by Mark Young

There are few things that can ignite the scorn of a cinephile more than the remake of a beloved film.  Throughout history great films have been made and remade and sometimes the remake has outshone the original.  Such is the case with Scarface, War of the World’s, Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, and one of my personal favorites Ocean’s Eleven.  And yet there are possibly more examples of a remake being a poor representation of the original film.  I will allow you to think of your own examples in the interest of not defaming any particular film.

Robocop is a remake for which I have naive optimism.  There are many beneficial qualities to well-done remakes.  The qualities that remakes give are 1) allowing a younger audience to meet great characters, 2) potentially explore areas previously ignored and 3) taking the original vision of a story to even greater lengths and farther reaching audiences.  I believe Robocop has potential to do exactly this.

The original film, you can see the trailer here Robocop 1987 Trailer, used a mix of over the top violence, dark humor, and philosophical and political subtext to achieve a higher minded action film.  It critiqued an American culture that glorified violence and made a statement about government verses business control.  Some have argued that this movie is fine as it is and the message still applies to audiences today.  This may be true.  However, I feel the packaging of violent gore and dark sense of humor causes younger audiences to miss the message and questions this film is trying to ask.  It can seem at times as though the film wants to be philosophical but it doesn’t want to take the issues it raises seriously.

Now the remake, you may watch its trailer here Robocop 2014 Trailer, is obviously asking many of the same questions.  Who has the right to control the public?  What makes you human?  Why is America constantly making choices different from every other country in the world?  The film hopes to accomplish this goal by exploring a more human, personal, and realistic lead character.  This film wants to start with the questions about what it means to be human that the original franchise didn’t start to explore until the second and third films.  I also believe the PG-13 rating shows growth in America’s culture.  We no longer need R-rated shock violence to get the point of this type of smart film across.

As the screenwriter and director have very few credits to their names, none of which I have seen, I can gain no hope from their previous forays into film.  Yet, the actors attached to the project have done many similar works that were both intelligent and well executed.  From Gary Oldman having been in The Dark Knight Trilogy, to Jackie Earl Haley’s portrayal of Rorschach in Watchmen, to Michael Keaton in the Tim Burton Batman films to Samuel L. Jackson’s parts in Pulp Fiction, Do The Right Thing and playing Nick Fury in the Marvel movieverse this cast is intelligent and knows how to pick their roles.  I believe with the skill of this cast and respect of the source material we can have a remake that just may outshine its predecessor.

            Academy-Award winning director Robert Zemeckis was born on May 14, 1952 in Chicago, Illinois. His interest in film began in high school when he started making movies with an 8mm camera. After high school, he attended Northern Illinois University, then transferred to the University of Southern California School of Cinema. During his time at the film school, he shot and won a student Academy Award for Field of Honor, a film that he later showed to directors Steven Spielberg and John Milius. Impressed, Spielberg and Milius made it possible for Zemeckis and Bob Gale (Zemeckis’s USC writing partner) to write an original screenplay for the film 1941, which Spielberg directed (Tribute).

            In 1978, at age 26, Zemeckis made his directorial debut with I Wanna Hold Your Hand, a film for which he and Bob Gale again teamed up to write the screenplay. Although having a low budget, the film ended up displaying Zemeckis’ ability to integrate great live-action sequences with elaborate special effects.

            Zemeckis proceeded to direct the semi-successful films Used Cars and Romancing the Stone. However, in 1985, Zemeckis directed the film that would launch his career, Back to the Future. The film, which stars Michael J. Fox, centers on a teenager who accidentally uses a DeLorean time machine to travel back to 1955. He eventually bumps into his parents, causing a rift between the two, and thus threatens his own existence. The inspiration for the film came from co-screenwriter Bob Gale (Zemeckis also co-wrote the script), who was one day looking through his father’s high school yearbook. Gale ended up wondering if he would’ve been friends with his teenage father. The film, which one 1 Oscar for Best Effects and Sound Effects Editing, became a huge box office success, grossing close to $200 million in the US (IMDB). Because of the success, the film spawned two sequels, both directed by Zemeckis and starring most of the same actors and actresses from the first installment. The Back to the Future trilogy, for which Zemeckis is most known, is today regarded as one of the greatest trilogies to come out of the film industry. 

