Polycarp: Destroyer of Gods

Hey everyone, I am excited to report that filming for the upcoming feature film Polycarp: Destroyer of Gods has officially wrapped!

I was able to be part of the camera team and it was a pleasure to a part of such an amazing project and work with such a talented crew!

The camera department consisted of:
Director of Photography (DP): Jon Hedrick
Camera Op: John-Clay Burnett
1st Assistant Camera (1st AC): Alex Lerma
2nd Assistant Camera (2nd AC): Seth Rice

Here are a few pictures from production.

Be sure to check out the movie website for more updates! www.PolycarpMovie.com

Henline Productions - "Polycarp"

I am currently working as the camera operator on an upcoming historical feature film Polycarp!

"The full-length feature film, inspired by the research and writings of Rick Lambert, will depict the story of second century church father, Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, who faced severe persecution at the hand of Roman oppressors. Joe and Jerica's father and also the film's executive producer, Jerry Henline, says, “We are seeking to use the medium of film to inspire today's generation to stand for their faith against all opposition.”"

"We are excited about the headway being made here in Loveland, Ohio, and we look forward to keeping you updated throughout the months ahead. Please keep the team in your prayers!"

(if you look hard you can see me)

Be sure to "like" the Henline Productions Facebook page for photo updates from set!

Read more about the project at the film blog here.

RED Scarlet

This is the very first public footage of a working Red Scarlet Fixed Lens camera.

ARRI Alexa joins RED

"Got 50k to spend big daddy? Good, then meet Alexa from ARRI, a German company founded in 1917 that just happens to be the world's largest motion picture equipment manufacturer. Alexa is ARRI's answer to the RED ONE digital, so don't be held captive by your consumer-based experience of what a camera is or what it should look like. ARRI has a trio of cams slated for release in 2010 offering a 3.5k pixel count, 800+ El equivalent sensitivity, 1 to 60fps frame rate, electronic viewfinder and on-board HD recording. The A-EV Plus model adds uncompressed on-board recording and wireless remote control to the 16:9 aspect ratio shooting A-EV. The A-OV Plus switches things up to a 4:3 aspect and adds an optical viewfinder to the mix. The rest of the details will arrive during an April 6th launch event where ARRI will reveal the complete media, format, and what's promised to be a "super fast workflow."

Until then, check a side-by-side test done by the cats over at Animation World Network pitting a prototype Alexa against a RED One equipped with a new MysteriumX sensor and software. AWN was so enthusiastic by the results of the two cams that it proclaimed, "2010 is the year that celluloid died." Jim Jannard, RED CEO, graciously responded to the test by saying, "We had expected the images to be very similar and it appears that this test confirms that." He then added the following:

"We have believed, since IBC last year, that these two platforms would be the ones standing for the future. We are very proud to be in such good company. But for the moment, we tip our hats to Arri."

Now hit the source links for the full read because the future of film looks set to become historic."
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Source Article

How DSLRs Compare to RED Cameras

"I’m sure we’re all familiar with the excitement that hits when someone is on the verge of discovering something new, when Christmas is fast approaching, or when a client tells you that your project turned out “beautifully.” That is the kind of head to toe excitement many videographers felt when Oakley billionaire Jim Jannard unveiled some astonishing details about the RED Scarlet camera back in 2008. It’s also the same kind of excitement that many digital cinematographers are feeling even now.

At first glance, this camera seemed to have it all: a 3K resolution recorded to a superior codec, virtually no compression artifacts, RAW recording, a highly modular design for added functionality, more dynamic range than you probably know what to do with, and a good price at $4,750 with a fixed lens or $2,750 without. Even with a $2,750 price tag, for a camera that can shoot at higher resolutions than anything else on the market, it was and still is a real steal.

Unfortunately, there is no fairy tale ending to this story. Unfortunately, in order to get the kind of fully functioning camera you’re used to, you would have to get a lens, a battery, an audio interface, a viewfinder, and grips for shooting. All together that high quality equipment can cost upwards of twenty grand – a very steep price for those who want to make great looking films on the cheap. Also, one of the biggest complaints about the RED camera is its post-production workflow. In order to have a chance at editing the footage from a RED camera, an editor would first have to make low resolution proxies from the original 4 or 3k files. Otherwise, these files are usually too large for any computer to handle successfully. As you’ve probably figured out already, this proxy rendering takes an awful lot of processing power and time which is often a real deal-breaker for getting projects done on a tight deadline. On the other hand though, super high resolution files above 1080p are a problem for any computer and RED founder Jim Jannard does have a knack for making very high quality equipment in which he spares no expense. As a result, you can expect to definitely get what you pay for with these products.

