Arri Alexa - a film style digital camcorder

The Arri Alexa is a film-style digital motion picture camera system made by Arri first introduced in April 2010. The camera marked Arri's first major transition into digital cinematography after smaller previous efforts such as the Arriflex D-20 and D-21. 

It features modularity, PL mount lenses, and a Super 35 sized CMOS sensor shooting up to 2880 x 2160 resolution.

Arri Alexa being used during the shoot of Transformers 3

Hands-on reports say the Alexa’s controls are similar to a film camera and include FPS, shutter, EI, and WB (white balance). Buttons control the functions and an LCD display shows all the camera settings at once.

Arri offers the following models in its Alexa range:

Alexa
The first camera of the Alexa product family. Introduced in April of 2010.

Alexa Plus
The ALEXA Plus adds integrated wireless remote control, the ARRI Lens Data System (LDS), additional outputs, lens synchronization for 3D, and built-in position and motion sensors.

Alexa Plus 4:3
The ALEXA Plus adds integrated wireless remote control, the ARRI Lens Data System (LDS), additional outputs, lens synchronization for 3D, and built-in position and motion sensors and a 4:3 sensor making it ideal for anamorphic cinematography.

Alexa M
The Alexa M has its imaging and processing unit broken down in two parts to be small, compact and leightweight for 3D rigs and other uses where size is a concern.

Alexa Studio
The Alexa Studio features an optical viewfinder, mechanical shutter, and a 4:3 sensor making it ideal for anamorphic cinematography.

For full features of the above cameras check out the Alexa page on the Arri website.

ARRI ALEXA VS. RED ONE

The ARRI Alexa platform is aimed squarely at the RED ONE digital camera, itself already well established in the movie industry. RED digital cameras have been used by directors such as Steven Soderbergh, and on feature movies including Angels & Demons. ARRI has designed the Alexa for shooting feature movies, television dramas, and commercials.

VIDEO COMPARISON: ARRI ALEXA VS. RED ONE MYSTERIUM-X VS. RED ONE

Popular Film and TV series shot with Arri Alexa

Popular TV series Game of Thrones was shot with the Arri Alexa

2010: Upstairs, Downstairs, Anno 1790 (TV), Rosario

2011: Final Destination 5, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Hugo, Prom, Game of Thrones (TV), Melancholia, Fringe season 4 (TV), The Three Musketeers, Doctor Who (TV), Jack and Jill, How to make it in America (TV), Once Upon a Time(TV)

2012: The Avengers, Life of Pi. Bel-Ami, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Gravity, The Gangster Squad, Skyfall, World War Z, This is Forty, Rock of Ages, The Dictator

In Bollywood, Tigmanshu Dhulia directed Sahib, Biwi aur Gangster (2011) became the first Bollywood film to be shot on Arri Alexa.

Better than Film?
According to cinematographer Roger Deakins, the Alexa’s tonal range, color space and latitude exceed the capabilities of film. Also, in terms of speed, resolution and clarity of image, the Alexa produces a better image than film cameras. "[T]his camera has brought us to a point where digital is simply better”, says Deakins.

Shot Lister - An iOS App for Filmmakers

Vancouver filmmaker Zach Lipovsky, who is known for his work on Steven Spielberg's reality TV series On the Lot, has launched Shot Lister - an exciting new app that can help streamline the work on a film set.

Shot Lister has recently released on the App Store and for the first week it's at half price: $9.99. (only a day or two left)

Available for both the iPhone and the iPad (check out some cool ipad cases here), Shot Lister allows a filmmaker to build, organize, schedule and share shot lists digitally. Traditionally, AD’s carry a schedule document as a hard copy or as a PDF on their device with the inability to change or modify it. If changes need to be made, a laptop with the EP software would be needed – a time consuming process when other pressing things to be dealt with on set. (If you've worked on a film set you know how high stress levels usually are).

The scheduling app allows you to create a one-liner that has all the necessary information plus the ability to manage and adjust the schedule on the fly right from your iOS device. After putting in the shoot information into the app (either on the device or by importing from free template), you can then schedule out each day.

Not only do you schedule the order in which scenes are shot, but also the specific shots in each scene. You can then add the estimated time it would take for each shot and Shot Lister will let you know if you have enough time for what is scheduled.

Shot Lister’s Unique Features:

UNIVERSAL – share Shot Lister files on any iOS device, as well as full Retina Display Support.

INDUSTRY GRADE - Easily organize and store hundreds of scenes and thousands of shots with the flick of a finger

SCHEDULING - The only software available to easily create a shooting schedule on a shot by shot and minute by minute basis.

LIVE MODE - Experience the ground breaking “Live” production mode to see exactly how you are doing to the minute, and re-organize the day in a matter of seconds.

FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE - customize and order every category to your taste and needs. Also features a 24HR time preference.

