Nine*6

I have been trying to type this entry for two days now, and I am at the point that I want to do a few other posts so I really have to get on with this.

I came across an article on Phillip Bloom on Monday night. It was on his recent visit to Skywalker Ranch to demo some camera's to the Lucasfilm crew out there, namely George Lucas, Rick McCallum and Mike Blanchard. The camera's that he was giving the run down on were the Canon 5DmkII and the Canon 7D - but focusing on their potential for use in film as opposed to still photography. As someone who is looking to make a short film over the next 2 years (Master of Arts Practice project) I was very quickly very interested in this article and followed it to Bloom's personal blog which went more in depth into what he did whilst out at the Ranch for 5 days.

Skywalker Ranch from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

It's amazing what can be done with a digital slr, I must say that i was unprepared for the superb quality of the video. No wonder ILM/Lucasfilm are looking into the cameras, moreso Lucasfilm than ILM. Lucasfilm just finished up principle photography on Red Tails and are looking into the cameras for use in shooting some cockpit scenes (WWII Fighters) which sounds as though they are once again moving ahead of the times. The maneuverability within a cockpit with a slr opposed to a full size film camera is of a definite advantage to the film maker - obviously allowing them the freedom for new angles, perspectives and techniques that the physical size of film cameras immediately dismiss. As Bloom mentions in his blog, they are also considering the cameras for some work on the upcoming live-action TV Series; which I am very curious to hear/see more about but that will not be appearing on our radar for a while longer. Obviously the range of the applications for these camera's is of obvious interest to those in the film industry looking to further the techniques of filming, or at least alternative methods.

Following this train of research has given me something to think about in regards to my Master's Short Film. There is an accompanying seminar that is to be written and given in the latter part of the course's duration which focuses on your project and area of focus. I think I will look into new and alternative methods of filming and incorporating visual effects. The specialisation of My Master of Art Practice is Visual Effects, which will focus on digital sets, set extensions and the like.