RED'S Jarred Land shot the SNL cold open using RED Komodo.
Saturday Night Live has been doing its best to put together new shows doing quarantine. The past week, the At Home edition was hosted by Oscar-winner Brad Pitt, who played Dr. Anthony Fauci, a trusted voice in separating coronavirus fact from fiction.
Pitt showed up as Fauci during the cold open not because of any physical similarities, but because the doctor said he preferred Pitt when asked who'd he want to play him on SNL during an interview on CNN's New Day earlier this month.
In an Instagram post, Jarred Land of RED said he shot the scene using the highly-anticipated Komodo camera paired with a Sigma High Speed 50-100mm T2.0 cine lens, which is not to be confused with the Art version for photography. You might also recall a previous clip of Brad Pitt that was shot using Komodo for AFI.
While the camera is still in development most of its specs seem to have dribbled out leading up to its release, including its exact dimensions. Komodo will have a 6K S35 sensor with a format size of 27.03 x 14.25mm (30.56mm diagonal) that records a maximum resolution of 6144 x 3240 (19.91MP). For reference, the sensor sits in between the Dragon-X 6K and the Dragon-X 5K.
When comparing Komodo to the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K (23.10 x 12.99mm), Komodo is larger, but the BMPCC6K has slightly higher vertical pixel count of 6144 x 3456 (21.2MP). However, both digital cameras fall short when compared to Super 35mm 4-perf film, 24.89 x 18.66mm and more closely resemble Super 35mm 3-perf.
Though the footage is tuned for NBC's broadcast standards, at least more footage is being released. It's also worth pointing out the Sigma lens Land used only has image circle of 28.4mm, which is slightly smaller than the Komodo sensor. Komodo will also be RED's first camera with phase detection autofocus via touchscreen.
Here's what we know so far at Komodo:
- It will not replace DSMC2
- It has a new 6K sensor
- Global Shutter mode
- R3D files
- 4K SDI output (either 12G or 6G)
- No XLR ports but 3.5mm audio inputs for a microphone and a headphone
- Will not record to proprietary media
- Will record CFast cards
- There will be a wireless video module
- The display is touchscreen
- Phase Detection Autofocus
- Features a Canon RF mount, no fixed lens
- Box design, no dimension longer than 4 inches
- Cost is expected to be around $5000
What do you think of Komodo's development? Let us know in the comments below.
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6 Comments
What a horrendous example for us -- flat lighting against a green screen. Wow.
April 27, 2020 at 8:17PM
My interpretation of Land's reduser posts is that Komodo will cost $6k regularly, $5k for Hydrogen owners, and $7k for a special white "stormtrooper" edition. I'm not sure if the stormtrooper has different specs.
April 27, 2020 at 10:00PM
It doesn't but you'll have to pay protection money to the "Empire."
April 27, 2020 at 10:12PM
that keying tho... almost good!
April 28, 2020 at 12:03AM
And there was absolutely nothing impressive or notable about the footage. You could have shot it with a C300 and probably wouldn’t be able to tell a difference. It was pointless to even say this was shot with a RED
April 28, 2020 at 8:29AM, Edited April 28, 8:33AM
Everyone complaining... Nice skin tones, very little spill. What's to be noted is that while quarantined, Jarred can send these suckers out to cast members with very little camera know how and get footage to editors that's capable of being graded to a quality compared to the Arri footprint that SNL currently runs on. That's large and something Arri cannot commit to!
April 30, 2020 at 9:40AM