On April 8 the celebration begins, as Michael Bay’s Ambulance is pushed to the theaters. However, the question remains: Which theater should you choose? Should you see it on IMAX? Although we are IMAX lovers, we advise you to choose the best theater you can go to, but not IMAX. These are our two cents.
Michael Bay’s Ambulance: Shot on Bayhem cameras
For those who live inside a cave and don’t know what Bayhem cameras are, we can tell you that these cameras were custom-built for Michael Bay by RED Digital Cinema. As far as we know, there are two BayHem cameras: RED Helium 8K (with the Helium sensor) and RED Komodo 6K. Those cameras are owned by Michael who used them on his recent films, including Ambulance. In the past, Michael shot with his own ARRIFLEX 235 (Transformers 1-3 and many other films). However, in the last films, he switched to RED. Basically, according to IMDB Tech Specs (which are quite correct in this case), these are the cameras and lenses behind Ambulance:
- RED Komodo 6K Bayhem
- RED Helium 8K Bayhem (and ‘conventional’ Helium) paired with Panavision T-Series and Vantage One lenses
As you can see, there’s no IMAX camera involved. The maximum resolution is 8K (IMAX is equivalent to 11K resolution). Generally speaking, those cameras can produce stunning imagery for the big canvas but are not perfectly suited for the huge canvas (IMAX theater).
Combination of Heat, Training Day, Bad Boys, Speed, and 13 Hours
‘Ambulance’ tells the story of a bank robbery that gets complicated when a cop gets shot. Then the robbers steal an ambulance to use as a getaway vehicle when the heist goes worse. Many of the scenes were being shot inside the ambulance while being in an ultra epic and intensive pursuit, crafted by the master. Moreover, we’ve reported that the main star of the film, Jake Gyllenhaal, shot some action scenes by himself. He just took the camera and start shooing. RED cameras can be suited in a compact form factor which makes them very easy and fun to shoot. So expect high octane adrenaline rush sequences, and a lot of camera shakiness as Michael loves (as so are we). ‘Ambulance’ is expected to be like a combination of Heat, Training Day, Bad Boys, Speed, and 13 Hours. Cool, over-saturated, and fast flick.
Intensive FPV aerial shooting
As the trailer suggests, plus a number of BTS footage (for instance, check out the footage below published by Jarred Land – CEO of RED Digital Cinema), show the novel methodology of Cinema FPV (First Person View) that was heavily utilized in Ambulance. Hence, expect a huge dose of aerial FPV shots right inside the action. For that, the RED Komodo was used. The RED Komodo is one of the most efficient cinema cameras that can be used for Aerial FPV. This camera was invented for that purpose, as stated by Jarred Land, CEO of RED: “Little army of BAYHEM Komodos on the set of Michael Bays “Ambulance” exactly a year ago getting ready to be thrown into harms way… just what they were designed for”. However, when shooing aerial FPV a simple lens is attached, as a big and heavy cinema lens is not an option for that case. For instance, you just can’t throw the Panavision T-Series on an FPV drone. Explore the picture below to reveal the very simple and cheap still lens paired on the Komodo. The lens will not look sharp on an IMAX screen, and if the shot is more than a few seconds, the audience will notice the difference.
A little army of BAYHEM Komodos on the set of Michael Bays “Ambulance” exactly a year ago getting ready to be thrown into harms way… just what they were designed for.
Jarred Land – CEO of RED Digital Cinema
IMAX cameras were not used
Michael Bay loves IMAX cameras, and IMAX loves Michael. In 2014 it was reported that IMAX has developed the first fully-integrated dual 65mm 4K digital large-format 3D camera (two Phantom 65 cameras stuck together). This system was utilized in Michael Bay’s Transformers: Age of Extinction. The production team was able to capture chase scenes and helicopter shots in high-resolution 3D to be screened on an IMAX 3D theater. Hence, that movie came as one of the first that looked solid in IMAX 3D. From then, and we might be wrong about that, Bay hasn’t shot on IMAX, including the anticipated Ambulance.
Wrapping up
To sum it up, Ambulance is going to be shaky,… very shaky (in a good manner) regrading the camera work. A lot of scenes were shot in 6K with still lenses (for the FPV sequences), and without any IMAX camera being used. If so, there’s no need to watch Ambulance in an IMAX theater. However, do watch it at the best theater you can find. The great 13 Hours film suffered from limited screening and distribution even though it was a blast. 6 Underground was limited to streaming only which is an inferior watching platform compared to a movie theater. Hence, now there’s a great opportunity to watch a Michael Bay film on the big canvas. So go watch it. Not on IMAX, but in the best theater you can find. BTW: A new (and final) trailer was released yesterday. Check it out:
Are you excited about Ambulance? We know we are!
Product List
Here’re the products mentioned in the article, and the links to purchase them from authorized dealers.
- RED Digital Cinema Komodo 6K
