EPIC & SCARLET THE NEW RED

 
It is mind blowing how technology has changed the life of many projects in the past few years. The Red One camera excelled by delivering quality, depth, and versatility to projects like Golden Globe winner “The Social Network” and several others like “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”, “The Book of Eli”, and “District 9”. It is a camera that shoots in digital, but shoots up to 4000 vertical lines in a frame. That is almost 4 times as much as HD and also provides adaptability to better, faster, and longer lenses than many other digital cameras.

Now, Red is ready to take the next step. The company is proud to present the Red Scarlet and the Red Epic. The Red Scarlet will be a camera with basically the same attributes than its predecessor, the Red One, but it will only shoot up to 3K (3 times more than full HD). Also, instead of 20K or 30K dollars it will cost 5K to 10K. This will allow small and independent productions to shoot up to the crispiness and detail of Hollywood. It will reduce or maintain production costs to a minimum and will allow tapeless / filmless workflow in post-production. At the same time, the Red Scarlet will be the size of many prosumer cameras such as the famous HVR-Z1U and will bring portability and speed to projects.

The Red Epic on the contrary will be a slightly more expensive camera than its predecessor. Yet, it will bring portability, which means speed and lower space consumption, and mind-blowing detail quality by stepping up to 5K (5 times more quality than HD). At this point, there is no screen projector or TV that is capable of reproducing this quality. However, its tapeless / filmless workflow, lightweight design, bedazzling crispness, and adaptability to other equipment makes it a new target for many craving filmmakers. Peter Jackson, for example, the director of “Lord of the Rings” plans to shoot his next project “The Hobbit 3D” on the Red Epic. His impression of the Red Epic leaves us in awe as he explains how he plans to mount 30 Epics on 3D rigs to reproduce a whole new experience for audiences. If we though “The Lord of the Rings” blew our minds, we have to wait to see “The Hobbit”.

Ultimately, both the Red Scarlet and Epic cameras have proven how fast technology has evolved to make our lives as filmmakers easier and approachable. They give us the chance to not waste our budget in film while still maintaining or surpassing the quality of 35mm cameras. It is a must-have new baby in the market that we all have to shoot with once in a lifetime.

THIS IS IT

It was always interesting to see Michael Jackson deliver performances worldwide. He was a man who changed music, music videos, and even films with special effects. His career showed us determination, passion, and deliverance. Despite his social circumstances and the conflicts that surrounded him which made people doubt of his moral character, people loved him for what he was… a man who enhanced our perception, a leader, an innovator.

There is much to believe Michael was a man of conviction. He decided where he wanted to go and how. His goals and career where oriented to change and social impact. Thus, he surrounded himself with outstanding talented people who understood his vision. Choreographers, musicians, filmmakers, managers, and live show entertainers opened a path to him that very few even get to dream of. His passion and love for his career and others motivated him to raise the bar and modify everybody’s standards.

This is what you get from watching his last film “This is it” which tells the process in building his next show just before he died. The film depicts Michael worked with his team and motivated everybody in his team to only deliver based on one cause: love. He arrived, prepared, and patiently delivered with everybody what it had to be done to accomplish his new mind blowing show. The film clearly shows his team’s ability to develop a plan, which involved special effects and CGI videos in the background of the show while dancers wearing the same costumes would appear with him and strike the show. It is fascinating to watch this group of people concentrate before each practice and trust him during the show’s simulations. Their admiration for their leader and determination to make him and his cause obtain once again that glory and respect he used to have from the people are exemplary.

I think this film should be an example regardless how much we hated or loved the man of teamwork and project management. It puts a clear message across: the power of people, the power of love. It is passion that drives us and it is people who make things happen. It is never the power of just one man; it is the power of a team concentrated in one same goal. We ought to be aware of this reality and apply this concept to every project we make or help others to build. We ought to remind ourselves it is never a one-man’s show, but a mix of forces empowered by unique talents which make a project complex, unique, and innovating.