MIFF 2009:Working With RED CAM Workshop Review

My last workshop at the Mississauga Independent Film Festival was nothing short of totally wicked and super cool.  I will try not to unleash my inner nerd on you good people but my mouth salivated as I watched the sexy RED Camera being set up before my eyes and continued to drool while the masters worked their magic with it and talked their techie talk.  Toronto based Director of Photography D. Gregor Hagey accompanied by his debonair and interesting tech brother (DIT) Morning Glory were the magicians behind the workshop.  Okay let’s just clear that up DIT stands for Digital Imaging Tech the rest was just creative license on my part.  The truth is these guys are just amazing and I actually got to interview these cool cats after the workshop but you’re going to have to wait in film geek limbo just a while longer for that one.

D. Gregor did an amazing job of introducing the Red Camera to the audience of young filmmakers.   He talked about the actual camera, how it works, the evolution of its technology and its comparability to the golden standard of 35mm.  He explained the possibilities and freedoms the camera allots while talking about the actual cost benefit ratio of rental versus ownership. The technical capacity and versatile aesthetic spectrum the RED provides filmmakers with was really interesting and I found all the information really helpful considering I’m planning to shoot a few projects over the course of the next year.   

Gregor compared and outlined the differences technically between the RED and other competing cameras which was in and of itself worthy of a workshop on its own.  We were lucky enough to sit in on someone whose worked on almost 200 projects and has 16 years of experience behind him.  We were getting first hand accounts and information about this camera from probably the first guy to adopt in Toronto.  All of this for $10.00?  If this workshop isn’t an indication that this festival really is a one of a kind experience then I really don’t know what is.  I came out of this ready to go to work on my own projects after D. Gregor Hagey solved about 50 of my technical problems for me in this short workshop.  Need I say more?

Of course I need say more because there was more!  After going through the tech specs and answering endless questions (mine included) the DOP and his DIT took a volunteer from the audience (the very beautiful Anastasia) and showed us in real time what the RED can do.  Real time, you read right, they showed us in real time several looks that can be created by the RED, how to render them, how to change them, how to use RAW images etc.  It was like test driving an Aston Martin and not having to worry about scratching it up.  That’s how cool this presentation was.  We got to see on a grand scale in the cinema what the RED can actually do.  Essentially it was a theoretical and technical seminar all in one.  We even got to see the trailer of a recent project D. Gregor worked on just to get a feel for what high level of production value the RED is producing in contemporary cinema.  Not only did the wizards take us through Oz they pulled the curtain back and showed us the wizard.  Far too many references of pop culture past, nonetheless, this was by far an incredible opportunity for anyone who attended to get a real feel for the potential and possibility at the hands of indie filmmakers who adopt the RED Camera.  

The RED offers equal opportunity via affordability without having to compromise picture quality.  In the end this is just another fine example of how hard the Campagna Brothers work to provide their fellow filmmakers with the best.  Hope they have Hagey back next year and every year to come because he did a great job of introducing us to RED and helping us to understand not only its potential but its inherent value to emerging and established filmmakers. 

This entry was posted on Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 8:40 pm and is filed under MIFF 2009. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.