Shooting on the RED KOMODO for the First Time

ATB Productions, video content from concept to creation in Baltimore, Maryland and beyond has waited months for our RED KOMODO to come in, but it finally came, right in time for a Music Video we were shooting for the DISCO FRIES. We went ahead and ordered a v-mount adapter, a SMALL RIG cage and rails, a TILTA follow Focus, and a 7” small HD monitor, then topped it off with a Set of DZO PICTOR Zooms via a DZO RF to PL adapter.

Shooting on the RED KOMODO for the First Time our FIRST SHOOT with RED KOMODO  

So, what once was a tiny body of the Komodo ended up being a fairly sizable build out when all was said and done. Over the years, ATB has shot on RED’s before, but this was the first time we owned one. So, this music video was the perfect way to test out the camera in a real-world situation.   

First off, just like all our music videos, we were biting off more than we can chew with virtually no budget ($2300), we set up a day of shooting that included three locations, too many set-ups, barely any crew, and little knowledge of how the camera would perform.  

Our first step was a “Dream” scene, using a Kaleidoscope Fractal look in an all white setting. As we powered the KOMODO up, which takes forever compared to every camera we’ve used in the past, we were given messages like “Unapproved Cards”' for our CF2 Lexars cards. We used the RED RAW MQ format as our goal was to see what the camera can do but didn’t want to change cards every two minutes, especially since we were light on crew. We accepted the fact that the RED KOMODO told us that our cards might not work, and a 256 gb card was getting about 23 minutes of run time. Not bad, as it takes roughly the same time to dump cards (28 minutes on MacBook Pro), with three 256 Cards and 1 128GB. We knew we could shoot all day without worry.  

NOTE: Switching from RAW to PRORES requires a shutdown and restart of camera, so patience with the KOMODO is key.  

Workflow on Set

Overall, the aesthetic and menu system is kind of chunky and the “hazard” look seems juvenile.  But menus are menus and who cares, Sony’s menus are similarly bad and I prefer the simplicity of the BlackMagic simple system.  

As far as Aspect ratio and format, this camera has a ton. Honestly, more than I’m used to / comfortable with, we shot 17x9 6K cause it was at the top of the list and why not, you know.  
The creative for the music video requires some “post-production” tracking. Knowing we are going to be editing in a 4k timeline, we wanted that extra room to punch in to make tracking easier.  

Battery life on the Komodo was exceptional, we just about had it on all day and we burned one battery and went one bar down on our second battery, so powering the camera off v-mounts won’t be a problem.

Visuals

Visually, the camera performed super well, especially paired with the DZO PICTOR ZOOMs. I was looking at the imaging we were getting. Stylistically, we chose scenes with bright colors as we wanted the image to pop as much as it cool. We also shot a silhouetted sequence inside, exposing for the outside that should give us a decent test of dynamic range.  

Editing

Bringing the Raw files into Premiere requires you to go through MEDIA BROWSER, instead of how I normally do it, but just dragging in the entire folder. This is because RED breaks up a single clip into 4gb files, so one “take” of a full song will be broken up into a bunch of clips, however when you import the RED Raw files via Media Browser in Premiere it stitches them together making file management super easy.  

Looking at the footage in Premiere, I wasn’t overly impressed with the image, but just applying the basic RED LUTS the images came to life and the visuals were popping. There is definitely going to be a strong learning curve both in production and post-production with this camera, but we are looking forward to figuring it out.   

Check back for our DISCO FRIES - REACT video when it drops on OCTOBER 29th. 

Comment with any questions you want answered or just comment that we suck and don’t know what we are doing. We’ll take either.     

About ATB Productions:

Across the Bridge Productions (ATB) provides video content creation and Brand storytelling services in Baltimore, Maryland and beyond. We believe in the power of honest, authentic storytelling. Our motto is “Make it Great”.