HEN WE FILMED The Art of Self-Defense in Kentucky in the fall
of 2017, one of our biggest decisions was of course what camera
we would use. Even though director Riley Stearns and I were only
required to deliver 2K at the time, we wanted to shoot 4K and
push for an additional color grade in HDR. So, after testing it on a commercial
and a short film, I suggested to Riley that we use the Panasonic VariCam 35 and
VariCam LT. These cameras gave us the latitude and resolution we needed
to achieve our desired visuals, but the key deciding feature was Dual ISO.
(Dual ISO means the sensor reads two native ISOs instead of just one.
This extends the dynamic range and reduces the level of signal noise produced.)
This enabled us to shoot our tightly scheduled night sequences with a pretty small
footprint exposing at 3200 ISO (pulled from 5000 ISO Native).
I knew I was going to have to bring some of my gear with me from Los Angeles.
This included some lighting accessories that were hard to find, such as octo-chi-
meras and soft grids for Skypanel S60s, some custom full-color LiteGear LiteMats,
and a Digital Sputnik DS3 kit. These items made the difference when it came
to moving fast with our small crew throughout production.
TOP LEFT: COURTESY OF MICHAEL RAGEN / TOP RIGHT: PHOTOGRAPH BY ISAAC R. HARRISON26 SUMMER 2019 MOVIEMAKER.COM
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LIGHTWEIGHT CAMERAS, COMPACT CLEAVERS
Michael Ragen’s equipment
arsenal for The Art of Self-Defense
shows that a DP’s best defense
is a great on-set offenseBY MICHAEL RAGENWHAT’S IN YOUR KIT?
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