Panasonic has announced a free firmware upgrade for its VariCam 35 4K and VariCam HS camera/recorders that expands recording options and enables several operational and workflow improvements. This multifaceted upgrade was developed based on the practical requirements and input of cinematographers, DITs, rental and post houses and other VariCam partners.
In the spring of 2015, Trent Opaloch began a huge undertaking as director of photography on a new entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The bar is set high – as a production unit, Marvel has been a smashing success – but one advantage is the solid workflow that Marvel has developed over the course of a dozen feature films.
Following on the heels of their 2014 hit, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, directors Anthony and Joe Russo have done it again with the Marvel-Disney franchise blockbuster Captain America: Civil War. From a script written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, which blends dramatic spectacle with legit emotion and humor, the filmmakers once again turned to cinematographer Trent Opaloch, who shot The Winter Soldier. The Technicolor color finishing team led by senior supervising finishing colorist Steve Scott, worked with Opaloch, the Marvel team (producer Kevin Feige, and executive producer Victoria Alonso), and the Russos to provide final color-grading, digital intermediate services, mastering for a wide array of HDR theatrical deliverables, and HDR home masters.
Barnfind Americas will provide Arizona’s Sneaky Big Studios with a network of fiber signal transport solutions at the heart of its infrastructure. Sneaky Big Studios, billing itself as one of the largest and most technologically advanced production facilities ever built in the region, will open in July.
New York-based production and post-production studio Nice Shoes has deployed Quantum's new Xcellis high-performance, shared workflow storage. Working with Quantum partner Alliance IT, the creative house incorporated Xcellis into its environment to provide greater flexibility in optimizing its collaborative media workflow and in scaling storage capacity and performance.
In a project spanning nearly two years, Hula Post provided editorial systems, workflow engineering and technical support to Walt Disney Pictures for the production of The Jungle Book. Hula Post engineers set up and maintained editorial facilities at the studio’s production facility in Playa Vista; at Digital Domain, where motion capture elements were produced; and at Los Angeles Center Studios, where live action elements were captured. Additionally, it supported satellite-editing facilities at Sony Pictures Studios and Skywalker Sound, where sound work was completed.
Codex has integrated Codex Live, the color management and look-creation system enabling set-to-post color confidence, with OffHollywood’s OMOD for Red Digital Cinema cameras. This technology collaboration delivers a fast and robust set-to-post solution for Red camera workflows, and also enables live high dynamic range on-set grading for the first time.
Director James Gunn is using Red’s 8K Weapon camera on Marvel’s latest cosmic adventures in Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2. Behind-the-scenes, Codex workflow systems, operated by Santa Monica, London and Atlanta based production services company Shed, are enabling the smooth and speedy transition of a river of 8K data from on-set into post production. The cinematographer on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is Henry Braham BSC, who previously used Red Epic cameras on The Legend of Tarzan. He is one of the first DPs to deploy the new Red Weapon camera, fitted with the 8K Red Dragon sensor, on a long-form show, describing it as “the little big camera. Perfectly counterintuitive. And perfect for this production.”
Italian/UK digital media workflow specialist Kiwii Digital Solutions recently managed the production dailies of the new movie Tini: The Big Change in Violetta using the WCPApp from WCPMedia Services. The cloud-based platform made it possible to deliver dailies and other media from the film’s set in Italy to its editorial team in Spain virtually instantaneously, saving significant time and costs.
The Walk feature film, Atomic Fiction’s digital recreation of 1974 New York City—complete with hot dogs steaming on a vendor cart—earned the praise of critics who proclaimed the movie “a visual spectacle” with effects “so grand it’s easy to forget you’re watching a virtual 100 percent CG-created world.” Less visible but equally important to filmmaker clients is the studio’s behind-the-scenes production artistry. Marc Sadeghi, president of Visual Effects at Atomic Fiction said, “By combining the power of technology, the creativity of passionate artists, and a collaborative approach to working with filmmakers, we’re able to overcome the challenges inherent to VFX production. As a result, we can satisfy both the VFX appetites and production deadlines of our clients.”
