Fremont, CA - February 17, 2015 - Blackmagic Design today announced that Blackmagic URSA and Blackmagic Production Camera 4K were used to shoot the opening titles of the third season of the popular Japanese drama series on Asahi TV, “Doctors 3.” Production for the opening titles was done by Tokyo based Helmet Inc.
“Doctors 3” is one of the most popular Japanese television shows and follows a team of talented doctors, surgeons and nurses at Dogami General Hospital in Tokyo. The show is known for its high drama and intense medical imagery, and to capture the opening title in every show for the new season, Helmet chose to use Blackmagic Design cameras.
In the opening titles, the main character, Dr. Kosuke Aira, starring Ikki Sawamura, walks by mirrors, which shatter as he passes. To create “the world of mirrors,” three cameras were required for the shoot. While shooting the actor with the main camera, Blackmagic URSA and Blackmagic Production Camera 4K were used to shoot virtual images in the mirrors, which were used for compositing in post production.
“The footage I shoot with the Blackmagic cameras is mainly for compositing. In such cases, you usually should use the same kind of camera. However, when I did a camera test, I found the RAW footage from Blackmagic cameras and the RAW footage from the main camera looked very similar when graded. Also, as this is the virtual image in the mirror, any slight difference in the look can be utilized in a creative way,” said the DoP Takashi Chiba.
“The cameras’ amazing descriptive detail gives us very life like images. With the appropriate exposure on set, the footage from these cameras has great dynamic range, which can be favorably compared with more expensive, higher end cameras in the market. Blackmagic Design cameras make me feel the rise to a new era of digital cinema cameras,” he continued.
Chiba noted: ”The Blackmagic cameras are easy to use since the hierarchy of menu settings are not deep. As we usually don’t have enough time to do everything on set, it makes the camera crew very frustrated if the menu is complicated, which could cause fatal problems. Blackmagic, however, uses graphics which make the interface more user friendly.
“One of the most unique aspects of URSA is its 10 inch monitor. It has a high level of visibility and is very clear and bright. It can be very useful not only for studio shoots for this kind of project, but for on set shoots too. Also it has touch screens on both sides for technical staff: left side for camera crew and right side for audio crew so that they can monitor or adjust settings, which I think is well thought out,” said Chiba.
The camera data for the opening scenes was colored and converted using DaVinci Resolve. After initial shooting, Chiba created a timeline for each file from the three different cameras, applied BMD Film LUT for Blackmagic cameras to the Cinema DNG files and performed a primary color correction, which was then matched with the R3D file of the main image. After that, footage was rendered as ProRes 4444 and sent to post for compositing.
“It is very attractive that Blackmagic’s cameras provide great mobility, amazing imagery and the camera files are versatile. The LOG image from the cameras has high dynamic range which gives us more freedom to be creative in post production. For example, I had to color match Blackmagic camera files with other camera files, but it was not a problem. I think Blackmagic cameras are very cost effective. They are affordable, yet their features are comparable to more expensive cameras in the market,” concluded Chiba.
Press Photography
Product photos of Blackmagic URSA, Blackmagic Production Camera 4K and all other Blackmagic Design products are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com/press/images.
About Blackmagic Design
Blackmagic Design creates the world’s highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in post production, while the company’s Emmy™ award winning DaVinci color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com.
