
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 ...
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...
28/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/05/2026
Green Hippo, an ACT Entertainment brand, will pull back the curtain on the Estuary Series, a next-generation media control platform engineered for the scale, sp...
28/05/2026
First Hands-On Opportunity at Universal Studios Lot, June 5-6
Oberkochen, Germany, May 27, 2026 ZEISS is launching their new Panoptes 65 primes at Cine Gear ...
28/05/2026
Irvine, CA May 20, 2026 Wooden Camera today announced the release of new accessories for the Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive. The new lineup includes a redes...
28/05/2026
Six films, one unmissable collection. First Facts documentaries debut on 10 Stre...
28/05/2026
Emma Watkins brings all-new Emma's Dance Club to ABC Kids 28 May 2026
Emmas Dance Club. Image credit: Sarah Wilson.
The ABC, Screen Australia and Screen N...
28/05/2026
Cool Concentric Text for Cavalry
Simon Ubsdell May 27, 2026
0 Comments
In this tutorial I'll show you how to make this popular text effect that is...
28/05/2026
Scripps Research's Skaggs Graduate School awards doctoral degrees to 34th graduating class
May 21, 2026
Scripps Research's Skaggs Graduate School of ...
28/05/2026
Scripps Research chemist Jin-Quan Yu is named a Fellow of the Royal Society Yu is honored by the U.K.'s national academy of sciences for his work in synthet...
27/05/2026
Telestream has announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Benjamin Desbois as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Desbois, currently Teles...
27/05/2026
ESPN garnered 10 awards; NBC's Sunday Night Football received the Outstandin...
27/05/2026
Matrox Video is celebrating its 50th anniversary, marking five decades of operations from its headquarters in Montreal, Canada. Founded in 1976, the company has...
27/05/2026
Major League Baseball has announced a series of initiatives tied to America's Semiquincentennial, including a national marketing campaign, Fourth of July br...
27/05/2026
Advanced Systems Group (ASG) has announced that Brian Gross has joined the company as an Account Manager on its Audio team, based in the Burbank office. He will...
27/05/2026
Nielsen has released new research on soccer fandom ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2...
27/05/2026
ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) has unveiled a new partnership with TikTok to bring broad...
27/05/2026
FIFA's Oscar Sanchez gives a deeper look to how this tournament will be cove...
27/05/2026
The soon-to-be senior from Charlottesville is building her skills in replay, TD, and even creative content for HokieVision and its ACC Network productions
In t...
27/05/2026
FOX Sports' Mike Davies breaks down the vision for this summer's showcas...
27/05/2026
HBS's Paul King, FIFA's Oscar Sanchez preview how the masses at home wil...
27/05/2026
FOX's MLB coverage dominated the night at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy Awards...
27/05/2026
One of the most memorable Postseasons in baseball history would have had no memo...
27/05/2026
NBC's Sunday Night Football is among the most decorated and most watched programs in the history of television. It added to its jam-packed trophy case on Tu...
27/05/2026
The 2026 Sports Emmys marked a watershed moment for Prime Video Sports. After bu...
27/05/2026
With the Opening Match just over two weeks away, the entire sports-production-te...
27/05/2026
Spotify already brings together listeners' favorite music, podcasts, and audiobooks in one place. Now, we're trialing a new format that expands the cont...
27/05/2026
The best podcast moments deserve more than just a mental note. That's why today, we're making those moments easier to save and share with clips.
Whethe...
27/05/2026
On Purpose is one of the most popular podcasts in the world, known for conversat...
27/05/2026
On May 8, 1,500 of Olivia Rodrigo's top fans gathered in Barcelona's Tea...
27/05/2026
Hybrid design combines large-diaphragm capsule & ribbon
JZ Microphones have teamed up with Grammy-winning producer and engineer Marc Urselli to develop a ne...
27/05/2026
Three new plug-ins inspired by classic tape effects
AIR Music Tech's latest release delivers a set of plug-ins that aim to capture the character, moveme...
27/05/2026
Piano played on the edge of silence
The Crow Hill Company's Vaults collection offers a continual rotation of instruments that are given away for free fo...
27/05/2026
Recreates Moog's iconic Memorymoog polysynth
Arturia's vast software instrument range offers a combination of new and old, with innovative modern so...
27/05/2026
Offers loudness levelling for speech and dialogue
Accentize have built up a solid reputation with their audio-restoration tools, and their latest plug-in is...
27/05/2026
10,000 units strong - The Rohde & Schwarz R&S M3SR Radio 4400 Rohde & Schwarz celebrates a major manufacturing milestone, producing its 10,000th R&S M3SR Radi...
27/05/2026
The XL Converge 300P radio system emerges with a groundbreaking feature set enhancing the mission-critical communications of public safety, federal and critica...
27/05/2026
Pairing Two47 MCX software with existing LTE networks means tailored system upgrades that can save time, money and lives....
27/05/2026
PAC-3 MSE offers improved range, speed, and maneuverability, making it an effect...
27/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/05/2026
Star Trek VFX: Recreating John Knoll's Iconic Warp Stars without a Slitscan ...
27/05/2026
Adventure World Uses Blackmagic Replay for Marine Live
Brie Clayton May 27, 2026
0 Comments
Large screen displays and slow motion replays dynamically ...
27/05/2026
Berklee Alumna and Assistant Professor Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Origi...