Are you ready to buy your entire Blu-ray collection all over again?

[spectre08]

As a DP, what's your perspective on why a DP or a director chooses a specific camera for their film, specifically why they might chose Arri or RED?

[spectre08]

here's a couple good examples, actually from Sony F55 promo material





I know Sony made this to try and sell the F55, but if I were looking at these there's no way I don't get the RED Epic

[JayEmm]

Originally Posted by spectre08

As a DP, what's your perspective on why a DP or a director chooses a specific camera for their film, specifically why they might chose Arri or RED?

ARRI more of then than not gets chosen because it's ARRI - they have a lot of people who've been using their kit for the last 20+ years and it gets the job done. You put a lens on the front, battery on the back and a card in the side and pretty pictures come out.

RED people tend to be a little more camera-focused. Unfortunately it's very muddied and an awful lot of people choose it without fully understanding what they're doing. RED was also raw-based only until very recently. RED have a huge marketing machine and it is the only high-end camera a lot of people have heard of. Very popular with the low budget and music video crowd etc...

Sony is the third most popular option, and by a long way. Sadly many people look down upon the Sony brand, or they can't be bothered to learn the cameras properly.


I notice by the way that the woman in those videos is wearing a visual impact shirt. I have seen some of the videos these guys have produced online and to say their methodology is lacking is an understatement to say the least.


Generally speaking DoPs get much more attached to their glass than their cameras.

All of this of course is massively diluted and condensed... every single person and project will be individual but those are some general thoughts.

[XJF]

As a general rule, no. But I will upgrade anything that I deem worthy upon its release. So yes to Superhero movies, anything Animated by Disney/Pixar, or any "epic" that demands it; Titanic, Interstellar, Avatar, Star Wars, etc.

I remember shortly after Monsters Inc came to blu-ray, walking through Wal-Mart with my dad and he stopped in front of one of their display sets that was playing it. He looked at me and stated, "Holy hell, that picture is crystal clear!"

"Welcome to 2006, dad!"

[saprano]

This is going off topic.....but I like the Alexa camera because it has a film look. I don't find the issues spectre has with it. I agree with him though that if directors want the 35mm look why not just use the actual thing (yeah we know probably money and a studio problem)?

The digital camera I don't like is RED. Movies shot with it tend to look overly clean, flat, and too sharp giving the overall image an artificial digital look.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by JayEmm

Generally speaking DoPs get much more attached to their glass than their cameras.

Yup, right down to the serial numbers of respective lenses.

Personally I think this RED/ARRI willy waving is stoopid. Movies are manipulated so much during the finish that it almost doesn't matter any more if it's shot film or digital to my untrained eyes (or perhaps it's more that the final product looks similar once it's boiled down to Blu-ray 1080p, i.e. the uncompressed masters show more subtlety that's lost in the transition to Blu). Larger format sensors can easily be told apart, but then we'll just get the same absurd fanboyism transposed to that arena.

[spectre08]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Yup, right down to the serial numbers of respective lenses.

Personally I think this RED/ARRI willy waving is stoopid. Movies are manipulated so much during the finish that it almost doesn't matter any more if it's shot film or digital to my untrained eyes (or perhaps it's more that the final product looks similar once it's boiled down to Blu-ray 1080p, i.e. the uncompressed masters show more subtlety that's lost in the transition to Blu). Larger format sensors can easily be told apart, but then we'll just get the same absurd fanboyism transposed to that arena.

And I think you're nuts if you can't spot differences between the 2 in most circumstances.

Obviously not ALL movies, because some do process them so much that it's impossible. X-Men DoFP (an Arri movie) for example.

Again though, while the final look of the film can be largely independent of the camera used to capture it, I think that the vision and the goal of the filmmaker influences the camera they use, at least for filmmakers with the resources to freely chose what to work with.


But if you show me 10 films that look like Spectre and 10 films that look like The Social Network, 9 of each will probably be shot with their respective camera.

[dvdmike]

Red cameras?

Spectre was 35 mm then had a piss filter popped on top

[spectre08]

took you long enough to get here

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by spectre08

took you long enough to get here

Took me ages to find a bucket

[JayEmm]

Originally Posted by spectre08

10 films that look like The Social Network, 9 of each will probably be shot with their respective camera.

8 of which will have been directed by Fincher, who since around 2003 has had a very distinctive style. His digital films all look like Fincher, not like "RED" or "Viper" or "Sony".

[saprano]

It may be down to how it was shot. I don't think it's a coincidence that i feel that way about every movie shot with RED vs Alexa.


I disagree, Geoff. It does matter if it's film or digital. I can tell the difference even with all the extra crap thrown on top. 1080p has enough resolution for me to see the difference.


Who was actually fooled by the way this movie was shot?

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Hatch...8/#Screenshots

It has digital written all over it. Guess what camera was used?

[JayEmm]

Originally Posted by saprano

It may be down to how it was shot. I don't think it's a coincidence that i feel that way about every movie shot with RED vs Alexa.

It is a coincidence.

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by JayEmm

8 of which will have been directed by Fincher, who since around 2003 has had a very distinctive style. His digital films all look like Fincher, not like "RED" or "Viper" or "Sony".

Mostly I agree, they look like later Fincher not God like Kondji Fincher.
But they still have that red cast to the colour

[JayEmm]

Originally Posted by dvdmike

Mostly I agree, they look like later Fincher not God like Kondji Fincher.
But they still have that red cast to the colour

Including Zodiac & Benjamin Button?

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by JayEmm

Including Zodiac & Benjamin Button?

Zodiac was shot Viper and looks better for it, that had some lovely colour grading in places.
And BB was what at least 3 cameras? It looks more "filmic" from what I remember but its my least seen Fincher film.
Problem is he wants the look that Kondji gave him but does not want the fuss, cost or time involved

[JayEmm]

Fincher is an insane tech-head. Very, very controlling and very, very specific.

That's why his first DoP on Dragon Tattoo quit - he was basically reduced to a camera-minder.

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by JayEmm

Fincher is an insane tech-head. Very, very controlling and very, very specific.

That's why his first DoP on Dragon Tattoo quit - he was basically reduced to a camera-minder.

Yeah I hear he did that a lot for a great while, he is one step from being his own DP or just committing to a séance for Savides and Jordan Cronenweth to channel them into a willing host

[saprano]

Originally Posted by JayEmm

It is a coincidence.

An amazing one then.

Still waiting for a RED shot movie that I like the look of.

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by saprano

An amazing one then.

Still waiting for a RED shot movie that I like the look of.