            After the Back to the Future trilogy, Zemeckis’s next major film was Forrest Gump, a film about a simple, not-very-intelligent man (Tom Hanks) who accidentally becomes involved in some of the major historical events of the United States. The film was also a major box office success, garnering close to $330 million in the United States. It ended up winning 6 Oscars, with Zemeckis winning an Oscar for Best Director. For his portrayal as “Forrest Gump”, Tom Hanks also received his second Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

            A few years after Forrest Gump, Zemeckis again teamed up with Tom Hanks in Castaway, a film about a Fed-Ex executive (Hanks) who accidentally gets stranded on a remote, desert island after his plane crashes in the Pacific Ocean. The film was well-received by critics, audiences, and at the box office. The picture also received two Oscar nominations: Tom Hanks (again) for Best Leading Actor and for Best Sound.

            Four years later, Zemeckis again cast Tom Hanks in the animated feature The Polar Express, a film about a doubting boy who travels on a train headed to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. The Polar Express is most significantly known for being the first ever animated film to use motion capture, a technique that “captures” the movements of physical actors. In this case, the motion capture tracked the actors’ movements, then converted them to their animated forms. The film was mostly well-received and was nominated for 3 Oscars (Best Achievement in Music, Best Achievement in Sound Mixing, and Best Achievement in Sound Editing).

TRADEMARKS

            Zemeckis loves casting Tom Hanks in his films, as is evident in Forrest Gump, Cast Away, and The Polar Express. Zemeckis also loves hiring Alan Silvestri to do the music for his pictures. Examples of this include the Back to the Future trilogy, Forrest Gump, Cast Away, and The Polar Express. On the technical side, Zemeckis usually opens his films with long shots or long takes, as evidenced by Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, and Contact. Finally, although risky, he likes to be at the forefront and use the newest technology and special effects, which he does in Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Forrest Gump, Contact, and The Polar Express.

            In conclusion, Robert Zemeckis is a big-name director who has proven himself several times to be able to produce heartfelt films with great visual effects. Starting with Back to the Future, he has built himself a very impressive resume. Zemeckis’s greatest films may be behind him, but nonetheless it will be interesting to see what the future holds, especially with newer technologies being developed each year.

Written by Anthony Watkins

WORKS CITED
“Robert Zemeckis Biography.” Tribute.ca. 2014. 31 Jan. 2014.
            <http://www.tribute.ca/people/robert-zemeckis/4015/>. 

IMDB. 2014. 01 Jan. 2014. <http://www.imdb.com>.

            With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, the movie theaters will commence their inevitable release of several romantic comedies, most of which will likely stick to a formulaic and predictable plot that is dictated by the conventions of its genre. Although the genre has seen innovative streaks in recent years from films such as (500) Days of Summer (Webb, 2009) or Silver Linings Playbook (Russell, 2012), perhaps more than most genres, the modern mainstream romantic comedy ends up limiting itself to a rather common template. So if you decide to attend one of the recently released romantic comedies with your significant other to celebrate Valentine’s Day, be sure to keep your eyes pealed for these conventions of the romantic comedy genre:

1.)  The “Meet Cute” – This plot point of boy meets girl is obvious and necessary to facilitate the relationships developed during the course of the film, but it is often presented in a contrived and unusually awkward manner. This humorous sense of awkwardness is only heightened by the fact that the two potential partners are always depicted as having some form of contrasting personalities or beliefs, which contributes to the notion of “opposites attract” (I know, it is exceptionally corny). That means that if the guy is presented as a testosterone-laced bro, the girl will always be a more sensitive and understanding figure.

2.)  Reflective Friends – Both the boy and girl tend to have their respective best friends that are secondary to the plot of the story, but guaranteed to provide humorous commentary on how ridiculous the situation is between the two leads. In addition, these friends typically attempt to offer advice that is usually of little value.

3.)  The Exit and Chase – At some point towards the end of the second act in the film, the boy and girl will encounter some sort of plot complication as a result of miscommunication. Due to this miscommunication or some previously made commitment, either the boy or girl will decide that they must immediately leave whatever location the movie is centered around, casting doubt on any hope that their relationship can be restored. But fret not, because along with the certain exit comes the inevitable chase. In this section of the film, whichever character is not leaving will be required to make a mad dash to wherever the other character is in order to stop them. Typically the ridiculousness of this chase will be the most humorous part of the film, whether or not it was intended to be funny.

