Brazil. The Brazilian production company Sand relies on a comprehensive work dynamic based on Blackmagic devices, which it uses to broadcast over the Internet and create content about some of the most important concerts, festivals and events in the country.
These include the recent Tardezinha tour by Thiaguinho (Thiago André Barbosa), pagode singer, composer and presenter, which featured 30 shows across Brazil with an average audience of 20,000 people each.
A common format that is delivered in large live productions in Brazil, in particular concerts and music festivals, are contents with a summary of an event that are shared on YouTube or different social networks, which highlight the main moments and work as a memory that lasts over time. The founder and CEO of Sand, Égon Marzullo, stated: "Sand has more than 10 years of experience in this type of content and has produced more than 3000 videos, which is why it is one of the most important formats in our production dynamics."
"For this type of content to be a success, it is necessary to achieve a perfect combination of camera movements, texture and color, in order to create a cinematic universe for the viewer, since we are immortalizing a live show," he added. "With Blackmagic Design's Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, 6K and 6K Pro models and Blackmagic RAW format, we were able to take advantage of the cinematic-quality images as well as the portability of these cameras and then grade the footage in post-production with DaVinci Resolve Studio."
During the Tardezinha tour, Sand was responsible for creating a video after each of the 30 shows. "We are convinced that our commitment to using Blackmagic cameras emphasizes a fundamental aspect of our services: the ability to deliver cinematic-quality images with unprecedented clarity," said Marzullo. "Because the environment is very unpredictable, and you have to deal with different types of problems while trying to capture moments that don't happen again, and that you usually can't control, reliability is key. This is why the production team employs a workflow based entirely on Blackmagic Design products."
Four Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro units were connected to record the show to an ATEM Television Studio HD switcher, with a SmartView HD monitor that allowed multiple sources to be monitored. The capture was carried out on HyperDeck Studio HD Mini and Blackmagic Video Assist 7" 12G HDR devices, which was also used to evaluate the exposure of the images in the camera.
"On the other hand, the main signal was shared with the team responsible for real-time playback on the screens distributed throughout the venue, while the format conversions were in charge of Mini Converter UpDownCross HD devices. In some places, it was necessary to install a structure for chrominance image compositions for sign language interpretation, and we used Mini Converter Optical Fiber 12G devices due to the distance between the mixing room and the need to send return signals to the performers," added Rodrigo Oliveira, a specialist in overlay transmissions.
"The exceptional quality of the footage captured with Blackmagic cameras, coupled with the ease of use of the equipment and its adaptability to different situations and mounts, solidifies our consistent preference for such devices in the productions we carry out," said Marzullo. "In addition, we rely on Blackmagic for projects of this magnitude. In a show of this magnitude, we cannot take risks in terms of the loss of signals or the malfunction of the equipment during the shows. With Blackmagic equipment, we know with complete certainty that we will achieve the best results and, consequently, meet the demands of our customers. This commitment sets us apart from other creators operating in the same market."
"Our decision to use Blackmagic equipment comes from long before the Tardezinha tour," said Marzullo to conclude. "Since 2020, we have only used Blackmagic cameras in all projects, ranging from shows and parties to festivals. We also have an educational space called Academy by Sand, in which I am personally in charge of teaching more than 1000 students, who try to create their own film production companies. With Blackmagic devices, we are certainly taking content to the next level and inspiring a new generation of filmmakers to achieve the same level of quality in their films."
