Shooting action thriller ‘Checkmate’ on two Blackmagic Production
Camera 4Ks was an affordable way to shoot 4K and save time on setups,
letting the director focus on performances.
Blackmagic Production Camera 4K Turns Up the Action on ‘Checkmate’ |
For his upcoming action thriller ‘Checkmate’, Director Timothy Woodward Jr. and the crew completed the entire shoot over three weeks, with almost half of the footage made up of action sequences and almost 50 speaking roles. He chose to use two Blackmagic Production Camera 4Ks for the project, both as an affordable means of shooting 4K and to save time on technical setups. This let him focus on performances, which were important to this film because the story records the personalised stories of six people who are thrown together during a complex bank heist, each depicting the heist from a different point of view. |
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“Because of the camera’s low price, we were able to use two cameras while staying within the budget, which allowed us to capture more footage and complete the shoot faster,” said Timothy. “This film contains a lot of action and having the ability to shoot in 4K has resulted in a rich look with more dynamic range, and it allowed us to close in and manipulate the frame after the shoot without losing quality. During one scene, our second unit director, Josh Tessier, orchestrated the explosion of a van. The explosion was over 30 feet high and extremely wide. With several stunt actors surrounding the van, we only had one take to get it perfect.” |
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“When it came time to shoot a big scene between two of the main characters, having two of the 4K cameras allowed us to use an unconventional approach. We shot both sides at the same time and then flipped cameras in the cut, which not only cut down on time, but allowed the actors to act together and give a much stronger performance. If we had only had one camera, the actors would have been acting opposite stand ins, which is less than desirable for them and the project as a whole.” |
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Using the on-screen labelling system in the cameras allowed the production team to skip steps in post production, including transcoding of media, making the process more efficient. “Small things have made a big difference. For example, each story was a little different. In one character’s scenes, we were going for a look that was cool in temperature with contrasting skin tones to make the audience feel more comfortable, in contrast to the opposing character’s scenes where we wanted to the audience to feel more uncomfortable, so we went opposite with a warm look,” Timothy said. |
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‘Checkmate’ is Currently in post production and slated for release in 2015. Josh Tessier ofRocket Panda Postwill use Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve to grade the film. www.blackmagicdesign.com |
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