There’s a widespread perception that any savings made by hiring a Red camera can be negated by complications in post. Not if you do your homework, says Eleven Film producer Joel Wilson.
He managed to shoot 6 x 60-minute C4 drama Cast Offs on Red for around the same budget as a Digibeta production.
“We researched the camera assiduously and [hire house] The Post Factory gave us a good deal on the camera hire,” says Wilson. “Add to that lighting, 18TB disc drive storage, a transit van, plus post and it still was not much more than a Digi shoot.”
“James at the Post factory was hugely helpful in collaborating with Leo Scott, our editor and Marie at the Mill to establish and test our workflow and we had an expert on Red in our DOP George Steel.”
Filmed as a ‘mocumentary’ Cast Offs follows the stories of six disabled characters marooned on a remote British island for a reality TV show.
Marie Jones, Executive Producer, Mill TV said: “Cast Offs is one of the most striking TV projects we have worked on. Our processes and long form data pipeline ensured the full dynamic range of the image was preserved once the data was converted from the raw RED files.”
The drama was graded by senior colourist Mick Vincent. “Each episode has two specific looks,” he says, “That of the island and that of each character’s back story. On the island the grade is very soft and gentle, similar to the natural look of the Red camera, which allows the viewer to get to know the characters without being made too aware of the grade.”
Cast Offs was directed by Miranda Bowen and Amanda Boyle, and executive producer was Judy Counihan. It airs Tuesday 24 November.
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