Hit Japanese Band [Alexandros] New Music Video Dog Shot with Blackmagic Cameras

Blackmagic Design today announced that Blackmagic URSA, Production Camera 4K and Pocket Cinema Camera were used to shoot the popular Japanese rock band [Alexandros]' new music video Dog 3. Production of the music video was done by SEP Inc, a Tokyo based production company acclaimed for its high quality music video production.

[Alexandros] is a hugely popular Japanese rock band that has had four top 10 hits since 2013. The single Dog 3 is from the band's latest album, and to accompany its release, the band decided to create an intense video. Dog 3 shows the band performing at various locations while the drummer slowly turns into a giant by well dressed villains, and it's the first time the band acted in their music video.

Even though most of [Alexandros]' music videos feature their cool musical performance, they were enthusiastic about acting for this new video. So, I made the story a comical, science fiction story, which represents the song, said Yoshiharu Seri, the director of SEP inc.

The video features highly stylized sets, animation, VFX and a number of different locations that needed various night, inside live concert and outside shots. These shots required cameras that would capture high quality images that could easily be brought into post production. Also, Seri only had one day to shoot the entire video, so it was very important to use cameras that would allow him to shoot efficiently in a limited amount of time.

Considering this would be a fast paced video and have many cuts, I chose to use multiple cameras. When using multiple cameras, I have to match the tone of each camera's footage in post, so I wanted to use the same camera brand if possible. The compactness of the Production Camera 4K and the Pocket Cinema Camera was the best choice, and I added URSA, which I had wanted to use for long time, said Seri.

The URSA and the Production Camera 4K were used as the main cameras, and the Pocket Cinema Camera was used on a small crane to shoot the live concert scenes. Blackmagic has a range of cameras, so I used those three cameras depending on the situation. For example, I used the Production Camera 4K for tight spaces where I could not take the URSA, said Seri.

I like that Blackmagic cameras have very simple menus, getting rid of unnecessary things. It was beneficial to use all Blackmagic cameras as the camera menus are all the same, he added. It was also great that the URSA and the Production Camera 4K have global shutter. There is a concert scene with fast paced cuts, and we moved the camera around a lot, yet we got nice images without distortion. Also, I was impressed with the Pocket Cinema Camera and that such a small camera can capture beautiful images, which can be used for professional work. Usually the colors fall apart when you grade footage from a small camera, but the Pocket Cinema Camera is exceptional.

Seri continued: I took this to post production for finishing, but I made some looks by myself using DaVinci Resolve Studio so the colorist could get an idea of what kind of look was I aiming for. I prefer a more saturated look, so my grading tends to have the colors pushed up. Footage shot with Blackmagic cameras has a wide dynamic range, so it won't fall apart even if I boost up saturation and contrast. When adding color on black, it gives a nice feeling to the picture, so it is important how much you can grade on black without falling apart. Footage from Blackmagic cameras can be graded nicely in the mid to black range.

Dog 3 consists of about 140 cuts, including green screen shots for compositing and live concert shots. Seri had to finish shooting for all scenes, including those for green screen, in one day, so the schedule was very tight.

We had to shoot everything at a good pace as we needed a lot of shots for the video. If we did not have Blackmagic cameras, as well as all the great efforts of the camera and lighting crews, we could not have shot this much footage. The mobility and simple settings of the cameras let us concentrate on making good looking shots. Having multiple Blackmagic cameras was best suited for this project as they allowed us to get going on shooting good shots, concluded Seri.

About Blackmagic Design

Blackmagic Design creates the world's highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design's DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in post production, while the company's Emmy award winning DaVinci color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984.

Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com.

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