Festival Short Film In Memory Of Shot with URSA Cine 12K LF
Camera’s full frame sensor and dynamic range bring dimension and wide exposure to the film.
Blackmagic Design today announced that cinematographer Robert Hewitt recently shot the short film project “In Memory Of” using the Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF digital film camera.
Directed by Lawrence Mirisch and produced by John Moio, “In Memory Of” follows three estranged adult siblings (played by Brent Bailey, Yael Grobglas and Gloria Cole) after the death of their esteemed father as they clash over the inheritance of a single item, revealing long buried traumas that shaped their lives.
No stranger to Blackmagic Design cameras or color science, Hewitt was eager to shoot with the new flagship digital film camera. “I’ve been using Blackmagic cameras for years,” said Hewitt. “I remember when the first URSA Mini came out, and I was blown away by the quality back then. I’d been hearing a lot about the new URSA Cine line of cameras, and luckily, I was able to use one for this project.”
For Hewitt, shooting on the URSA Cine 12K LF’s full frame sensor brought a unique dimension to the film. “The full frame sensor gives you a larger image area, which translates into a more immersive field of view and shallower depth of field,” added Hewitt. “Once we had the camera up and the set lit, the director and producer were all wowed by the image right away. After dialing everything in, it was just incredibly beautiful.”
For 1st Assistant Camera Jeremy Hill, this was the first time working with Blackmagic Design cameras since the early days of the original HD Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera. As with any camera assistant on set, the key to a system is its usability during production.
“I really enjoy having the two large touch screen monitors on either side of the camera,” said Hill. “Having that functionality allows for easy changes to settings and acts as a good secondary monitor option for a director or whoever may need to approach the camera to see the frame without getting in the way of the camera operator. This new body also has mounting options that make it easy to mount accessories, whether a transmitter, extra monitor, or rangefinder.”
What often differentiates a cinema camera is its dynamic range, and both Hewitt and Hill were impressed with the URSA Cine 12K LF’s ability to handle wide exposure. “The opening scene of the short probably showcases the remarkable dynamic range of the camera, from the darker interior with the harsh sunlight highlights coming into the room,” said Hill. “It was nice to see that the image was still very flattering even considering such a wide range of exposure.”
For Hewitt, the dining room scene showed off the camera’s abilities the best. “We started with a wide, slowly creeping shot and then moved into all the table details and the intense conversation between the three siblings,” continued Hewitt. “There were large windows behind two of the actors, which made balancing the exposure a little tricky. My longtime friend and great gaffer, Mikie Pederson, was able to help with scrims outside, but it was still very bright, and I was a little worried. However, once we got into post production and loaded up the Blackmagic RAW files, it was amazing to see how well the camera handled those highlights.”
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