4K London

A year ago, a history graduate by the name of Mary Lobb was offered the job of Data Wrangler on Prometheus. With its daily cascade of 3D RED Epic data to process, it was a high profile first job, but under the expert tutelage of Camera Data Supervisor Jeroen Hendriks, Mary excelled. So much so that Jeroen called 4K and suggested we snap her up.

Since then, Mary has got three low budget feature films, “Papadopoulos & Sons”, “ The Sweeney” and “Get Lucky”, under her belt. Despite limited scope to shine due to the simplicity of the Alexa Pro Res workflow, all three productions were effusive in their praise of her contribution.

“Mary is a credit to your organisation” Iain Mackenzie, Production Manager, “Get Lucky”.

Pricincipal photography is about to start on Ron Howard’s “Rush”. The real events of the 1976 F1 Grand Prix season read like implausible fiction, with characters and plot straight from Hollywood. The story of English public school playboy, James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) coming from relative obsurity to challenge the reigining world champion Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl) is etched in motorsport history as one of the most epic and the first to grab the attention of the general public such was its drama. The fast but erratic Hunt erroded the metronomically efficient Lauda’s early season lead until the Austrian’s near fatal crash at the infamously dangerous Nurburgring in Germany. Six weeks after being read the last rites, Lauda took the grid in front of the fanatical fans of his Ferrari team at Monza in defence of his world title. The struggle went down to the wire, resolved in the mists of Japan’s Mount Fuji as if dreamed up by some omnipotent screenwriter.

DOP Antony Dod Mantle B.S.C. has chosen Arri Alexa RAW and Indiecam to capture this intense mixture of action and personal drama. Once again 4K’s Dan Carling is supporting him using Truelight On Set colour management to ensure the consistency and integrity of look across a multitude of sources into the post chain.

Nye Jones has been busy covering the additional photography of three major 3D feature films. Having spent many months working alongside Tom Sigel A.S.C. last year on “Jack The Giant Killer” Nye is joining him again to complete the shooting in February. Late December saw him supporting Anthony Dod Mantle B.S.C. through Paradise FX on the continuation of “Dredd”, whilst in January he resumed his collaboration with Dariusz Wolski A.S.C. for further shooting on Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus”.

“It’s an honour and a pleasure to work with such great masters of photography in such quick succession.”  says Nye .

“Trance” Directed by Danny Boyle through Cloud 8 / Fox Searchlight is about an auction house employee ( James McAvoy )  who helps to steal a painting, but then suffers amnesia and can't remember where it's hidden. Having previously worked together on “Dredd”, Dan Carling renewed his collaboration with Boyle’s regular DOP Anthony Dod Mantle B.S.C. Using his expertise in Truelight On set colour correction to support  Arri RAW / Codex  Dan was ably supported by Marc Jason Maier on 1st Unit with Nye Jones on 2nd Unit.

After the success of last year’s pilot, ITV Productions came back to 4K for the new series of “Dirk Gently” commissioned by the BBC to shoot this autumn in Bristol.

Mat Brooks is DIT to DOP, Ole Bratt Birkeland shooting on RED MX on three new episodes of the eponymous, holistic detective series played by Stephen Mangan

AFG Ltd presents this contemporary, anti-war film inspired by real life accounts of the Afghan War by British soldiers. The story follows a British patrol that joins forces with the Afghan Army to fight the Taliban.

DIT Marc Jason Maier  was despatched at short notice to the shoot, handling  Arri Alexa and Sony F3 digital cinema cameras in arduous conditions.

“This summer I shot "Afghanistan", a feature film set around a group of British soldiers, in Morocco with director Tom Petch. We shot on the Alexa and 4K London provided us with our fantastic DIT, Marc Maier, as well as all the computer equipment we needed to capture the rushes. Marc did a brilliant job and the technical support 4K provided us with was incredible. With their help and Marc’s hard work all our rushes were brought back to the edit in the UK in perfect shape. Thanks 4K!” Stuart Bentley DOP.

Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters has been globe trotting to deliver his The Wall Live concert tour. With an estimate of £37 million spent on the staging, this concert promises to be more spectacular than his original The Wall concert tour in 1980.

4K London was integral to the testing, rehearsal and supplementary shooting, culminating in the main event staged at Terravibe Park, Athens, Greece.

DOP Brett Turnbull lead a large team of people to deliver this unique experience with the help of Camera Data Supervisor Mustafa Tybekhan, DITs Sophie Baggaley, Matt Brooks, Pheobe Fraser, Nicholas Rowson,  shooting up to 15 cameras, ( 3 x RED Epic & 12 x MX ).

Data Lab Manager Tristan Hey assisted by Miguel Angel Lloro oversaw QC, transcoding and back up into the early hours, supplying Assistant Editor Laura Kettle for next day, Director review. The process was repeated over six nights and truly stress-tested the workflow.

“I was very proud to be part of such a unique team. Everyone without exception went way beyond the call of duty! And I'm sure it'll be worth it, judging by the great shots I was seeing every day on my monitor. You nailed it!” - Brett Turnbull.

Following the popular dance movie trend, Vertigo Films is set to release StreetDance 2 in 2012 - a sequel to 2010’s box office smash,  StreetDance 3D. Britain’s Got Talent 2008 Winner George Sampson will join fellow competition finalists Flawless in this energy-driven, fast-paced film. The dance sequel has adopted more ambitious filming locations including Paris, Rome, and Berlin as well as London.

DIT Ben Manning worked with DOP Sam McCurdy and stereographic experts Paradise FX to capture the complex choreography of the film in 3D. Ben now joins the ranks of 3D experienced DITs alongside Nye Jones, Dan Carling and Mustafa Tyebkhan.

See the trailer here: Street Dance 2

British love story/thriller "Comes A Bright Day" from Smudge Films, Matador Pictures, Lost Tribe Productions and Ipso Facto Films starts shooting next week on location around Mayfair and at Elstree Studios in London. Simon Aboud penned and will direct the story of hostages during a Mayfair jewellery store heist. Craig Roberts and Imogen Poots will play the two teenage leads, while Kevin McKidd stars as the robber and Timothy Spall plays the store owner.
British fashion designer Paul Smith will do the costumes for the main cast.

DIT Mustafa Tyebkan demonstrated the potential of the Arri Alexa in SxS mode in a comparative test with 35mm. DOP John Lynch, was so pleased with the results that the production quickly opted for this route. Technicolor set a LUT from the test material that 4K London emulated for on set monitoring and application to rushes and dailies that will be produced at its Soho base.

Colin Firth and Cameron Diaz reprise roles originally played by Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine in a Coen Bros-scripted remake of the 1960 caper movie classic.

4K London have partnered with New York based Sixteen19 to deliver the DIT / Data Lab & Edit package to the shoot that runs in the UK until August.

Senior DIT Dan Carling is using Truelight On Set colour management to govern the output of DOP Florian Ballhaus’ two Arri Alexa cameras in RAW mode. The Sixteen 19 team headed by Chad Andrews, oversees all deliverables, back ups and the technical side of editorial.

Though it’s the first time the two companies have worked together, its something of a reunion for Alex Panton, Sales Mgr at 4K and Sixteen 19‘s Executive Producer, Ben Baker. Their previous collaboration at Framestore’s centre of digital intermediate excellence was a good basis for the very prompt delivery of a top-notch package.

Jeroen Hendriks continues his collaboration with DOP Dariusz Wolski on Ridley Scott’s eagerly anticipated “Alien” prequel. Shooting based at Pinewood with fifteen RED Epics on a variety of 3D, Steadicam and aerial rigs, Jeroen’s reknowned RED expertise has been invaluable. DIT, Ryan Nguyen and Data Manager Mary Lobb complete the team supporting Wolski to deliver Scott’s vision in 5K 3D.

