Cook Anamorphic Lenses & Red S8K Helium Camera

[Humberto Rivera]

I was thinking, the last issue of Film and Digital Times (June 2020) was all about the Arri Camera, of all the 220 pages (cover to cover), it was on Page 178 were the differences where finally reveal, after pages and pages of text. “Record ARRIRAW and ProRes at Native Resolution of LF Open Gate Sensor Mode: 4.5K”, yes 4.5K while the Red Komodo which is a 6 K Sensor and way more inexpensive, and currently under Graeme Nattress careful attention to tweak the camera (2 pounds, 4” by 4”) is way better in terms of resolution.

Now the sensor on the Red Komodo trends toward a Cinema Aspect Ratio, and the Arri trends toward the Old Television Aspect Ratio. The Red Komodo is the precursor to the new DSMC3 to come for all the Red Cameras in the near future. Just a thought on this beta version pending final release of the camera software.

Humberto Rivera

 

[Humberto Rivera]

Have you ever thought how a Film goes from the Writing, to the Cinematography, to the Editing, and to the viewing of Story on the Big Screen? Take a step back and look at life, turn around and look at the world with just your eyes. What do you see? The world to your hands. That’s a pretty wide shot to a very close up. Think about all the film you seen in your life.

Look at your hands, the fingers, the palm, the lines running through it in all directions, and then look up to an imaginary prairie, or a city scape high above the tallest building, to see the entire city bellow as far as the eye can see. From a CLOSE UP of the hands to a LONG SHOT of the city into infinity, then look down to the entrance to the building from above to a MIDIUM LONG SHOT to across the street to a window in the building framing it to a MEDIUM SHOT around a person. That in essence of building a sequence for a film. Weather written, shot, edited, or view in a Film, is the building of a sequence, none-the-less.

There has to be an integration of “Real Live” (documentary) to “Imaginary Life” (fiction). Looking around your world, with a preconceived moment of creativity, it’s that transition from “Real” to “Imaginary”, at some point there is the transfer to that non-geographical space called “Creativity”. You make the jump from Documentary to Fiction. Weather is with the writing word, the actual photography, the editing of images and sounds, or to viewing it on a Giant Screen. I’m talking about something abstract, modeled after the real world, that space which we call creativity. It’s almost like being between waking up or being asleep, that transition moment in time, were you reach out and grasp the fiction from the real world, an convert it to fiction. Weather your asleep or awake, whatever your state of mind-is, model it after looking around, waking up, or whatever is you “Point of Creativity” is, value-it, write it down, cherish it, it doesn’t happen often enough. You could be anywhere, any time, it will come by surprise, grab it, write it down.

It all you mind! It’s all in your life experience! It’s all in the places you been too, and navigated difficult situation or pleasant adventures, or maybe both! It’s all in your dreams! In there, somewhere, are the stuff of storytelling! We all have it, it just that some can get it out and moralizing it better that others. If you don’t grab it at the right moment it will go into oblivion. It’s a big World, lot of stuff happens around the World, some adventures happen in the past, the preset, or the future, it’s a creation of the mind.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell I remember being intrigue by; Joseph Campbell the author of “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” – “His philosophy has been summarized by his own often repeated phrase: "Follow your bliss”. He gained recognition in Hollywood when George Lucas credited Campbell's work as influencing his Star Wars saga; “I came to the conclusion after American Graffiti that what's valuable for me is to set standards, not to show people the world the way it is...around the period of this realization...it came to me that there really was no modern use of mythology. The Western was possibly the last generically American fairy tale, telling us about our values. And once the Western disappeared, nothing has ever taken its place. In literature we were going off into science fiction...so that's when I started doing more strenuous research on fairy tales, folklore, and mythology, and I started reading Joe's books. Before that I hadn't read any of Joe's books. It was very eerie because in reading “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” I began to realize that my first draft of Star Wars was following classic motifs. So I modified my next draft according to what I'd been learning about classical motifs and made it a little bit more consistent...I went on to read “The Masks of God” and many other books”. End George Lucas quote.

