The Social Network: Best red footage to date?

[Steve Das]

...Interesting thing about Marvin Rush: he did one of the earliest RED features called "S. Darko." And with his talent and virtually the same workflow as TSN, the BluRay of S. Darko looks (to me) as fantastic as the BluRay of TSN. Again, when the talent is there with the technology, there isn't really any magic or "secret sauce" we put into making our films look great...

...I'm sure you know but many others here probably don't: He photographed what was arguably one of the very first one hour episodic dramas to be produced on HD video, the last season of the UPN series "Enterprise," on Sony F900 cameras. So he has quite a bit more experience with electronic imaging than many other cameramen who started on film.

Mike..you should know better..the man's talent developed over decades of
shooting is far more revelant to how "Street Kings 2: Motor City" came out
than the fact that he shot a one hour episodic on a F900 in 2004.
We don't have digital and film cinematographers in separate categories.

This is why Michael Cioni is right on..when he states there's no magic or
digital "secret sauce" and refers to the cinematographer's talent not
once but twice in his post.

 

[M Most]

Mike..you should know better..the man's talent developed over decades of
shooting is far more revelant to how "Street Kings 2: Motor City" came out
than the fact that he shot a one hour episodic on a F900 in 2004.
We don't have digital and film cinematographers in separate categories.

This is why Michael Cioni is right on..when he states there's no magic or
digital "secret sauce" and refers to the cinematographer's talent not
once but twice in his post.

I wasn't saying anything of the sort. I was simply saying that Marvin was one of the first to use video on a production that would normally have only been produced on film at the time, giving him a bit of a leg up on handling the limitations of the medium (and there ARE limitations, regardless of how much talent you might possess) and a bit of insight into what an electronic production and post path can produce given proper exposure, creative lighting ability, and an understanding of cinematography. Not to mention a bit more of an adventurous spirit when it comes to selecting his tools. I don't why you thought I was either dissing Marvin, separating cinematographers, or minimizing the importance of talent - something I have continually harped on time and time again here.

 

[Rob Ruffo]

I bought the social network on blue ray and I am constantly amazed how brilliant it looks. My question is how does this film looks vastly different and better then other red shot films? Do they do a different post processing to get the amazingly detailed look of film?

It was a great film but in terms of look only I find Undercovers (TV series) looks better. I've also seen some hip-hop videos and fashion videos that look better still. Then again, I'm not a fan of doco-naturalism.