Helmut Lang Pre Fall 2024 Campaign Shot with Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K
Blackmagic Design today announced that photographer and director Philipp Paulus (@philipppaulus) produced pre fall 2024 campaigns, motion lookbooks and fashion shows for luxury clothing brand Helmut Lang using a variety of Blackmagic Design products, including the new Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K digital film camera.
“When I heard about a new full frame camera with the possibility to shoot open gate, I was beyond excited,” said Paulus. “I’ve always found the squarer 4:3 format to be more beautiful and photographic than the Super 16 wide format. Being able to have that 4:3 format on a full frame sensor with even more wide angle lenses sounded like the camera I have been waiting for and gives me the photographic format that I always admired in film.”
While a lookbook usually contains around 40 photographs, for the 2024 spring season and for the first time in its campaigns, Helmut Lang wanted a motion lookbook comprised of 54 short video clips of interactions between protagonists, roughly 15 seconds long each.
“We also did one hero film that included all looks in a 10 minute video,” Paulus noted. “Helmut Lang has a very forward thinking approach to its campaigns and advertising. It’s one of the early brands to recognize how important it is to have a main motion film campaign, which is based in the mindset to always stretch the project a little further and do something new.”
Paulus highlighted the project’s challenging aspects, including the need for mobility and speed, as well as the ability to shoot in low light, to achieve all 54 looks in just two days.
“This project had a great run and gun or documentary style approach to it. We had several locations, not many hours of daylight and a lot of looks to shoot. Even the simple task of setting up a tripod would have taken too long,” he explained. “We relied entirely on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K’s gyro stabilization, which is truly impressive. Most scenes were shot handheld with a Leica Elmarit R 50mm or 90mm lens, and they are as smooth as it gets, even walking shots.”
“We also had to capture b roll throughout New York City, and I decided to go to a skyscraper observatory and get a shot of the long avenues. Since we could not take a fully rigged out camera or tripod up there, I took just the Cinema Camera 6K and a 180mm lens and shot a handheld tilt up scene of the long avenue. The gyro stabilizer, and the fact that this camera is so compact and has all features it needs built in, made this possible,” Paulus continued. “The low light capability of the Pocket Cinema Camera line has always been impressive, but the Cinema Camera 6K takes it to the next level. I have no issues shooting at 1600 ISO in Blackmagic RAW, and with a slight noise reduction in Resolve, I always get a satisfying high quality image.”
The tight deadlines continued into post as Paulus was responsible for editing and color grading the 54 clips using DaVinci Resolve Studio, along with a DaVinci Resolve Speed Editor keyboard and DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel. DaVinci Resolve Studio’s Fusion page was also used for some VFX, including beauty work and removing unwanted objects that were in the frame, such as debris in the street.
“The Micro Panel and Speed Editor were incredibly helpful for this project because I had 54 different clips that all had to be graded and edited differently in a very short amount of time,” he said. “Resolve is my all in choice for post. Originally, I only used Resolve for grading and would edit in other programs, which was an unnecessarily complicated workflow. When I noticed how much more efficient my workflow became once I switched to editing, grading, VFX and sound in one app, it blew my mind. Not to mention the added efficiencies with the Micro Panel and Speed Editor.”
Paulus concluded, “Video is more and more sought after by clients, and whereas brands used to only book photographers, they now need videographers. Blackmagic Design cameras and workflows are catering to these modern needs across capture and post production, helping photographers and videographers like myself push the boundaries of what’s possible.”
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