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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

RED at Warner Bros.

TV Series

TV Series

The RED already has many impressive credits. The concern about RED being involved in series television is too late. It is already done. We have completed two weeks of production on the first of 20 weeks for 13 episodes of 'Sanctuary' for Sci-Fi Network airing in October. I belive we hold the record for 'first TV series filmed completely on RED. (3 REDs and nothing else)

The future is now!

Jim

InspiredCinema.com
 
Fact of the matter is that all of the studios have done private tests and from what I have heard all are very happy. Several are gearing up to shoot pilots with the RED before they commit running series to them. I was involved in shooting side by side with the the RED and Panavision 35mm on a major TV series about a month ago. The outcome impressed all. When they found out the price of the RED they were blown away. They said their rental cost on the Panavision package was $18,000 a week. When you add in all of the other costs, ie. film stock, developing, telecine, etc, shooting on the RED could save a show several million dollars over the course of a season. That is why studios are looking at the RED. Quality and cost savings. With the cost of series going up and the return on investment going down they need to save money in every area possible. I like the fact that they can save money in a way that doesn't involve the crew taking big pay cuts.
 
steadijim said:
The RED already has many impressive credits. The concern about RED being involved in series television is too late. It is already done. We have completed two weeks of production on the first of 20 weeks for 13 episodes of 'Sanctuary' for Sci-Fi Network airing in October. I belive we hold the record for 'first TV series filmed completely on RED. (3 REDs and nothing else)

The future is now!

Jim

InspiredCinema.com
Click to expand...

http://www.scifistream.com/sanctuary/s1/index.shtml

same show?
 
Production Costs

Production Costs

With SAG still threatenning action the biggest cost to the studio is human not equipment. Whether you shoot with Red or Cinealta you still need trained technicians and the cost of the camera body makes very little difference on its own.
The $18,000 Panavision package was likely for everything i.e. cameras, lenses, accessories, monitors etc so relating that to the cost of a camera body seems like a no brainer until you factor in premises, maintenance, accounts, engineering etc etc. for the idiots that think you could run an operation like Panavision, clairmont, Otto etc on camera packages at $4-5K per week whilst still providing the same level of service or back-up shows how stupid some people really are to the realities of running a business.
Warner Bros are not going to risk a $100M project to a guy working from his garage to save peanuts in the grand scheme of things for them to use Red they have to come from a reputable supplier who can properly back the production up.
 
steadijim said:
The RED already has many impressive credits. The concern about RED being involved in series television is too late. It is already done. We have completed two weeks of production on the first of 20 weeks for 13 episodes of 'Sanctuary' for Sci-Fi Network airing in October. I belive we hold the record for 'first TV series filmed completely on RED. (3 REDs and nothing else)
Click to expand...

As I understand it, it's actually Reds and a bunch of greenscreens. With a show that requires compositing for almost every single shot, shooting with Red makes sense, because a "normal" television schedule turnaround is not expected. Besides, when almost every shot is a greenscreen shot, you're really just shooting VFX elements, not full cinematography of practical sets and locations. This is similar to those who point to Star Wars and Sin City as examples of "digital cinematography-" when, in fact, the CG backgrounds are the really dominant visual elements.

I think those who are looking for a television series that is really "photographed on a Red," locations and all, and with the intent of turning it around on the same schedule as a film or 24p video production, are going to have to wait a while longer.
 
Sanctuary - the soon to be broadcast TV series - not the web episodes. First two weeks on location. 7 day episodes. Mix of green screen and real sets. Harder schedule than a normal TV series because of the virtual backgrounds that have to be created in such a tight time line.

Ask the Sci-Fi channel if they feel it is a real series or the crew.... two of which are nominated for Emmy's this year due to the high calibre of work they produce....
 
mmost said:
I think those who are looking for a television series that is really "photographed on a Red," locations and all, and with the intent of turning it around on the same schedule as a film or 24p video production, are going to have to wait a while longer.
Click to expand...

Hey Mike,

Having just spent a week in Vancouver, I'd have to disagree... several shows are either in the middle of shooting on RED, or are about to start.

Best,

Lucas
 
gdv said:
Without an optical viewfinder Red will never become a standard of the industry
Click to expand...

I doubt that will matter after shooting with a hi-res viewfinder or monitor a bit. I felt the same way at first - after seeing the quality of the viewfinder and monitors available - I don't care about optical viewfinders anymore.

IMO.
 
Just to let everyone know, there were a lot of people from feature production and post-production in this demo. There might have been some people from TV in there but I don't know any of them. Also as I understand it there might be another one of these demos in July.
 
Steve Sanacore said:
I doubt that will matter after shooting with a hi-res viewfinder or monitor a bit. I felt the same way at first - after seeing the quality of the viewfinder and monitors available - I don't care about optical viewfinders anymore.

IMO.
Click to expand...

I am happy to hear that because I have two EVF coming.
Red is a cute camera but I find it more of a toy to play with than a powerful tool.
I will be very happy to find out I am wrong.
So far we have a lot of interest in that camera but producers are staying away from it when it comes to actual shooting and go back to Cinealta.
 
gdv said:
I am happy to hear that because I have two EVF coming.
Red is a cute camera but I find it more of a toy to play with than a powerful tool.
I will be very happy to find out I am wrong.
So far we have a lot of interest in that camera but producers are staying away from it when it comes to actual shooting and go back to Cinealta.
Click to expand...


