Black and White Horror Film Rachel Shot with Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
Brie Clayton August 4, 2022
0 Comments
Blackmagic Design today announced that Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K digital film camera was used as the main camera for the new horror short film Rachel. The shark attack film, which was shot in black and white on a micro budget during Covid restrictions, was chosen from more than 900 entries for the Festi-Short du Printemps Anglophone film festival and is currently being developed into a full length feature film.
Created by Filmmakers Glenn Cutler and David Kotkin, Rachel tells the story of a man working towards sobriety and taking revenge on the shark that ruined his life. The film was created using mostly practical effects, with Cutler doing double duty as the film's main character, and with a large part of the film taking place on a small inflatable raft floating on a lake.
Kotkin, a former high school arts teacher, inventor and now filmmaker, worked with creative partner Cutler as a two man crew, which included both of them learning DaVinci Resolve editing, color grading, visual effects (VFX) and audio post production software.
One of the beliefs we both have as filmmakers is to take any weaknesses we have and turn them into strengths. For us, we had no skilled professionals helping when making the movie. Although this seems like a disadvantage to wear so many hats, it ended up being an advantage for us because it forced us to learn and always be thinking about ways to do things better and faster. The Pocket camera is so powerful and affordable that we could practice and then go for every type of shot, said Cutler.
The two had originally paid for a crew to shoot with an expensive rented camera but did not feel that the initial footage from the camera matched their vision for the story. Within a week, Cutler and Kotkin had gone through a large part of their entire budget.
We thought we were done, Kotkin said. But then I remembered I had seen clips online of the Pocket Cinema Camera 4K and felt we should give it a try. We decided to focus on shooting it as a short film and couldn't believe that the Pocket 4K was just as good as the more expensive camera. And in some cases, was far better because of its mobility.
The small design of the Pocket Cinema Camera 4K allowed the filmmakers to be incredibly mobile, quickly setting up and breaking down.
A typical filming day started with us rising at 4 a.m., packing all the film equipment in our vehicle and setting up our first shots before sunrise. We had good lighting in the morning for about an hour and another hour in the evening before sunset, so in between those two magic hours we spent most of our time editing, preparing props and working on visual effects. Resolve and the Pocket 4K let us be efficient as well as creative, Cutler continued.
Shooting in black and white to get a richer look and make the water scenes more ominous allowed the filmmakers to create a film that included strong drama and characters that viewers cared about, instead of a simple shark attack film. The camera's lightweight design also let them shoot some of the film's most dramatic scenes of Cutler hunting the shark while balanced on a small inflatable raft.
First of all, our advice for anyone filming on the water is start doing cardio and invest in a good set of flippers. The raft scenes were very difficult to shoot considering one of the two crew was the actor on the raft. Things like tide, wind and rain can make things look beautiful but can be unpredictable. Sometimes David had to adjust the raft while the camera was still filming, so having a small camera that was light was worth its weight in gold, said Cutler.
Kotkin and Cutler used DaVinci Resolve's editing, color correction and VFX features for post production. Being able to shoot in Blackmagic RAW and take advantage of the Pocket Cinema Camera 4K's high dynamic range, they could create high quality scenes much more affordably than they ever thought possible.
Resolve let us take scenes from nice to amazing. We knew that the camera could get us the data we needed to then work in Resolve. The Fusion VFX page in Resolve was especially helpful when we couldn't do something with practical effects. And you can jump from Fusion to the color tab with one click and never lose a creative thought, Kotkin continued.
Honestly a lot of it was shooting at the right time of day so we got nice lights and darks. Then in Resolve, we were able to accentuate the contrast and really make it rich. We were able to get ultra precise color grading every time that is not available with other editing software, Kotkin said.
A shot Resolve let us nail was when we had the actress playing Rachel moving down a hallway on a tricycle. You could just have her go into darkness, but the scene needed to be so much more emotional than that. She had to slowly get lost in the shadows. We used Resolve to mask an area in the hallway and as she rides into it, we gradually darkened the area, so it looks like she disappears into the abyss, Kotkin said.
The two filmmakers are currently in the middle of shooting Bull, the full length version of Rachel, using Pocket Cinema Camera 4Ks and DaVinci Resolve.
One of the things we are discussing is using a real bull shark for the final battle. We have shot the majority of the feature using a single Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 4K but are considering using multiple Blackmagic cameras for the final scenes. If it works out, it will be the most realistic and scary shark that cinema has ever seen. Being able to do big ideas like that is what using Blackmagic products is all about, finished Cutler.
