High demand for ARRI Alexa 65

[Michal Gajdoš]

Hi guys, wanted to share the news (from the CA,Civil War movie) about the high demand for ARRI alexa 65 (the one used in Revenant). Happy to be alive for the new upcoming movies recorded with this beast : Rodrigo Prieto, for Passengers; Greig Fraser, for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story; and Tom Stern, for Sully. 

"To meet demand, ARRI is additionally building 40 more Alexa 65 cameras for its rental facilities worldwide, which will more than double its current inventory of 30, ARRI exec Dana Ross told The Hollywood Reporter."

 

Source : http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/captain-america-civil-war-how-891448

[enny]

good for studios i dont have million dollars so they can make as many as they like, plus Civil War movie will suck fat one Revenant was awesome they also used iphone 5 in one of the scenes can you guess which one?

[jgharding]

Amazing that there are so few in the world! I'm sure one day such sensors won't be so expensive.

[richg101]

I kinda hope they don;t get too easy to acquire.  The more there are, the more they'll be willing to knock down prices and make rental for crap jobs possible.  nothing worse than seeing a golden standard used for menial projects. like when a creative director or dp suggests shooting a walmart advert in anamorphic..  it undermines everything and removes the 'special' option that should only be made available to the true high end jobs like features.

[Nikkor]

7 minutes ago, richg101 said:

I kinda hope they don;t get too easy to acquire.  The more there are, the more they'll be willing to knock down prices and make rental for crap jobs possible.  nothing worse than seeing a golden standard used for menial projects. like when a creative director or dp suggests shooting a walmart advert in anamorphic..  it undermines everything and removes the 'special' option that should only be made available to the true high end jobs like features.

I wonder why anybody would shoot with that expensive camera, makes no sense at all, there is no difference between sensor sizes. 

btw, I don't believe in that special option, there was a time where almost everything was shot on film, TV movies looked good, now they look crap. People used to shoot fashion with Mamiyas 67s Hasselblads and 4x5, and magazines looked amazing, now they look like crap. The more awesome stuff, the better

[BrooklynDan]

39 minutes ago, richg101 said:

I kinda hope they don;t get too easy to acquire.  The more there are, the more they'll be willing to knock down prices and make rental for crap jobs possible.  nothing worse than seeing a golden standard used for menial projects. like when a creative director or dp suggests shooting a walmart advert in anamorphic..  it undermines everything and removes the 'special' option that should only be made available to the true high end jobs like features.

They won't. The camera comes packaged with the Prime 65 lenses as well as the Codex Vault 65 data management system. The day rate is somewhere near $10k per day. And beyond some extremely high-end commercials, I can't imagine anyone using this but Hollywood features in the nine-figure budget range. The post-production costs for 6K Arriraw are astronomical.

Some day, maybe fifteen years from now, I'm sure that these Alexa 65 bodies will wind up on the used market selling for a pittance, much like the Arri D21 and Sony F35 have. But by then, I'm sure we'll have 12K IMAX-sized sensors in our DSLRs. Maybe not Canon. They'll still be doing 8-bit HD.

[Hans Punk]

I miss the D-20!

Alexa 65's will be toys given away in cereal boxes when the Lytro cinema camera eventually evolves into a more affordable and practical solution in the coming years. The Lytro's half a meter sensor and seemingly limitless 'lens' options in post will piss over any 'large' format digital cinema camera likely to ever be invented. Will be quite a long time until we have them at the daily rental price point below the cost of a Ferrari...but it's coming eventually kids (providing Lytro don't get bought out by the US military or held back by a Google acquisition of Lytro's patents and IP's).

 

[M Carter]

5 hours ago, richg101 said:

I kinda hope they don;t get too easy to acquire.  The more there are, the more they'll be willing to knock down prices and make rental for crap jobs possible.  nothing worse than seeing a golden standard used for menial projects. like when a creative director or dp suggests shooting a walmart advert in anamorphic..  it undermines everything and removes the 'special' option that should only be made available to the true high end jobs like features.

Seriously? Do you think a crap job using high-end gear makes everything else less "special"?

Here's an amazing idea - it's not about the gear. The only way to make a WalMart spot "special" is with great concept, writing, talent, lighting, shooting and editing. 

Another shocking concept: A crap job shot on an Alexa 65 will still look like crap.

