Three Ways Camera Assistants Have to Adapt to Digital Cinema in Order to Survive

Camera Assisting 7 Comments

Inside of Camera ElectronicsCreative Commons License photo credit: Kelly Hofer

Whether you like it or not, the future of filmmaking comes in bits and bytes.

Digital cameras already outpace film cameras on the production lines and the feverity with which they are released and adopted is astounding.

But you don’t really care about all that fanboyism. You just want to get a phone call from a producer, get the gig, show up on set and start pulling focus. It doesn’t matter what camera you do it on.

Well, I’m here to tell you that it sort of does.

If you want to survive in the digital cinematography future as a camera assistant, there are a few things you’re going to need change. These adaptations may be easy for you, others may not, but all of them will play a crucial role in your career path.

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Arri Alexa Software Update 3.0 Available in Beta Release

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ARRI announced yesterday that they are opening up participation in a public beta phase for ARRI Alexa Software Update Packet (SUP) 3.0. There are some great new features packed into this one so Alexa owners might want to fire up those cameras, register at Arri’s site and download the update. Of those new features, the most anticipated is certainly in-camera playback of Pro Res files recorded to SxS cards as well as in-camera audio recording — though no playback on audio. But that’s not all Arri has coming down the pipeline…

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Roger Deakins on Digital Cinema and Arri Alexa: “Images are of a quality comparable to film”

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Award-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins, ASC BSC has been shooting with the Arri Alexa recently and posting about it on his web forum. Deakins seems to be quite fond of the camera and defends it from those who decry the digital revolution by stating that digital cinema workflows “seem to me to have tipped the equation.”

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10 Things Every Camera Assistant Should Know About the RED Camera

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The RED digital cinema camera came along a few years ago and has revolutionized digital filmmaking. While RED now has stiffer competition from the likes of ARRI Alexa, DSLR’s and even iPhones, it’s a camera that is used frequently and heavily by the low-budget indie crowd. On any professional set, it’s always the camera assistant’s responsibility to take care of the equipment and whether you’ll be working your first RED gig or your 100th, seeking out tips and advice can never hurt. Without further ado, here are 10 things that every 1st AC should know about the RED One camera…
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Advice from the DP Red Wizard, Timmy Rubensteiner

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I have featured Timmy Rubensteiner, the self-proclaimed DP Red Wizard, on my blog before when he released a useful video explaining how to use the RED Camera Magic Movie Input Machine. But Rubensteiner, surprisingly, is willing to share even more of his knowledge of RED, cinematography, and set etiquette on his Facebook page where he posts intermittent pieces of advice.

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RED One Mysterium X Cameras Now Available to Buy, Original Sensor Dead

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Digital cinema’s favorite color coded company is now taking orders for the Mysterium-X equipped RED One cameras. Mysterium-X sensors were previously only available as an upgrade and in the forthcoming Epic and Scarlet cameras. The sensor’s main draw is it’s ability to be more sensitive to light and handle color better, as Pete Jackson found out. But while the Mysterium-X being up for purchase is good news, it doesn’t come without a price…

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Peter Jackson’s Red One Mysterium-X Sensor Tests

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If you haven’t heard by now, RED debuted a new sensor available as an upgrade to their existing Red One model cameras quite some time ago. Named the Mysterium-X, the sensor provides a greater dynamic range and light sensitivity as well as the ability to shoot up to 5K for it’s placement within Red’s upcoming Epic cameras. Though the sensor is the direction the company is going with it’s new modular cameras, the Red One, the company’s workhorse, has the ability to upgrade it’s brain to take advantage of the new technology. Recently at NAB, Jim Jannard, founder of Red, showed a video of Peter Jackson that he also posted on Reduser.net. In it Jackson talks all things Red as well as shows some tests he shot with the new sensor.

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Digital Media Management Best Practices

Camera Assisting 8 Comments

When shooting digital cinema, it’s important to have your workflow set out ahead of time. While film has an established protocol (for the most part) with handling printed takes, short ends, etc., the digital world has many options that can be cumbersome if not thoroughly explored. The last thing you want to deal with on set is lost footage or deleted clips – something that is very likely if you’re making your process up on the fly. And while no exact one way is right, there are certain guidelines that can lead you to a hassle-free digital workflow. And here they are:
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RED Epic and Scarlet Cameras By End of 2010?

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Reading off Engadget, found at the comprehensive Reduser.net forums, Jim Jannard (founder of RED) has apologized for the “embarassingly late” production delays on the Epic (pictured above) and Scarlet cameras. He explains the cause of the delay was a bug that took months to find and put a “bullet in the back of it’s head.”

Admitting the humble beginnings of the RED one, Jannard explains that they don’t plan to release a “buggy camera with limited features this time,” instead opting to leave the testing in-house rather than in the hands of indie filmmakers who have that special itch to early adopt. That means the Epic and Scarlet cameras should take a bit longer to rev up into production, though the pain of an unstable camera should be removed.

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