International. Producer and cinematographer Joey Fameli turned to several Micro Cinema Camera units to film a recent expedition to the Arctic Circle. On the other hand, the Pocket Cinema Camera and Studio Camera models, as well as the DaVinci Resolve Studio program, were used to record and etalonar content for Tested, a website dedicated to "everything unheard of" in the field of science, exploration, nature and emerging technologies, among other aspects.
Norman Chan, one of the founders of Tested, and Adam Savage, protagonist of the series "Mythbusters", use this medium to publish unique stories, videos, podcasts and much more. As Fameli explains, "Tested is a creator-oriented site that covers various aspects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. As the main producer, I am in charge of the videos we publish, whose content can include the details of an experiment, special effects, visits to film sets, the construction of different elements for a project by Savage or even expeditions to the Arctic Circle.
Recently, astronaut Chris Hadfield invited the Tested team to be part of the polar crossing that the Generator Arctic group carried out with Quark Expeditions. Fameli and his companions spent 18 days aboard the Russian icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov, sailing the coasts of Greenland and the Canadian Arctic Circle.
"The Micro Cinema Camera is compact and its battery lifespan, so it was ideal for placing it in a fixed position and capturing images for time intervals," said Fameli. "I placed several units at various points on the ship, covered the batteries with heating pads and left them recording. This allowed me to obtain extraordinary material from the helicopters taking off, from the legendary Russian ship breaking the ice, from life aboard the vessel and from the spectacular Arctic landscape."
"On the other hand, I also turned to several Micro Cinema Cameras to capture images from a DeLorean during a road test," he added. "I fastened four units inside the car with butyl and duct tape, so that I could film the driver, the passenger, the vehicle and through the window. As it was at noon, the light was very bright and the shadows really dark. However, the cameras captured all the details, thanks to the breadth of the dynamic range. In addition, we were able to preserve all the information in the images, which made it easier to edit the material with DaVinci Resolve Studio."
According to Fameli, Tested does not have a large film crew, and it is often not possible to control the recording environment. "Unless we're in a studio, we usually shoot outdoors," he explained. "That's where the dynamic range of the Micro Cinema Camera comes in."
"We can say the same about the Pocket Cinema Camera model, which we have been using for several years to shoot material on the fly, holding it by hand or using platforms for this purpose," he added. "When you're constantly traveling, you need to have equipment that provides not only portability, but also professional quality that's on par with other cameras. I have never used DSLR versions, as I was engaged in electronic news gathering, but I don't want content in H.264 files. I prefer to have the possibility to record in RAW or ProRes format, with a wide dynamic range, and also to have color grading tools, all at a reasonable price."
With these models as featured products in its arsenal, Fameli once again appealed to Blackmagic Design when it came to improving the studio where the contents for Tested are filmed. "We recently modernized our studio. We used to use different cameras with different colour profiles, so our goal was to achieve a uniform appearance in the recorded material," he said. "We opted for the Blackmagic Studio Camera model, as it was imperative to have several units, and we knew that this version met all the requirements in terms of price, quality and resolution. At the same time, this camera was specially designed for live productions and can therefore be connected directly to a mixer."
Fameli concluded: "We are finishing building the studio and we have a high expectation. We want to use it not only for live productions, but also for demonstration videos, taking advantage of the fact that we have several Studio Cameras to capture different angles, and thus be able to give the viewer a better visual experience".