A stunning and radical suggestion: amazing and moving stories have been made with really low-end gear, few lights, and tiny crews.

A soul-shattering observation: very few people can discuss at length the cameras and lenses used for "Citizen Kane", "2001", and… well, you get the idea (sheesh, I hope anyway).

An intriguing question: Can you tell me, off the top of your head, the gear used by Wong Kar-wai to shoot "2046"? Does it even matter? (It's, umm, really damn gorgeous if you haven't seen it).

And finally, an earth-shaking idea: many "true high end jobs like features" are crap, even when shot with amazing gear.

I would sit down in a dark room and ponder those ideas and see if they make any sort of sense.

[enny]

I am watching civil war as we speak they could have use every camera on earth and could not have saved this crap it suck big doneky cook

[hmcindie]

9 hours ago, richg101 said:

 like when a creative director or dp suggests shooting a walmart advert in anamorphic.. 

Those are already done. I edited a shitty commercial for local store that was shot in anamorphic. Ok, wasn't an Alexa but a Red but the rental prices aren't that much different.

[Policar]

A Walmart spot costs about $1 million. They can afford anamorphic. 

This is interesting. I dismissed 4k because when I watch a 2k DCP it looks fine. I saw Captain America on the best screen in America (no, really) and even up close it looked fine at "Alexa fake 4k" or whatever the majority of their cameras were shooting. But this proves there's an actual interest for the format, and for the wide shots it seems to matter. It's funny hearing people moan about their smartphone or Canon dSLR lacking 4k when the Revenant, for instance, was 60% upscaled from something less. And if you want that resolution, the Sony 6300 provides it now.

But this proves there's a demand even at the high end. A huge demand. I am considering holding off on buying an 80D and waiting for a 5D Mark IV. I mean I'll probably buy neither, my SL1 is fine.

[richg101]

5 hours ago, M Carter said:

Seriously? Do you think a crap job using high-end gear makes everything else less "special"?

Here's an amazing idea - it's not about the gear. The only way to make a WalMart spot "special" is with great concept, writing, talent, lighting, shooting and editing. 

Another shocking concept: A crap job shot on an Alexa 65 will still look like crap.

A stunning and radical suggestion: amazing and moving stories have been made with really low-end gear, few lights, and tiny crews.

A soul-shattering observation: very few people can discuss at length the cameras and lenses used for "Citizen Kane", "2001", and… well, you get the idea (sheesh, I hope anyway).

An intriguing question: Can you tell me, off the top of your head, the gear used by Wong Kar-wai to shoot "2046"? Does it even matter? (It's, umm, really damn gorgeous if you haven't seen it).

And finally, an earth-shaking idea: many "true high end jobs like features" are crap, even when shot with amazing gear.

I would sit down in a dark room and ponder those ideas and see if they make any sort of sense.

you miss my point completely.  I'm talking about how we associate a look with a type of visual piece.  The Alexa65 will have been brought into the equation by arri in order to offer a prestige option to productions in the upper echelons of 'high end' that need to be able to separate themselves from everything else.  The Revenant 'looked' different optically to anything else.  They wouldn;t have bothered with the extra hassle of using multiple different cameras if there was no difference.  I'm talking about a situation you obviously don't empathise with = the reason movies began to be shot in anamorphic and theatres started projecting in a different aspect ratio to tv to bring people back to the theatres when tv's first came into the equation.  Half of the promotion for 'The Hateful Eight' specifically went into detail about how they'd invested so much into shooting in 65mm anamorphic.

 

When I say 'crap job', I mean jobs like walmart adverts.  cheap clothing brand ads, auto/home insurance ads etc.  no matter what the budget, who directs and shoots it, etc, the end result will never be good because of the brand they're trying to sell on a dream.  DP's who settle for doing such work their entire lives earn a good living but never really make anything anyone with an artistic eye really takes notice of.  They're somewhat artistic themselves and get bored of this shit and then look to new gear to make things more interesting.  in doing so they often end up devaluing the aesthetic such gear brings to the equation.  

