Here’s a fun item firstly posted by the South China Morning Post. The five-year-old daughter of a Chinese cinematographer utilized the RED V-Raptor camera to shoot a wildlife project as part of her kindergarten assignment. The BTS video has reached over 180 million views on Weibo.
5 years old girl and a $75,000 cinema camera setup
Here’s an easy way to accumulate some Weibo views. Meng Meng is the 5 years old daughter of Zhang Ruixin who is a Chinese professional cinematographer. Zhang owns the RED Digital Cinema flagship — the V-Raptor, paired with a mighty Canon 50-1,000 Cine-zoom lens. That’s a hell of a camera setup. As a part of her Kindergarten mission, Meng Meng needed to shoot a wildlife project — ‘Observation of small animals’. And for that, she utilized her father’s camera setup. The BTS Weibo video has gained more than 180 million views. The story was firstly posted by the SCMP (South China Morning Post) as stated: “A five-year-old girl filmed using a 500,000 yuan (US$75,000) camera for her homework has received more than 180 million views on Weibo in China due to the striking contrast between the large size of the equipment and the small figure of the girl. In the video posted on June 26 by the child’s father, Zhang Ruixin, the girl, nicknamed Meng Meng, is seen panning the camera which is almost the same size as herself, and adjusting the focus on two turtles climbing onto the river bank in Guiyang, Guizhou, a mountainous province in southern China”.
Is it practical?
Well, operating a digital cinema camera is not a big deal. It’s not so complicated. Menus and buttons are pretty self-explanatory and the GUI is very straightforward and user-friendly. For an easy task like wildlife observation, a well-trained 5-years old boy/girl can surely operate even the most complex camera and get outstanding results. Can a child understand essential camera definitions like aperture, zoom, and focus? Sure! Why not? “My work schedule is extremely hectic, and I am frequently on business trips, so I didn’t have time to cultivate her interest in photography or videography,” Zhang said to SCMP. “I didn’t expect her to discover a passion for both on her own at this time. However, loving photography is ‘in the family’s blood’, said Zhang, as his father is also a cinema enthusiast.
Indeed, many DPs bring their kids to their cool job, which most of the time, is far more excited than a day in the office. That’s the beauty of our profession. The question is, what did Meng Meng’s teacher do when she got the project in 8K 120p? Let’s hope there was a pretty decent 8K TV in that kindergarten…!
Product List
Here’re the products mentioned in the article, and the links to purchase them from authorized dealers.
- Red Digital Cinema V-RAPTOR 8K VV DSMC3 Camera
- Y.M.CINEMA 65 – A Gift for Filmmakers
