Most people would be aware that production on the new Spider-man reboot starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone was to start shooting sometime in December, the exact date was a bit of a mystery, until now. Now we know that ‘filming’ began on Monday 6th December and thanks to an announcement by the films Director of Photography, we also know that it marks a new era in the technology used in big budget digital film-making.
Whilst 3d movies are all the rage these days, Pirates 4 and Transformers 3 the most recently made, the biggest issue with the format is the size of the camera rigs and elaborate set-ups required. When Peter Jackson announced he would be shooting his new Hobbit films using the latest RED camera system, it was assumed we would have to wait sometime before we saw the images captured using the new technology.
Now that won’t be the case with the Spider-man production beating Jackson to the punch by shooting the new film with the same cameras he intends to use. This has been confirmed with the cinematographer John Schwartzman A.S.C making an enthusiastic post on the Red forum raving about the quality of the RED Epic Cameras used on a major studio motion picture. Whilst not mentioning the film, Schwartzman is listed as the cinematographer on Sony’s Spider-Man reboot. He described the images as stunning, with rich beautiful color and the resolution of a Vistavision camera. The size and low weight of the cameras made it possible to achieve the results and resolution that director Marc Webb wanted, without the 100lb weight associated with the other formats. The resolution is so high that only the IMAX film format offers a bigger resolution which is why Christopher Nolan is aiming to use it with greater effect on The Dark Knight Rises.
Here’s what the cinematographer wrote:
Today was Epic, Monday December 6 marks the first day the Red Epic camera was used to shoot a major studio motion picture. I can say for certainty the camera does exist and boy is it ready for primetime, as a matter of fact it’s a true game changer. We shot in 3D with 4 Epics mounted on 2 3ality TS-5 rigs today, we did 22 set ups, including running high speed and the images look stunning! I do believe the sensor is iso 800 minus 1 stop for the mirror in daylight and iso 640 in tungsten light but that is really for every dp to determine for themselves, Brook Willard and I figured 640 tungsten but that’s just a number.
For the first time in digital cinematography, small size doesn’t come with a resolution penalty, as a matter of fact there isn’t a higher resolution camera available other than IMAX, and this one weighs 5lbs with an ultra prime on it, suddenly 3D isn’t a 100lb beast! We had the cameras on dollies and a libra head today and we flew the 3D rig like it was an Arri 435. You guys told me you could do it in September and here we are today, Congratulations.
I am lighting by eye except that I’ve had to re-train myself to work at lower light levels because the camera is so sensitive. The images we made today were stunning, rich beautiful color and the resolution of a vistavision camera all in a package the size of a Hasselblad 501. We are shooting 2.40 at 5K, there wasn’t a hiccup from the cameras all day, the data was flawless, and there was a lot of it. I can tell you without these cameras it would be impossible to move a 3D rig in the ways that THIS story demands, if Jim and the crew hadn’t made these cameras available to us I don’t think we could have shot this movie the way our director envisioned it in 3D. Guys you’ve trusted me to take these out on their maiden voyage and I can tell you that after today I won’t let you down. I would like to thank Nate, Brook, Michael, and Deanan as well as my regular camera crew for an unbelievable first day…
With Spider-Man now in production we can expect images from the set soon. Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield are joined by Rhys Ifans, Sally Field, Martin Sheen, Iffran Khan, Campbell Scott, Julianne Nicholson, and Annie Parisse.
The Spider-Man reboot is directed by Marc Webb and opens in 3D on July 3, 2012.
via: electronista Redforum
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