Tech Column

When Blackmagic Design first arrived on the scene it attracted a lot of attention for what it offered in a small box with its initial Cinema model. For $3,000, it shot 2.5K, 12-bit RAW with 13 stops of dynamic range into standard, removable SSDs. Not bad, but for many it remained a “prosumer” model, not ready to take on the REDs, ARRIs and Sonys. Enter the URSA and the focus is back on the latest disruption from the California-based company. It’s quite the box of tricks: first, it looks more like a “camera,” which addresses the subtle snob factor that worked against the initial entries. Second, it shoots 4K with a Super 35 sensor, offers 12 stops and 12-bit RAW with 12G-SDI and internal dual RAW and ProRes recorders. Third, the price: US $5,995for the URSA EF and $6,495 for the URSA PL. Fourth, and this is really interesting, it’s user upgradable. That last feature isn’t trivial. In the digital world what you launch this morning is already obsolete by evening because someone has something on the go in a lab somewhere, hankering to eat your lunch. Engineering the camera so that a reasonably mechanically-minded owner can unscrew four holding bolts and get to the sensor and replace it themselves

Courtesy of Blackmagic

without special tools or an electronics degree is forward thinking. “There’s no micro surgery required,” according to Bob Caniglia of Blackmagic Design, which launched the camera at NAB 2014. “It really is a user upgrade, though some resellers may offer it with clean rooms and expertise.” He said the concept for URSA came out of customers’ feedback. The result is a body with a 10-inch flip-out LED screen monitor but no Electronic View Finder. It sounds strange, and it will take a little getting used to, as will the pair of 5-inch touch screens that control the camera’s settings and functions along with a row of buttons along the bottom. On the left side, there are all major settings and buttons; on the right are the feedback settings such as format, frame rate, shutter angle. It also tracks time code, levels, audio waveform and a spectrum scope for focus. There’s a carry handle on top and a shoulder plate add-on option but that’s basically it, though Caniglia says third-party manufacturers are already jumping on bolt-ons to allow customized rigs. The data is captured to dual recorders with dual CFast card slots, which can be swapped out during capture. When the first card is full, the second card will kick in while the full card is swapped out for a blank media. Recording rate is up to 350 MB/s. The URSA is now Blackmagic’s top-of-the-line camera product, which kicks off with a U$995 pocket cinema digital 16, the aforementioned Cinematic camera and a studio camera now priced at US$1,999, the production 4K camera with a Super 35 sensor and many of the URSA features without the LCD screen, the Broadcast version optimized for Ultra HD with a B4 lens mount, broadcast lens control connection and an onboard ND filter wheel. There’s also an HDMI version with no sensor. It also runs with standard cables, Caniglia notes, meaning no more searching for the right proprietary cable. The body is larger to accommodate cooling for faster frame rates and to keep the internal fan quiet, and the size also allows a cinematographer, AC and soundperson to have access without crowding each other out. Working with the URSA is a bit weird at first, reports West Coast DP Kholi Hicks, who prides himself on “making ambitious projects on a micro budget” (see his URSA clip at / vimeo.com/campcomet), because you keep looking for the viewfinder. “Yet there’s an almost zero learning curve and that LCD is really bright and big,” he says. In a forum posting he called it “dah bear” because it was so big, but said he soon started to get comfortable with it. “The dummy side has the touch button screen so you don’t have to mess around.” Still, he says, it is a strange-looking beast: “It’s like a Handycam from circa 1995 especially when that screen is folded out.” It doesn’t act like his grandfather’s Handycam, though, and that’s the story. “What I found is that you lose the urge to walk away and check the client monitor,” he says. “I don’t know how much time I spent doing that before. The 10-inch screen is right there; you don’t have to walk away, you can see everything in the shot.” There’s sometimes a little lag on movement but not enough to make it a problem, and he says he test drove an early-stage model before it went into production. He also liked the portability, being able to hoist it as a handheld camera while the balance with the lens on was good and the weight also see Tech page 26

WHAT FILMS OR OTHER WORKS OF ART HAVE MADE THE BIGGEST IMPRESSION ON YOU?

My favourite film is The Conformist, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, cinematography by Vittorio Storaro asc, aic. I love the collaborative spirit between director and cameraman so evident in their work. The light and colour in the paintings of Bonnard, Vuillard and the Nabis School. Also the light of J.M.W. Turner and John Singer Sargent.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN THE BUSINESS?

At 16 my mom suggested I channel my love for photography into filmmaking. She thought I should become a director. Thanks, Mom!

WHO HAVE BEEN YOUR MENTORS OR TEACHERS?

When I was 16 years old I landed a summer apprenticeship with Dennis Gillson at the National Film Board of Canada. Mr. Gillson was a knowledgeable and tolerant teacher and for decades after he always took the time to respond to my technical conundrums.

WHAT CINEMATOGRAPHERS INSPIRE YOU?

Vittorio Storaro asc, aic for his baroque approach, Haskell Wexler asc for his simplicity and Christopher Doyle for his inspired craziness.

NAME SOME OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS.

All four films I made with director John Irvin (Crazy Horse, City of Industry, When Trumpets Fade, and The Boys and Girl from County Clare) are personal highlights and represent the pinnacle of that special director/cinematographer collaboration I find so fulfilling. Also, working with director Gaylene Preston on the New Zealand low-budget mini-series Hope and Wire. We shot the film according to my Simple Cinema © philosophy to great success. Achieved six hours of complex drama in eight weeks of stylish shooting (10 hour days) for $3 million.

WHAT IS ONE OF YOUR MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS ON SET?

Basking in Paul Newman’s respect on Where the Money Is and weathering Harvey Keitel’s abuse on City of Industry.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?

I live for the collaboration between director and cameraman, and inventive solutions to storytelling that rely on imagination and courage. Taking the photographic road less travelled.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE LEAST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?

The politics and bureaucracy of my job make me crazy.

WHAT DO YOU THINK HAS BEEN THE GREATEST INVENTION (RELATED TO YOUR CRAFT)?

Digital acquisition in all its forms have helped democratise and liberate cinema.

HOW CAN OTHERS FOLLOW YOUR WORK?

www.cloudsouth.co.nz SELECTED CREDITS: Some Kind of Love, Defiance, This Way of Life, Hope and Wire

Tech from page 24 comfortable. “It wasn’t tippy at all side to side,” he says. “And it felt good on the shoulder.” There will be some learning curves for those used to working with ARRIs or REDs, but they aren’t too steep. The big selling point, he says, is that the URSA is a clean rig that can be used on a tripod or separated and shoulder held as a run and gun. “I’ve started using it for sketches when I look at a job so we can see what to expect,” he says. “The monitor is really liberal and easy to position and I don’t have to constantly fiddle with it.”

Ian Harvey is a Toronto-based journalist who writes for a variety of publications and covers the technology sector.He welcomes feedback and eagerly solicits ideas at ian@pitbullmedia.ca.