 

Your argument has about as much integrity as a kid telling Roger Deakins that he need not shoot in true anamophic on a 4 perf alexa, but instead shoot the movie on minidv because the script is good enough to carry it through without the need to make it look 'special'.  What I mean to say is that I'm on a different page to you in terms of my personal preferences and expectations

[jgharding]

11 hours ago, richg101 said:

I kinda hope they don;t get too easy to acquire.  The more there are, the more they'll be willing to knock down prices and make rental for crap jobs possible.  nothing worse than seeing a golden standard used for menial projects. like when a creative director or dp suggests shooting a walmart advert in anamorphic..  it undermines everything and removes the 'special' option that should only be made available to the true high end jobs like features.

I'm fine with perople having access TBH, I think it's poor content that doesn't do a format justice, and that can be created by productions with vast budgets. but I agree that half the adverts shot on anamorphic at the moment look silly. It's really distracting and totally out of context, looks like the DOP is indulging a lens fantasy rather than shooting appropriately for the content. Domestic situation with mum opening crisps IN 65MM ANAMORPHIC!!!!11one!!1

[Michal Gajdoš]

 

3 hours ago, enny said:

I am watching civil war as we speak they could have use every camera on earth and could not have saved this crap it suck big doneky cook

why was it so bad for you ? It's a comic book movie, i expected humor, action and a bit entertaining plot (not very complicated). What I got for nice story, pleasant natural jokes, great action scenes that were done realistically. I was happy it was fun . 

[AaronChicago]

Really looking forward to PASSENGERS

[Liam]

My boss's boss wrote Sully, didn't realize it was shot on the 65, exciting :3 not always in love with Eastwood, but sounds good

[enny]

3 hours ago, Michal Gajdoš said:

 

why was it so bad for you ? It's a comic book movie, i expected humor, action and a bit entertaining plot (not very complicated). What I got for nice story, pleasant natural jokes, great action scenes that were done realistically. I was happy it was fun . 

because its same old shit man  it was fun at beginning but when you keep Regurgitatig same shit its gets old and not interesting. I am big comic book collector i have over 11k comic books been collecting since 92. In my opinion Hell boy 1 and 2 blade 1 and 2 and avengers since i love VFX evrything else its meh

[TheRenaissanceMan]

21 hours ago, richg101 said:

 

When I say 'crap job', I mean jobs like walmart adverts.  cheap clothing brand ads, auto/home insurance ads etc.  no matter what the budget, who directs and shoots it, etc, the end result will never be good because of the brand they're trying to sell on a dream.  DP's who settle for doing such work their entire lives earn a good living but never really make anything anyone with an artistic eye really takes notice of.  They're somewhat artistic themselves and get bored of this shit and then look to new gear to make things more interesting.  in doing so they often end up devaluing the aesthetic such gear brings to the equation.  

 

Fun story: one time, a friend of mine was taking a walk and came across a shoot for a Progressive commercial. They ushered him through so they could get back to work, but he managed to catch a glimpse of the DP's name from the slate.

It was Emmanuel Lubezki.

This was well after Children of Men and Tree of Life, too.

While I agree with your main point-- that feature films have to find unique aesthetic characteristics to distinguish them from lower-end productions-- I cannot abide the implication that accepting commercial work precludes someone from being a true artist. In my eyes, any true artist would do whatever work they had to if it meant taking another step toward realizing their next project. 

[hmcindie]

18 hours ago, enny said:

because its same old shit man  it was fun at beginning but when you keep Regurgitatig same shit its gets old and not interesting. I am big comic book collector i have over 11k comic books been collecting since 92. In my opinion Hell boy 1 and 2 blade 1 and 2 and avengers since i love VFX evrything else its meh

Either it's great and you love it or it's crap and you hate it. There's no average in your world? Your the one who keeps making those IMDB 1/10 or 10/10 reviews?

[AaronChicago]

3 hours ago, TheRenaissanceMan said:

Fun story: one time, a friend of mine was taking a walk and came across a shoot for a Progressive commercial. They ushered him through so they could get back to work, but he managed to catch a glimpse of the DP's name from the slate.

It was Emmanuel Lubezki.

This was well after Children of Men and Tree of Life, too.

While I agree with your main point-- that feature films have to find unique aesthetic characteristics to distinguish them from lower-end productions-- I cannot abide the implication that accepting commercial work precludes someone from being a true artist. In my eyes, any true artist would do whatever work they had to if it meant taking another step toward realizing their next project. 

Yeah, I mean David Fincher shot some commercials for Gap. Nicholas Winding Refn for Cadillac. Darren Aronofsky ,some cologne commercials.