Kei Ikeda Uses URSA Mini Pro 4.6K to Shoot Videos for Some of Japans Popular Bands

Blackmagic Design today announced that Kei Ikeda, one of Japans leading music video DPs, videographers and screenwriters, and also the founder of production company ISAI, used the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 4.6K to shoot a number of music videos. He has used the URSA Mini Pro 4.6K to shoot videos for some of Japans leading musical acts, including popular artists such as KOTORI and Hysteric Panic.

Ikeda shoots and directs many music videos and concert videos, and has created a large number of award winning short films and a feature films. Since founding ISAI, Ikeda has been recognized as a pioneer who has opened up new ways for the visual expression of music.

The first time I used the URSA Mini Pro was for the band KOTORI, when making their music video for the song Blue. The client first asked me to shoot with a film camera, however we did not have enough budget for a film shoot, so I looked for something we could get in a similar image that was within the budget and we reached to the URSA Mini Pro 4.6K. I shot in 3K anamorphic sensor mode so I used a prime lens for still photography, with an anamorphic adapter, SLR Magic, said Ikeda. After shooting he used DaVinci Resolves Camera RAW setting to create the desired look he wanted for the video.

Around the same time, he also shot a video for Hysteric Panic with the same combination of the URSA Mini Pro and still lens with SLR Magic. Then, he shot Japanese Idol group Pass Codes music video as well. I used Canon prime lenses to shoot the video. For this video, I was hired as DP. This means I did not edit the video, and I shot in ProRes so that the director could easily cut the footage and gave him a LUT after shooting. I usually shoot in RAW when I do everything, from shooting to post production, but its handy to have a ProRes recording option when I dont have total control of finishing projects.

Ikeda continued: I used this camera for these groups for the first time. What surprised me was the image quality that I could get out of this wide dynamic range. Later, I used the URSA Mini Pro for another song, ROKUGATSU (June) from KOTORI. I used it with Canons Cine Prime lenses and shot in RAW. I wanted to bring out more clarity in the picture, so I added more contrast on shadows than I did for previous video with Resolve.

After that shoot, I did a couple more projects for different artists and clients. The camera gives me more freedom as I can switch EF and PL mounts depending on the project. I also did high speed shooting for many projects. I shot both uncompressed and compressed RAW, and compressed RAW gives me a very nice image which I hardly can tell the difference from the uncompressed one.

He also used the URSA Mini Pro for a recent web commercial. I shot the commercial using a Cooke anamorphic lens with the camera. I have worked with the same client before and that time I used a different camera which was way more expensive than the URSA Mini Pro. Of course the client loved the commercial, however, they said they prefer the commercials look captured from the URSA Mini Pro and Cooke lens.

The benefit of the URSA Mini Pro is of course its dynamic range and picture quality. It also is easy to handle, which I think is another great benefit of this camera. It allows me to shoot as long as I have the camera. I dont need to add many new peripherals around the camera, so I do not need a bigger production, or add an extra camera assistant. The URSA Mini Pro is just very easy to use, Ikeda concluded.

LINK:	https://www.kitplus.com/news/Kei_Ikeda_Uses_URSA_Mini_Pro_4_6K_to_Shoo...
	See more stories from tvbay

Most recent headlines