher have pioneered resolution in a more utilitarian sense, or leveraging it as a tool. Now that some sensors are able to capture with so much resolution (6K, 7K, 8K, etc.) we can afford to use the resolution to provide
a mechanical advantage through removing it. Resolution removal is not arbitrary, rather it’s a calculated process most commonly used in the form of an extraction. Extractions are predetermined resolutions that are smaller than the source or master framing. They are purpose-built areas of the frame that are intended to be used as a tool, not for definition. The most common technique is stabilization, which when using an extraction no longer requires a blow-up (as is required in lower-resolution cameras). Another technique is to take two different takes and stitch them together, using the extraction area as padding to achieve a seamless new frame. Other common tricks such as reframing, tracking, compositing and even the ability to zoom out are impossible on sensors that are low resolution. These techniques are not designed to encourage carelessness on the set, rather it’s about achieving higher precision and more creative control when in the post-production process. Definition: What about resolution versus sharpness? MC: For the longest time, an antidigital bias and anti-resolution marketing have painted the story of resolution as unnecessary, undesirable or unflattering. Unlike film, all digital sensors are governed by polygons which have a tendency to induce contrast because they have uniform 90º edges unlike randomised circular film grain. Because of this limitation, the illusion of digital smoothness (or roundness) can only be achieved when pixels become so small their 90º edges are no longer producing edge contrast. In other words, when edge contrast is eliminated, perceived sharpness decreases and smoothness increases. This means the smoothest digital images are only made possible with a decrease in pixels size coupled with an increase in resolution. The still photography market discovered this more than a decade ago, as digital cameras took off once 30+ megapixel full-frame sensors hit the market. Motion picture cinematography is only now getting its first taste of this powerful relationship. Definition: What’s the relationship between the rods and cones in our eyes and the digital sensor? Dan Sasaki: The rods and cones in our
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ANTI-DIGITAL BIAS AND ANTIRESOLUTION MARKETING HAVE PAINTED THE STORY OF RESOLUTION AS UNDESIRABLE
LEFT Panavision’s
new findings were first published at last year’s Camerimage Film Festival.
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NEWS INTERVIEW
THE ONES TO WATCH
© RICHARD BLANSHARD
BSC EXPO 2018
In its third year at its home in Battersea Evolution, the event now caters for a developing industry organiser as we find out from organiser, Rob Saunders he event which formed the genesis of the BSC Expo was originally suggested by Joe Dunton MBE BSC, who’s history of innovation and engineering in film equipment dates back to the 1970s. Held on a small stage at Shepperton, the event was called the New Equipment Show and would move on to venues including Grip House in Greenford, Elstree Studios, and the Mister Lighting studios (now Dukes Island) in Hangar Lane. In this format, the show lasted until 2003 at Elstree before expanding scale and growing numbers of exhibitors and attendees demanded more. SCS Exhibitions’ Rob Saunders became involved in 2005, discovering an event which, while successful, could clearly go further. “It was a bit of a rough and ready type of event at Elstree Studios,” he begins. “It was a one-dayer, it was a bit of gaffer tape on the floor that marked one
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booth from another. It was sort of publicised within the circles of the BSC but not hugely outside of that, So they brought us in to take the event to the next stage.” The event grew significantly in moves to Pinewood and Leavesden in the following years. This attachment to a sound stage venue, while appropriate, would eventually become a limitation. “We had a good loyal base of exhibitors who would say that we know that the show will be on next year, we know it’ll be in February, March or April, but it was a logistical nightmare because we were only given a few months’ notice by a studio saying, you’ve got the space, you can run your show.” The move to dedicated exhibition space at Battersea Evolution came in 2016, arguably at a time when the BSC itself was refocusing. Rob continues, “If we go back to when we took on the show, the requirements to be a BSC member
ABOVE BSC is now in its third year at Battersea Evolution.
