ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE OLYMPUS
Packedwith potential
With somany cameras capable of a stunning hybrid performance these days, the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II is definitely one to look at as cinematographer ByronWijayawardena recently discovered
W e live in interesting times, and just as photographers have felt the urge to look beyond their boundaries to explore what the moving image might offer them, so too are their cameras becoming all-rounders, capable of shooting video footage that’s well up to professional standards alongside stunning stills. Over the past few years Olympus has been getting in on the act, delivering cameras such as the OM-D E-M5 Mark II with its excellent filmmaking facility alongside outstanding stills functionality. More recently the OM-D E-M1 Mark II has moved things on again, offering 4K recording at 24p and UHD at 30, 25 and 24fps, a built-in headphone socket, 5-axis image stabilisation and digital stabilisation, clean HDMI output via a Micro HDMI connection and Sync start/ stop. In short, it’s a powerful all-rounder, worthy of consideration by those who want to produce video for their clients at the same time as shooting stills. London-based Byron Wijayawardena’s association with Olympus dates back to the age of 14, when he first developed an
this process either, since everything is constantly changing.” Byron now runs the high-end Hangman boutique production and post- production studio, which works on a wide range of freelance filmmaking projects frommusic to corporate to commercial. When not taking on high profile commissions with his talented team he’s teaching on BA and MA courses at London universities and looking to pass his knowledge on to the next generation of filmmakers. Working with Olympus Given his filmmaking experience Byron has worked with numerous cameras over the years, but his interest was piqued not just from his long-term relationship with Olympus but with the enthusiastic reception the OM-D E-M1 Mark II received from the filmmaking business in general. He was equally taken with the diminutive size of this mirrorless camera, which is a fraction of the size of some of its DSLR filmmaking rivals. “I often need to travel light while still achieving high-quality stable images,” he says, “without the need for all the
interest in the visual arts on the back of borrowing his father’s treasured OM-2n. Not long after that he acquired his first Super 8 camera and began his lifelong love affair with visual storytelling. “I’ve been making movies of one form or another since I was young,” he says, “starting off on 8mm film, then 16mm then to tape-based cameras and then finally to digital cameras. For the last 15 years, however, I’ve been hidden away working within internal creative, product marketing and marketing teams at Apple and BlackMagic Design, where I learned a lot. In that time I was very fortunate to work with professionals in the production and post-production industries from all over the world, from filmmakers through to cinematographers, editors and colourists. “For the last two years I’ve been a fully-fledged freelance cinematographer, editor, colourist and educator. I guess you could say I am a creative director for hire, and I love everything about the filmmaking process, from start to finish. I believe all parts of this are connected and that you need to learn as much as possible. You can never afford to stop
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PRO MOVIEMAKER SPRING 2018
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