'Soul of Storm' filmed with Blackmagic Design cameras

The award-winning short documentary 'Soul of Storm', directed and produced by Dike Su, a Chinese cinematography student and storm chaser, was filmed using the URSA Mini Pro 12K and Pocket Cinema Camera 4K digital models. Blackmagic Design.

In turn, DaVinci Resolve Studio It was used in the production process, including editing and grading the images and mixing the audio.

Soul of Storm is a short nature documentary film that captures intense weather events, including typhoons and high-powered convective storms such as thunderstorms, from the unique perspective of a storm chaser. The film has gained considerable recognition, securing the award for Best Documentary Short Film at the Rome Short Film Festival and has been selected for several other prestigious film festivals.

Su is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree at the Communication University of China and is also a prominent content creator on Bilibili, one of the main video and streaming platforms in that country. His Bilibili Fengyujiang-SDK channel aims to demystify assumptions about weather and provide another look at the adventures of storm chasers. This channel has gathered a substantial number of followers, exceeding 300,000 subscribers and 30,000,000 views.

Since childhood, Su has had a keen interest in severe connective weather phenomena, a passion that led him to explore the myths associated with them. In 2019, upon entering the Communication University of China, he began to explore the field of photography and cinematography.

With the aim of revealing weather patterns and capturing first-hand images and data, Su and his companions went out to chase typhoons every time one affected the country, which involved traveling a considerable distance and passing through the eye of a storm repeatedly.

The team films and collects field data, which possibly provides additional information to that collected by official meteorology centers. These data can be a valuable reference for future scientific research and assist in identifying the causes that give rise to typhoons.

Su began the project in 2018, with the intention of producing a documentary that would show rarely seen storms. "I chose the Pocket Cinema Camera 4K model for this project because of its portable design and the exceptional image quality it offers. The unit is ideal for shooting handheld without requiring too many accessories," he explains.

In 2022, Su incorporated a unit URSA Mini Pro 12K to your equipment. “Despite being a new camera, since it uses the same operating system as the Pocket Cinema Camera 4K model, I can adapt quickly and maximize its capabilities,” he shares.

When referring to the URSA Mini Pro 12K camera in this project, Su clarified that, while he was not obsessed with resolution, attempted to capture rare weather events in the best quality possible, particularly those that might never occur again in your lifetime.

"For those who are not familiar with the URSA Mini Pro 12K model, it might seem like a device that requires a monstrous storage capacity. However, the Blackmagic RAW format is efficient, allows images to be viewed without losing information and offers several options, so the size occupied by the material recorded in 12K is even smaller than that captured in 4K with other codecs. Thanks to this, I was able to shoot in 12K with an aspect ratio of 8:1 without problems," Su adds. “For regular scenes, I opted for 8K in 8:1 or 12:1.”

“I'm glad I caught the most impressive shots in 12K. Even though my screen only has a 4K resolution, who knows what resolution TVs or monitors for viewers and content creators will have in the future. “The 12K resolution is not just for the screen, but it also provides meteorologists with additional valuable information.”

The challenges

When considering footage shot over the four years of production, Su referenced the challenges and unique moments that defined the project's trajectory.

"We had to adapt significantly as a result of unpredictable changes in storms. We often had to reroute and move against the clock, taking many unexpected turns at intersections. It would have been challenging to coordinate with the team if it had been spread across multiple cars," he said.

Therefore, the work team was always composed of three people in one vehicle at most, and at times Su also served as driver and cinematographer.

The project was packed with unforeseen moments. "We had to be on the lookout for any unusual natural phenomena, such as a changing cloud, a sudden gust, or unexpected hail. When we encountered these unforeseen situations, we had to quickly grab the cameras and start recording immediately," says Su. “The Pocket Cinema Camera 4K and URSA Mini Pro 12K take very little time to boot up, which saved us having to wait minutes for the cameras to do their internal checks and be ready to use.”

Among the team members, Su was the only one who had experimented with professional digital cameras. Therefore, having a unit that was easy to operate was essential for the other members who had little experience in cinematography, but specialized in weather data analysis and route planning.

"There were often situations where we would come across something we needed to film when I was driving, and it wasn't possible to park. In those cases, I would ask one of them to capture the shot. For example, I would say, 'Look, there's the power button.' Turn it on and use the touch screen. Press the number 3200 and change it to 400. Turn the lens ring until the image brightness is adequate." Having worked together for three years, these colleagues can now operate a Pocket Cinema Camera 4K unit and skillfully mount it to a tripod. So many of the Soul of Storm They were captured by people with no experience or prior knowledge of cinematography. In essence, it is a camera that anyone can use,” Su points out.

Using DaVinci Resolve Studio

DaVinci Resolve Studio was used in the entire production of Soul of Storm, even in the editing, grading, audio mixing and ACES color management. "Whether you use an ACES workflow or the DaVinci Wide Gamut color space in DaVinci Resolve, images will be relevant in the future. Content created in these expansive color spaces can easily adapt to displays with broader color spectrums while retaining high dynamic range and fine details," says Su.

All material was filmed in Blackmagic RAW. The color balance was then worked on and specific adjustments were made to the different shots to achieve the desired look in DaVinci Resolve Studio. "When refining the aesthetics of the images, I aimed for bright color saturation that mimics the on-site experience and emotional effect. However, it is crucial not to over-process the images and maintain a natural appearance. The ResolveFX "Contrast Highlight" effect was widely used to highlight contrast and increase details in the sky," reveals Su.

Many of the sounds in the documentary were recorded with the integrated microphones of the Pocket Cinema Camera 4K unit. Likewise, Su created versions in HDR y Dolby Atmos with DaVinci Resolve Studio, which are available on your Bilibili channel.

Furthermore, he pointed out that Stories of Typhoons, one of his channel's most popular series that shows the evolution of each typhoon from a satellite perspective, was also produced entirely in 4K and Dolby Vision with DaVinci Resolve Studio.

"Blackmagic cameras are my favorite companions. Over the years of storm chasing, the Pocket Cinema Camera 4K has traveled with me around China, weathered the eye of typhoons, tolerated egg-sized hail, experienced high winds and torrential rain. This unit has allowed me to successfully complete every task I set out to do with it and has captured moving moments," says Su.

Currently, Su is working on another documentary called Stories of Storm Chasers, which he hopes will become the Chinese version of Tornado Alley.

"I've also been using an ATEM Mini Pro mixer to live stream on Bilibili. This is another tool I rely on," shares Su. "It's great to see Blackmagic Design announcing new products and progressing every year. The common motto of storm chasers is 'Never give up the hunt,' whether that's adopting new technologies or innovating in content creation."