RedCam Central :: View topic - ONFILM Mag: Exclusive making of "Crossing the Line"

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ONFILM Magazine ("New Zealand's Screen Production Industry Magazine"), in the July Issue, features an exclusive story of the making of Peter Jackson's short "Crossing the Line", shot with the RED ONE Camera.

Below is the cover of the July Issue, which came out on the the 23rd. I believe the photo shows focus puller Sean Kelly with the Red One prototype "Boris" outfitted with an Optimo 12x Zoom. (Photo by Jim Jannard)

Here is a link to the article on the ONFILM website. It is in .PDF form:

http://www.onfilm.co.nz/editable/DigiFeature.pdf

Site Admin

If you haven't already read the article, then you might want to do so before reading further. Here are a couple of things that I found most interesting:

1) It was mentioned that in the future, 1K proxies for Quicktime may be able to be done "in Camera". This would be a great time saver since you would, in theory, skip a step in post. I'm not sure exactly how this would work, but perhaps the user would have the option to enable Proxy information to be created in real-time during recording as meta data, or possibly there would be an option to process the frames within the Camera after shooting, but before exporting the Media.

2) A separate application (or possibly a feature added to REDCINE), called REDCINE PULL LIST, was referred to, which would be used to automate the extraction of DPX files). This would be another nice utility to speed up the post process.

3) In the DI suite, it was said that certain shots were blown-up to see how far they could test the image quality. Apparently, some shots were enlarged by 60-80% without noticeable loss.

4) The prototype RED Cameras had limited functionality during the shoot. They had only a 180 degree shutter to work with and were locked in at 24fps. Also, the dynamic range compared to the new models being tested today was much lower (by as much as 2 stops) which made shooting even more challenging.

5) Peters team at Park Road Post are working on another Grade of the footage (as well as a Film Out), since the first was so rushed for NAB. The original footage was graded in 709 linear colorspace, rather than log colorspace due to a limitation within the version of REDCINE at the time. They believe they can significantly improve on the already outstanding results. With a newer grade done in 12-bit log, they expect an expanded colorspace and a more organic feel in the highlight areas. Perhaps this will be ready to show for IBC in September.

6) Apparently, the amount of setups and shots achieved due to the RED's design (modularity, mobility, digital media and workflow) and of course Peter Jackson's amazing team, were enough to impress even the most accomplished of filmmakers. Steven Spielberg was quoted in the article as saying "Did Peter really shoot this in two days?!"