See the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera on the Set of Dallas!

Fabulous BTS pictures of Rodney Charters (ASC, CSC) using the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera as a B cam to the Alexa on the set of the hit TNT show, Dallas (from a great Debra Kaufman piece at Creative Cow):





For more great BTS pics and an in-depth interview with Rodney Charters, please see the full article here.

Charters says a couple of really interesting things in the interview. The first is that he prefers the Pocket Cinema Camera to the BMCC for ergonomic reasons. The second is that he prefers BMPCC ProRes to RAW - something that I agree with him on 100%. In my view, ProRes is all you need for most professional work.

To get your own $995 Hollywood ProRes camera(!), click on the picture of the BMPCC above or the display ads below. It won't cost you anything extra, and it will help to keep posts like this coming. Thanks!

In LA? Arri Amira Available for Preview!

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Arri is previewing a prototype Amira at their offices in Burbank this week.  I'd call ahead to check on the camera's availability first, though (818-841-7070).

If you do stop by, please post a comment to the blog to tell us what you thought!

P.S. - sadly, it looks like the camera will be $40K rather than $30K when it is introduced in April - which will push it closer to $2000 a week for rental.  But, as I said in the earlier post, it will save you at least that much in time and money in post-production.

Feature Film "Upstream Color" - Shot on Panasonic GH2 - Now in Theaters and on Amazon Instant Video!

I highly recomment Upstream Color, a feature film from all-in-one writer/director/DP/actor Shane Carruth shot on the Panasonic GH2 and now playing at your local theater!

Time Magazine's piece on this film asks if it is "One of the Best Films Ever Made?"

Here is the trailer:




If you can't make it to the theater, or it's not playing near you, you can buy or rent it on Amazon Instant Video.

If you prefer physical media, you can get it on DVD or DVD and Blu Ray.

And if you want to buy a GH2 and make your own movie, there are still a few left at Amazon and eBay :)

Shane is distributing the film himself instead of selling it to a studio - so more of the dollars you spend at the box office or at Amazon go to a fellow indie hybrid still/video camera shooter, and not to big Hollywood.  Pretty cool.

I'll say it again - this is a great time to be a filmmaker!

UPDATE: Box Office Mojo reports that Upstream Color has grossed $401,200 as of today!  We don't know how big the production budget was on this film, but if it was anything like the $7000 he spent on Primer, this is very good news for Shane and for the indie community.

I haven't seen the film yet, but plan to get over to Berkeley to see it this week.  I'll keep you posted.