At FUJIFILM’s digital camera launch occasion in Amsterdam’s stunning Eye Movie Museum, Cinematographer Oren Soffer sat down with CineD to unpack how he shot Okay, the emotional launch movie for FUJIFILM’s new GFX ETERNA 55. He explains why he blended codecs, how classic glass knowledgeable the look, why he didn’t miss inner RAW, and what he truly noticed concerning rolling shutter.
As context, FUJIFILM’s GFX ETERNA 55 facilities on a large-format 44×33 mm sensor, with the “55” within the identify pointing to the sensor’s 55 mm picture diagonal. Our launch protection video and article element the idea and positioning behind this digital camera and the way FUJIFILM’s movie heritage feeds into the digital shade pipeline.
How the venture got here collectively
Oren Soffer had beforehand collaborated with FUJIFILM by taking pictures stills on The Creator with a GFX-series physique, which led to the invitation to make a brief for the ETERNA 55 launch. He partnered with writer-director Andrew Kightlinger, who developed a script from a private expertise. The workforce aimed to place the digital camera via diverse conditions, day and night time, inside and exterior, whereas conserving the story grounded in a single location. Manufacturing was tight: testing, LUT growth, and prep have been condensed round a four-day shoot in Portland, Oregon.
Codecs and lens selections
Testing pushed the workforce towards two complementary seize modes. For spherical work, Soffer shot full open-gate 4:3 to showcase the distinctive rendering of the massive sensor with quick classic glass. He likens the compositions to medium-format stills, solely now in movement. For widescreen sequences, the manufacturing used 2× anamorphic on the complete sensor peak and stored the unsqueezed 2.66:1 body fairly than cropping to 2.39, embracing the sting aberrations and additional breadth. Spherical lenses have been rehoused Fujinon optics from the Nineteen Seventies (TLS and Historical Optics). Anamorphic scenes used Xelmus Apollo primes, with the 75 mm and 100 mm protecting the format to his shock.
The anamorphic facet ratio was used for recollections … (Picture credit score: FUJIFILM / Oren Soffer)… whereas the 4:3 open gate was used for the current time in “Okay”. Picture credit score: FUJIFILM / Oren Soffer
Early firmware, eND, and why ProRes 422 HQ was sufficient
Taking pictures occurred on early firmware, so the brand new digital variable ND was not prepared on the time. After attempting it on a demo unit later, Oren Soffer referred to as it a very helpful management for dusk-to-blue-hour work the place you trip filtration as publicity drops. On recording codecs, he didn’t miss inner RAW. The manufacturing ran ProRes 422 HQ, which he describes as sturdy for shade depth and dynamic vary. For the sorts of indie and documentary tasks this class of digital camera targets, he argues inner RAW is commonly pointless, whereas the choice so as to add an exterior recorder stays for higher-end wants.
Oren’s rolling-shutter take
Issues about rolling shutter adopted the digital camera’s growth lineage, but Oren says it by no means grew to become a sensible concern on Okay. Even with dynamic handheld work and assertive pans, he didn’t discover artifacts distracting in context. He stresses that tolerance is subjective and recommends customers check the digital camera or overview footage to guage acceptability for their very own work.
Who this digital camera matches
Oren sees the GFX ETERNA 55 as significantly compelling for impartial narrative and documentary filmmakers. It could construct up for bigger units, but it additionally packs a particular large-format look into a comparatively compact bundle. He says he would gladly use it once more and is keen to attempt it with extra movement rigs, reminiscent of steadicams, gimbals, and drones.
For the digital camera’s positioning and technical background, watch our detailed GFX ETERNA 55 launch explainer.
Curious what you assume after watching the interview: does the blended 4:3 and a couple of.66:1 strategy swimsuit the story, or would you could have framed it in a different way?
