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Enquiring about Arri Alexa Test Shots - Bristol, UK


Corey Dupree

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I wanted to enquire about the possibility to do test shots with an Arri Alexa?

 

I live in Bristol, UK and would like to do some test shots, however, it is so expensive to rent, I just can't afford it. Could anyone possibly help? Thanks!

 

I'd check with your local rental house and see if they have an Alexa. They usually let you do tests as long as you don't take the camera off the premises. If there isn't one in Bristol or Cardiff, you may have to arrange this with a London rental house instead.

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I haven't checked but as far as I know films@59 and visual impact have Alexa's.

 

Are you sure they do? I just looked on both of their sites and didn't find the Alexa on either of them...the closest rental house that I have found so far that carries the Alexa is Film Band...Any other suggestions? I'd really like to see for myself if the Alexa is truly better than the RED (which I've shot on before) so that I'll know what to use for future projects. I'd also like to do some test footage.

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It's better than Red. Much, much, much better.

 

Disclaimer: I've never shot with either camera, and I never will, but there are amoeba on planets in other solar systems which can tell you authoritatively that Alexa makes nicer pictures.

 

Nobody's going to let you anywhere near an Alexa in the UK, anyway. Every third person wants it, they are constantly busy, and the chance of you getting in the same room as one, with permission to play with it, is microscopic. If you haven't got the money to rent it there is no reason for the owners to allow it, is there?

 

P

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It's better than Red. Much, much, much better.

 

Disclaimer: I've never shot with either camera, and I never will, but there are amoeba on planets in other solar systems which can tell you authoritatively that Alexa makes nicer pictures.

 

 

P

MR RHODES!!!

 

With a few exceptions, you have pretty much precisely described the level of expertise and experience of the bulk of the pos(t)ers on a certain competing forum, and they will argue just as vehemently, passionately, forcefully, and above all tautologically, sir, that the precise opposite is in fact the situation most probably approximating the actuality of the status Quo!!

 

Indeed the fact that a 40-year-old Status Quo song has recently been adapted as an advertising jingle for one or our major retail grocery chains:

Down down; Prices are down....

Down down; Prices are down....

 

pretty convincingly illustrates my point.

 

Moreover, forty years is more than sufficient time for radio signals carrying the original broadcasts of these songs to have reached nearby habitable star systems, so your precious amoebae cannot claim the level of ignorance they aspire to.

 

Furthermore, it is a well known fact that bulk of the aforesaid opinions were formulated well before the actual existence of any actual physical Red hardware, so relativity and causality are not the final arbiter of anything anyway.

 

I trust this clarifies the matter.

 

Or was that "calcifies the butter...?" Sorry, just talk among yourselves....

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I'd really like to see for myself if the Alexa is truly better than the RED (which I've shot on before) so that I'll know what to use for future projects. I'd also like to do some test footage.

The trouble is, the only real way you can realistically test a camera is to actually shoot a real-world project with it. Generally Test Bay shooting is a good way to ensure that everything works properly on a film camera you're going to rent: lens calibration, steadiness, movement noise and so on.

 

As far as modern video cameras go, apart from possibly familiarizing yourself with the operation of a model you've never used before, and checking lens calibration, cables and so on, there's not that much you can meaningfully test. There's simply not a lot that can get out of adjustment in modern cameras.

 

The success of a new camera format is not measured by whether some noted luminary uses it for a project, but whether they continue to do so for subsequent projects. Possibly the best you can do for now is watch what the big boys do. The rate at which the more expensive and hard to get Alexa is currently being embraced by Hollywood would have to be a pretty strong indicator.

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Just shoot Alexa, it's an easier workflow and you'll get an extremely nice image if you shoot it right.

 

And if you're really on a budget, go for the C300, it doesn't need a big lighting package and the image looks like a cheaper Alexa. You could probably afford tests and extra shoot days with the C300.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hey Corey,

 

It's not too hard to get hold of an Alexa to test with at all. I did some tests last year at Arri Rental in London and they were really helpful you know.

 

If you contact Milan Krsljanin he will most likely be more than happy to help you. He's been at every single Alexa orientated event that has happened which i've attended, including seminars both at BVE North and the BVE that just went by. He was also at the screening of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close hosted by the BSC. He is one of the main guys behind the technoolgy inside the camera so essentially 1: He knows his stuff, 2: He is more than happy to demonstrate how well the Alexa performs because it gives it good press, Which it rightly deserves.

 

I've inboxed you his email.

 

Tom.

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