Nye Jones is DIT on Legendary Pictures/Warner Bros "Jack The Giant Killer" based out of Longcross Studios. Shooting two first unit 3ality stereoscopic rigs with RED Epics, Nye is working closely with DOP Tom Sigel with the on-set grading. Metadata from this process migrates down the post chain, saving time and ensuring Tom's vision is communicated accurately.

Directed by Bryan Singer and starring Nicholas Hoult (About a Boy) in the titular role, the movie is a loose remake of the 1962's Jack the Giant Killer, which was itself a loose adaptation of the British fairy tale of the same name. The plot is essentially an updated, action-packed version of the Jack and the Beanstalk story. Jack and the Giant Killer's supporting cast includes Stanley Tucci, Bill Nighy, Eleanor Tonlinson and Ewan McGregor, and the movie will open both in 3D and traditional theatres.

Shooting has just commenced at Shepperton on Warner Bros sequel to Clash of the Titans, with 4K involved despite the majority of the film reverting to 2D 35 mm lensed by Ben Davis.

Natalie Theobald is running the DIT and on set grading aspects of two RED Epics attached to main unit, the first to be used in anger in the UK.  "Natalie’s contribution is invaluable. She’s an absolute godsend", says 2nd Unit Production Manager Russell Lodge overseeing the digital side of the production.

Natalie will be busy until July and will probably want a short break by then, but if you’re looking for an  Epic experienced DIT around then, it's always worth enquiring as to her availability.

4K was delighted to resume its collaboration with Vertigo Films on Horrid Henry: The Movie, a 3D live-action movie based on Novel's hugely successful children's property of the same name. Shooting took place late last year, with release set for Summer 2011.

Starring Anjelica Huston as Henry’s terrifying teacher Miss Battle-Axe, alongside, Rebecca Front as Henry's headmistress Ms Oddbod, Richard E Grant as a rival headmaster and Parminder Nagra as Miss Lovely. Noel Fielding makes an appearance as Killer Boy Rats' frontman Ed Banger, joining Jo Brand as the Demon Dinner Lady, Matthew Horne as Henry's Dad and Prunella Scales as Great Aunt Greta. This stella, comedy cast also introduces new young stars, Scarlett Stitt as Moody Margaret, Ross Marron as Perfect Peter and Theo Stevenson as Horrid Henry.

Cinematographer Sam McCurdy, employed two RED MX cameras through a Quaser rig provided by Take 2 Films. For all Steadicam and crane work, an SI 2K rig was tethered to a pair of 15" Macbook Pros.

On Set D.I.T. Mark Desira-Purvis, supervised the on set workflow and digital media, including on set QC. "The On Set QC has proven to be invaluable as it has allowed us to assess focus and synching issues at the time of shooting. In most instances, it has allowed us to pick up on glitches before actors and scenes have been wrapped".

See the trailer here: Horrid Henry

Nye Jones has just completed a three month stint as 1st Unit DIT on "Pirates of the Caribbean 4 - On Stranger Tides". Dovetailing seamlessly with the core, US crew, Nye’s contribution shows continued demand for 4K London's Senior DIT's by large scale, 3D, studio pictures.

Jerry Bruckheimer Films eventually used twenty eight RED MX cameras on the latest installment of Johnny Depp's "Jack Sparrow" franchise, a big vote of confidence in the format from DOP Darius Wolski. "

"We tested ALL the digital camera's available and against film and we chose the RED MX for Pirates of the Caribbean 4. We have had no camera problems with the RED ONEs and we have had the kind of support that is above and beyond the call. We didn't know what to expect when we started with 13 RED ONE MX cameras (supplied from Panavision), but the cameras are performing flawlessly under extreme conditions and we could not be happier. Thank you to the people and the incredible support from both Panavision and RED. If we had to make the decision again we wouldn't change a thing."