So is there a less expensive option that can do something relatively close? Well, the answer is…more than likely. We are probably all too aware of the benefits and downfalls of DSLRs in the market today (if not, be sure to check out more from our previous blog posts), however besides RED cameras DSLRs probably have the best chance of making any footage you shoot look just as good as film. With their long history and ubiquitous availability of interchangeable lenses, they have a real solid lead on the RED cameras. They produce great results at a good price, but are not without their own set of headaches. For instance, DSLRs have been notorious for having bad audio options with their lack of XLR ports and forced auto gain control. Also, most videos shot on DSLRs are highly compressed meaning a loss of details in dark areas and the introduction of artifacting. Also, DSLRs need accessories in order to give them a similar feel to the kinds of camcorders you are used to such as XLR inputs, shoulder mounts, and viewfinders. Also, let’s not forget the problem of “the rolling shutter” which can make vertical lines in your video look slanted when the camera is panned. This is due to the camera sensor scanning your image from top to bottom instead of all at once. This can really make video shot on a DSLR look unprofessional rather quickly.

After all of that, when it comes down to what a person should buy for shooting high quality footage, the question undoubtedly comes down to how you’re going to use it. If you are looking at making films, the RED camera, even with it’s slow transcoding times, is probably the best option since it modular, has all of the right accessories and shoots at the correct frame rates for film. However for standard HD videography, DSLR makers have a real advantage since they have good prices, cameras that are already on the market, and codecs that don’t require long processing times.

Undoubtedly, if and when DSLR manufacturers decide to fix some of the problems that have been outlined above, and if the good people at RED find ways to make their equipment even more affordable, we may very well be lucky enough to witness a new era of digital videography." ~Article by Brunsdan

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Source Article

Interview With Filmmaker Jon Erwin

"Dramatic TV series, documentaries, reality television, shorts, music videos and commercials. All of these are regulars for Jon Erwin of the Erwin brothers, a writer/director duo from Birmingham, Alabama.

These young and unorthodox artists are anything but traditional. They focus on new and innovative ways to produce a diverse portfolio of work – from their multi-award winning documentary The Cross and the Towers to the dramatic TV series Life After, to the international short film series God Provides.

Jon Erwin was writer, director, executive producer and director of photography for The Mysterious Islands, a documentary filmed in the Galapagos Islands, in partnership with Vision Forum.

Christian-Movie.com: Did the idea of taking a RED One and a lot of other film equipment to the "world’s end" make you nervous?

Jon Erwin: Very nervous. We’ve named our RED "Elley May" and there were a few times I thought she wasn’t gonna make it back home. But hey, that’s what insurance policies are for! I believe we were the first people to take the RED camera to the Galapagos. It’s very heavy – about 50 pounds. My poor 1st AC had to lug it everywhere. But the final images were stunning and made it completely worth it.

Christian-Movie.com: Your underwater shots required scuba diving to significant depths with your equipment. What challenges were involved in this process? Are you an experienced scuba diver?

Jon Erwin: Yes, I do scuba dive. My father-in-law owns a dive quarry and we dive there now and then. I also love to free dive. Having said that, diving in the Galapagos was extremely difficult. The currents are harsh and the water was pretty cold. But we used the Canon 5D Mark II, which is very small, and that made things a lot easier.

Jon Erwin (right) prepares for a scuba dive

Life underwater in Galapagos is unbelievable. We dove with hundreds of black tip sharks and even a few hammerheads. It’s also incredible that we could swim with marine iguanas and penguins at the same time!"

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To read the full interview - click here

"Works in Progress" Works with the RED One Camera

"Clearly, if the hype was at all true, the RED One was going to be a camera to be reckoned with. So, we took a deep breath, plunked down our deposit, and sat back and waited. Indeed, we waited so long that we became very concerned that our camera would not arrive in time to begin shooting in May 2008. But arrive it did. “Lewis” (RED One #791) became the very first RED One camera out here on the Kansas prairie. Shockingly, when Mary saw the quality of the footage we were capturing with “Lewis,” she immediately suggested we buy a second camera (which we named “Clark”), as well!