ATTENDANCE AT BSC EXPO IS NOW AROUND 4000
were very different. You had to have had x amount of feature films under your belt.” This has changed, and the move of television drama towards feature-film working practices has expanded the base of both exhibitors and attendees. Rob describes the expo as “a very strong hardware show – camera, grips lighting. We do now get more of a broadcast element coming into the show. Is that because those guys are looking to get into the feature film market? Probably.” Attendance at the BSC Expo is now around 4000, a huge expansion since the mid-90s shows which often attracted around a tenth of that. Exhibitors, says Rob, are happy too. “When you have some of our major exhibitors saying to us, ‘you’re one of three shows globally that we absolutely adore doing and are always in our budgets and we’re always going to be there,’ we feel that we’re getting something right.” DEFINITIONMAGAZINE.COM
ONES TO WATCH BSC EXPO 2018
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AATON DIGITAL/TRANSVIDEO (STAND 400)
Transvideo will be exhibiting three feature-rich new monitors at BSC. The StarliteHD-e five-inch OLED monitor-recorder is capable of recording lens metadata and camera timecode when used in combination with Cooke/i lenses, Zeiss CP3 eXtended or ARRI/Zeiss LDS lenses, creating a valuable technical resource for post. Meanwhile the updated eight-inch CinemonitorHD X-SBL SuperBright comes with an anti-reflection bonded screen, with increased brightness to 2000 nits. This improves contrast and outdoor readability under all conditions and also enables increased viewing angles to 85° on all axes. The Stargate high-end seven-inch monitor-recorder with full HD display is 4K-6G compatible and is set to become an essential production and engineering tool for broadcast and cinematography, for directors, DOPs, focus pullers, technical directors and engineers. www.transvideo.eu
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ARRI (STAND 305)
Celebrating its 101st year in the film business, ARRI will be showing its range of digital cameras including its new wireless system, high-end lenses, professional camera accessories and growing stable of lighting including the latest SkyPanel S360 LED light. Products include the ALEXA 65, ALEXA SXT, ALEXA Mini and AMIRA cameras, Master Anamorphic lenses and SkyPanel, L-Series and M-Series lights. Also a stand visit will show you ARRI’s fantastic showreels including HDR comparisons with further content from the movies, commercials and television. There will also be news about all the new software updates for its range of cameras and lighting products. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has recognised ARRI’s engineers with 18 awards. www.arri.com 3
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ARRI RENTAL (STAND 223)
ARRI Rental is an ARRI-owned network of camera, camera grip and lighting equipment rental facilities across Europe and the US. Everything from cameras and accessories through to cranes, remote heads and a full spectrum of lighting fixtures and grips is offered. A large transport and generator fleet is also available and, when required, the company can call on the resources of sibling facilities within the group to offer a seamless and cohesive pan-European service. At BSC, ARRI Rental will showcase its current 65mm optics range for the ALEXA 65 camera. Joining the already successful line-up of Prime 65 and Vintage 765 lenses are new Prime 65 S and Prime DNA lens sets that extend the creative appeal of the ALEXA 65 system still further. Also on display will be the ALEXA XT B+W, as well as a further selection of spherical and anamorphic options. www.arrirental.co.uk
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CAMERA REVOLUTION (STAND 540)
Camera Revolution supplies specialised camera remote systems, from the Libra self-stabilised wireless remote system to the Maxima handheld system including all the associated accessories and full technical support. The company also supplies wire systems for flying, from simple point-to-point to full repeatable 3D wire solutions. The ever popular Libra Stabilised remote head will be on show in two new forms. The new Libra 7 is designed to partner full production cameras with an optional 360° roll ring and rolling monitor giving ultimate control of the roll axis whilst still being stabilised. Meanwhile the Libra MINI has a new self-drive track option, and this can be perched or hung, so adding new track sections is fuss free. Also on show will be the self-drive high-speed wire dolly system for the Libra MINI, MŌvi Pro and Maxima stabilised remote heads. www.camerarevolution.com FEBRUARY 2018 DEFINITION
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SHOOT STORY DOWNSIZING
Small Talk
DOP Phedon Papamichael solved a range of problems, both big and small, on the set of Downsizing WORDS PHIL ROHODES PICTURES PARAMOUNT
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DOWNSIZING SHOOT STORY
