In this article, we’re getting a technical deep dive into the preparation of the Sony FX3 for The Creator shoot. Teevarit Pirompapachoke – DIT and data wrangler in the Thailand unit, shares with us rare photos and explanations regarding the challenges, and how the team utilized the FX3 to be able to be operated on this mega-budget project as the main setup. Read on.
FX3 + Atomos: ProRes for the IMAX
We wrote a decent amount of articles about The Creator, which is a mega-budget sci-fi action movie that was shot with a prosumer camera, the Sony FX3. Although it’s not the first time that an action narrative feature was shot on affordable consumer cameras (we all remember the great Act of Valor that was shot on the Canon 5D Mark II by Shane Hurlbut ASC, and screened on IMAX as well), there’s something ultra intriguing to know how it was done. The advantages of using small and simple cameras are well known. Nevertheless, these cameras have not been designed for high-end cinema productions that require a large crew. Although the FX3 is defined as a ‘cinema camera’ and even belongs to Sony’s Cinema Line, it has its own limitations that constitute vast challenges when using it on big screen productions. Hence, we reached out to Teevarit Pirompapachoke, who is a DIT and data wrangler in the Thailand unit of The Creator to shed light on the technical challenges. Below Pirompapachoke summarizes the technical challenges and processes of the Thailand team in The Creator production (codenamed by the Thailand team -TRUE LOVE):
The Creator (aka TRUE LOVE)
All text below was written by DIT Teevarit Pirompapachoke from WEDITIT – the DIT company of The Creator:
“A small yet grand and beloved endeavor! ’Sony FX3+Atomos,’ said Pithai, and I thought this was probably set up for the B-Cam. Cut to the first-day meet-up, where I met Ae (1st AC) and Duke (2nd AC), and I’ve come to realize that ‘Sony FX3+Atomos’ isn’t a B-Cam; IT IS THE MAIN SETUP. My head is suddenly filled with questions and doubts, much like my warehouse filled with so much equipment”.
Before the Prep
“Ae (1st AC) would do 3-4 Ronin setups for operating, which took us quite some time to complete”.
CAMERA PREP + LINEUP CHALLENGES
Problem Number 1: HEAT
“We started off by hitting record on all the FX3s in the heat to see how long they can last under the sun; we also checked for noise, dead pixels, and firmware issues”.
Problem Number 2: FILE NAMES
“Next, we had to figure out ways to manually match file names, FX3 Roll Numbers, and Atomos together at a time when the firmware wasn’t up-to-date”.
Problem Number 3: TIMECODE
“Since our main issue was keeping the cameras rolling continuously, Timecode was our best resort, simplifying our trials. The Script Supervisor and Continuity Team also needed to rely on the timecode because the monitors didn’t provide enough information on the screen. We used Atomos Ultrasync for transmitting and syncing Timecode to all the Atomos devices, then synced the record with the FX3. Sony FX3 was also chosen for backup files for the post-production team, just in case something unexpected happened to the ProRes RAW. An Audio Timecode was added by connecting Tentacles to the FX3 to match all the metadata. During the first week of preparation, all the files were displeasingly overlapped at 23.98 FPS, despite our precise observation along with the Fotokam team. We had to examine and calculate it frame-by-frame (Hours:Minutes:Seconds: Frame) to find the cause of the overlap”.
Problem Number 4: MONITOR AND INFORMATION
“Since we shot in Anamorphic, the camera screen couldn’t display a de-squeezed image, so it was necessary to transform that into the correct picture format (we’ll talk about that in Problem Number Five). Another issue was the monitors’ limitation on set, but with firm support from the QTake team, the crew was equipped with iPads, and the director would receive video records daily”.
Problem Number 5: FRAME LINE 2.76:1
“Since Atomos isn’t compatible with a 2.76:1 frame line and no customizable software like ARRI, we had to come up with a Frame Chart to see the frame we were going to use. Although it took us days to complete, we used tapes to section off Atomos into our desired frame, and we could customize other SmallHD monitors. After that, we manually set up (x7) Sony FX3s and (x8) Atomos to be identical for the main and backup cams, along with countless GoPros and Drones that went through all the tests together with the FX3”.
Problem Number 6: SHOOTING DAY
“The camera team managed JAM TC from the Sound team, transmitted the signal to the cams, and had the cards ready to roll for ALL CAMERAS. In order to keep all the information synced and avoid any confusion on daily camera setups, we kept reloading FX3 and Atomos non-stop. (Big thanks to Duke and Chang for taking away all the pain with filenames by rolling them manually day-to-day.)”.
Problem Number 7: DATA MANAGEMENT
“Because we wanted to keep all the information synced, we had to keep reloading FX3 and Atomos non-stop”.
