I have a confession to make. I love Michael Bay; the man started from nothing and got to the top by making some of the most visually striking commercials, music videos and action films ever. He is a top Hollywood director in charge of one of the biggest Hollywood franchises – yes the Transformers movies. And even though I will admit they are totally ridiculous when it comes to plot and performances not to mention exponentially vapid on a dramatic level – one cannot deny the technical prowess and sheer filmmaking bravado it takes to shoot a 200+ million dollar tent-pole extravaganza the way he does. His use of telephoto lenses, framing and camera movement to build an action sequence has become a staple of the genre.
Michael Bay on the set of Transformers: Age of Extinction with the IMAX 3D camera.
Although I am more fond of his classic 90’s action flicks Bad Boys and The Rock and do consider them as his finer achievements in a career that has spanned more than 20 years, the Transformers movies and their outrageous premise have allowed him to get even crazier with trademark Bay-isms than ever before and now get on the forefront of 8K acquisition with a new RED 8K sensor and camera.
Images by RED DIGITAL CINEMA / Jarred Land
And if you are Michael Bay, RED will build you a custom made camera with a brand new sensor for the latest Transformers franchise entry – The Last Knight. RED boss Jarred Land recently shared some photos and information about the new RED Helium 8K Super 35 sensor on social media.
The #BAYHEM custom camera is the first camera to feature the new Helium 8K Super 35 chip from RED. And no, you can’t buy this camera. Ever. Just like the Xenomorphs for Fincher, RED did a while back for his Mindhunter TV series that’ll be released sometime in 2017.
Images by RED DIGITAL CINEMA / Jarred Land
The new Helium 8K sensor is apparently a part of a new sensor line-up and the first is an 8K Helium in Super 35 size (unlike the much larger 8K VV – Vista Vision chip). The Helium 8K Super 35 uses smaller 3.65 micron pixels compared to the 8K VV, so it can fit the fact that there are a lot more of them in order to get 8K out of a S35 size chip, but apparently without a sacrifice in performance.
The new Helium 8K S35 will be available to Weapon customers as an upgrade in the coming months according, and the Dragon sensor lines will be devoted to cranking out more Dragon sensors for Raven and Scarlet-W customers, according to RED CEO Jarred Land.
[via REDuser]
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