Watch: A Look Into the First Ever Film Shot on 16K

We check out ‘Prairie Wind’ and see how filmmaker Martin Lisius was able to create the world’s first 16K short film workflow.

If you thought 8K filmmaking was cool, peep this. Seasoned weathered videographer Martin Lisius has just dropped what is perhaps the first ever short film shot on 16K.

Let’s take a look at the 4-minute “Prairie Wind” (note: which can obviously only be viewed at max 8K with the right hardware). As well as peek into how Lisius was able to create his custom cross-stitch setup for recording 16K video footage as he traveled across the Great Plains searching for supercells and the rarest and most powerful thunderstorms.

A 16K Short Film

“I’ve captured hurricanes, tornadoes, and lightning on Super 35mm motion picture film, 4K and even 3D. I wanted to try something different, something more immersive. I knew I could build a 16K camera system, I just didn’t know how good the results would be until I tried it.”

It takes a certain type of madman to storm chase. I’ve seen Twister (1996) enough times to know that. It also takes a certain type of madness to attempt to shoot for a resolution which viewability isn’t even technically possible for the majority of technology.

Behind the 16K Video Workflow

Lisius’ setup is actually a pretty ingenious invention. Using two high-resolution Canon stills cameras and a custom-designed mount (pictured above), Lisius was able to create a dual-sensor setup where both cameras could be stitched to create one, seamless 16K image (15,985 x 5792 pixels).

From there, he’d take the roughly 700 image (or about 23 seconds in duration) clips and render them as 16K video clips. And while an audience might not be able to see his final product for some time, it’s results even downgraded to 8K still quite impressive.

For more information on Martin Lisius and “Prairie Wind” you can check out his Vimeo page and his production company Prairie Pictures. For more news, here are some exciting articles about the future high resolution filmmaking including some exciting rumors from Sony and the first ever 8K footage recorded in space.