The art of the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera

BMPCC Split Screen

RedShark reader Paul Moon sent this to us. It's a fascinating insight into filming with raw, on a camera that's bringing cinematography to the masses

Paul wrote to us with a link to this video. Rather than take hours to write about his experiences, he's added a commentary, so we not only get to see the results of his work, but we hear - in sync with the video - why he made the choices he did.

Better still, he's supplied two versions of the video. One is the finished result, and the other is a split screen, between the original "flat" footage, and the graded material.

All in that most photogenic (sometimes!) of cities, New York.

Note that Paul mentions some issues with the camera here, such as White Orbs. Our understanding is that most of these have been fixed, and that the unfortunate few whose cameras display these symptoms, can get them fixed by Blackmagic.

Here are Paul's technical notes:

Filmed handheld on a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera (bhpho.to/bmccpckt), using a single lens (Panasonic 12-35mm, continuous f2.8 aperture, optically stabilized H-HS12035 | focuspull.in/hs12035). Shooting was on September 1 and 2, 2013, with post-production on September 7 and this commentary on September 12. Edited and graded in Adobe Premiere Pro CC, with clip-by-clip balancing adjustments using Fast Color Corrector, then applying an Adjustment Layer over the entire sequence with FilmConvert Pro 2, using its Blackmagic Cinema Camera profile and selecting the classic film stock emulation of KODAK VISION3 250D Color Negative Film 5207/7207 (with vintage Super 16mm film grain to match the feel -- and the actual size -- of the BMPC's digital sensor).

Thanks for this, Paul: we look forward to seeing more from you.

Videos after the break...

Split screen Video

Full Version

Hands on with the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera