Chan shoots an immersive piece in 8K with Blackmagic in Taiwan

Director of photography Frank Chan led the filming of 'Taiwan Imagery', a piece for the National Museum of Taiwan shot in 8K with the URSA Mini Pro 12K Blackmagic.

Taiwan Imagery it's a short film which aims to capture the landscapes, people and culture of Taiwan with a unique perspective. The order was made to Frank Chan, who combined improvised material with different planned takes.

To undertake the project, the director of photography built several preliminary pieces with different Blackmagic solutions. In his own words: "During my career, I have filmed everything from noodles to airline commercials. Although I loved this type of work, I returned to Taiwan with the purpose of doing something more meaningful. Additionally, I wanted to get to know the country better. That was the moment I started using the model Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K G2 y DaVinci Resolve to edit and grade. With these tools, I could work and explore images, while preserving the quality of the photos and sequences. This allowed me to film four short films that show the people of Taiwan and their emotions in an unplanned way, and at the same time served as a preparation for the museum project”.

The next step in Chan's vision involved a technological leap, and that's where the URSA Mini Pro 12K by Blackmagic. Taking advantage of the 12K resolution From this camera, Chan was able to obtain images in 8K with “subtle skin tones and an extraordinary level of detail,” in the words of the technology company itself. This is evident in different sequences in which you can see dancers in brightly colored costumes, immersive shots of the country's beaches and mountains, or a burned boat as part of a festival that consists of setting boats on fire: "Every time I saw something interesting I filmed it. In addition, I had to take into account that the shots would be projected on three screens as a single image. It was better to be prepared for everything, and with the 12K camera, I was," he recalls.

Chan traveled around Taiwan in a 4 x 4 vehicle with several units URSA Mini Pro 12K and various accessories, recording several hours of material, mostly on his own. Then he turned to DaVinci Resolve Studio to edit and grade images.

"The URSA Mini Pro 12K model allowed me to film instantly with the certainty that I would get beautiful images with all the necessary information. A few years ago, this was not possible for an independent filmmaker like me, but Blackmagic has changed the rules of the game. Their cameras and the DaVinci Resolve program have given me the necessary freedom to create and work on any project," concludes Chan, satisfied with the performance of the solutions.