So what makes us able to be a complete filmmaker? The ability to mix rather well the disciplines of the Artist and the Technician, together they make the essence of filmmaking into a new reality. What do I mean by that statement, mix well? Let’s take the example of being high on building, and looking at the expanse with your eyes, and the mind of a writer, a cinematographer, an editor, and an audience. You go through the evolution of developing a sequence, which are part of many sequences, which are part of Cinema Production. There are so many disciplines from the arts and technical involved in this creation. They are part of how you see, and the story you choose to tell.

How do you see? How do you imagine? How do you create? They are all an important part of the; Art of Cinema! The hero’s journey can be a template for an “Action Adventure Film”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero's_journey “In narratology and comparative mythology, the monomyth, or the hero's journey, is the common template of a broad category of tales and lore that involves a hero who goes on an adventure, and in a decisive crisis wins a victory, and then comes home changed or transformed. Various scholars have introduced theories on hero myth narratives, including Edward Burnett Tylor, Otto Rank, and Lord Raglan. Eventually hero myth pattern studies were popularized by Joseph Campbell, who was influenced by Carl Jung's view of myth. In his 1949 work “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”, Campbell described the basic narrative pattern as follows: A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man”. End of quote.

Look at your hand, and then look to infinity, what do you imagine happened, or will happened, write it down for future reference, take notes, always take notes. Just leave you with the thought, whever your trying to compose a sequence, look to your hand then look to infinity, and the sequece lies somewhere in between.

Humberto Rivera

 

[Humberto Rivera]

Will the 2021 Tokyo Olympics be the 12K Olympics? Tokyo just skip a year because of the “Covid-19” for the 2020 8K Olympics, now 12K is sneaking in to the marketplace. Forget that you might not need it, or want it, it’s all about the marketplace; they calls all the shots. Example, the “Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K has a new 12,288 x 6,480 - 12K Super 35 image sensor”.

https://www.fdtimes.com/2020/07/17/blackmagic-design-ursa-mini-pro-12k/

So what about a Red Camera with a 12K sensor? First let’s start with the old declaration by Red of a camera that can change the sensors without changing the camera. Second that the Komodo will eventually turned into a DCMC 3 Full Frame Sensor Camera, at whatever resolution and a new sensor? When we don’t know what the Camera will look like or the resolution, but whatever it is, there will be an announcement before the 2021 Olympics. If you take the current space allocated to the MONSTRO 8K sensor, and fill it up with an enlarged Komodo sensor size, there is room for a 12K sensor exponentially enlarged to an appropriate size, so no new lenses.

I’m just thinking out loud, this are just my opinions.

Humberto Rivera

 

[Humberto Rivera]

There is a change coming to the World Wide Motion Picture Industry, you can see-it as you glance around your neighborhoods around the World, and it’s a major one. Ever since the Corona Virus has hit the World Cinemas it has been taken over by Digital releases. Theaters lay dormant, their kiosk are dark. No revenues from Worldwide Cinemas. Production Companies, Distributors, and Consumers are witnessing a new paradigm, do they meet at the Cinema or at Home to Consume the Product.

The crisis is marked by the Business Models that leads to a revenue streams for the Major Distributors, and how much it generates for the Distributors, the Production Company, the Actors, and the endless number of Industry workers. It will affects the film budgets of the Future. Camera rental, or sales it’s an endless chain. Movies have been around since the beginning of the Motion Picture Industry when it cost a nickel (just five cents) to get in the theater to be wow by what you saw on the screen. It has been a business all-along.