DESKTOP IMPORT - Build shot lists in Excel or Numbers using our website templates then import them directly into Shot Lister

SHARING - Export PDFs of your shot list with or without estimated times, or share the entire Shot Lister project file via email with other crew members.

MULTI-CAM SUPPORT - Assign shots to different cameras and group them together to shoot simultaneously. Supports up to 11 cameras

CALENDAR VIEW - On iPad, display your entire shooting schedule as a calendar, just like the production board in the office.

COMPATIBILITY: Universal iOS 5.0+

About Reel Apps & Zach:

Reel Apps is about filmmakers creating apps for the industry – apps that save time, decrease paperwork, increase efficiency and look good doing it.

Zach Lipovsky, the designer of Shot Lister 1.0, is an indie filmmaker who shot to fame as the youngest filmmaker and only Canadian on Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg’s search for the best new director on the TV series, On The Lot.  Then, while directing his first movie, a horror flick for SyFy, he created a temp version of the app to use on set and with rave reviews from crew, decided to create the full iOS version.

Uses of Digital Distortion Techniques in Filmmaking

The vast digital world we now live in opens endless doors for remixing and reimagining both visual and audio effects through digitally- altered imagery and sound. Filmmakers are increasingly turning to new technology to create digital master pieces, rather than using traditional techniques and methods. It is this new generation of experimental film-makers that is pushing new boundaries and using over-saturated colour and distorted sound to inject new life into both visual and audio landscapes.

Below is a selection of brilliant examples of digital distortion, shown through some of the most prominent young filmmakers using these techniques to signify their work. Also, this article looks at Hit Film, an easy-to-install programme that enables digital filmmakers to experiment with their own work.

Yoshi Sodeoka - http://www.sodeoka.com/

Yoshi Sodeoka is a visual artist and filmmaker based in the USA, and originally from Japan. He currently produces digital videos that have been manipulated, altered and enhanced to create hypnotic, hyper-saturated, abstract results. He uses primary colours, distorted into a kaleidoscope of patterns. He is currently working on a project with a musician, Daron Murphy, to develop a series of videos that have been inspired by the psychedelic rock era, combined with Greek mythology. He uses digital distortion techniques to bring his inspiration to life.

Ryan Trecartin - http://ryantrecartin.com/

Ryan Trecartin is an American artist and filmmaker from America. He makes digital movies inspired by the fast, cut throat world of internet communication. He uses techniques such as voice manipulation, over-layering graphics, adding text and editing in a frenzied, abstract manner. His films are chaotic in nature and often contain narratives. Storylines are blurred due to his purposely confusing style of editing. He uses distortion to portray the vastness and frenzy of the online world, portraying a dark and disturbing picture of the internet. He reflects his use of distortion through his films’ eccentric characters; he adds unnatural amounts of colours to each one – going overboard on hues. His sped up filming techniques require the viewer’s full attention; clashes of colour and abstract sound make following what’s going on a purposely difficult challenge.

Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung - http://www.tinkin.com/

Kenneth Tin-King Hung is a digital filmmaker who was born in Hong Kong. His speciality is remixing images and sounds of pop culture, politics and modern communications through innovative, digitally distorted filming.  He draws on digitalised graphics that play on the aesthetic of video games to portray a cynical view of modern society. He uses hyper saturation and exaggerated hues to portray satire and has since been commissioned by music producer Felix Da Housecat – an artist also known for his dark projections about society through his work.

Home software

There are now many great software packages available for those wishing to experiment with digital distortion – both visual and audio – that are compatible with most computers. One computing company producing software is is FXHome. Its programme, Hit Film, is one of the best available for adding all kinds of special effects and digital distortion techniques. Hit Film allows the user to create cutting- edge visual effects, motion tracking, colour alteration and 3D compositing. Its 3D camera has optional depth of field, and can blur layers based on their relative distance from the lens. Hit Film Ultimate’s 3D facility allows interaction of layers and particle simulations. Other facilities include fine tuning, masks, invisibility, cloning, temporal effects, lighting and shadowing effects, and green screen editing facilities. It also comes with visual additions, such as blood spray, light swords, gun fire, lightening and lens flares.

Like with all filming equipment, make sure you invest in a good contents insurance plan, as not only is the hardware pricey but once you add on the software we're talking about a sizable investment; these programmes are rather pricey – Hit Film prices start at $149 for the standard version, $399 for the Ultimate version and $647 for the studio version.

For those able to splash out on Hit Film Studio – the top level version – you can expect an easy-to-use package for beginners that also adequately fulfils the needs of advanced digital filmmakers, combining video editing, advanced compositing in 2D and 3D and visual effects. The Studio package has features to rival any professional filmmaking studio, with highlights including a vocal eraser tool, which can easily extract unwanted vocals from films including removing vocals from songs; stereoscopic 3D; video compositing; colour correction, and surround sound mixing.