As this challenging year nears its end, rays of hope are emerging on a suddenly less than gloomy horizon. In this issue, we talk to Adrian Wootton, chief executive of the British Film Commission, to hear about exciting industry growth to come. We also cover the booming development of 8K workflows and remote lighting controls.
Looking to productions, we talk to DOP Lol Crawley and gaffer Jerad Molkenthin about crafting dark American gothic, The Devil All the Time, and find out how Phedon Papamichael shot to the beat of multilayered courtroom drama, The Trial of the Chicago 7.
In this issue, we witness the rise of cinema zooms and spotlight the cinematographers receiving recognition for their work, with exclusives from Camerimage and the Emmys.
Our production stories cover the controversial, with interviews from the DOPs who worked on Netflix’s Cuties and Ratched. Our annual aerial special takes a sky dive into the key players helping the industry get back off the ground.
Plus, we explore the key pieces of kit that can facilitate a remote production.
In this issue, we focus on the industry’s revival and which shows are carrying on after Covid.
We also look at Netflix’s latest animal documentary Tiny Creatures, which just slipped through the Covid-19 net, as well as the third series of Killing Eve and BBC’s Swan Lake Bath Ballet.
We’ve also introduced two new sections. ‘Gear first look’ focuses on quick product reviews and ‘Video briefing’ is a snapshot of industry news.
Keen to keep up to date with the latest news and reactions from within the industry during lockdown? Look no further.
DEFIANT is a weekly newscast aimed at cinematographers, crew and companies as they refocus in isolation.
In this issue, we hear from DOP Toby Oliver on the Netflix dramedy, Dead to Me, CVP launches a virtual hangout and the DPP looks at life after lockdown.
Got a story you’re keen to share? Get in touch via our Contacts page on or via Instagram or Twitter.
DEFIANT aims to provide you with the latest news and reactions from within the industry as cinematographers, companies and crew refocus in isolation.
In this issue, we hear from the cinematographer behind Quibi’s new thriller and speak to one of the very first people to try out Canon’s new C300 Mark III.
The aim of DEFIANT is to provide you with the latest news and reactions from within the industry and show you how cinematographers, companies and crew are refocusing in isolation.
In this issue, we’ve got a video interview with the president of the American Society of Cinematographers as he looks ahead, the DOP behind the pilot episode of Tales from the Loop reveals the inspiration behind the show and meet Quibi, the streaming platform launched during a pandemic.
In these uncertain times, it’s our aim to provide you with the latest news and reactions from within the industry and show you how DOPs, directors, producers and manufacturers and service companies are refocussing in isolation.
Issue 2 brings you a focus on those in the industry working remotely and the ever-evolving technology being used to make this happen.
We hope it’s useful to you, we hope you enjoy it, but above all, we hope you share with us your own experiences of working from home.
DEFIANT is a hybrid publication, a little bit like a magazine, a little bit like a YouTube or Vimeo channel and also like a TV show.
We hope to use all the best bits from those media types and present a weekly newscast for our professional video industry. As DEFIANT is weekly we will have a definite news agenda but also present interviews that you’ll be able to read in our monthly print and digital issues.
WELCOME TO ISSUE 1 – WE HOPE YOU ENJOY IT.
VFX women on the rise, vampires on the loose and Dickens on location.
This month we break the glass ceiling with our Women in VFX article; we look at the BBC’s and Netflix’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and The Personal History of David Copperfield, Armando Innucci’s latest dramedy. Our lighting special shows that the hardware battle is now a features war; we have reviews from Creamsource with their SpaceX light; GoPro Hero 8; DJI Ronin SC and Samsung’s new T7 portable SSD drive.
This month, VFX women on the rise, vampires on the loose and Dickens on location. We break the glass ceiling with our Women in VFX article; we look at the BBC’s and Netflix’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and The Personal History of David Copperfield, Armando Iannucci’s latest dramedy. Our lighting special shows that the hardware battle is now a features war; we have reviews from Creamsource with their SpaceX light; GoPro Hero 8; DJI Ronin SC and Samsung’s new T7 portable SSD drive.
Cats on the cover last month and now it’s a seal for our big wildlife special. Seven Worlds, One Planet unveils its production methods to us; also we have the behind the scenes story on the HBO comedy Avenue 5. The faces of new capture might be Al Pacino and Robert De Niro as we look in to capture across the board including new aerial platforms. Also look out for our feature on the film and high end TV skills situation in the UK: are we coping with the glut of content we are experiencing? Reviews from Rosco and Fujifilm.
This month is the time for the ultimate feline fantasy – CATS is coming to the silver screen near you. This hugely popular fantasy musical has had a massive transformation for film with clever large format scaling making all the difference. Also in the issue is the Channel 4/Netflix hit ‘The End of the F***ing World; a special about the huge amount of UK production right now and how industrial regeneration is helping. Meet the new visualisers and how Le Mans ‘66 movie was lit for France from California. All wrapped up with a BSC Expo 2020 and our camera listing.