Recently The Guardian of London publish and article named; “Disney opts for digital-first release of Mulan, shocking cinema owners” it illuminates an ongoing experimental industry in change.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/20...first-release-of-mulan-shocking-cinema-owners

“Disney’s decision to bypass cinemas and offer its latest big budget film Mulan directly to streaming subscribers for $29.99 could signal the beginning of the end for the traditional movie-going experience – and forever change the long-established business model underpinning the Hollywood blockbuster. The surprise move has stunned cinema owners, who had been banking on the film, along with Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi thriller Tenet, to jump-start box office takings as https://www.theguardian.com/film/20...set-for-worst-year-since-1996-due-coronavirus from the coronavirus pandemic. The move is seismic given Disney’s utter dominance of the worldwide box office – the company made a record $13.2bn in ticket sales last year – with cinema owners believing it would be the last Hollywood studio to look at threatening the 70- to 90-day exclusive “theatrical window” they have enjoyed at the top of the pecking order for newly released films before they head to other platforms.”

Humberto Rivera

https://www.engadget.com/disney-plus-mulan-release-182440824.html

 

[Humberto Rivera]

Why is 12K needed for Cinema Production? For the same reason that David Lean’s “Lawrence of Arabia” was shot in Super Panavision 70 in 1962. RESOLUTION! “Tenet” the newest IMAX film by Christopher Nolan, continues to challenge the Digital Capture Domain, if just won’t let go, it keeps on hammering away, we have knowledge of the limits of Film; it’s IMAX, so that’s the number that we should shoot for the IMAX frame, 69.6 mm × 48.5 mm (2.74 in × 1.91 in). 12K resolution, it’s within reach. Lenses like the Cooke S7/i Lenses, Angénieux Optimo Primes, Leitz Prime, and others have the full frame sizes lenses of 46.31 Ø or larger.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_of_Arabia_(film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenet_(film)

Blackmagic Design URSA Mini Pro 12K Camera will soon be in the market. The Red Komodo is a preview of the DSMC3 Red Camera that’s around the corner, hopefully it will be in 12K resolution, so we’re getting there. Fill that frame up to 12K, that’s within reach of the new sensor size.

Humberto Rivera

 

[Humberto Rivera]

Cooke use of CINETAPE 2 in film production.

https://www.cookeoptics.com/u/news.html?Open&k=cinetape

“How /i technology provides a powerful method to help retain focus while shooting full frame with Cinematography Electronics’ market leading CINETAPE 2.”

“Leicester, UK - 14 September 2020 - One of the focuses for Cooke Optics for the remaining months of 2020 will be on demonstrating to its customers how its /i technology enables new technical solutions to age old problems. And few problems have been given as much of a twist in recent years as the problem of keeping focus while shooting full frame.”

“The shallow depth of field look that full frame provides is much prized and has been a significant driver in the rise of productions using the format. However, keeping the narrow plane of focus is a significant challenge on set for cinematographers and focus pullers, especially in situations where both subjects and camera are moving. The market leading solution for providing a quick visual measurement is the CINETAPE, from Cinematography Electronics, which provides a numerical reading showing the distance between the camera’s film plane and the subject at a glance. Now in its second iteration, the CINETAPE 2 is smaller and lighter than ever before, and has recently been joined by a dedicated /i Lens Display box that reads critical metadata information from /i technology equipped lenses, and displays the combined data on a multicolored bar graph display for an even quicker depth of field reference.”

Humberto Rivera

 

[Humberto Rivera]

Scorsese, Eastwood, Broccoli say US cinemas may not survive pandemic Industry figures have signed a letter saying ‘we fear for the future’ of cinemas, 69% of which could go out of business.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/20...ccoli-say-us-cinemas-may-not-survive-pandemic

“Oscar-winning film directors James Cameron, Clint Eastwood and Martin Scorsese joined forces with movie theatre owners on Wednesday in an appeal for financial help, saying they feared for the future of their industry. In a letter to the leaders of the US Senate and the House of Representatives, they said the coronavirus pandemic had dealt a devastating blow to movie theatres and that without funds “[cinemas] may not survive the impact of the pandemic”.

"The letter was signed by more than 70 directors and producers along with the National Association of Theater Owners, the Directors Guild of America and the Motion Picture Association.”

“The pandemic forced US cinemas to close in mid-March. Big chains including AMC Entertainment and Cineworld’s Regal Cinemas have reopened with reduced capacity in many US cities, but not in the biggest markets of Los Angeles and New York City. Efforts to get Americans back into cinemas have proved disappointing, and Hollywood studios have delayed the release of big movies such as Black Widow and Top Gun: Maverick to 2021.”

