American Cinematographer - December 2008 - (Page 50)

Considering Cameras June 14, 2007 From: Danny Boyle To: Anthony Dod Mantle Subject: www.red.com Check this camera out and tell me it’s all too good to be true. I’m in Mumbai at the moment (casting) and have seen a couple of locations which will give you a huge grin and a small headache. A lightweight, high-resolution camera — or a few of them — would help enormously! Off to Kolkata, Delhi, Jaipur and Bangalore, so it’s getting quite serious for the autumn/winter. Hope you and yours are well wherever you are. Love, Danny x September 25, 2007 From: Danny Boyle To: Anthony Dod Mantle Subject: Tests So the test we saw this morning was really exciting and, for me, much better than the film tests we did. I guess I think the feel of the digital approach is more appropriate to this place … for the 7-year-old age it feels a bit tougher, less precious, more urgent. It also looks very good — even the little Sony HDV cam isn’t bad! So I was really pleased. Please send the film here ASAP once you’ve graded and spat out. If you can process even the smallest bit of the Canon still camera, that would be wonderful, too. We’ve arranged for you to see a print of the test we saw this morning so we’re all on the same page. Can I flag up the following: Will we gyro the head? The shuddering is unbearable after awhile. Will the focus and framing issues be solved by a monitor/eyepiece? Can we fit a big lens to it like my favorite — the Zeiss 10mm? Will it be operable like that? How many units do you think we will have? Any implications from the MPC end? We’ve been out shooting the crazy, wonderful Ganpati festival. How I wished you were here for it! We shot on the professional Panasonic VariCam HD. Should we send that or keep it for when we have editing set up here? We’re sending two tapes for you to compare. One is from my little Sony HD cam and one is from Tabrez’s Canon consumer HD cam. He thinks it’s better resolution than mine, and if we get compromised by price on the number of units we can shoot with, it might be a good replacement. Also keep in mind the Taj, where we could use one of these little cameras close to the Taj itself. Very exciting now. Big love and thanks as always for the new world. Danny x October 8, 2007 From: Danny Boyle To: Anthony Dod Mantle Subject: Tests Anthony, finally I saw the tests today … thought it looked fantastic … made me feel we could do the whole movie on it! Of course, this is dependent on solving the shaking. It’s not the same as the general instability of any small camera, or it doesn’t look like it to me … it’s much more like a trembling than a shaking, and it’s not like handheld-flinging-itaround roughness. No amount of crazy Paul Greengrass/Chris Gill 4edits-a-second will disguise it … it does make you feel that something is wrong in the cinema and we have to solve that to get the best out of the flexibility of the setup: - following the kids wherever they go - its potential for some secrecy (being at their height) - letting them carry it sometimes - feeling their delicacy and robustness at the same time Incidentally, how robust is the system? Could someone probably without your tennis injuries jump off a shack roof as the kids jump? Having said all that, and provided we solve the trembling, I see what you mean about it being what the Red is promising but not yet providing. Get your name on it or at least a share in what it might become … seriously, I know part of you will always prefer film, but it’s going to take over … how many times have you heard that? I was buzzing, as you can tell, and was disappointed that the Canon wasn’t there as it’s begun to really enter the film for certain things for me. Will some footage get to me soon? I thought you were hard on the little cameras … I thought my little Sony was awful when the zoom had been used but otherwise looked very good in your grade and in the 2.35 format. Unless you had certain ideas in mind about the lipstick [camera], I thought the Sony a much better option than the lipstick for really minute special shots, but let’s talk about that soon. Enough! Very buoyed up and excited. Thank you as always and love to all. Danny x 50 December 2008 http://www.red.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - December 2008

American Cinematographer - December 2008 Contents Editor’s Note Short Takes: True Blood Titles Tomorrow’s Technology Production Slate: Closer to Truth A High Price for Progress Rags to Riches 1-Man Riot Squad The State of the Art: An Update Post Focus: Deluxe New York New Products & Services International Marketplace Classified Ads Ad Index 2008 AC Index ASC Membership Roster Clubhouse News ASC Close-Up: Donald McAlpine

American Cinematographer - December 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.