FUJIFILM ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE A step beyond full-frame
If the highest quality is essential, the Fujifilm GFX100 offers the very best in a small package W hen you are one of the world’s top cinematographers with a hard-earned reputation to uphold, the last thing you want is to He has a huge body of incredible work, such as films Senna and The World’s End, and TV projects Billions, Hustle, Spooks, Doctor Who and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. Plus, commercials for mega-brands
compromise on quality. And while shooting feature films and advertising campaigns might afford the luxury of big crews and the most expensive large format cameras and lenses, these unusual times mean not every project has that kind of freedom. That was certainly the case for award-winning filmmaker Jake Polonsky BSC, who wanted tomake a short film to raise awareness for strugglingmusic venues hit hard by the pandemic, and expose how the past year has affectedmental health issues. That film is called 2020 Vision, based on a poemby HussainManawer, and is a powerful and evocative piece of work. “We have all been prevented from doing the things we love, and our livelihoods have also been affected. This film is an expression of our experiences this year and, in the end, a portrayal of one personmanaging to weather the storm and keep creating,” Polonsky says.
Guinness, Volkswagen, Nescafé, Vodafone andMcDonald’s, andmusic videos for the likes of Justin Timberlake, Kings of Leon, Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse. “Large format brings the opportunity for narrowdepth-of-field onwider-angle lenses. It can definitely add a sense of three- dimensionality and is great with richly detailed shots,” he explains. “I shot with the Alexa 65 on Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. ” But the absence of a big crew and budget, plus the stripped-down nature of working within Covid restrictions, meant another solution was needed. And that was the FujifilmGFX100, which fills in the gap in sensor size between so-called ‘large format’ cameras such as the Sony Venice, RedMonstro and Arri Alexa LF, and the mammoth 65mm sensor of the Arri Alexa 65. Compared to these, the GFX100 is significantly smaller andmore compact, has a far more affordable price tag, and
the sensor used for recording is actually bigger than the Arri Alexa 65 in 16:9mode. The GFX100 boasts a 100-megapixel, 4:3 ratiomedium format CMOS sensor that is 44x33mm in size. It allows for 10-bit 4K video to be output via HDMI, in a choice of 100, 200 or 400Mbps bit rates. It allows UHD 4K 16:9 Rawoutput, too. An Atomos Ninja V can read this Raw signal and convert it into 12-bit ProRes Raw for ultimate quality in grading. This makes it the first ‘medium format’ Raw system that people can own rather than renting. Polonsky initially made a little test film to experiment with the FujifilmGFX100’s capabilities. “With its big sensor, it seemed an interesting option for large format cinematography in a very small package,” he says. “The camera, although certainly not designed primarily as a motion picture device, did deliver some very interesting images. Enough tomake me wonder whether it would be possible to use it to make something a little more meaningful about this challenging year. “I’ve always been a Fuji fan. Back in the days of film, the 500T emulsion was a favourite of mine. When they started producing digital stills cameras, I started with the X-Pro 1, through to the X-T3 that I still have. The colour science was always surprisingly good – I felt they had a special response to colour that was pleasing.” He felt the GFX was the ideal camera to shoot Manawer – they had previously met on an Apple TV documentary about mental health. “I thought he would be perfect to write about the year and its effect on us. “The next challenge was how tomake a film that wasn’t just an illustration of the ABOVE Haris Zambarloukos BSC (in grey) brought his cinematography expertise to the project
ABOVE The Troxy theatre proved a perfect backdrop, allowing dancer Will Thompson to work his magic
36
PRO MOVIEMAKER
Powered by FlippingBook