4K Way

The Future of Film?

We’ve been using 4K for a while now, and interestingly that there has been a recent shift with more clients knowing about the term 4K. But we are also seeing clients who realise at the moment, depending on the project and its online presence, it’s not offering anything more to the project if the cost is more. So its becoming an option that the industry or clients recognise but not one specifically that adds budget value to.

There is a client focussed argument for future proofing and also a creative argument in all that can be done in post-production. Although this is an element that is more about us the practitioners using new ways of working. The biggest hurdle however, is not if we want Nice UHD 4K images but in the management of data, as the file sizes are becoming really big. Sensor technology is rapidly changing with each new camera model. Relatively low cost cameras (in professional terms) now come with 4.6K sensors, shooting RAW files. The latest Ursa Mini 4.6K will shoot Raw which is great for beautifully flexible images offering wonderful cinematic colour grades and work. But presents further challenges, as an example in RAW mode it will only shoot approx 13mins onto one 128GB cfast 2.0 card which are, by the way, approx £450 each!. Not that RAW is really needed for our business at this time but it shows cost of data and file storage will be a key factor in how our workflows and camera choices will play out. There’s more to camera technology than just 4k, 4.6k and sensor sizes. The buzz words you will now see is that’s its all about wide dynamic range. The ability of camera or sensor to record useable information from the lightest light and darkest dark.

Of course kit with big £££s price tags still don’t tell a story or relay a message. Its the creative filmmaker with ideas, experience and knowledge that is key here. At Good Guys its all about story first, then kit drooling geekdom second.