Evoking '90's Nostalgia with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton January 23, 2025
0 Comments
Dog is a visual exploration of memory and emotion lensed by Ben Saffer using Cooke S8i primes.
On his latest short film, Dog, Cinematographer Ben Saffer collaborated with Director Caitlin McLeod and Producer Jessica Palmarozzi of Flumeri Films to shape a poignant story of childhood relationships. Saffer chose the Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF digital film camera to capture the emotional nuances and the landscapes central to the story.
McLeod is a multi award winning theatre director for the Globe, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, who previously directed the dramatic short One Like Him, which was also produced by Palmarozzi.
Saffer explains the premise of the film as: Their parents are present but distant, leaving the kids to figure things out themselves. It's a lovely script that focuses on the struggles of three young siblings as they try to connect. I've shot more than 50 short films and always aim for a fresh approach to storytelling, and this project offered something truly unique.
When he read the script, Saffer's instinct chimed with McLeod's, which was to shoot 16mm film. It is set in the nineties and so needed a slightly nostalgic aesthetic, but given the amount of time we wanted to be running camera, that led us down a digital path, he notes.
Set in the 1990s, the film required a visual style that felt both nostalgic and grounded. Saffer ultimately opted for the URSA Cine 12K LF, a decision shaped by practical needs. Working with children means being flexible. Digital allowed us to keep rolling and not miss anything, he explains. The large format sensor also captured the expansive Yorkshire landscapes, essential to the film's tone.
To soften the high resolution of the URSA Cine 12K LF, Saffer paired it with Cooke S8i primes, using their forgiving nature to evoke a cinematic warmth. We shot close to wide open, creating a kind of intimate gentleness that balanced the camera's sharpness. It gave us the nostalgic aesthetic we sought, filtered through my memories of the 90s.
Crafting Emotional Light
Central to the visual storytelling was McLeod's concept of pools of light, where characters move through shadows into isolated areas of illumination. Caitlin wanted the lighting to feel functional rather than welcoming, which added to the emotional distance in the story, says Saffer.
This approach is evident in the tent scenes, where the children gather. The natural inclination was to light it warmly, like a holiday advert, but Caitlin wanted something colder and more distant. The production designer, Liz Simpson, used practical props from the farm to enhance this tone, while I worked with minimal lighting to create just enough shadow to evoke a sense of isolation, reveals Saffer.
Panalux provided the lighting equipment, with Saffer employing indirect lighting to create dynamic silhouettes for interior scenes.
In the farmhouse hallway, we lit through bedroom doors, which created natural pools of light and interesting shadows. This let us shape the environment subtly while keeping the focus on the children, he explains. Rather than lighting the entire room, we could focus light through doorways or from the side, creating natural pools of light and shadows. The URSA handled these contrasts beautifully, giving us the silhouettes and depth we wanted.
In a key kitchen scene, Saffer took a minimal approach to lighting, allowing the camera's sensitivity to work with natural shadows. The children gather at the table for dinner, and when their mother enters to serve them, her presence is felt but not seen. We wanted the focus to remain on the kids while the background subtly fades away, he notes.
Balancing Technology and Storytelling
The combination of high resolution and Blackmagic RAW's flexibility enabled Saffer to capture a crisp, yet nuanced look that he describes as, Almost like a memory.
The URSA Cine's color science was a key factor in our choice, Saffer reveals.
He adds, Blackmagic's pipeline is so intuitive and consistent; it let us capture incredibly rich skin tones and color textures that felt true to the 90s setting.
Working with Blackmagic RAW and acquiring in 8K at Q1 (Constant Quality), the codec allowed Saffer to maintain high quality images while managing file sizes that suited the film's indie budget. BRAW is one of the best codecs available, offering a fantastic balance between quality and storage efficiency. It's ideal for a short film budget while retaining everything we need in post, he notes.
Handheld shooting was essential to keeping up with the young cast. The camera's weight gave it a grounded feel, which I prefer for handheld work, explains Saffer. The URSA Cine EVF was another standout, delivering an image so accurate I could light directly from it without needing a constant reference to an external monitor.
The URSA allowed us to strike a balance between technical precision and emotional resonance, capturing both the vastness of the Yorkshire landscape and the intimacy of the characters' journeys, Saffer concludes.
Currently in post production, Dog is targeting a 2025 festival release.
January 27, 2025DOLIVAR Captures Weddings with Blackmagic Design CamerasStudio shoots 10 weddings per month, including recent wedding of influencers Marcella Bragan a
January 24, 2025The Finish Line Takes a Cloud First ApproachRethinking how post production teams collaborate using Blackmagic Cloud and DaVinci Resolve Studio. The post production
Enjoying the news? Sign up for the Creative COW Newsletter! Sign up for the Creative COW newsletter and get weekly updates on industry news, forum highlights, jobs, inspirational t
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
Evoking '90's Nostalgia with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF 