he genesis of a cinematographer often involves a memorable film. For director of photography Phedon Papamichael, that film is Jean-Luc Goddard’s Le Mepris (Contempt), a 1963 production photographed by Raoul Coutard that suggested to Papamichael that his enthusiasm for art and photography could be pursued in a moving-image context. “I realised there’s something kinda like still photography but I can also move the camera, compose things and do tracking shots, and I’m given a story,” he says. “That was always very intriguing for me, I felt like I would never reach the limits of creativity with that.” Having moved with family from his native Greece to the United States, Papamichael found himself in New York in the early 80s. Having considered film school, he was instead directly approached to shoot short films. “I said, ‘I haven’t really shot anything, but I guess it’s similar to still photography.’ I commenced shooting a bunch of short films for various students and friends that approached me and one of them was Alexander Payne, who I met while he was at UCLA.” Decades later, and with Papamichael’s career already recognised with ASC membership, Payne asked the cinematographer to work on his 2004 film Sideways. The collaboration has produced four films to date, of which the most recent, Downsizing, began production in early 2016. GROWING A SMALL STORY Payne had, Papamichael remembers, mentioned Downsizing during the production of Sideways. The visual effects requirements of Downsizing, however, contributed to a lengthy genesis. “It took [Payne] over a decade to get it together,” remembers Papamichael. “It was a long journey before it ended up at Paramount. When Matt Damon attached himself to it and we were able to cast Cristoph Waltz and Kristen Wiig they decided to pay for it. It’s very much an Alexander Payne movie, it’s unusual for a studio.” The film features a speculative near future in which technology allows people to be physically miniaturised and live luxurious lives in an appropriately-scaled city. Papamichael contends that it’s “not just a concept film... it’s still at heart an Alexander Payne movie. It’s about a typical average guy, an anti-hero @DEFINITIONMAGAZINE |
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from Omaha, Nebraska who’s looking for his role in life and struggling. This concept of downsizing is used as a metaphor. It dips into various issues, our current political situation, very relevant these days especially with Trump and the wall and communities living inside the wall, immigration issues, global warming. But it’s really not about all those things. There’s a lot you can do with this concept and there’s a lot to tell.” Production began in February 2016 in the Mojave desert near Palmdale, California, where exteriors representing the miniaturised community were photographed. Omaha, Nebraska played itself in scenes showing the lead characters’ home life, while a four-month stint in Toronto provided the exteriors of Leisureland homes. Papamichael describes them as “these bizarre mansions, Versailles-like, oversized, tacky houses that exist in Toronto. There’s entire suburbs where they’re lined up next to each other and it’s very surreal and they’ve created these absurd-looking places.” Finally, the production travelled to Norway to shoot scenes set in the fjords, before wrapping in August. The majority of the film was shot on location, with the only green screen elements being those where an actor would be miniaturised and placed in a fullsized scene. Perhaps surprisingly, very little of the film relies on giant props to sell the illusion of small people in a large world. “Once we are in the downsized world with the small people... we didn’t want to do The Borrowers. We didn’t really want to play the gags all the time. When the boat’s on the fjord, VFX changed the water surface, and when there’s flame, a big bonfire that we have in the movie,
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IT’S ABOUT A TYPICAL AVERAGE GUY, AN ANTI-HERO FROM OMAHA, NEBRASKA
LEFT Matt Damon
contemplates life on the smaller side of life. ABOVE Matt Damon
as Paul Safranek and Hong Chau as Ngoc Lan Tran.
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CAREERS EMERGING MARKETS
ABOVE Meet Adam, the star of a new series of films produced in the Unity game engine.
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EMERGING MARKETS CAREERS
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HOW TECH COULD CHANGE YOUR CAREER It’s a perfect storm moment; cheap technology and major shifts in how content is being made and delivered. But where do you fit in? WORDS JULIAN MITCHELL t seems like we’ve been on the precipice of a new dawn of content making for a while now. Ever just out of reach, the worlds of virtual reality, augmented reality and indeed mixed reality tease us with their promise and frustrate us with their fog-like authenticity. But they are not alone. We have reported on another promising avenue for technologists and creatives to invest time and money in: the convergence of the film and VFX markets. Mind-boggling Games Developer Conference demos show us how VFX can be rendered in real time leading to a complete readjustment to how available they can be. Live VFX: love the idea, when can I do it, how do I get involved? But there’s more convergence and at the same time diversity happening that you should know about and that’s in video games. DOP Dori Azari shot the Sony PlayStation 4 game God of War with classic cinematic style and using classic cinematic technique. He is making the whole game as a one take. It’s like a onetime continuous move. Director of films like District 9 and Chappie, Neill Blomkamp has been making a new short film series called Adam which is almost entirely built inside a game engine, Unity. There’s a plug-in for Unity that produces these cinematic almost Instagram-like filters so you can build the action in Maya or however else you’re building it and then use this plug-in, which is designed for video games, for your cinematic moments. They are pre-rendered shots, but it uses cinematic language in a game engine and rendering is instant. For those who have been involved with digital cinematography from the start, these days are laced with wonder but maybe a ‘failure to launch’ @DEFINITIONMAGAZINE |
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restlessness. You’ve learned your skill at the knee of the film elite and want to diversify into all these wondrous sub-genres of the art. But take comfort: you are not alone and even those trailblazers at the coal face of the new norms aren’t really there yet. VR – NO ONE GETS IT Andrew Shulkind is an awardwinning Director of Photography, cofounder of Headcase VR, and a VR/ AR/XR strategy consultant. He has become a leading Hollywood voice for producing and implementing high quality immersive content. He is also quite humble in his description of where he is on the ladder to VR/AR enlightenment. “What’s happening is that no one really understands the
opportunity well enough to activate the technology so you never really get the chance to do something really great. No one really gets it.” Andrew has a classic creative/ technology upbringing in the industry. While still using film he worked on a colour flow product co-developed between Kodak and Panavision which was basically a way for cinematographers to communicate more effectively what they want the final image to look like when finishing photo chemically at the lab. He always liked emerging or new technology like 3D stereo, so he built some simple rigs for shooting stereo commercials with LG and Samsung. It was a traditional path but always
THE WORLDS OF VIRTUAL REALITY, AUGMENTED REALITY AND MIXED REALITY TEASE US WITH THEIR PROMISE
ABOVE Andrew Shulkind’s 18 camera 32K array for 360˚ plates.
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ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE SAMSUNG
John Owen shoots films for gym equipment manufacturers and was looking for a physical way to move his footage in to post he more people we ask to look at these incredible new Samsung Portable SSD T5 drives the more we realise that this is enabling storage technology at the cutting edge. Throughout the series we have seen many and varied uses for them: we have been in the air with a major movie aerial cinematography company; we have been deep in the ocean with a highly talented and decorated wildlife cinematographer; and we have been on the streets with indie filmmakers who need small, fast, portable, reliable and secure storage. With each case study, whether it be editing a movie on a packed DEFINITION FEBRUARY 2018
commuter train or transferring files in a remote location, we have found creative people finding a solution that fundamentally changes their usual way of doing things – that’s the best use of new technology and a true enabler. GETTING PHYSICAL Samsung’s range of Portable SSD T5 drives at present tops out at an impressive 2TB but also on offer are 1TB, 500GB and 250GB versions. We shipped John Owen a 500GB SSD drive as most of his corporate films are aimed at an online audience and the files don’t need to be as massive as say a movie file.
IMAGES Thanks to the Samsung Portable SSD T5, John Owens is able to quickly and efficiently transfer his footage, saving time on set.
John shoots with a range of cameras including DSLRs and more bespoke models. Even if he does shoot with a smaller file size there is still a need to get the footage from camera to his post-production set-up as quickly as possible. “Shooting gym equipment sounds a simple project,” he says, “but you have to bring in models and create a nicely lit set so at the end of the day you’re dealing with similar problems to say a small television production.” The demands of corporate videos mirror most other productions and in some cases they ask more of the producer who can be a lone operator. DEFINITIONMAGAZINE.COM
SAMSUNG ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
“When a new piece of equipment is launched,” explains John, “we have to produce a series of different length films with male and female models and sometimes with older ages when the gear is less stressful to use. Our camera set-up isn’t that portable when we are fully set up; we have tripods, lights and other accessories. “The obvious use of the Samsung Portable SSD T5 was to use it as a transfer drive to my laptop. Usually I would have to break from filming to get my media to my laptop. This leaves my actors cooling down, which is never a good idea, until I have checked my takes and can come back to the shoot. In a gym scenario there is no network you can plug in to so it’s always a physical transfer. “Immediately the speed of the Samsung Portable SSD T5 became apparent. My assistant was able to download footage from the camera extremely quickly and then load it up to my editorial laptop. I was able to carry on shooting, keep the actors warm as they went through the @DEFINITIONMAGAZINE |
exercises and save a lot of time. My assistant was then able to transfer the files to the editor and lay takes out in order ready for an initial edit to show the client who would oversee the session. “But better than that was the fact that we quickly realised that if we wanted a quick edit to check that a shot sequence would work, we could edit directly from the drive as the transfer speed was so quick. Coming back to the client with a workable edit so quickly helped enormously when time constraints are an increasing problem.” TIGHT BUDGETS In a small film production company every purchase has to justify itself immediately. The price of some camera media can be high, but it is tempting to invest in it to allow for longer recording times. John now realises that leaping to a high cost investment might not be the best choice for him in the short term as something like the Samsung Portable SSD T5 range plugs a gap in his workflow. “To be honest before
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IMMEDIATELY THE SPEED OF THE SAMSUNG PORTABLE SSD T5 BECAME APPARENT. MY ASSISTANT WAS ABLE TO DOWNLOAD FOOTAGE FROM THE CAMERA EXTREMELY QUICKLY AND THEN LOAD IT UP TO MY EDITORIAL LAPTOP I used the Samsung Portable drive I hadn’t considered this the answer to increased workflow. As our file sizes aren’t huge, something like the 500GB drive is sufficient for our transfers, but I think the real plus is the ability to edit directly off the drive. That feels like something very new with such a small device.
