Blackmagic Design gear used to help make more than 20 films this summer. Yes, your little pocket camera has been used on some of this year’s biggest action films. From the latest “Jason Bourne” film to shooting the opening action scene on the “Ben-Hur” epic, the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera and the new Micro Cinema Camera are natural choices for capturing action scene and to be used as crash cameras.
Why do Hollywood Filmmakers turn to these cameras? They are small. The cameras shoot raw 12bit color and have up to 13 stops of dynamic range. Did I say they were small and small = huge pluses for crash cameras. Yet, Blackmagic’s smallest cameras were not the only ones filmmakers turned to film their features.
Additional VFX Supervisor for “Independence Day: Resurgence” Douglas Hans Smith and Uncharted Territory used the 4.6K URSA Mini to shoot VFX plates. Then there is DP Joshua Reis who used three 4K Production Cameras as crash cameras on “The Infiltrator.” The only thing we’re missing is a Blackmagic camera being used as the main, or A camera, on one of these films. Will we see it sometime soon?
I think the success of the 4.6K URSA Mini may, hopefully, make an impact in Indies first. For a camera costing $5,500, for the PL Version, this is a great start. Now I cannot wait to see the new User Interface and Operating System on the URSA and URSA Mini. This should add more features and make the shooting experience more enjoyable.
Shot using Blackmagic Design Cameras:
- “Ben-Hur” Second Unit DP Sergei Kozlov used several Blackmagic Micro Cinema Cameras to capture the opening action sequence of the film;
- “Don’t Breathe” DP Pedro Luque used a Pocket Cinema Camera for the film’s action scenes;
- “The Infiltrator” DP Joshua Reis used three Production Camera 4Ks as crash cameras; and
- “Jason Bourne” Second Unit DP Igor Meglic used several Micro Cinema Cameras and Pocket Cinema Cameras to shoot action scenes for the film.
Visual Effects:
- “The Founder” was composited by Jeremy Nelson at Moving Target using Fusion Studio;
- “Independence Day: Resurgence” had VFX plates shot by Additional VFX Supervisor Douglas Hans Smith and the team at Uncharted Territory using URSA Mini 4.6K; and
- “The Shallows” Cody Cuellar at Digital Sandbox used DaVinci Resolve Studio to grade their shots for VFX Supervisor Scott Anderson.
Color Grading using DaVinci Resolve Studio:
- “Alice Through the Looking Glass” was graded by Stefan Sonnenfeld of Deluxe’s Company 3;
- “Central Intelligence” was graded by Kostas Theodosiou of FotoKem;
- “The Conjuring 2” was graded by Mark Griffith of FotoKem;
- “Don’t Breathe” was graded by Siggy Ferstl of Deluxe’s Company 3;
- “Don’t Think Twice” was graded by Sam Daley of Technicolor PostWorks;
- “Equity” was graded by Roman Hankewycz of Harbor Picture Company;
- “The Fits” was graded by Sam Daley of Technicolor PostWorks;
- “Florence Foster Jenkins” was graded by Adam Glasman of Goldcrest Post;
- “The Founder” was graded by Stefan Sonnenfeld of Deluxe’s Company 3;
- “Independence Day: Resurgence” was graded by Walter Volpatto of FotoKem;
- “Jason Bourne” was graded by Rob Pizzey of Goldcrest Post;
- “Me Before You” was graded by Rob Pizzey of Goldcrest Post;
- “Now You See Me 2” was graded by Stephen Nakamura of Deluxe’s Company 3;
- “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping” was graded by Siggy Ferstl of Deluxe’s Company 3;
- “Swiss Army Man” was graded by Sofie Borup of Deluxe’s Company 3;
- “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows” was graded by Stefan Sonnenfeld of Deluxe’s Company 3;
- “Warcraft” was graded by Siggy Ferstl of Deluxe’s Company 3;
- “Wiener-Dog” was graded by Sam Daley of Technicolor PostWorks;
- “X-Men: Apocalypse” was graded by Stephen Nakamura of Deluxe’s Company 3; and
- “Yoga Hosers” was graded by Mark Todd Osborne at Runway.
