Toyotaro Shigemori's niko and WINTER BOOK Shot on URSA Mini Pro 12K
data-src=https://creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/avatars/263018/5fa08c562aaf4-bpthumb.jpg data-srcset=https://creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/avatars/263018/5fa08c561c0e7-bpfull.jpg 2x class=lazyload avatar avatar-80 photo height=80 width=80 />
Brie Clayton June 2, 2021
0 Comments
Blackmagic Design today announced that renowned cinematographer, Toyotaro Shigemori, used Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K to shoot the web movie niko and WINTER BOOK. The film, which was created as part of an ad campaign for the fashion/lifestyle brand niko and was also graded using DaVinci Resolve Studio.
Toyotaro Shigemori is an award winning cinematographer who has shot a number of well known corporate TV commercials, music videos and feature films. He is also known as a cameraman who mostly uses film cameras, and 80% of his work has been shot on film cameras. For niko and WINTER BOOK, starring young and talented actors, Masaki Suda and Nana Komatsu, Shigemori captured the fantastic world of a picture book created by renowned art director, Chie Morimoto.
I have been working with Morimoto, the art director, for the brand and had mostly shot their movies on 35 mm film. However, for the previous project of this winter version, I used a different camera - the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K. I was asked what kind of movie we should make, and I suggested to make the actors pose as mannequins and let them freeze their movement, as the project was originally used for photography. They liked the idea so I needed a camera which was easy to move around as the actors couldn't move at all. So I shot the movie on the Pocket Cinema Camera mounted on RONIN and I liked it, said Shigemori.
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/03150514/4-niko-and-winter-book%402x-1024x560.jpg alt= class=lazyload wp-image-2411220/>Shigemori usually serves as the director of photography for most of his projects, however for this film he decided to direct. I actually had directed the previous autumn version as well, and they liked it so I was asked to direct again. However, Morimoto had already planned the visuals very precisely, so what I did was tell the actors how they should move while not to ruining her visual style.
I shot in 8K 8:1 setting. The movie was to be uploaded to Instagram, so I used an anamorphic lens and made a 4:3 side-cut. If you do side-cut when using regular camera, you will lose picture quality greatly, on the other hand, the URSA Mini Pro 12K allows you to film in high resolution, so you don't have to worry about the quality loss, he continued.
Loving the unique tone of film, Shigemori had a plan to recreate that tone with the URSA Mini Pro 12K. Most digital cameras are set to 800 ISO for its base ISO, however I hardly use the 800 ISO setting as I feel it makes the picture look too digital and kind of boring. I always make the ISO higher when shooting in digital and this time I used 1600 ISO. I often bring ISO setting to 3200 to help prevent the image to look too real.' Whether it is film or digital, you need to somehow torture' your picture to get an interesting tone.
That is why I used the anamorphic lens as well. You don't get clear focus with the lens, which makes the image a little fuzzy. I like an audience to be imaginative by leaving some fuzziness in the image, so I try not to make my picture look too clear, Shigemori said.
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/03150518/3-niko-and-winter-book%402x-1024x560.jpg alt= class=lazyload wp-image-2411221/>Grading was done at the post house Omnibus Japan using DaVinci Resolve Studio. Shigemori explained what he aimed for in color grading: I shot in very flat lighting for this project, which was unusual to me. I usually like to create more shades when shooting, but this was supposed to be a snowscape in winter so I intentionally used flat lighting. I also used smoke in the studio, which made the image whitish. I wanted to leave the mood and atmosphere acquired from the lighting and smoke effect but still wanted to see each color, so I asked my colorist to grade carefully with sharpness and bring up more colors. It was unusual to me to make the image a very soft tone, but it came out very nice.
Shiegemori lastly spoke about shooting in Blackmagic RAW: I thought it would not run 8K RAW material on a regular computer. I was so surprised how light Blackmagic RAW was when I used it, which was beyond my expectation. While some RAW footage from other digital cameras requires more computer processing power, Blackmagic RAW is really easy to handle.
Most recent headlines
25/12/2025
Holiday lights are twinkling, hot cocoa's on the stove and gamers are settling in for a well-earned break.
Whether staying in or heading on a winter getawa...
24/12/2025
What is AI good for? Posted by MTI Film on December 24, 2025
What is AI good for?
What is AI good for?
It's been three years since ChatGPT first cap...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
The Boyfriend' Season 2 Unveils Heartwarming Trailer, Key...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
Love, Fights, and Everything in Between: Badly in Love' Returns for Season 2
Entertainment
24 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied t...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today! By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's The Great Flood and Culinary Class Wars 2 Top Gl...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things By the Numbers: How the Global Phenomenon Shap...
23/12/2025
Experience the power of WO Automation for Radio's newest service, the System Effectiveness Review. Designed to help you achieve more, a System Effectiveness...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
How Steamy Can It Get? Single's Inferno' Season 5 Pre...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
33 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watched Jake Paul vs. Ant...
23/12/2025
New technique lights up where drugs go in the body, cell by cell Scripps Research scientists developed a technique that maps drug binding in individual cells th...
22/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Neerav Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
22/12/2025
Hitting the bullseye: Sky Sports readies itself for the biggest PDC World Darts ...
22/12/2025
Unique skillset: Bringing new directors to the world of darts at The Worlds with...
22/12/2025
Gravity Media prepares for a flight of fancy with the PDC World Darts Championsh...
22/12/2025
One hundred and eighty: Gravity Media on hitting the production bullseye at the ...
22/12/2025
The Famous Group's Jon Slusser on Fascinating Fans Through Immersive Content...
22/12/2025
ESPN's Meg Aronowitz on Continuing High-Quality Broadcasts of Collegiate Spo...
22/12/2025
ESPN Takes Data-Driven Storytelling to New Heights with MNF Playbook with Next ...
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Paramount Scores Largest Share Increase Among Distributors as Paramount and CBS...
22/12/2025
New multi-year deal integrates Roku's data to fuel Nielsen's measurement suite
Roku gains access to Nielsen's streaming ratings, showing The Roku C...
22/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
22/12/2025
Berklee Wrapped 2025: Our Top News and Stories A look back at a year highlighted by faculty milestones, major film and television projects, Bob Dylan's ho...
22/12/2025
The works of Plato state that when humans have an experience, some level of change occurs in their brain, which is powered by memory - specifically long-term me...
Toyotaro Shigemori's niko and WINTER BOOK Shot on URSA Mini Pro 12K 