So you think the camera is more of a toy than a tool. I guess you haven't been watching the footage that people have been posting here. I guess it all depends on the person behind the camera.
 
Nova Invicta said:
With SAG still threatenning action the biggest cost to the studio is human not equipment. Whether you shoot with Red or Cinealta you still need trained technicians and the cost of the camera body makes very little difference on its own.
The $18,000 Panavision package was likely for everything i.e. cameras, lenses, accessories, monitors etc so relating that to the cost of a camera body seems like a no brainer until you factor in premises, maintenance, accounts, engineering etc etc. for the idiots that think you could run an operation like Panavision, clairmont, Otto etc on camera packages at $4-5K per week whilst still providing the same level of service or back-up shows how stupid some people really are to the realities of running a business.
Warner Bros are not going to risk a $100M project to a guy working from his garage to save peanuts in the grand scheme of things for them to use Red they have to come from a reputable supplier who can properly back the production up.
Click to expand...

Not starting a war here but it is clear you do not know how studios work. Warner Bros. owns all of their own equipment. From grip and lighting to trucks, tvs, playback equipment, to sound equipment, etc. When you do a show for them, you have to order all of your equipment through them. You can only get stuff from other vendors if they do not have it or if they are out of stock. Do I see them using some guy out of his garage. No. I see them buying camera bodies and renting the rest. And yes the $18,000 figure was for everything, but if you got a similiar package for the RED it would be about half the cost. You don't have to argue with me, the executive producer was the one raving about the costs. And if saving several million per show was just peanuts then production wouldn't be going to other states or countries to save a couple of hundred thousand.
 
The studios shut down their camera departments years ago, so they'd have to make a major change in policy if they got back into the camera ownership model. To support their productions, they'd need a lot of cameras and tech support, and thus a department to handle them, and the overhead involved... which was one of the reasons they got rid of the camera departments.

It is more likely that the individual production companies shooting things for studios would be the ones to buy some RED's for the run of the show.
 
luki said:
That test was 5219, RED, and Dalsa.

Lucas
-----
ASSIMILATE, inc.
LA, CA, USA
Click to expand...

I did a test as well, 5219 ( ARRI 435 ) + Zesis T1.3 lenses and RED 4K r3d files as well.

2K DPX files graded in Scratch + Tangen Panels for the HK Films companies and CHINA Films group and HK Director Guild to review soon in HKG.

Best regards,

Stewart
HKG
 
Drew599 said:
So you think the camera is more of a toy than a tool. I guess you haven't been watching the footage that people have been posting here. I guess it all depends on the person behind the camera.
Click to expand...

Frankly, I see someone posting an image and then a few responses like "wow' "amazing" but the real test will be to see some big feature films being shot with it. I am not counting those about Che since its was part of a try out.
I want to see it going out for 12 weeks feature film from Clairmont cameras, Otto Nemenz, Movietech and others.
Film was perfect but the nature of the human being is to invent some new technology which intercept the old one.
I accept that and that is why I already have two Reds though I would rather stay with film.
When I look at the Red packages I received, I see the "toy for kids" concept there. The top mounts, for example, had the tightening screws packed separately like lets give the kids the lego experience to assemble them by themselves. These tightening screws got no where to be but at the top mount so why couldn't be there already. it is also the "Ikea" concept.
I have Reds and I hope the cameras will do the jobs, so far we only have producer going back to Sony 900 and alike. As for toys post n the other hand is too complicated and expensive.
 
gdv said:
Frankly, I see someone posting an image and then a few responses like "wow' "amazing" but the real test will be to see some big feature films being shot with it. I am not counting those about Che since its was part of a try out.
I want to see it going out for 12 weeks feature film from Clairmont cameras, Otto Nemenz, Movietech and others.
Click to expand...

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=11268
 
The amount of features prepping now to be "shot on RED" is pretty astounding.

We can talk about "The Informant", but there are many other studio features that will be announced soon.

Jim
 
gdv said:
Frankly, I see someone posting an image and then a few responses like "wow' "amazing" but the real test will be to see some big feature films being shot with it. I am not counting those about Che since its was part of a try out.
I want to see it going out for 12 weeks feature film from Clairmont cameras, Otto Nemenz, Movietech and others.
Film was perfect but the nature of the human being is to invent some new technology which intercept the old one.
I accept that and that is why I already have two Reds though I would rather stay with film.
When I look at the Red packages I received, I see the "toy for kids" concept there. The top mounts, for example, had the tightening screws packed separately like lets give the kids the lego experience to assemble them by themselves. These tightening screws got no where to be but at the top mount so why couldn't be there already. it is also the "Ikea" concept.
I have Reds and I hope the cameras will do the jobs, so far we only have producer going back to Sony 900 and alike. As for toys post n the other hand is too complicated and expensive.
Click to expand...

Sorry to call you out... what serial numbers do you have?

Jim
 
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