###
Enjoying the news? Sign up for the Creative COW Newsletter! Sign up for the Creative COW newsletter and get weekly updates on indust
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
22/07/2026
Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...
22/07/2026
The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...
22/07/2026
From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...
22/07/2026
TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...
22/07/2026
Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...
22/07/2026
Harmonic has announced a $25,000 donation to Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) fo...
22/07/2026
Telemundo has announced it has acquired from UC3 exclusive U.S. Spanish-language...
22/07/2026
The Rest Is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, ...
22/07/2026
Sports Studio has announced a partnership with TheSoul Group to distribute Free ...
22/07/2026
Daktronics has concluded its 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day hybrid event combining virtual sessions with hands-on host school visits across the countr...
22/07/2026
FOR-A America will exhibit at the MMCA Show in Pensacola, Florida (July 21-24), marking the company's first appearance at the house of worship AV event. FOR...
22/07/2026
The New York Yankees have selected Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) to connect Ya...
22/07/2026
Calrec will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.C47) with demonstrations of its IP-native audio ecosystem built around the Argo console range, and will announce two ne...
22/07/2026
Solid State Logic has announced the appointment of Algam EKO as its distributor for SSL large format consoles in Italy, covering the Live, Broadcast, and Studio...
22/07/2026
FloSports has announced the launch of the FloSports Channel, a free ad-supported streaming channel premiering on Prime Video in the U.S. on July 21. The channel...
22/07/2026
Banana Ball TV (BTV), the broadcast operation of the Savannah Bananas, has insta...
22/07/2026
SiriusXM and Audacy have announced an agreement bringing 42 Audacy sports, news, and talk stations from 29 U.S. markets to SiriusXM. Twenty-three Audacy sports ...
22/07/2026
The collaboration produced more than 500 short-form videos across four cities th...
22/07/2026
At 2,600 sq. ft., the new home of digital content houses a main studio, podcast space, and an auxiliary control room
NFL franchises are accelerating their prod...
22/07/2026
Library now available in Engine Player
Another of Eduardo Tarilonte's popular sample libraries has just been moved over to Engine Audio's Engine Pla...
22/07/2026
All-in-one mic & DSP interface overhauled
Cloudvocal have just refreshed the design of their all-in-one mic, audio interface and DSP processor, introducing ...
22/07/2026
The final boss of the lost dual-op-amp circuit
Electro-Harmonix have just introduced the Deluxe Big Muff Pi 2, which they say offers their latest take on t...
22/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
22/07/2026
Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...
22/07/2026
An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app
Marc Levoy July 22, 2026
0 Comments
At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...
22/07/2026
Custom Consoles announces the completion of a large technical furniture project for Radio T l vision Suisse (RTS) at the networks recently inaugurated productio...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Culver City, CA, July 21, 2026 3D streaming infrastructure provider Miris today announced glTF intake, including the binary .glb form, to its spatial streamin...
22/07/2026
Documentary Lo Invisible Captured with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's versatile design allowed filmmakers to c...
22/07/2026
AAF Bridge converts AAF and XML Timelines to Ableton Live - and back
Jerome Gardier July 21, 2026
0 Comments
A two-way converter for macOS and Windows...
22/07/2026
From Class to Concert: Explore a Student-Led Production of David Bowies Work Thr...
22/07/2026
A poisoned spy, a secret war, and a small English city contaminated by a deadly chemical weapon. Available on Sky Documentaries from 4 AugustWednesday 22 July 2...
22/07/2026
Audio at Parity: Comscore Launches Transcript-Level Targeting and Measurement wi...
22/07/2026
Arvato Systems and Lobster Enter into a Partnership and Combine the Integration Platform and Managed Services
Flexible integration solutions for cloud, hybrid...
22/07/2026
RT REPORTS NET SURPLUS OF 22.5 MILLION IN 2025...
22/07/2026
In the Opinion of the Censor airs Monday 27 July at 9.35pm on RT One and RT Player
In the Opinion of the Censor looks at how films for theatrical release wer...
22/07/2026
Before a healthcare robot can be useful in the real world, it has to learn how the physical world pushes back. Anatomy varies. Instruments bend, press, slip and...
21/07/2026
New research involving a cross-section of Mongolias independent media landscape finds enthusiasm for AI as a tool to improve efficiency, sustainability and resi...
21/07/2026
With winners Spain having already paraded the World Cup trophy through Madrid in front of millions of fans and the dust now settling on an epic tournament of th...
Black and White Horror Film Rachel Shot with Pocket Cinema Camera 4K 
