TL;DR
- Director Unjoo Moon partnered with cinematographer Dion Beebe, ACS ASC to create a short film that tested the capabilities of the new Sony BURANO camera.
- Moon opted to develop a dance film, “Original,” that would highlight the camera’s mobility and cinematic look, as well as its compatibility with the VENICE 2.
- To test how the camera worked across a range of looks, Beebe devised a saturated world ranging from high key to a nearly noir-style black and white.
Director Unjoo Moon partnered with Oscar-winning cinematographer Dion Beebe, ACS, ASC to create a short film that tested the capabilities of the new Sony BURANO camera.
Moon opted to develop a dance film that would showcase the camera’s mobility and cinematic look, as well as its compatibility with the VENICE 2. Featuring an original score by Tushar Apte, Original is an exuberant, high-energy K-Pop style dance battle. “The whole spirit of this camera is about originality and about giving the creator freedom,” she explains.
“When [we] were talking about this concept, both in terms of what we wanted to sort of achieve artistically, and also what we thought would be a good way to push the cameras, we devised a very sort of saturated world — from quite high key all the way through to black and white — a sort of almost noir style,” Beebe recounts in a behind-the scenes look at the production, which can be viewed in the video below. “I was only interested in seeing the camera work across that range of looks.”
The BURANO camera, part of Sony’s CineAlta lineup of digital cinema cameras, is designed for single-camera operators and small crews. Combining exceptional image quality with high mobility, the compact and versatile camera features a hefty sensor that matches the VENICE 2. Like the VENICE series, the BURANO supports log recording as well as different color spaces including S-Gamut3 and S-Gamut3.Cine. It can reproduce the same color as all cameras in Sony’s Cinema Line, including the VENICE 2, which allows filmmakers to match cameras within the line.
“We were in a very stretched dynamic range purposefully and for me that was very much part of what I wanted to see both in the VENICE 2 and in the BURANO. Moving through the edit, you really were not aware that you were moving from the VENICE 2 sensor to the BURANO sensor back to the VENICE 2,” Beebe comments. “That compatibility, across the dynamic range, color interpretation and all of those things are important when I’m putting a package together and trying to complement a bigger sensor camera, like the VENICE 2. These two sensors, these two looks, really fall in line with one another.”
Making the short film “Original,” directed by Unjoo Moon and shot by Dion Beebe, ACS, ASC. 
Making the short film “Original,” directed by Unjoo Moon and shot by Dion Beebe, ACS, ASC. 
Making the short film “Original,” directed by Unjoo Moon and shot by Dion Beebe, ACS, ASC. 
Making the short film “Original,” directed by Unjoo Moon and shot by Dion Beebe, ACS, ASC. 
Making the short film “Original,” directed by Unjoo Moon and shot by Dion Beebe, ACS, ASC. 
Making the short film “Original,” directed by Unjoo Moon and shot by Dion Beebe, ACS, ASC.
Boasting a powerful 8.6K full-frame sensor, the BURANO features an interchangeable E-mount and PL-mount lens to support built-in image stabilization in what Sony calls a first for digital cinema cameras. It can also record digital files from HD to 8K depending on the resolution, aspect ratio, and codec, and supports multiple internal recording formats.
The BURANO is equipped with an electronic variable ND filter enabling easy adjustments in various lighting conditions that allows you to get optimum exposure without changing the depth of field. With E-mount lenses for an increased flexibility, it also features adjustable pre-roll or cache recording ideal for unscripted filmmakers.
“The idea behind this test was really to take the VENICE 2 and the BURANO and see how they really work together,” Beebe said. “Because when I’m working on a movie, there’s always a requirement for a sort of smaller body that has that versatility, whether I’m doing handheld or, like we’re doing here, just be a little more freewheeling.”
The new camera comes with four new cinematic looks: Warm, Cool, Vintage, Teal, and Orange, in addition to supporting industry-standard LUTs. Also, like the VENICE series, the BURANO features gen-lock and can be used for virtual production using large screen LED displays. Learn more on the Sony website.
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