4.)  The Speech and Kiss – When the “chaser” eventually catches up to the “chased,” an epic verbal declaration of love is sure to follow. In fact, the speech will likely be so epic that it will dispel any remaining notions of such events actually occurring in reality. This will then lead into the grand conclusion where any trace of the miscommunication will be forgotten and the rest of the movie will be filled with lengthy kisses.

Every generation, their art begins to define them. Typically this is seen in films that feature characters who are wrestling with common problems of the engaged society and mask a style that has been established as popular. I believe that for the most recent generation, Her (Spike Jonze, 2013) is one of the first films to effectively define them.

There were three aspects of Her that led me to this conclusion: its Indie "vibe", the recurring theme of loneliness and love, and the sleek, modern style.

The Indie scene is powerfully popular today, going somewhat hand-in-hand with the whole "hipster" style of dress and living, providing a slightly alternative form of filmmaking for aspiring directors. Amateurs, unable to achieve the high budgeted projects that are products of the Hollywood scene, created purely artistic works that were created through hard work and dedication. Due to low budgeting, some imperfections such as sepia tones, simple scripts and minimal production has given a specific aesthetic to the Indie film genre recently. Her provides its viewers with this aesthetic, which is now not just a watermark of the low budget filmmaking, but a popular and well-received flavor of cinema. The important thing to note in this situation is that Her is not at all an independent film, but rather a high budgeted feature film, in which the filmmakers made the conscious decision to create this Indie signature. I believe this choice was remarkably intelligent and is evidence that the producers understand the popular trends within film, using this aesthetic to promote a brand for Her.

While our world has become somewhat more complicated through the new technologies that we use to assist our lives, our society has started to focus on generally raw and simplistic themes such as love and loneliness, reverting to the core dilemmas which drive our motives and emotions. Theodore emulates these discussions and conflicts, becoming a lonely man with his recent separation and upcoming divorce, and is desperate to retrieve some of that personal connection he is now suddenly missing. He wrestles with the decay of his love life and is trying to fill it with the presence of a being who cares for him, resulting is Theodore trying to invest his relationship with "Samantha". Understanding our cultures consistent concentration on these simple values, the filmmakers of Her provide its audiences with highly relatable and seductive content.

Typically with a film in the romantic genre, you wouldn't see extensive production design, due to the focus being on the character's emotions and development rather than the setting where the story is taking place. However I was surprised when I viewed Her, because it was obvious that Spike Jonze and the producers were in complete awareness of their science fiction undertones. Based in the near future, we don't see gadgets and technology that implicate the advancement of society, but rather see beautiful architecture and civil engineering, showing rows of buildings and skyscrapers that paint the horizons. While there are some advancements to our current technologies, including improved voice command and Bluetooth devices, the true indication of the near-future time period (besides Operating Systems being able to experience emotion), is in the production design. Given that our culture has become more and more forward-thinking and innovative, it was smart for the filmmakers to put Theodore in a completely possible future where buildings look clean and skylines are no longer a sight for sore eyes. This gives Her a sharper hint of reality.

Her is brilliant. There is no better word to describe a film which is aware of its audience, its culture, and the issues which drive it. Given the incredible popularity and remarkable success the film has had with the young, coming-of-age, outspoken generation, I believe Her has marked a new era of filmmaking in which genre is secondary to character, style, and the development of discussion. Spike Jonze, understanding the direction of the future, has created a piece in which audiences can discover love, joy, and most of all, answers. Her is a must-watch and an instant classic, but most of all just a simple love story.

The Wachowski's in 1999 created a science fiction masterpiece, following a man in his discovery and revelation of reality in The Matrix (The Wachowski Brothers, 1999), whose digital special effects catapulted the film industry into the new millennium with a new brand of filmmaking focused around the ability to enhance each picture with layers of imagination.

Ten years later, James Cameron produced the highest grossing cinematic epic of all time, an almost complete visual effects production using CGI (computer generated imagery) where humans compete for minerals on a distant planet with the local alien species called Avatar (James Cameron, 2009). Five years later, some of cinema's most dedicated artists have begun to admit defeat to this powerful and rapidly expanding change.

