Weezer shoots its latest video clip with Blackmagic's Ursa Mini Pro

‘Africa’ was shot with a Blackmagic Design Ursa Mini Pro camera in the recently announced Blackmagic RAW format.

The new video clip of the group Weezer, Africa, has been shot with a Ursa Mini Pro camera Blackmagic Design in the recently announced format Blackmagic RAW. Likewise, the editing and grading of the images in the post-production stage were carried out with the program DaVinci Resolve Studio.

Jade Ehlers y Brendan Walter (Crush Music) were in charge of directing this video clip, which corresponds to a new version of the song Africa from the Toto group. Furthermore, the goal was to remake a classic by replicating the iconic song. Sweater Song by Weezer shot by shot.

The images correspond to a shot that captures the band playing in front of a bright blue wall, with the camera moving between the different members. The video clip begins in front of the musicians and moves from brightly lit areas to darker ones, as well as from low to high angle shots of the group.

"A week before filming began, the new Blackmagic RAW format was announced, which was timely. It met everything we were looking for. The original video of Sweater Song It was shot on tape, so we wanted to achieve a mix between a digital camera that captured a cinematic aesthetic and recording and post-production that fit our low budget and extremely tight deadlines. The combination of the Blackmagic RAW codec and the URSA Mini Pro was perfect“added Ehlers.

Blackmagic RAW is a new, modern codec that not only delivers high-quality images but also surprisingly fast performance in a smart file format. Thanks to your advanced chromatic interpolation technology and its revolutionary design, this codec offers both the quality and advantages of RAW format, as well as the speed, simplicity and size of traditional video files.

This new codec transfers part of the chromatic interpolation process to the camera, where it can be energized by the device itself. This makes encoding really efficient and file sizes small. Furthermore, these files are not just a RAW container, but rather combine image data with information about the unique characteristics of the sensor. In this way, it is possible to achieve better quality, even when using high compression settings. On the other hand, full control is provided over RAW settings, such as ISO value, white balance, exposure, contrast, saturation and custom color spaces.

The Blackmagic RAW codec supports GPU and CPU processing acceleration and supports a large amount of metadata, such as customizable .sidecar files. Additionally, it includes Blackmagic Design's new fourth-generation colorimetry and various encoding options for consistent quality or transfer speed.

"We had already used the URSA Mini Pro model on several shoots, but with the Blackmagic RAW format we felt like we suddenly had a new camera with an exceptional sensor built in. Before this innovative codec was available, we were thinking of using one of the formats with compression and making do, but in the end, we were able to shoot in RAW," said the director.

One of the advantages that Blackmagic RAW offers is being able to capture a greater amount of information in each image, in order to compensate for difficulties in terms of lighting in the post-production stage. The set had a bright blue background wall, for which there were five people dedicated to lighting in different areas of the stage. Each tried to match the changes of the constantly moving camera while respecting the images of the original video perfectly. The result was inconsistent lighting in the recorded material.

"The blue wall captured light differently in different places, and in several places we got somewhat dark spots. We were forced to shoot with a lower dynamic range and an ISO of 800, which worried us, but we hoped we could fix it in post-production. Blackmagic RAW saved our lives. We were able to increase the ISO sensitivity to 1600, adjust the saturation to what we needed in DaVinci Resolve Studio, see every detail, and do everything quickly and easily. As a result, we achieved exceptional image quality, precise details and extremely small file sizes,” continued Ehlers.

With Blackmagic RAW, it is possible film, edit and grade projects, all in one file. Camera settings and configurations are transferred to DaVinci Resolve using metadata, which can also be modified. Likewise, changes made to the RAW settings in this program will automatically be seen when opening the files in other applications compatible with the Blackmagic RAW format. This way, you'll get a consistent look and feel and the same controls no matter what software you use, even across different platforms. Blackmagic RAW is the fastest and highest quality codec on the market.

"With this innovative codec, we were able to achieve more intense color in every shot. What amazed me was that it was possible to play the RAW files instantly on a laptop right there on set. We shot and then edited and graded the same files without problems," said the director. "This advantage alone allowed us to save half of an 8-hour workday. Instead of being slowed down by having to export files for hours, we had the freedom to process the original material from the camera in post-production. It's a crazy thing!”, acknowledges Jade Ehlers.

For the video clip, Ehlers and Presley needed a camera that offered optimal image quality, a cinematic look and, at the same time, that it was light, since it had to be shot in a single take. The Ursa Mini Pro model weighs less than 3 kilos, so together with its Super 35mm 4.6K sensor and a dynamic range of 15 stops, it was exactly what they needed.

"We recorded six takes to achieve what we had in mind, which meant that Nathan had to move around with the camera in hand, the mount, the lens and all the cards at all times. The fact that this unit can be mounted on a platform and that it weighs around 12 kg, in a very compact size, helped him capture the desired images more easily," concluded Ehlers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk5Dwg5zm2U