Lyra and her daemon Pan look out from our new issue as we go for a deep dive in to His Dark Materials. Also in our spotlight are The Aeronauts, School’s Out Forever and Harry Lloyd’s latest music video. We have news of how 5G might work for you in production and the very latest aerial technology that awaits you in the sky. Reviews are from Rotolight’s TITAN LED light and Hollyland’s camera video TX/RX.
Unofficially our Halloween issue has IT on the cover, nearly as scary as Ronald McDonald and just as bad for you; IT Chapter 2, however, is a gorgeous looking movie – we speak to the DOP. Also in the issue The Crown series 3 and a new High Frame Rate movie from Ang Lee, Gemini Man. There have been some significant new gear launches for lighting and large format cameras and you can learn more about how camera-to-cloud recording could be here as early as next year. Main review is Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve 16 and the new edit keyboard.
The next issue features the new season of Peaky Blinders and the movie version of Downton Abbey. There is also a spotlight on women in post, interviews about the future of post and a guide on building an edit suite. Reviews from Blackmagic and Evolve workstations.
We’ve got African wildlife in our sights, both real and virtual with Serengeti and The Lion King – but can you tell the difference? We cover lots of gear between our IBC preview and our Fujifilm GFX100 review. Pawel Pogorzelski, DOP on aesthetic horror, Midsommar, talks production. Also in this issue: we talk power – battery power, and follow up with part 2 of our large format lens special.
The Men in Black movies get a refresh and Catch-22 gets a second bite at the silver screen. Plus Wild Bill, an American cop in Brexit Britain. Also a summer special about the capture technology in sport circa 2019, ARRI’s Alexa camera lands legend status and the stories behind why our Tech Innovation Winners won. All wrapped up with reviews from Blackmagic Design and Cineluxe Roller 24 bag.
From announcing our Tech Innovation Award winners in our last issue to presenting them in this one; it’s a fine life rewarding companies for such great tech. Also in this issue we have a great story on the production of Pokémon: Detective Pikachu; shot on film but with some state of the art matched CGI. There’s part two of our extensive look at Amazon’s Good Omens and a Lens Large Format special where we ask if LF is here to stay. All this and much more…
Our June issue was our tribute to one of the best TV shows ever; Game of Thrones. We talked with two of the 12 DOPs who took us from interesting folk lore story to multi-FX extravaganza. Also in this issue our winners of the Tech Innovation Award are announced.
Definition’s May 2019 issue has a couple of muted warnings; we have a report on the posting of the Netflix climate change series ‘Our Planet’ and a report on the rise of Virtual Production which in part is recreating traditional movie making skills in virtual space. Also in the issue is our annual glance skywards at the art of aerial cinematography. There’s a report from the NAB Trade show; behind the scenes reports from Line Of Duty Series 5, Wild Rose movie and Sky Atlantic’s Chernobyl. Also now available are the shortlists for our Tech Innovation Awards.
Definition’s April 2019 issue features Captain Marvel, Dumbo and the inhabitants of Sky TV’s Curfew. We also introduced our first ever awards and it is the technical innovation sector that we have concentrated on – more news on this soon. We also introduce two new series – Making Of A Legend and Film Versus Digital. We have an exclusive interview with the OSCAR winning sound editor of Bohemian Rhapsody and a brand new way of listing cameras which includes advice on camera kits.
This month we’re taking lessons from Sex Education, delving into the parallel universe of The Umbrella Academy and previewing this year’s Oscars. Netflix’s hit new series Sex Education is all everyone is talking about at the moment – we explore the production behind this quirky American-Anglo feeling series as well as uncovering the lighting and photography of the darkly humorous Umbrella Academy. We also take a moment to celebrate the fantastic work of P+S Technik founder and Managing Director, Alfred Piffl who sadly passed at the start of 2019. All of this is wrapped up with our BSC preview and Oscar nominations to watch out for this year.
Definition’s February 2019 issue heralds the possible end of the ‘uncanny valley’. A place where the unfortunates of motion capture linger hoping for a more realistic face. The recent movie ‘Welcome to Marwen’ features a new way of the motion capture of faces which blends traditional cinematography with games engine methodology. Also in the issue we have the capture story of Mary Queen of Scots and a sneak peek from the second seres of ITV’s Bancroft. We hear about the increase in augmented reality use and some capture through LIDAR scanning. New ways of camera movement and lighting are here to start your production year off and reviews include Panther’s engineering marvel, the S-Type.
Definition’s January 2019 issue looks at some amazing production skills with a BBC drama called ‘Death and Nightingales’; following Jet Man for a new documentary and the making of a major movie ‘The Favourite’. We also look at what’s new in monitoring with new models and new technology. Reviews are from Z Cam with their amazing E2 camera; the uprated Sony FS5 MkII and a new action camera from OLFI. Also news of the upcoming BSC Expo in London.
Definition’s December issue has the new Lisbeth in full large format for the new Girl in a spider’s web movie. We also rate all the large format cameras including new hybrids from the stills world. News from the VR world shows how you can now move through physical space as well as virtual. Fantastic Beasts 2 is covered by Technicolor’s amazing post workflow from rushes to deliverables. We also have our review of the amazing new Blackmagic 4K Pocket camera.