ProRes RAW
“The received files were backed up via Silverstack (ProRes RAW Incompatible software), but we utilized its Checksum tool for Onset Backup. After that, we used Assimilate (ProRes RAW Compatible software) for QC, where we found Dead-Pixels quite frequently. So, after consulting with Sony Thailand, it was presumably caused by the electrical current that we transmitted into the cameras; repairing became a norm for our team. Then, we delivered the files to Fotokam Dailies Labs (who had been managing data from place to place with us throughout the whole shoot.) They also synchronously calibrated colors on all of the on-set monitors to match the colors at Dailies Lab, to have the colors go the same direction throughout the film. Not to mention, they added LUTs to the monitors as well”.
Tech Spec
Main Tools:
- MacBook Pro x 2
- Raid Onset backup 140 TB
- SSD as Shuttle Data x10+
- Here’s our list of cards:
- x20 FX3 Cards – 160 GB 82 mins
- x20 SSD for Atomos – 2 TB 180 mins – 1 TB 120 mins
Final words
“We traveled over 17 provinces in Thailand for the Main Unit, and over 4 countries for BG Plates, which was as brutal as the Main Unit because the crew was much smaller. But in spite of that, the production team was always able to provide any requested equipment, no matter what the damage was. A huge THANK YOU to Pam – Producer, Chompoo – Production Manager, Pup – Gaffer, Gam – Equipment Co., Ae – 1st AC, Duke – 2nd AC, Chang – 2nd AC, Thain – DIT, Jason – DIT, Oren – DOP, TangTae – QTAKE, Jae Supanut & OAT – VIDEO, the production team, others, and Indochina Productions for this memorable opportunity and experience”.
Summary
We watched the movie on IMAX, and it looks pretty good. There’s some noise in the night scenes, but the excellent sound design, interesting story, and brilliant sound mix compensate for that. The question I asked myself is: Could I tell that the movie was shot on consumer cameras? It’s a tough question and the answer is not so obvious. For instance, Oppenheimer looks much much better on the IMAX screen. But you can not compare that to this project. I would recommend watching The Creator on Dolby rather than on IMAX. But if you can’t go Dolby, go for IMAX just because of the sounds. Furthermore, there’s no doubt that the maneuverability of the FX3 has given the privilege of shooting on real locations and minimizing green screen which is a huge plus since the locations are spectacular on the big screen. Anyway, the Thailand crew has done a tremendous job! Let’s give them a huge shoutout. The company is called WEDITIT and “Primed for action! – We Transform Your Chaos into Brilliance” — is their slogan. For more information and inquiries contact them here.
Product List
Here are the products mentioned in the article, and the links to purchase them from authorized dealers.
- Sony FX3 Full-Frame Cinema Camera
- DJI RS 2 Gimbal Stabilizer Pro Combo
- Atomos Ninja V 5″ 4K HDMI Recording Monitor
great Article. Very true Words in the summary.. I saw the Movie at Dolby Cinema, exactly for that reasons. They’ve put a huge Grain on the Movie, even white areas of some Scenes have grain lol. But.. not long ago, Movies were shot with a Budget on 10mill. on 35mm Film, and look better than digital 4K Movies of these days. It was hard work too, even harder in the past days with bulky Equipment and Cameras, and they succeeded, also in foreign Countries. This all happened and worked out many times before, on true Film, in the past. Kudos to the Crew of the Creator anyway!
Seems like a lot of extra work for a mildly smaller camera. Wonder what they used for ND.
Shaving 200 million of the budget. Worth it.
i think Sony sponsored this as a marketing stunt… they easily could have shot it with Alexa LF mini with a better Pixelquality
Sony did not sponsor it.
I’d like to see a real shot vs shot with Alexa lf mini, I doubt the difference in image quality would be minuscule certainly not enough to warrant the $81,000 price difference. You could get 22 fx3’s for the cost of one used alexa mini.
Imagine how much faster they could have worked if they had just shot ProRes LT which would have had no difference in image quality. Also pointless using those Crucial X10 over X9 since the Macs can’t utilize the 2×2.
haha shot on 2023 gear with a 1983 mindset. love it
Pretty cool inside and looks full of challenges having to record to the SDs simultaneously just for timecode reference, random dead pixels, and taping off aspect ratios all in super humid hot conditions this had to be a marathon. I wonder how big a pile of npf batteries.
I shot with the same combo when the fx3 was released on a boring shoot I had and was astounded at the quality of the prores raw 16-bit images but at the time the praw to cdng didn’t exist and having to use premiere or final cut “pro” to grade was a deal breaker for me. I would like to try a similar setup now but have a feeling new Sony models with cf-express b will be out in less than a year and with Red finally stripped of its b.s. patent, making internal praw possible (without law suit) we take the ninja out the setup and have a seriously compact setup
When was Red stripped of its raw patents, considering it was issued a new one just last year?