MORE INFORMATION: www.samsung.com/uk/ssd/ FEBRUARY 2018 DEFINITION
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FEATURE 4K CONCERT
ROCK THE RUINS Live At Pompeii saw Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour return for two dynamic concerts, all shot in glorious 4K WORDS JULIAN MITCHELL he Roman Amphitheatre at Pompeii hasn’t seen much action since the first century. Pink Floyd recorded there 45 years ago and now David Gilmour has revisited to rock out there one more time. The concert film has been released in numerous formats including a Europe-wide cinema release. Pompeii became a character itself within the show with the dark Vesuvius ever present behind. James Tonkin’s Hangman Studio specialises in the creative design, the shooting and the post production for concerts; you can see by their website the many famous bands DEFINITION FEBRUARY 2018
and artists that they have worked for. However, for the David Gilmour event James came late to the party. “I arrived when everything was built and went in and did my thing really.” When James is included early on in plans shooting can be done as sole cameras recording locally, then a long editing process begins. This one was different. “This one had been planned for a while in terms of a concert film. My role was originally just to shoot documentary around it but once I was there the director Gavin Elder wanted me to shoot on stage as well, so camera number 18 or 19, part of the set-up. I was also going to help in terms of the post work as we had previously done for a big Duran Duran concert called A Diamond in the Mind. This concert was on another scale altogether. I’ve no idea what the shooting budget for it was; they had all the A players on it in terms of crew and it was beautifully set up. They had the intention all along of shooting it in 4K and making
something really special and lasting. I know Gavin had been working on this tour for a couple of years with dates in North America and Europe already before Pompeii. “He’d seen the show many times so was very well versed to be directing it and getting the best out of where to put the cameras. I know he spent a lot of time working with Marc Brickman the lighting designer, there were a lot of discussions about the look and lighting it for camera - not just from a performance and theatrical point of view but to really get the best of it from the camera side. So all that of that from my point of view had been done before we got there and then it was a case of recording it over the two nights.” 4K SHOOT Camera wise for this project, it was a 19-camera concert set-up with predominantly Sony F55 RAW/XAVC, Sony 4300, Sony A7R2, Sony F5, RED DRAGON in 6K, Blackmagic Cinema DEFINITIONMAGAZINE.COM
4K CONCERT FEATURE
© DAVID GILMOUR
© DAVID GILMOUR
camera and Blackmagic URSA Mini in 4K and a DJI Drone in 4K H.264 and RAW DNG. James was a rogue element on the RED camera, “Most of the camera crew were on Sony F55s recording hero angles in Raw. There were also plans for two or three Sony 4300s all on long box lenses just because of the nature of trying to get those shots from the back. Everything else was my responsibility which included the RED DRAGON I was shooting with on stage. There
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were also a couple of SONY A7Rs; one was on the keyboards and I think we did one of the drums for the first night which we switched to an SONY F5 for the second. There was also a Blackmagic Design URSA Mini. I usually turn up with as many cameras as I can carry and then we talk about where we can put them for extra angles. We’re shooting on stage and manning some of the static cameras as well making sure they are all exposed and running for the whole gig. “We had assigned roles and mine included the documentary and also making some time-lapse at the back and then running backwards and forwards making sure these other cameras were primed and ready for the show. Then making sure I was back on stage in time to do my stage shots. The A7Rs were particularly great on the keyboard rig, it was pretty much a set-and-forget camera. It has a big sensor on it and recording on Slog2 it graded up really well.
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It even mixed well with the F55s shooting Raw, with the size of it on stage you never even notice it. Things like that are really a benefit, I’m really keen to bring cameras like that onboard provided they have the log look so it can be a benefit to us in post. “Having said that, it was the trickiest thing I’ve ever had to grade in terms of matching everything, in spite of setting everything in Slog2 or Slog3 to start with and 90% of the sensor being Sony. Creatively
ABOVE The Pompeii
concert had long been planned as the venue for the 4K film.
