Roy Wagner ASC on Shooting Exclusively with Blackmagic Design Cameras
How one acclaimed cinematographer shot the upcoming musical drama ‘Stand!’ exclusively on Blackmagic cinema cameras.
Veteran cinematographer Roy H. Wagner ASC knows a thing or two about capturing quality cinematic footage - having driven visuals for shows like CSI, House, and Elementary on his way to multiple Emmy Awards over his career.
For his latest project, Wagner specifically picked out the URSA Mini Pro for his principal photography on the upcoming musical drama Stand!.
Starring Gregg Henry (from Guardians of the Galaxy fame) and Laura Wiggins (from Shameless), Stand! was shot on location in Winnipeg where Wagner did his original location scouting and camera testing.
“This is a camera I’ve done extensive tests with and have found it incredibly competitive with the most expensive camera systems. The camera crew had never used the camera and yet were able to pull a brand new camera out of its case and have it fully prepped within three days.”
Looking to dynamic lighting and really process detailed shadows and brilliant highlights, Wagner was shocked by the URSA Mini Pro’s low light performance. “We went for a very aggressive style, and the images allowed us a lot of latitude for interpretation in post production.”
With a background in photochemical film to digital transition, Wagner has been eager to embrace new digital film technology and was drawn to the URSA Mini Pro for its dynamic range and superior work with shadows and highlights.
The Stand! production also made use the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K for select shots as a solid B-companion camera, but the URSA Mini Pro left this seasoned cinematographer gushing.
“This camera gives me a chance to be an artist again,” said Wagner. “It can compete with any camera on the market now. But most of all, I’m excited about Blackmagic Design team because they love cinematography as much as I do.”
You can find out more about Stand! and Blackmagic's full line of cameras here.
Your Comment
4 Comments
Roy H. Wagner, ASC is a true master. It says a lot that he chooses the URSA Mini Pro 4.6K.
They knew they would be shooting scenes with fabrics. To prevent possible moiré they replaced the original filters of the UMPro with the Rawlite OLPF for URSA Mini Pro 4.6K. The OLPF also has a very effective IR-cut coating. No need for extra IR filtering. www.rawlite.com
April 16, 2019 at 2:23AM, Edited April 16, 2:24AM
It's interesting and ironic how Blackmagic is promoting how the URSA Mini Pro was used as the A camera on this production and yet it was modified with the Rawlite OLPF which unless I'm mistaken voids the warranty.
April 18, 2019 at 3:39PM
It does not void the warranty. I was the person who acquired the OLPFs and did the install. (I was BMD's technology consultant on the film.)
April 20, 2019 at 4:36PM
Roy Wagner ASC shares his cinematography experiences in depth at www.videovillage.pro Check out his series "Beyond the Darkness" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYcGt5wAWrY&t=10s
April 16, 2019 at 1:17PM
"Wagner was shocked by the URSA Mini Pro’s low light performance" probably low expectations or never had an Red or Arri in his hands..
April 17, 2019 at 5:25PM
Ha! You might want to take three seconds and Google him before making such ridiculous remarks!
Roy help pioneer the first digital cinema cameras and has shot everything from 35mm and 70mm film to Sony F65, Arri, RED, Panavision... you-name-it.
April 20, 2019 at 4:42PM