More Buzz about RED

Not only did I recently work on a feature shot on the 4K RED ONE, but last night I went to a screening of the first feature film shot completely on RED in the southern hemisphere. The event was hosted by USC and RED, which -- with this film -- may be getting closer to claiming its first commercially released feature film offspring. (A big thank you to my filmmaker/publicist friend Scotty D. for getting me in.)

"The Nothing Men," is the freshman project from Australian film company Alchemy Film Productions, about a group of displaced machine shop grunts who are pining for their severence checks. It was written and directed by Mark Fitzpatrick, who told us he opted to make the film himself even as major Hollywood producers and actors (Gale Anne Hurd, Jeff Goldblum, etc.) came calling for his script. Not only were the producers (Martin Dingle Wall and Andrew Windsor), director, and DP (Peter Holland) on hand to answer questions after the film; Ted Schilowitz was also there to answer technical questions about the camera and workflow. Techs from RED were available after the screening, too, to answer questions.

Overall, I think "The Nothing Men," was a good film. It got off to a slow/rough start, but the last 60 min. almost makes you forget about the first 30. The scenes are well lit, the actors give excellent performances (possibly Academy caliber [AMPAS, Australian Film Institute, or BAFTA]), and once the characters really start interacting and the plot starts developing the film is quite captivating. In fact, even Ted said when he viewed the film prior to last night's event he "stopped watching the RED after the first three or four minutes and started watching the film."

Lest anyone get the idea that I am jumping on the RED band wagon, I am still not sold completely on the technology. I still have my reservations about on-set asset management and post workflow. And I will always be more comfortable with the idea of having my film "in the can" or on tape stock. (Even the producers said that during pre-production they weren't sure, due to ambivalence about the as-yet-unproven RED camera [Build 8], they would be able to secure a completion bond. Despite this risk they still shot on RED and it looks amazing.) But, as long as the beers are on RED, the camera has come along way and is definitely becoming progressively better with each new build. Not to mention that Scarlet (3K) and Epic (5K) will be coming out next year.

[Edited by Scotty D.]