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RED WEAPON WITH HAWK C-SERIES: THE NEW MEETS THE VINTAGE. This week I would like to share one of my last experiences on set where I got the chance to use a cinema camera and a set of lenses for the first time. On one side, and I don’t exactly know why, it was an incredible long time since I used for the last time a RED camera and I didn’t had tried yet the “new” (even though there is already a newer model out there called Raven) 6K Weapon; plus, I did had seen the Hawk C-Series, but just in rental houses promotional meetings, and we all know that an actual set is a totally different environment. THE CAMERA Truth is that from quiet a few points of view I was gratefully surprised by the camera, since comparing to the RED Dragon it features severals tools that, if you want my two cents, are a consistent improvement, both in the operation of the camera as a 1AC and the performance of the camera itself. First of all... More information: http://www.camaleonrental.com/gb/blog/red-weapon-with-hawk-c-series-the-new-meets-the-vintage-n14

https://vimeo.com/70679379 The majority of this music promo was shot on an Arri Alexa 4:3 in 2K ProRes using Panavisions C-series and G-series Anamorphic primes with some additional photography shot on a RED MX with Panavisions Xtal Express Anamorphic primes. The main visual references the director and I discussed were photographer Gregory Crewdson's work and the films of Wes Anderson (shot by Robert Yeoman) so we were trying to achieve a surreal atmosphere with a vibrant colour palette. For the main location I used Lee Medium Blue Green gel on most of my background sources (a combination of daylight balanced kinoflos and smaller HMI cinepars) while keeping the keylight neutral (usually a combination of tungsten jemballs warmed slightly on the dimmer). I kept the camera at 3200K and 800asa and the stop was usually a T4. I hung 2 x jemballs w/500w bulbs above the table and skirted them to contain the spill. Opposite camera there was a Kinoflo Flathead hanging just above the frame that worked as a backlight for the lead actress, and this was supplemented with additional Flatheads on the floor as 3/4 backlight where necessary. Depending on our angle of view I'd use smaller Cinepars and 4x4 kinos bounced into the ceiling to add some colour to the background. For a flicker effect I had 2 x redheads running through a a flicker box and pushing through a frame of Muslin and for the sweeping spotlight I used a source 4. For the shot of the girl looking at herself in her bedroom mirror at night I used a single 4ft x 4tube kino just outside the window to key her and used a 575w HMI Cinepar with a spot bulb sitting on the floor just outside the window to add a slash of moonlight across the floor. A handheld HMI pocket par sat just out of frame right to flare the lens. For the warmer coloured scenes inside the dance rehearsal studio at night I used the Xtal express lenses for a softer, more dreamlike feeling and kept the shooting stop at T2.8 which enhanced the softer aberrations of the lenses and made a nice contrast between the C&G series. A pair of 2k's and another pair of VNSP parcans, all gelled with CTS, pushed through the window to work as a backlight and I used the ambience from the room as fill. For close ups I supplemented the light with some smaller Kinos again with tungsten tubes and CTS. There's a couple of lighting plots below (designed in the Lighting Designer App - can't recommend this highly enough!) and a few BTS photos from the unit stills that give you a sense of the lighting rig in the main location. Theres also a brief clip showing the Dolly/Lighting Rig we used for one of the shots here https://vimeo.com/71200843