BELOW James
Tonkin shot for the concert and also graded it.
© JAMES TONKIN
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SENSORS THE NEW MONSTERS
SPONSORED BY
THE NEW MONSTERS
Large-format cameras are here and some say it’s the new frontier of cinematography. Here’s what you need to know WORDS JULIAN MITCHELL
he trend for sensors is to ‘large it’. Large-format is now in fact seen as the premium format, one to compete with and beat 65mm and 70mm film. Large-sensor cameras are appearing from companies like RED and Sony, looking to join the already established ARRI ALEXA 65 with its huge 54.12mmx25.58mm, the original largest sensored camera but in effect a camera that’s only been around for a year. That’s how quickly this technology is moving, as it seems to have been here for years. So to recap and as a reference you have the ALEXA 65 camera which you can refer to as medium-format, you have the new Sony Venice fullframe camera and then you have maybe full-frame plus with the RED Monstro and the Panavision DXL which also houses that sensor. Confusingly sensor sizes are now being decided upon as a result of their pixel pitch size so potentially we are losing the traditional sizes like full-frame and Super35. Welcome to the Wild West of format sizes which DEFINITION FEBRUARY 2018
adds to the misconceptions. Most new users of large-format cameras now wonder if their lenses are going to be able to cover image circles; the market is responding by bringing out new ranges of lenses that have to try and contend with all these various formats. When digital first appeared in cinematography the digitising of video was helped by the CCD sensor – you had three distinct sensors and needed a prism to arrange your colour. CCD ironically has always been seen as a better or a more efficient technology. Although there was sharpening in-camera, it required fewer transistors to change the analogue light into a digital number, so you could do longer exposures without noise. Interestingly the technology is still used in astronomical telescopes. Initially the CCD was the sensor technology to choose but it was expensive and so the CMOS sensor was born and with the help of Moore’s Law became the sensor of choice from the smartphone to now
ABOVE Panavision’s DXL camera now carries RED’s Monstro sensor.
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THE NEW MONSTERS SENSORS
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LEFT The ultimate
RED camera for now. Weapon hardware and Monstro sensor.
THE LARGE FORMAT LOOK IS SILKY, SMOOTH AND EVEN HYPERREAL. IT ENCOURAGES EXPERIMENTATION
the highest end cinema cameras. With this single sensor you needed a new way of filtering the colour so with the Bayer mosaic you’re able to arrange the red, green and blue pixels albeit in a less than equitable way. But Moore’s Law also means that you have a more regular introduction of sensors. RED for instance are staying true to their sensor roadmap of a few years ago and now have the Monstro VistaVision sensor which appears in their Weapon hardware as well as the Panavision DXL rental camera. Sony’s Venice has a brand new sensor and promises more and this year we may see a new sensor from ARRI.
ABOVE Sony’s new Venice full-frame camera also carries a built-in 8-stage glass ND filter system. BELOW The Sony
Venice is their first full-framed motion picture camera.
getting richer colours, wonderful falloff of focus. A look that people have called silky and smooth and even hyperreal. But better than this, large-format helps tell a story more than before with the added experimentation that it encourages. Without being too pompous, this is the new cinema. Cinematographers are also finding that their traditional methods don’t always work anymore with large-format, filtering isn’t being used as before, in fact sometimes they are being dispensed with. Colourists too are finding that maybe they don’t need their zones and power windows as much with largeformat to customise the look. So when you widen up the image gate behind the lens you end up choosing longer focal lengths for the same field of view that you’re looking for. For medium-format a 50mm is really a wide lens. You’re changing how much of that lens you’re grabbing if it can cover it; the depthof-field might be the same but your
field of view is wider. For instance if you’re shooting in medium-format a wide shot of a mountain range with perhaps 80mm or 100m mediumformat lenses, those mountains are being pulled up from the background towards the subject. Your depth-offield however would be quite shallow so you’re effectively compressing the image. The lens choices for full-frame and full-frames plus are quite wide but once you get in to the mediumformat side of things they become much more limited. The speed of these lenses is very varied, from T2.8 to T4 and 5.6 for instance. Although as ARRI is finding, many older lenses are now fulfilling the need for this medium-format market and are being rehoused accordingly. But generally this explains the dilemma of shooting this very large-format; because of the control of the depth-of-field, it’s ultimately a trade-off at this end of things. Perhaps full-frame and plus is the sweet spot.
