Game Informer Uplevels Its Video Production with Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro
Blackmagic Design today announced that Game Informer is using a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro digital film camera to capture fast paced documentaries, interviews and monthly cover stories featuring today’s top video games and game makers. The Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro is helping the premier video game publication create new, dynamic video content to further engage with its print and digital audience of more than 5M monthly readers.
Launched as a magazine in 1991, Game Informer provides in depth knowledge and insight into the gaming market through breaking news, features and reviews. Its online publication and YouTube channel feature exclusive digital content from its monthly magazine covers, interviews and more, reaching more than 257M total views and 744K subscribers.
“On average, we generate two to three videos per week. In a world with endless feeds to scroll, our content must catch the viewer’s eye quickly, which Blackmagic Design enables us to do, helping us achieve a production quality few can replicate. Game Informer’s small editorial team, 30 year legacy, and American Midwest roots also instill an exceptional quality into our content that our audience connects with,” noted Game Informer Video Editor Alex Van Aken. “Whether filming in a Japanese office, a large convention in Europe, or a cave in California, our interviews break through the noise by giving fans a behind the scenes look at how games are made and at the individuals, who are luminaries in their craft, working hard to make them.”
According to Van Aken, having a user friendly, compact camera is key for working on location, especially for the many expeditious projects that take him around the globe. Along with the Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro, he also packs a Pocket Cinema Camera 4K to capture occasional B angles. Travelling to Osaka, Japan, for Game Informer’s “Street Fighter 6” cover story, the seven part video series required extensive conversations with the developers and lessons learned from the iconic “Street Fighter” series.
While in Osaka, Van Aken shot eight interviews in only two days. “Being able to quickly move locations and set up a shot within a five minute break is essential,” Van Aken explained. “The Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro’s focus peaking indicators and ND filters were especially helpful with this. In the past, I’ve missed out on the shot because I’ve had to manually switch out my filters. Having the ND filters built in is a game changer. I’m able to achieve the look that I want, without sacrificing the composition of the shot.”
Van Aken also recently used the camera to capture Game Informer’s three part, 30 minute per episode documentary series “Making Mina,” for which he followed “Mina the Hollower” Developer Alec Faulkner throughout his day. A one man production, Van Aken specifically noted the Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro’s compact size as a key benefit. He explained, “I am able to halve the weight of my kit when I use my Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro. Instead of bringing along an external monitor, cables and chargers, I’m able to use what the camera has, without sacrificing the quality.”
When it came to shooting Game Informer’s “In Search Of Perfect: Exploring Caves With Spelunky’s Creator” documentary, Van Aken followed indie Developer Derek Yu into the Caves of Munits in California.
“This was a physically demanding shoot, as we were hiking up the steep cave mouth with the sun beating down on us,” Van Aken explained. “The camera’s super bright HDR screen allowed me to view what I was shooting even in the direct sunlight. Some of the shots were hard to achieve physically, like when I was climbing into narrow sections of the cave, but the Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro’s compact, lightweight design was a lifesaver.”
Van Aken added, “As part of this documentary, we received drone footage that was severely underexposed. DaVinci Resolve Studio’s color grading toolset allowed us to save the footage and even take it to the next level using Resolve FX like halation and glow. Without it, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve what we did.”
Van Aken shot all three projects using Blackmagic RAW, citing the camera’s incredible dynamic range and Blackmagic RAW’s flexibility in post production as essential to the workflow. “Blackmagic RAW has become my favorite format to shoot in. The fact that I can record professional level footage at a reasonable storage cost is revolutionary to our production,” he said.
“From the side of a mountain to the streets of Osaka, the Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro has elevated my production to a quality I have never previously obtained,” concluded Van Aken. “I can’t wait to see where this camera takes us next.”
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