DP Stefan Duscio shot a spot for Target (Australia) in the rainforests of Byron Shire with the Arri Alexa LF and Arri Signature Prime lenses. That makes it the first Australian television commercial captured with the large-format Alexa LF, per Arri. Duscio said the LF works very similarly to the Alexa SXT, making it a good fit for crews already familiar with the earlier model.
Director Michael Muller shot underwater VR documentary “Into the Now” with 18 Blackmagic Design Micro Studio Camera 4Ks. The cameras were built into two custom rigs by Casey Sapp and Matt DeJohn from San Diego’s VRTUL. Their 4:2:2 signals were captured to ProRes via external recorders; the Blackmagic 3G-SDI Shield for Arduino allowed all of the cameras to be controlled simultaneously from one keypad, and Blackmagic’s Mini Converter SDI Distribution and Mini Converter Sync Generator kept shutter sync across all cameras. Part of a research project at Stanford University looking at the benefits of VR for people suffering stress disorders, the film shot over the course of a year and premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival and screened at Cannes.
Cinematographer Jonathan Young is endorsing Anton/Bauer’s Dionic XT LI-ion batteries after shooting the four-part BBC Two series Mediterranean with Simon Reeve. The Dionic XT90 and Dionic XT150 are the latest in A/B’s Dionic battery line for broadcast and 14.4V cinema, providing up to 12 amps of continuous power. Young used them during a two-week shoot in Libya where, he said, they stood up to particularly rough treatment.
Divorce Court moved production for its 20th season to Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. The show goes live-to-tape at 1080i/59.94 using six Panasonic AK-UC4000 cameras and the Panasonic AK-UCU600 camera control unit. Lighting designer Jeff Calderon, VP of Burbank’s Academy Lighting Consultants, says one camera is locked on the bailiff, another is on a jib, three more cover the judge and litigants with long lenses, and a sixth camera gets director’s-choice shots as required. Production began this summer and will continue into the fall, with episodes already in syndication.