After a 2 year wait, this 4-part science program I shot in 3D with British director Ian Hunt finally gets its 3D air date on Sky 3D and Sky 1 HD in the UK. National Geographic aired their 2D version of it over a year ago – but since we went to great lengths to shoot in full in-camera 3D, I have waited all this time to watch it for the first time.

We shot mostly in Ontario, and a bit in Middlesborough, UK. In Canada we used 3D camera rigs from the 3D Camera Company – we always had 2 rigs going, one with 2 Red MX’s and a lightweight rig for steadicam with 2 Red Epics. In the UK we used a 3D system from a company called Paradise FX. We used a combination of Cooke Mini S4 3D matched primes and matched Angenieux zooms. Also employed were 3D GoPro Rigs.

Each of the 4 episodes covers a different type of natural disaster – flood, wind, avalanche and earthquake. Our production designer Andy Berry had the task of building full scale home for every episode which by the end would be destroyed by the element in question. It was a pretty amazing thing to witness – the highlight being the last one we shot in the UK at the Tees Barrage – where we destroyed the home with raging flood waters.

We also interviewed survivors of the various disasters in a 3D, shot in a partially destroyed house set… probably the first time 3D has been used in this way to tell the stories of real people’s struggles to survive in the face of a natural disaster.

Here’s a gallery of my behind the scenes stills from the UK flood shoot:

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(146 Photos)

The third feature film in the series, Mike Clattenburg and I shot this together in Halifax last year, around this time. After a few years of absence from the spotlight, the boys are back in a road trip journey that is a nod to the passage of time since the last film a few years ago.

We shot this with Canon C300 cameras, Zeiss CP2 primes and Fuji Cabrio zooms. Also used were GoPro Hero 3 Black cameras. Its always a blast to work with such a stellar and collaborative cast as this bunch of usual suspects.

As a nice way to end the ride that Killing Lincoln has been in terms of its success, I am proud to have been featured on the cover of Canadian Cinematographer magazine.

If you want to read the full article, click here:

http://www.sesler.com/2014/04/04/jeremy-benning-on-the-cover-of-csc-magazine/

On March 15th, 2014, we shot an elaborate test with Cooke Optics’ new anamorphic prime lens set. Cooke chairman Les Zellan accompanied the first production set of these new lenses – he was with us during the entire shoot. The set will eventually be 7 lenses – but currently the only ones in existence are the ones we shot with: 32mm, 40mm, 50mm, 75mm. All lenses have a maximum stop of T2.3. This test film is currently being screened at NAB in Las Vegas at the Cooke booth as well.

Three tests had been shot prior to ours – in Paris, London and New York. We were trying to do something different than what had already been done, this is what motivated our choices for what we shot and how we shot it. My long time friend and fellow DP Adam Marsden co-shot it with me. My partner Francis Luta came up with the concept and directed.

Shot in 3K on the Arri Alex XT 4:3 sensor camera – in 4:3 mode. We shot 444 ProRes except for the slo motion shots, which we shot using Arri XT Codex Cards. Redlab onlined our edit for us in 2K. Cooke Optics has the 2K P3 projection file available for download to those who want it as well as a ProRes HQ 1920×1080 Quicktime.

NDIR’s were used to achieve T2.3 in the daylight exterior scenes. No other filtration was used or diopters, etc. No VFX manipulation was done either – everything you see is in-camera, aside from standard grading techniques such as colour and exposure tweaking. Grading was done on a Lustre system.

Lighting was extremely minimal. For the first interior scenes in the workshop – it was all practical lights and one 1×1 LED Litepanel. In Chinatown at night at the end, it was all available light except for one hand held Rosco 1×1 LitePad (daylight) with 1/2 CTO gel

Take a look at the test here…

Cooke Anamorphic "Seeing" 1080p version [2:18]

Here is a gallery of behind the scenes stills I shot on the day:

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(46 Photos)

Director Anthony Garth and I teamed up once again to shoot a visually rich conceptual piece to illustrate the world of Dassault Systems, a French company who develops sophisticated software.

We shot for two days in downtown Detroit in various locations, using the Red Epic and Cooke S5/i lenses.

Director Anthony Garth works really hard!

The coffee grinding robot at Roasting Plant

The lovely Erica.

Last week I spent time shooting in Clearwater and Orlando – shooting for Home Depot Canada and  Disney respectively.

Shooting in Magic Kingdom, director Vance Malone of Wild Plum was going for a naturalistic style for this Disney spot. Using only available light, we planned our day in the live park around where the sun would be to get the best light. I think we captured some really magical stuff.

Magic Kingdom

Dumbo ride

Lovely natural light.

Mad Hatter’s Tea Cup ride

Walt & Mickey

Director Duane Chrichton and I worked together again on the Home Depot campaign, with the team from Publicis Toronto and Partners Film Inc. We had great locations and team working for us to get some great vignettes. Shot with Alexa and Cooke S5/i lenses.

Deck set by Jordan Worth

Director Duane Chrichton lines up a shot.

Home Depot garden centre in Tampa.