Japanese production company ROM records a Green Da Ka Ra spot with Blackmagic Pyxis 6K

The television spot for Green Da Ka Ra, the popular sports drink from the Japanese company Suntory, was filmed with a digital film camera Blackmagic Pyxis 6K. Regarding the grading process, this was carried out with DaVinci Resolve Studio and a DaVinci Resolve Advanced Panel device.

The announcement marks an exclusive collaboration with The dance day, one of the most prominent dance competitions in Japan, which is already celebrating its fourth edition. This lively ad features performances by five dance groups, including the famous Powerpuff Boys, and showcases energetic and dynamic choreography.

The advertisement was recorded by Watanabe City, of ROM, a creative company specialized in music videos and advertisements. As director of the company, Watanabe has responsibilities in various areas, such as directing, grading and cinematography, depending on the project.

"This project was made in a way very similar to a music video. That's why director Ryosuke Sone, with whom I have worked several times, personally asked me to participate in the filming," explains Watanabe.

During filming, two cameras Pyxis 6K. "I have used Blackmagic Design cameras since the Pocket Cinema Camera model came out and I feel very comfortable with them. I had already tried the Pyxis 6K on a previous concert project, in which I recorded images to transmit them on the venue's LCD screens, so I had a clear vision of how the material would look when graded," admits Watanabe.

A dynamic production

In order to capture dynamic dance movements, the camera was placed on a crane and a tracking shot Panther. "We used semicircular rails to move around the dancers and remotely adjusted the angles and rotations of the crane arm to generate movement. In terms of objectives, because I wanted to highlight the spatial amplitude, we used CP.2 models of Zeiss and a wide angle Laowa. Since they are manual focus lenses, we adapted the camera by adding rods at the bottom in order to install a wireless follow focus system. For low angle shots, we attach a tripod mount to the top of the handle BEAR Who and we put the camera at the bottom of the tracking shot,” says Watanabe.

Furthermore, he adds that "with the Pyxis 6K's full-frame sensor, lighting the set was much easier. Although some shots were digitally enlarged during editing, thanks to the 6K resolution we were able to get quite close to the subject without compromising image quality."

The grading process was carried out in the Digital Garden post-production company, using the program DaVinci Resolve Studio and a device DaVinci Resolve Advanced Panel. "I worked with colorist Yusuke Adachi of Digital Garden. Considering that we used a black fabric as a background, I wanted the dark areas to be intense, and the ceiling and stage lighting, in line with the skin undertones, to appear soft and uniform. The PYXIS 6K model helped me obtain the precise tone I was looking for," concludes Watanabe.