The Arri Alexa on the set of "Game of Thrones".
By Kyle Kull
The biggest manufacturer of professional film equipment in the world is called Arnold & Richter Cine Technik, or better known as “Arri." This private company was created in 1917 in Munich. The two men of Arri took seven years to create their first camera, the Kinarri 35, which was known for being small and portable. Although it took them years to make an impact on the film camera market, the Arriflex 35 that Arri created in 1937 became one of the most widely used motion picture cameras in history. Today we are going to look at one of Arri’s most recent cameras, the Arri Alexa, which was the company’s first major step into the realm of digital motion picture cameras.
Arri's first digital motion picture cameras were the Arriflex D-20 and D-21, however were not widely used. The main difference between a traditional digital camera and these first two cameras produced by Arri, was the size of the sensor. The digital sensor was the same size as a 35mm film camera, allowing for the camera to continue utilizing 35mm camera lenses. The Arri Alexa was the third digital camera that Arri manufactured, and maintained the Supper 35 sized CMOS sensor.
The Arri Alexa is a full featured, high-end camera with a SxS card encoder that records to ProRes 422 or ProRes 444 codecs. The Alexa can also record to DnxHD in 1080p resolution. Another interesting feature of Alexa allows for owners to purchase a “key” from Arri for an additional 1350€ ($1855.44) which will unlock the feature to record in ProRess 422 HQ up to 120fps. In addition to recording in a variety of ProRes formats, the camera can record to ArriRaw as well to external recording devices.
Arri's first digital motion picture cameras were the Arriflex D-20 and D-21, however were not widely used. The main difference between a traditional digital camera and these first two cameras produced by Arri, was the size of the sensor. The digital sensor was the same size as a 35mm film camera, allowing for the camera to continue utilizing 35mm camera lenses. The Arri Alexa was the third digital camera that Arri manufactured, and maintained the Supper 35 sized CMOS sensor.
The Arri Alexa is a full featured, high-end camera with a SxS card encoder that records to ProRes 422 or ProRes 444 codecs. The Alexa can also record to DnxHD in 1080p resolution. Another interesting feature of Alexa allows for owners to purchase a “key” from Arri for an additional 1350€ ($1855.44) which will unlock the feature to record in ProRess 422 HQ up to 120fps. In addition to recording in a variety of ProRes formats, the camera can record to ArriRaw as well to external recording devices.
Cinematographer Roger Deakins using the Arri Alexa on the set of "Skyfall". Overall the Arri Alexa has received fantastic reviews and has been used overwhelmingly in the market. While the Arriflex 35 solidified the company in the film industry originally, the Arri Alexa has re-branded the company into the digital age of film production. This German-based film company is truly a master at creating perfect film equipment for professions in the industry and has been able to find the perfect blend of simplicity and high performance. Notable productions that used this camera include:
· Downton Abbey (2010-2014) – A television show on PBS
· Game of Thrones (2011-present) – a television show on HBO that has received critical acclaim
· Hugo (Martin Scorcese, 2011) – winner of the Academy Award for Best Cinematography
· Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011) – a critically acclaimed film
· Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012) – the first digitally shot James Bond film
· Life of Pi (Ang Lee, 2012) – winner of the Academy Award for Best Cinematography
· Argo (Ben Affleck, 2012) – winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture
· Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012) – a critically acclaimed film
· The Avengers (Joss Whedon, 2012) – the third highest grossing film of all time
· Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012) – a critically acclaimed film
Roger Deakins (The Shawshank Redemption, Fargo, No Country for Old Men), who is arguably considered the greatest cinematographer of the last few decades first used digital cameras for In Time (Andrew Niccol, 2011), using particularly the Arri Alexa. He enjoyed using the camera so much, that he decided to use it for Skyfall the following year. This is what he had to say about the Alexa:
"We shot for 128 days with the camera, and I can’t remember one problem. We put it through a lot of different type of situations. I mean, talk about the low-light night stuff, which is a very extreme contrast ratio in the Shanghai set. On the other side of the spectrum, we’re shooting the bright sun on the Mediterranean, and it looked great. That was unexpected. I thought shooting in such extreme, bright sunlight it would have had problems, but it didn’t. The camera behaved as well or better than it would have on film."
· Downton Abbey (2010-2014) – A television show on PBS
· Game of Thrones (2011-present) – a television show on HBO that has received critical acclaim
· Hugo (Martin Scorcese, 2011) – winner of the Academy Award for Best Cinematography
· Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011) – a critically acclaimed film
· Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012) – the first digitally shot James Bond film
· Life of Pi (Ang Lee, 2012) – winner of the Academy Award for Best Cinematography
· Argo (Ben Affleck, 2012) – winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture
· Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012) – a critically acclaimed film
· The Avengers (Joss Whedon, 2012) – the third highest grossing film of all time
· Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012) – a critically acclaimed film
Roger Deakins (The Shawshank Redemption, Fargo, No Country for Old Men), who is arguably considered the greatest cinematographer of the last few decades first used digital cameras for In Time (Andrew Niccol, 2011), using particularly the Arri Alexa. He enjoyed using the camera so much, that he decided to use it for Skyfall the following year. This is what he had to say about the Alexa:
"We shot for 128 days with the camera, and I can’t remember one problem. We put it through a lot of different type of situations. I mean, talk about the low-light night stuff, which is a very extreme contrast ratio in the Shanghai set. On the other side of the spectrum, we’re shooting the bright sun on the Mediterranean, and it looked great. That was unexpected. I thought shooting in such extreme, bright sunlight it would have had problems, but it didn’t. The camera behaved as well or better than it would have on film."
Joss Whedon directing actor Mark Ruffalo on the set of "The Avengers" with an Arri Alexa ready to begin shooting.
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