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.