One of the most popular films of 2013, The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorcese, 2013), is simply a biographical film about a man who invades the New York stock exchange, creating a fraudulent empire within the span of a few short years. Usually, a film such as this would prove to have been filmed at least partially on celluloid, especially being directed by such a traditional filmmaker such as Martin Scorcese. However, Scorcese decided to cave to the new film platform and created The Wolf of Wall Street entirely on digital. Even stranger; he shot the entire film on digital 2D, foregoing the opportunity to film in the recently popular 3D. While tactics like these have been used in other films before, where the producers for Wolf broke new ground was in the distribution. The Wolf of Wall Street became the first major film to be distributed completely on digital, rather than the celluloid which was still featured for theaters and others.

To add to these interesting choices by the producers and directors, VFX was extensively used in post-production. CGI was heavily favored, instead of choosing expansive set designs and on-location shooting. See below for a video of how the editors enhanced some of the shots in the film using CGI.

What does this say about the nature of filmmaking in the market today? Now that directors who used to be advocates of the traditional brand of filmmaking have begun to accept digital means of production, this digital revolution needs to be looked at in true seriousness. Given that Wolf used zero celluloid through the entire creation of the film, we see that the original form of filmmaking is actually becoming obsolete, transforming the state of the art into a more modern form. As loyal as filmmakers have been to the authenticity of their work and the past, directors such as Martin Scorcese have accepted cinema's fate, showing that the final bows for the first era of filmmaking have begun.

Scorcese's longtime editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, stated it best when she said, "It would appear that we've lost the battle. I think Marty just feels it's unfortunately over, and there's been no bigger champion of film than him.,

by Mark Young

One Award Ceremony that is overlooked by, if not simply unknown to Americans, is the BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Awards.  The BAFTAs are essentially a cross of the Academy Awards and Golden Globes with a few marked differences.  As the name gives away the BAFTA also recognizes television but there is more to their mission than just film and television.  The BAFTA is committed to recognizing, supporting, and developing the art of the moving image; this includes video games.

The BAFTA Awards distinguish themselves from the Academy Awards by including television and games as awardable mediums, and focusing primarily on the British contribution to the film industry.  The BAFTAs separate themselves from the Golden Globes by having separate ceremonies for the three categories of the moving image: Film, Television, and Video Games.  Yet, they resemble the Academy Awards by having 6,500 members, who are all professionals in the field, voting on the awards.  Video Games as a medium were added to the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards in 1998.  As of 2003, Video Games were found to be so complete of an artistic expression that BAFTA gave them their own Awards ceremony: The BAFTA Game Awards.

BAFTA continues to be on the cutting edge of artistic advancement and expression.  The practical efforts by BAFTA to facilitate change in the areas of sustainability are on the foreground of their mission to promote the moving image.  The BAFTA Albert Consortium works with production companies to develop ways to reduce the carbon foot print of the moving image medium.  One of the biggest advancements in this field is the move from celluloid based production to digital media production.  BAFTA’s sustainability efforts seem to have realized that digital files and computer editing is the future of the industry.

If you follow the film awards season then you may notice that BAFTAs nominees are very similar to the ones recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the Oscars.  You can see their list of nominees here: BAFTA film nominees.

The BAFTA Film Awards will be held on February 16th, and broadcast live on BBC One.

The first couple times I watched John Hughes’s classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, I was a bit puzzled over the Museum scene that occurs about halfway through the film. The scene is overlaid with calming instrumental music from the song “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want” by The Smiths. The three main characters of the film, Ferris Bueller, Sloane Peterson, and Cameron Frye go into the museum together and look at several paintings. At the conclusion of the scene, Cameron ends up staring at a particular painting---focusing on a woman and her daughter. There are several shot-reverse-shots of Cameron looking deeper and deeper into the painting. Each time Cameron looks, the camera zooms in farther and farther into the painting so that eventually the viewer can’t see anything.

To learn more about the scene, I searched for and found writer and director John Hughes’s commentary on the film. (Who better to explain the scene than Hughes himself?) In the commentary, Hughes stated that the scene was filmed at the Chicago Art Institute, a museum that was a place of “refuge” for him when he himself was in high school. Hughes remarked, “This was a chance for me to go back into this building and show the paintings that were my favorite.” During the scene, several paintings are shown. Eventually we come to a couple paintings that show a mother and a child. Regarding these paintings, Hughes stated, “This I thought was very relevant to Cameron---the tenderness of a mother and a child which he didn’t have.”

