DCP 36: Michael Safai and Alaric Cole of Soviet Montage Productions

Sep 21

Our HDR rig used to film this is now for sale, to raise money for the next generation! Contact us for details or to submit an offer. Check out our iOS app for Photoshop-level photo editing: http://proc.es This video highlights several clips we've made using our new High Dynamic Range (HDR) process. Video is captured on two Canon 5D mark II DSLRs, each capturing the exact same subject via a beam splitter. The cameras are configured so that they record different exposure values, e.g., one camera is overexposed, the other underexposed. After the footage has been recorded, we use a variety of HDR processing tools to combine the video from the two cameras, yielding the clips you see above. HDR Video provides filmmakers with many exciting new opportunities. Not only can HDR video create interesting effects, it can also allow for even exposure where artificial lighting is unavailable or impractical. For example, when a subject is backlit, one camera could be set to properly expose the subject, the other the sky, resulting in video with perfect exposure throughout. We will continue to develop and improve the HDR video process for better results and efficiency. For more information, check out our website www.sovietmontage.com http://twitter.com/sovietmontage http://www.facebook.com/sovietmontage Music Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Opus 40, Number 9 Performed by Kevin MacLeod Licensed Under Creative Commons "Attribution 3.0"

In this episode, Chris Fenwick and I have the pleasure of talking with Michael Safai and Alaric Cole of Soviet Montage Productions. A couple of weeks ago or so they created quite a stir when they released their HDR film clip. The clip included city scenes with traffic and a person. All in HDR. It was recorded with two Canon EOS 5D Mark II cameras, a beam splitter, a heavy duty tripod. The clips from the two cameras were combined and processed in post-production using proprietary techniques developed by Alaric and Michael.

This one minute 37 second film gives us a remarkable glimpse of the future of filmmaking. We talk with the Soviet Montage team about the state of the art of HDR technology and the aesthetic of HDR filmmaking.

From Soviet Montage Productions' website:

"Soviet Montage Productions is a small studio based in San Francisco. We’re currently focused on short films, utilizing DSLR video and high dynamic range imaging.

"Alaric Cole is an author, programmer, bicycle designer, and documentary filmmaker. Inspired by the stunning use of HDR in photography, he has been dreaming up ways to make it feasible for video.

"Michael Safai is a long time photographer and filmmaker with a keen eye for color and special effects. Realizing the potential of HDR for film, he had the patience to spend a year perfecting it.

"What’s in a name?

"The name “Soviet Montage” comes from the editing technique: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_montage_theory.

"Essentially it became a way to allow viewers to “read between the lines” of edits. A poetry of cut-and-paste, if you will."