Blackmagic Design Cinema and Pocket Cinema Cameras, DaVinci Resolve 10 Used on Spiderbait Music Video
Fremont, CA - December 17, 2013 - Blackmagic Design today announced that Australian rock band Spiderbait’s new “It’s Beautiful” music video was shot with Blackmagic Cinema Camera by Toby Angwin, a Melbourne, Australia based director. Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera was also used as a B camera on the shoot, with DaVinci Resolve 10 used for colour grading.
Formed in 1989, Spiderbait has enjoyed more than 20 years in the music industry, with its cover of “Black Betty” reaching number one on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Singles Chart, five top 20 albums and two ARIA Music Awards. For its seventh album, the self titled “SPIDERBAIT,” the band encapsulated its history while experimenting with new sounds. “It’s Beautiful” is a personal, delicate and heavenly sounding song.
“For the ‘It’s Beautiful’ music video, the band wanted the song to speak for itself with pure imagery that helped portray the transcendental sound, so we shot three puppets walking around downtown Melbourne finding beauty in everything they see,” explained Toby. “As it was my first time working with puppets, I couldn’t predict how long it would take to shoot. And instead of hiring a camera, it was more affordable to purchase the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, which I had my eye on because of its compact size, RAW shooting capability, 13 stops of dynamic range and affordable cost.
“Our schedule was crazy because of the unpredictable weather, but because I owned the camera, I could film extra pickups whenever the weather allowed or just because I wanted to. Soon, I stopped filming extra pickups because I needed them to make the music video and instead, because I wanted to make the music video better,” said Toby. “There were moments when I would literally turn around from the editing desk, pick up the camera and shoot against the green screen. Thanks to the camera’s flexibility and affordability, I was able to make both the project and the camera my own.”
During shooting, the weather would often transition from full sun to clouds within shots or just after Toby started recording. “This shoot would have been impossible without the camera’s wide dynamic range and ISO settings,” said Toby. “When we weren’t being blown off set by the wind, the constantly changing light was a challenge. But the camera’s latitude and extra stops made fixing the light in post easy. The images looked absolutely amazing, and I loved being able to shoot flat in RAW.”
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera’s small size was helpful in getting shots in extremely tight spaces that were too small for even the compact Blackmagic Cinema Camera. “The puppets were so small that we had to get down extremely low for some shots. The Pocket Cinema Camera was perfect and could get shots in really tight spaces,” said Toby.
Once in post, Toby relied on DaVinci Resolve’s tracker and Power Windows to achieve the perfect grade, and he also took advantage of version 10’s new tools, such as new online editing features and OpenFX plug-ins, to help streamline his workflow and the finishing process.
“I needed to make one or two edits, and it was so handy to have that functionality right there in DaVinci Resolve,” said Toby. “Also, having the Sapphire plug-ins meant I could give the footage a little sparkle at the end without having to go through another step. These finishing tools are a necessary part of the post process, and instead of wasting time going back and forth between programs, I’m able to have efficient and seamless access to them within DaVinci Resolve.
“The resulting images were impressive considering we had two cameras sitting in a laneway with a green screen taped up. We were able to get very detailed keys,” concluded Toby. “The end result was certainly comparable to many of the international feature films that I have worked on over the years.”
Press Photography
Product photos of Blackmagic Cinema Camera, Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera and DaVinci Resolve are available at http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/au/press/images
About Blackmagic Design
Blackmagic Design creates the world’s highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, colour correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and film restoration software for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability, while the company’s Emmy™ award winning DaVinci colour correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including stereoscopic 3D and 4K workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, and Australia. For more information, please check http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/au/
New Magic Australia Pty Ltd is a recognised leader in the distribution and marketing of multimedia hardware and software, representing a carefully selected range of innovative, leading manufacturers and catering for both the professional and consumer markets. New Magic Australia established in 1993 is the Australian distributor of Blackmagic Design, Convergent Design, Hauppauge Computer Works Inc, Cubix, Matrox Video Products, Schneider Optics Lenses and Sony Creative Software products. www.newmagic.com.au