As previously mentioned, at the end of the scene, Cameron is shown staring at a large painting. Hughes explained the “mystery” as to why Cameron stares: “I used it in this context to see---he’s looking at that little girl—which again is, a mother and a child. The closer he looks at the child, the less he sees, of course, with this style of painting. But the more he looks at it, there’s nothing there. He fears that the more you look at him (Cameron), the less you see. There isn’t anything there. That’s him.”

So, in the end, the museum scene focuses on Cameron’s character---a struggling, motherless teenager living under the dominance of his father. Cameron’s brokenness and submission to his materialistic father is referenced throughout the film in various ways. Ultimately, the Museum scene adds to these references, subtly conveying Cameron’s dispirited state. Hughes’s creative way of telling the audience about Cameron only adds to the beauty of the film.


Written by Anthony Watkins

BELOW is the Museum scene:

            In recent years, the found footage genre has developed into a rather popular filmmaking model, especially when used in conjunction with the horror genre. Conventionally, the found footage genre seeks to tell all, or a substantial amount, of a film’s story through video recordings. Although it was not the first film to explore this relatively new genre, The Blair Witch Project (Sánchez and Myrick, 1999) certainly played a vital role in bringing the found footage genre popularity and mainstream appeal. Nearly a decade later, Paranormal Activity (Peli, 2007) contributed to the genre’s success, inspiring many similarly styled films thereafter. But what is it that makes the found footage genre an attractive style of filmmaking?

            For directors, the found footage genre is enticing because of its ability to be cheaply produced with the potential for high profit. To explain, generally, these movies lack recognizable stars to aid in the suspension of disbelief, particularly when desiring a viral marketing campaign that attempts to distort the line between reality and fabrication. In order to further distort this line, directors also typically prefer amateur cinematography and sound. With that said, very little money needs to be spent on the cast and crew, which allows directors to circumvent a lot of the upfront costs, but still find ways to interest viewers and generate high profit margins. For instance, when The Blair Witch Project was first released, it claimed to tell a true story about three student filmmakers who disappeared while filming a documentary about a local legend known as the Blair Witch. To enhance the notion of the story being true, the directors made sure that the “victims” were not available for interviews around the time of the film’s initial release. In all, the final cost of The Blair Witch Project reportedly topped out at around $750,000, but took in about $249 million worldwide (Ordoña). Similarly, when Paranormal Activity was released, it made $193 million on a reported $15,000 budget.

            Although the reasons for why the found footage genre appeals to directors is obvious, why has the style been so successful for viewers? Perhaps this question can be answered by considering how found footage movies cater to a generation of adults that are always plugged-in and sharing their lives online. In other words, found footage films inherently possess qualities that viewers find relatable, which enhances their believability and appeal. Naturally, this also makes the found footage film an effective technique for horror films to embrace. As screenwriter John Swetnam observes, through the found footage approach, viewers are able to experience scares in a “more visceral and direct way,” along the lines of the “choose your own adventure books” (Frappier). However, Swetnam believes that the found footage genre could become an effective technique for movies outside of the horror genre, citing Chronicle (Trank, 2012) as an example. Ultimately, Swetnam believes that although people may no longer see found footage films as reality, “they will suspend their disbelief and become part of the story like never before,” making the potential for the genre limitless. Without a doubt, despite its recent advent, the found footage genre stands poised to offer some interesting possibilities and develop into a prevalent cinematic movement.

Works Cited

Frappier, Robert. "Interview: Why Are Found Footage Movies So Popular?" Screen Rant. Web. <http://screenrant.com/popular-found-footage-movies-robf-154762/>.

Ordoña, Michael. "Hollywood embraces found-footage craze." Boston Globe [Boston] 02 Jan 2014. Web. 30 Jan. 2014. <http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/movies/2014/01/02/hollywood-embraces-found-footage-craze/BkICd5RhUE1WCsbBSrYclI/story.html>.

by Mark Young

Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is the second film in a trilogy adapted from the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.  It tells the tale of Bilbo Baggins and the dwarven king Thorin Okenshield.  Bilbo and Thorin along with Gandalf the Gray and 12 other dwarves continue their journey to the Lonely Mountain in hopes to reclaim their homeland from the evil dragon Smaug.  They face many dangers in the Mirkwood forest including a generations old rivalry with the elves of the woodland realms.

This film series has been highly criticized for taking a single, rather short book and turning it into three films that rival the length of the original Lord of the Rings film series.  However I find this to be an exciting advancement in book to film adaptation.  One of the most common criticisms from fans of books is that the movie didn’t cover everything.  Even with The Lord of the Rings incredibly long run time of 9 hours and 18 minutes they were accused of the same problem.