Let me cut to the chase: The RED One camera is everything we had hoped it was going to be. Properly lighted scenes really do look almost completely indistinguishable from the finest footage shot on 35mm film. Noise (except in improperly lighted scenes) is almost nonexistent.

As you might imagine, the resolution is extraordinary. Although, sadly, we do not have a monitor capable of actually letting us watch our footage in 4K (4K displays have yet to appear on the market, although 4K projectors do exist), even watching 2K proxy files pulled from the 4K RAW originals is a revelation. And artistic control over depth-of-field remains as bewitching as ever.

The ability to use completely different types of lenses on the front of the otherwise lenseless RED One camera is one of its great advantages. We shot our movie using Nikon manual-focus primes (single focal-length lenses) and controlled focus using the relatively inexpensive Redrock Micro follow-focus, since we cannot afford the PL-mount lenses and Arri follow-focus units typically used on Hollywood sets. The lenses were superb. The look was, well, just like film. Optically, this camera is a winner! (We have since changed out the front-end of the camera, and now use Canon L-series electronic lenses with a just released — and truly revolutionary — wireless follow-focus system developed by Birger Engineering.)

Is the RED One a perfect camera? No. Is it for you? Maybe, but it’s definitely not for everyone. If you are used to shooting with a fast-paced “run and gun” shooting style, the RED One camera is not likely to be your camera of choice. The RED One is a digital cinema camera — not a quick-as-lightning ENG system. It was designed primarily for set shots (“Lights! Camera! Action!”). It does not come with a lens and does not offer either auto-focus or zoom options. It has no internal microphone (but it is almost impossible to capture good cinema-quality audio with an on-camera microphone anyway).

The RED One camera is a bit bulky and heavy, as well. Our fully-equipped cinema set-up, which includes an LCD monitor, an electronic viewfinder, a typical lens, a follow-focus, hard-drive, audio connections, battery, carbon fiber rails, shoulder mount, front handles, remote camera trigger, and a swing-away mattebox, weighs in at about 27 pounds. That might not sound like much, but as anyone who has actually tried to use a RED One camera in hand-held mode can tell you, it gets very heavy in a hurry. Indeed, it is so heavy that we ended up investing in a special hand-held rig known as the Easyrig 3.0, to take the weight off our poor DP’s shoulder (a $2,500 accessory that we highly recommend to all hand-held shooters).... ~Stephen Pruitt

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 You can read the full article/review and see more pictures of the camera and crew by visiting the Source Article.

RED Studios Hollywood...and MORE!

RED shows off their new sensor and new “color science” at their new studios.

"RED Leader Jim Jannard started off the presentation by announcing that RED had acquired Ren-Mar, closing the deal that very Friday (Jan. 15)—so that we were, in fact, holding the meeting in RED Studios Hollywood.

Jim was quick to admit that he and his crew are new at this, and that perhaps in the early days they didn’t know as much as they should have—but they’re getting better at listening, and getting input from the production community. Indeed, that was the point of the event: to show off work in progress, and get feedback from production folks, in a less-harried atmosphere than NAB or IBC. Throughout his talk, Jim kept saying, “don’t take my word for it”, and “go look for yourself”, and words to that effect; there was none of the hype, bombast, or aggro attitude of the early days, but a much more open-minded, realistic, reasonable tone. He also said, “RED is a trajectory, not a moment in time”; look at what we started with, see where we’re going, and make up your own mind."
Learn all about the new RED Studios, their improved Mysterium sensor, the improved RED RAY...now named RED 4K, RED’s latest, "all-in-one on-set/preview/batch transcode/one-light grading tool" titled REDCINE-X, get all the goods on RED Rocket, ...and lots, lots more and of course, there are more pictures. If you are interested in anything to do with RED you should read the full article here.

RED News

Read all about the new RED Epic and Scarlet info here!

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RED News Coming!

RED has announced that they will be announcing new announcements about the Epic and Scarlet cameras sometime in October...stay tuned. Click here for a lot more pictures and info!