Happy Campers Documentary Shot with Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
Brie Clayton September 30, 2024
0 Comments
Pocket Cinema Camera 4K's dual native ISO helps capture difficult to get night shots for award winning doc.
Blackmagic Design today announced that the award winning documentary Happy Campers was captured with Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K digital film camera. Shot in Blackmagic RAW, Director and DP Amy Nicholson relied on the camera's dual native ISO to capture stark sunny days and dark summer nights while profiling the trailer park community of Inlet View Campground.
Photo credit: Grasshopper Film
Happy Campers follows the final days of a working class summer colony as they prepare for their waterfront campground to be sold to developers. Set on a backdrop of rust bitten RVs and stunning sunsets, Happy Campers explores what's beneath the clich trailer park stereotypes of the close knit community. Following the film's premiere at DOC NYC, America's largest documentary film festival, and a limited theatrical release, it's now available on VOD nationwide in US and Canada.
With more than 20 percent of the film captured at night to showcase campfires, fireworks and more, Nicholson identified the camera's dual native ISO as the most crucial element for the film.
Photo credit: Grasshopper Film
I had no lighting package, so I would get up before sunrise and shoot until the light got ugly, then do some interiors or wait until late afternoon, and go back out again. I didn't have the room or time for bounce cards, so everything in the final film was captured entirely as is. There was always a ton of wind, blazing sun, and a million mosquitos, but the Pocket Cinema Camera 4K made it all manageable.
The dual native ISO range was fabulous. When we got to color correction, editor John Young and I were astounded at how little noise reduction we had to do in the campfire and fireworks shots. Colorist Gene Curley at Nice Shoes worked his magic, but the camera allowed me to capture some stunning night scenes, Nicholson explained. When the image was enlarged, we would see detail we hadn't noticed on our dailies. I remember one particular night shot where John and I both yelled out loud, Look at all the bugs!'
Photo credit: Grasshopper Film
Living amongst her subjects, Nicholson took on both director and DP roles for the documentary. While she's previously directed five films, Happy Campers was Nicholson's first time as DP. She noted, Having never operated a camera before was a huge factor when selecting my kit. The Pocket Cinema Camera 4K's settings are clear and simple. Thanks to the Blackmagic OS, I was able to get comfortable with the settings in record time, and spoiler alert: time was literally running out at the trailer park. I had to grab 40 years of memories in a few short months, so I had no learning runway.
Nicholson credits the Pocket Cinema Camera 4K's small design with allowing her to straddle both director and DP roles. It allowed me to be stealthy and friendly, since I was directing at the same time, and I wanted the film to be primarily verit , she explained. For a novice like me, having a very small camera allowed me to operate, but it also kept me friendly. The smaller and less in your face' you can be, the more intimate your footage will be. Happy Campers' is a very intimate portrait of community, and it was extremely important to capture what was there without altering the feeling of the place. We were all very close in the campground, so projecting that feeling and getting close physically made all the difference in the world.
Photo credit: Grasshopper Film
When this project presented itself, and it became clear I would be shooting alone, I knew the Pocket would be great. I was shooting in an RV campground with lumpy dirt roads. I was living in a camper the entire time, and my production office was a small shed just outside with a single work table. Everything in my camera package had to fit into a garden cart, so it was very important that it be small and manageable. Simplicity was paramount, she added.
I am much better at talking and making people feel at ease than I am with F stops and focus. Just ask my editors. But once I got the first few batches of dailies through Resolve, I could shoot with absolute confidence. The sensor was amazing; it looked like film, said Nicholson. When you are shooting alone, sound is a huge factor and you really have to pay attention to your environment, so your brain is getting pulled in that direction constantly. Knowing the picture was going to be fabulous took one worry away.
Photo credit: Grasshopper Film
Audiences and fellow filmmakers are always surprised that I worked alone. But that's the point of the Pocket Cinema Camera 4K; that you can create a beautiful motion picture with a very small, easy to manage package that you can quickly learn, Nicholson concluded. I worked hard to make Happy Campers' feel more like an experience than just simply an observational film. It's an emotional story, and it would be impossible to feel it' had it been shot another way.
October 2, 2024RKM Studios Produces Music Videos Using Blackmagic CloudNick Phoenix's music videos shot with URSA Mini Pro 12K and completed
September 30, 2024Turn Your LOG Footage into Stunning Cinematic Visuals: A Color Grading Guide in DaVinci Resolve 19LOG footage is just the starting point with lots of possibilities. In
Enjoying the news? Sign up for the Creative COW Newsletter! Sign up for the Creative COW newsletter and get weekly updates on industry news, forum highlights, jobs, inspirational tutorials, tips, burning questions, and more! Receive bulletins from the largest, longest-running community dedicated to supporting profess
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...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
May 29 2026, 09:00 (PDT) Dolby and rednote Bring More Immersive Storytelling to...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
29/05/2026
Genelec announces V2.1 for Aural ID binaural headphone monitoring application posted: 29/05/2026
Aural ID 2.1 enhances binaural monitoring for stereo and ...
29/05/2026
At just 20 years old, Sean Melia from Summerhill Co. Meath has been revealed as the winner of Super Garden 2026. Sean is the youngest ever contestant and winner...
Happy Campers Documentary Shot with Pocket Cinema Camera 4K 