“The letter said that 69% of small and mid-sized movie theatre companies will be forced to file for bankruptcy or close permanently without help. “Cinemas are an essential industry that represent the best that American talent and creativity have to offer. But now we fear for their future,” the letter said. Others signatories included James Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson, Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins, and action movie director-producer Michael Bay. They asked Congress to redirect unspent funds from the coronavirus aid package passed earlier this year, or enact new proposals that would help cinemas weather the pandemic.”

Humberto Rivera

 

[Humberto Rivera]

I was thinking, now that we’ve settled in with the Black KOMODO, it’s time to start think about the yet to be announced DSMC3 with its Full Frame SENSOR and new resolution for high-end Camera. The SENSOR Size should be around the current 46.3 mm or so Image circle (too many lenses in this category to ignore). There can also be an anamorphic sensor size. Meaning you can bring the length in to inside of the sensor, and you can go up on the upper-side (around 25mm or more), this would go nicely with the yet to be delivered MULTI SENSOR Camera announced by Red some time ago. So you can have a 2.41:1 (2.39:1) finished aspect ratio with to a 1.85x anamorphic squeeze at a higher resolution. That would be going beyond the current high of 36mm x 24mm to some higher number on the vertical. Give the Hollywood Studios (and everyone else) they need something to brag about in their theater screening, they could use all the help they can get once the Covid-19 has gone away, to drive audiences back into Movie Theaters (we can only hope), it’s an uncertainty at this time. If not the Hollywood Blockbuster will be a thing of the past and the jobs to the Movie Industry.

Because the battery(s) world no longer be a limiting form factor, you can explore thing like; some sort camera monitoring of software features and image rendering on the camera somehow. The external Viewfinder and monitor could have plenty of power at the connector (less cables). Resolution, here is where we go beyond 8Ks, to what I don’t know, but a least 12K (Remember Black Magic has 12K). Home televisions have gone to 4K and soon to be 8K, so think long and hard about this one. Remember the Tokyo Olympics’ are yet to come in 2021 in 8K, it will be a resolution driven event. So how will this camera look like? I don’t know, but its shape is open to your imagination. Any ideas?

Humberto Rivera

 

[Humberto Rivera]

What IF the Tokyo Olympics’ don’t happen in 2021, what-if? That’s a real possibility.

“Prime Minister Suga has expressed his determination to hold the Games; the government is leading a series of coordination meetings for Covid-19 countermeasures and is implementing thorough infection countermeasures in order to be able to hold the Games,” it said in a statement.” “All our delivery partners including the national government, the Tokyo metropolitan government, Tokyo 2020 organising committee, the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee are fully focused on hosting the Games this summer. “We hope that daily life can return to normal as soon as possible, and we will continue to make every effort to prepare for a safe and secure Games.”

But What-If? They don’t happen on: 23 July 2021? The roll-out of the 8K equipment for the Broadcast of the Tokyo Olympics, and ALL the supporting pieces behind it, including all the viewing ancillary pieces, Worldwide.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...n-says-australia-pm-amid-cancellation-rumours
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...ls-ponder-vaccine-dilemma-as-tokyo-games-loom

All the technological advances the have occurred in the Name of the Tokyo Olympics 2021, have they been in vain? The sponsors, the different World Spotting Clubs. “We have not received any information suggesting the Games will not happen as planned, and our focus remains on the health and preparedness of Team USA athletes ahead of the Games this summer.”

On Thursday, the IOC’s chairman, Thomas Bach, dismissed growing speculation about cancellation. “We have at this moment, no reason whatsoever to believe that the Olympic Games in Tokyo will not open on the 23rd of July in the Olympic stadium in Tokyo,” Bach told Japan’s Kyodo news agency. “This is why there is no plan B and this is why we are fully committed to make these Games safe and successful.” Stay tune. We’re approaching the GO no Go point of no return, it’s almost here.

Humberto Rivera