Jake Fruia
Just a few posts ago we talked about the Blackmagic Cinema Camera and its forays into the world of broadcast. Now it’s happened again, this time to shoot promos and PSAs to air during Nashville’s WSMV-TV news. Brian Hallet is the station’s senior producer and writer, and chose the BMCC over other cameras because of its “…high resolution 2.5K sensor, 13 stops of dynamic range and CinemaDNG RAW and Avid DNxHD codecs”, as well as its comfy price point.
Something of note that attracted Hallet to the BMCC is actually one of the things we’ll also focus on in our own upcoming review: the dynamic range. “The camera’s dynamic range lets me shoot in broad daylight without losing any detail in the footage”. If you’ve seen any of our coverage from the Transvergence Summit we attended, a couple of those interviews were shot outdoors, and the image quality is phenomenal.
Hallet also enjoyed the camera’s ease of use due to broadcast’s quick deadlines, saying “With other cameras, I would have to hook up a monitor and recorder as well as batteries, and before you know it, it has taken 45 minutes to set up. Now I slap a lens on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, put it on a slider, and I’m good to go”. DaVinci Resolve has also become a part of Hallet’s arsenal, something he talks about in greater detail in the press release below.
It’s interesting to see the “mainstreaming” of the BMCC into a tool that’s finding a place in more and more sub-markets of video production. We were quite surprised that it worked so well for interviewing, and now even promotional spots for network television. It’s obvious that we’ll only continue to hear more and more about the diversification of Blackmagic’s flagship camera in the future.
You can find out more about Brian Hallet’s use of the BMCC below in Blackmagic’s press release. You can of course find out more about Blackmagic Design at Blackmagicdesign.com
Fremont, CA – September 3, 2013 – Blackmagic Design today announced that Nashville’s WSMV-TV is using Blackmagic Cinema Camera to shoot promotions and PSAs for the station’s news broadcasts. The station also is using DaVinci Resolve for color correction.
Brian Hallett, creative services senior producer and writer at the station, chose Blackmagic Cinema Camera for its high resolution 2.5K sensor, 13 stops of dynamic range and CinemaDNG RAW and Avid DNxHD codecs, all at an affordable cost.
“When it came time to invest in a new camera, I didn’t want something that was more of the same. I wanted to take the production up a step and think forward,” said Brian. “The Blackmagic Cinema Camera helped us do just that while providing an extremely efficient workflow. Time is of the essence in everything we do, and our deadlines are quick. Shooting with the Blackmagic Cinema Camera makes everything easier.”
For studio shoots, Brian mounts a Blackmagic Cinema Camera on a slider, hooks up audio and headphones and is ready to go. “With other cameras, I would have to hook up a monitor and recorder as well as batteries, and before you know it, it has taken 45 minutes to set up. Now I slap a lens on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, put it on a slider, and I’m good to go,” said Brian. “I try to keep everything as simple as possible because it’s faster that way.”
When shooting outdoors, Blackmagic Cinema Camera’s 13 stops of dynamic range prove especially useful.
“The camera’s dynamic range lets me shoot in broad daylight without losing any detail in the footage,” said Brian. “I’m able to get a better look and more out of the camera, and the footage looks hands down better, which means there’s not as much time spent finessing in post. And the ability to shoot in DNxHD means I can pull the files right into Avid and start editing right away.”
Brian also cites Blackmagic Cinema Camera’s 1/4″ TRS audio connectors, which allow him to connect high quality microphones to the camera and sync audio to footage during shooting. Brian saves approximately two to three hours during the post production process because he no longer has to import and transcode footage into the Avid codec, as well as spend time syncing audio. When shooting is finished, Brian transfers media off the SSD and onto his MacBook Pro for editing and then into Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve for color correction.
“I don’t know which clips I will use until I listen to how the reporter or anchor delivers the lines, and it’s a nightmare to sync audio after you’ve edited,” said Brian. “The camera’s flexibility lets me change my workflow around, and the feature set doesn’t hold me back.”
“I changed the colors in the sky drastically to help show the team that the colors are not baked in and that we can change anything we want. They couldn’t believe it was the same shot,” explained Brian. “Resolve is an essential tool and should be a part of any production company’s recipe of how to improve footage. Having Resolve included with the camera was such an amazing perk, and it’s nice to have it available for a smaller station like us.
“Both Resolve and the Blackmagic Cinema Camera give us a level of detail that’s more professional. When everyone else is using a DSLR and you are using a Blackmagic Cinema Camera, you stand out. With such stiff competition in our region, our promotions and PSAs need to look better so viewers will pay attention. TV stations are really going for a higher end look, and we are able to do that with Blackmagic Design.”
