Vacheron Constantin Promos Shot with Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera

The four promos produced for Vacheron Constantin feature special guest interviews and product displays at Watches & Wonders 2014, the second edition of the Asia Haute Horlogerie Exhibition in Hong Kong. The exhibition provides the latest information on the luxury watch maker and showcase its exceptional new models that combine technical mastery and aesthetic elegance. The four promos were completed within three days by a one man crew consisting of director Yu Gang.

This was the third time that Yu Gang shot exhibition promos for Vacheron Constantin. Based on his experience filming the previous two projects, he was well prepared for his third opportunity. All of the equipment for the promos were taken from the Jiangsu province to Hong Kong, so every piece of equipment had to be perfect, Yu said. For the previous two exhibitions, I shot with a DSLR camera, which was portable but the image quality was not good enough. The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera features both a compact design and excellent image quality, so I decided to use it this time.

The event schedule was busy and I didn't want to miss any of the activities the executives attended. Last year I failed to capture Vacheron Constantin's CEO dotting a dragon's eyes because I shot with only one camera, which could only be used for either a close up or a wide shot, he continued.

To avoid this, Yu assembled a dual camera rig for filming with two Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Cameras at the same time. On the rig, there was a Pocket Cinema Camera equipped with a Metabones Speed Booster and a Canon 24-70mm f2.8 lens and a Pocket Cinema Camera with a Panasonic 7-14mm f4 MFT lens. Also added to the rig was a common 12V 9800mAh polymer battery, which could support ten hour non stop operation of the two cameras.

The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Cameras were so light that it was very easy for me to carry two cameras and all the gear around the exhibition hall for two straight days, said Yu. We need to analyze the characteristics of the project and keep the tools as simple as possible accordingly to ensure our mobility. The more mobile you are, the more chances you will capture good shots.

Yu got started on post production at night after he was done with shoots during the day. The following morning, the finished promo would be taken to the exhibition hall where it would be reviewed, revised if needed, and put on the Internet once the client approved. With a fast paced workflow, Yu finished the first overview promo on the first night and three more on the second night.

All footage was shot in film mode to take advantage of the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera's 13 stops of dynamic range and recorded to 1080HD 25p in Apple ProRes LT.

When grading the flat footage shot in film mode, Yu used the LUT he created in DaVinci Resolve to color the film efficiently. I imported a shot that could represent most of the scenes into DaVinci Resolve, made adjustments until the footage had the same tone as Vacheron Constantin's logo and then exported a 3D LUT. When finished with editing, I applied the LUT to the timeline and did some tweaks when necessary to produce the look that matched Vacheron Constantin.

The client was happy with the promos and we will continue our cooperation for Geneva Time Exhibition 2015, Yu concluded.

About Blackmagic Design

Blackmagic Design creates the world's highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design's DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in post production, while the company's Emmy award winning DaVinci color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com.

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