A screenwriter’s struggle to bring the pages of a book to life finds its root in the vast differences in the mediums of novel and film.  Many of the common occurrences in The Hobbit book may be acceptable in novel form but simply would not satisfy even the casual moviegoer.  (!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!) One such element is the frequent disappearances of Gandalf the Gray.  This aspect may be acceptable in the novel and even adds an air of mystery to the character.  But with film it is almost entirely unacceptable to have such an important character disappear and reappear without explanation.  Adding the subplot of the Necromancer, which is part of Tolkien’s original story but told at a different time, only makes sense from a film standpoint.  (END SPOILER ALERT)

What Peter Jackson has done by turning The Hobbit into three films is allowed himself all the time he needs to tell a more complete story.  From beginning to end I found this film to be exhilarating.  It outshined the first Hobbit in technical skill, action, and storytelling.  Its unique visuals and effects set it apart from The Lord of the Rings series and show us a more real world with complex interactions between the races of men, elves, dwarves, and orcs.

Overall The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is a must see for all fans of fantasy, action, and special effects.

A few weeks ago I gave a profile of the camera company Red Digital Cinema Camera Company, which has recently been making an impact on the world of digital cinema. Today I would like to give another profile of an even younger camera company, Blackmagic Design.

At first glance, the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, their newest model, looks similar to the common DSLR camera, however slicker and more modern. The large display that is conveniently located on the back of the camera can be used to view the image you are currently recording, or the footage that you have previously recorded to the SSD port, as well as use the touchscreen display to adjust your camera settings. Other cameras, such as the Red and other digital production cameras, require an external display in order to view playback. As for quality, the Blackmagic can record the image at 13 stops, giving the final product a professional grade quality. This means that no matter the lighting of the environment in which you are recording, the Blackmagic will capture a dynamic range of colors and shades. This gives the filmmaker some freedom in his shooting, allowing him to maneuver around his environment without having to worry about checking his lighting quality or exposure. To add even more versatility to the camera operator, the camera weighs only 3.75 lbs, minimizing the usual bulky nature of a production camera.

A large component of why this camera has impressed digital filmmakers is the software that accompanies the camera. Included with the Blackmagic is the full version of DaVinci Resolve, a high-end color grading system popular with many professional studio colorists. Although you will need to do some research in order to produce a high quality colored image, this inclusion certainly gives the filmmaker an advantage. Furthermore, the camera supplies its operator with the ability to store the images on the camera's SSD in a variety of different formats (CinemaDNG RAW, ProRes, DNxHD). These expansive features to the camera are offers that most digital cameras on the market lack and could possibly lead to more all-inclusive machines in the future within digital filmmaking.

There have been some weaknesses to the camera, however. The most pressing issues are the necessity of file storage capabilities and the rolling shutter. Shooting in uncompressed RAW can cause the SSD card to fill up relatively quickly, which makes storage of the files significantly more important. If shooting with this camera, make sure that you have access to large amounts of storage. You can however shoot in ProRes or DNxHD, which are both compressed and can give you a greater amount of file space for your footage on each SSD card. The rolling shutter is also a negative feature. This is  most often seen in DSLR's, and can effect the quality of a moving image, particularly when something is moving up or down. This can cause the image to become distorted, as seen in the fan below. While these weaknesses in the camera can cause problems, the low price of the camera makes up for these somewhat avoidable irritants.

As mentioned before, the price of the camera is low, costing only about $2,000, which is cheap for a production level camera such as this. You can also buy the Blackmagic Production Camera 4K, which, as the name suggests, let's you shoot 4K feature films, rather than the 2.5K of the Blackmagic Cinema Camera. This camera comes at $4,000.

The Blackmagic aims to provide filmmakers with an affordable camera with a professional level of quality to the image. While this digital camera derives much of its functionality from DSLR's and other less professional cameras, the software as well as the image quality maximizes its capabilities, making it one of the most competitive machines on the market. Because these camera's were only released in July 2013, there are no current scheduled films using Blackmagic, but keep your eyes open for news on the cameras, particularly from Indie filmmakers. Hopefully this can inspire other digital camera developers to continue to improve on their competitors already impressive products.

To check out some Blackmagic Cinema Camera footage, see the video below.