Definition’s November issue glories in the new rock biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. We also tell the tale of the Outlaw King but more specifically the amazing data story with eight 8K cameras shooting the action. Classic black & white cinematography from Poland with Cold War and much more from the emerging Large Format world. Also more lighting Apps; a new Raw format from Blackmagic Design; a hands on of the new Canon XF705 and a very cool curved monitor from Samsung.
Definition’s October issue follows the evolution of Doctor Who and it’s search for a cinematic look to compete with just about every other drama on television. Also how ITV’s ‘Strangers’ enhanced the unique light of Hong Kong to aid the narrative. The breathtaking achievement of climber Alex Honnold is retold in documentary form in ‘Free Solo’. We have a report from the Edinburgh TV Festival and news of new prosumer full frame hybrid cameras. Also news of the evolution of lighting control via apps and how it will change the industry. There is news of large movement engineering and we have reviews from Fuji, Mycasebuilder and Fiilex.
Definition’s September includes v3.0 of our user interface AKA a re-design just in time for the vast IBC Convention in Amsterdam, (grab your free copy if you’re in Holland). In this issue: full production story of ITV Drama’s big Autumn drama Vanity Fair; also shoots stories from ‘Yardie’, ‘The Confession Tapes’, ‘Dark Heart’ and ‘Blackkklansman’. We meet the young head of Kinefinity and review his new MAVO camera. We also look at ‘Lyrebird’, the first movie to use the new ARRI LF camera. Other reviews from Samsung with their new 2800 MB/s SSD; IBE Optics with their macro LF lenses and Blackmagic’s eGPU outboard processor.
Definition’s August issue celebrates summer with the best ‘good time’ movie sequel around, Mamma Mia 2! We also hear about the grading of the latest Jurassic World move; new light-field camera arrays; Fujifilm’s new mirrorless 4K camera and a very special 10 page LED lighting section. Enjoy!
Definition’s July issue contains the evolution of TV drama, especially Lost In Space whose production meticulously plan their pace strategy with fickle TV viewers in mind. But we also have the BBC productions of ‘The Woman in White’ and ‘A very English scandal’ which has high end feature film director and DOP taking on the speed of TV production. We also have the ‘Solo: A Star Wars story’ story of the search for the right lens; a reflection of The Crown Season 2 with review from Quasar Science, HP ZBook and PAG Battery.
Definition’s June issue shamelessly profiles the most popular movie of the year so far, Infinity War and also to a lesser degree Solo: A Star Wars Story. We look at the data story, which is big like everything else with the MCU. We also look at the shooting of You were never really here, Lynne Ramsay’s first digital movie. We have our first talent compilation with our ascending stars of cinematography; a look at the cutting edge of augmented reality capture with reviews from DMG Rosco; G-Tech; Sony and Fiilex. Oh and also a very big article about the latest in lens design.
Definition’s May issue has a UK-centric feel to it with a spotlight on a couple of major TV drama series, Vera and Marcella Series 2. We find out more about the colour pipeline of the latest Tomb Raider movie; look at some of the new camera wireless systems; hear from the set of Arrested Development 5; look in to some aerial cinematography issues with a special; also introduce the exciting new world of volumetric capture. Reviews are from Kinefinity Terra 4k cameras, Sonnet Fusion SSD drive and DJI Zenmuse X7 drone camera.
Isle of Dogs; Phantom Thread; The Shape of Water with new camera news; Tomb Raider reboot; Building the Panasonic GH5s; reviews from NBC Universal, SWIT camera transmitter.
Definition March issue follows the big new Netflix sci-fi show ‘Altered Carbon’ with its large format shooting regime. We also analyse the latest series of Peaky Blinders and also Oscar favourite ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri’. Other feature include a new way of movie making with Game Engine UNITY, more rear projection news from ‘Film stars don’t die in Liverpool’, with reviews from Canon C200, ATOMOS Sumo, Sony RX0 action cam.
Timely, for our first issue of 2018 we tickle your New Year’s resolution by pointing out some areas of videography that are destined to grow this year and might be looking for new people. We also look at the movie Downsizing, Netflix shows Anne with an E, Arrested Development 5. Reality shows up their cinematography game with Channel 4’s ‘Escape’. How to shoot for new large format cameras; shooting 4K mega concerts and The Grand Tour Season 2 audio. Reviews from Final Cut Pro 10.4, LACIE 2Big Thunderbolt 3 storage and Flowtech tripod.
Although you maybe suffering from Churchill lag with the large number of sightings of the great man in movies recently, Darkest Hour might be worth the wait. We have a shoot and grade story. We also dissect the Netflix dark drama Mindhunter from director David Fincher; there is an unusual sighting of an ARRI Amira on a scripted comedy drama; a critical lighting design for the remake of Snowpiercer; a look at the state of stabilisation; some advice for video pros looking to build audio suites; reviews from Resolve 14. Panasonic EVA1; Sigma cine lenses; Fiilex lighting; Shure microphones and our review of our 2017.
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