THE GIFTS OF LARGE-FORMAT But what is the advantage of largeformat cameras like the Weapon Monstro and the new Sony Venice with its new full-frame sensor? In a way large-format is the new playground for cinematography, it allows you to play with depth-offield, with distortion and chroma to compose a glorious image. You’re @DEFINITIONMAGAZINE |
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FEBRUARY 2018 DEFINITION
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USER REVIEW APPLE FCP X V10.4
Apple continue to evolve their much maligned editing software with some very topical additions WORDS ADAM GARSTONE PICTURES APPLE
ny review of FCP X has to address the elephant in the room – the continual jibes that FCP X isn’t suitable for the ‘professional’ editor. I prefer to look at that argument from a different perspective: the fact that all NLEs suck – they just all suck in different ways. For the last few years, 99.9% of my work as an editor has been done on Avid’s Media Composer, and it’s fabulous. It’s incredibly flexible, handling any project you throw at it with ease, but it’s so aged you can almost hear its rheumatic old bones creaking as you use it. Some of its bugs have calcified, and have new bugs growing on them. Adobe’s Premiere Pro has oddities so unfathomable they have become documented as ‘features’ – my favourite being: “merged clips are not supported when exporting DEFINITION FEBRUARY 2018
an AAF file”. So if you have recorded separate sound you can’t do what you would expect – merge the picture and audio files – you have to make multicam groups instead. Say what? My point is not to diss these two very capable NLEs, but to point out that neither is perfect. FCP X isn’t perfect either, but it certainly does not deserve continued critical attacks. There are many things FCP X does much better than either Premiere Pro or Media Composer. The latest release – version 10.4 – adds considerably to that list of capabilities. TRADITIONAL The first is a new set of advanced colour grading tools. FCP X always featured Apple’s own take on grading adjustments, but I, for one, found the tool totally incomprehensible. Version 10.4 adds more traditional colour DEFINITIONMAGAZINE.COM
APPLE FCP X V10.4 USER REVIEW
wheels, RGB/Luma colour curves, and HSL curves. I particularly like that you can set the default grading tool, so that your favourite method presents itself as the first option when you go to the grading section of the inspector. The colour wheels feature a traditional set of master, shadow, midtone and highlight wheels, each with an additional brightness and saturation slider. The bottom of the panel shows numerical values for the wheel and slider adjustments. At the time of writing, there is no support for a hardware control surface, but I would expect that third-party manufacturers will leap on that opportunity pretty soon. Both of the sets of curves have a nice eye-dropper feature. Clicking the eyedropper on a colour on the main viewer simply marks a line in the curves editor. You are free, @DEFINITIONMAGAZINE |
then, to use the mark as the centre of your adjustment, or you may wish to add curve handles so that the marked colour isn’t affected by your adjustment. The second big new feature is support for HDR – both Rec. 2020 HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma) and PQ (Perceptual Quantizer). HDR monitoring is supported though a suitable third-party interface, and there is a new waveform monitor that shows brightness up to 10,000 nits. Compressor has also been updated to include output support for Rec. 2020 HLG and PQ. It’s worth noting that HDR is set at the Library level in FCP X, not at the Project level. Perhaps the biggest feature set added to FCP X v10.4 is an end-toend workflow for VR (though your footage needs to be stitched already). Once you have imported your stitched VR footage, FCP X now
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provides you with a really full feature set for manipulating and editing that footage. There is a 360º viewer, allowing you view the image rectilinearly and click and drag to move the viewpoint through the entire 360º range. You can also hook up an HTC Vive VR headset, through Steam’s VR player. At the moment, the Vive is the only supported headset, as Oculus are arsey about not supporting the Mac, and Sony’s offering is Playstation only. FCP X supports footage rendered as Equirectangular, Fisheye, Back-toback Fisheye, and Cubic. VR The built-in image controls allow for full reorientation of the VR clip so, for instance, if the camera is moving through the scene, but the default ‘ahead’ view isn’t in the same orientation as the camera
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ABOVE Motion has
also been updated.
BOTTOM LEFT FCP X V10.4’s HDR Scopes.
YOU CAN ALSO HOOK UP AN HTC VIVE VR HEADSET FEBRUARY 2018 DEFINITION