Evoking '90's Nostalgia with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF

Evoking '90's Nostalgia with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF

Brie Clayton January 23, 2025

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Dog is a visual exploration of memory and emotion lensed by Ben Saffer using Cooke S8i primes.

On his latest short film, Dog, Cinematographer Ben Saffer collaborated with Director Caitlin McLeod and Producer Jessica Palmarozzi of Flumeri Films to shape a poignant story of childhood relationships. Saffer chose the Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF digital film camera to capture the emotional nuances and the landscapes central to the story.

McLeod is a multi award winning theatre director for the Globe, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, who previously directed the dramatic short One Like Him, which was also produced by Palmarozzi.

Saffer explains the premise of the film as: Their parents are present but distant, leaving the kids to figure things out themselves. It's a lovely script that focuses on the struggles of three young siblings as they try to connect. I've shot more than 50 short films and always aim for a fresh approach to storytelling, and this project offered something truly unique.

When he read the script, Saffer's instinct chimed with McLeod's, which was to shoot 16mm film. It is set in the nineties and so needed a slightly nostalgic aesthetic, but given the amount of time we wanted to be running camera, that led us down a digital path, he notes.

Set in the 1990s, the film required a visual style that felt both nostalgic and grounded. Saffer ultimately opted for the URSA Cine 12K LF, a decision shaped by practical needs. Working with children means being flexible. Digital allowed us to keep rolling and not miss anything, he explains. The large format sensor also captured the expansive Yorkshire landscapes, essential to the film's tone.

To soften the high resolution of the URSA Cine 12K LF, Saffer paired it with Cooke S8i primes, using their forgiving nature to evoke a cinematic warmth. We shot close to wide open, creating a kind of intimate gentleness that balanced the camera's sharpness. It gave us the nostalgic aesthetic we sought, filtered through my memories of the 90s.

Crafting Emotional Light

Central to the visual storytelling was McLeod's concept of pools of light, where characters move through shadows into isolated areas of illumination. Caitlin wanted the lighting to feel functional rather than welcoming, which added to the emotional distance in the story, says Saffer.

This approach is evident in the tent scenes, where the children gather. The natural inclination was to light it warmly, like a holiday advert, but Caitlin wanted something colder and more distant. The production designer, Liz Simpson, used practical props from the farm to enhance this tone, while I worked with minimal lighting to create just enough shadow to evoke a sense of isolation, reveals Saffer.

Panalux provided the lighting equipment, with Saffer employing indirect lighting to create dynamic silhouettes for interior scenes.

In the farmhouse hallway, we lit through bedroom doors, which created natural pools of light and interesting shadows. This let us shape the environment subtly while keeping the focus on the children, he explains. Rather than lighting the entire room, we could focus light through doorways or from the side, creating natural pools of light and shadows. The URSA handled these contrasts beautifully, giving us the silhouettes and depth we wanted.

In a key kitchen scene, Saffer took a minimal approach to lighting, allowing the camera's sensitivity to work with natural shadows. The children gather at the table for dinner, and when their mother enters to serve them, her presence is felt but not seen. We wanted the focus to remain on the kids while the background subtly fades away, he notes.

Balancing Technology and Storytelling

The combination of high resolution and Blackmagic RAW's flexibility enabled Saffer to capture a crisp, yet nuanced look that he describes as, Almost like a memory.

The URSA Cine's color science was a key factor in our choice, Saffer reveals.

He adds, Blackmagic's pipeline is so intuitive and consistent; it let us capture incredibly rich skin tones and color textures that felt true to the 90s setting.

Working with Blackmagic RAW and acquiring in 8K at Q1 (Constant Quality), the codec allowed Saffer to maintain high quality images while managing file sizes that suited the film's indie budget. BRAW is one of the best codecs available, offering a fantastic balance between quality and storage efficiency. It's ideal for a short film budget while retaining everything we need in post, he notes.

Handheld shooting was essential to keeping up with the young cast. The camera's weight gave it a grounded feel, which I prefer for handheld work, explains Saffer. The URSA Cine EVF was another standout, delivering an image so accurate I could light directly from it without needing a constant reference to an external monitor.

The URSA allowed us to strike a balance between technical precision and emotional resonance, capturing both the vastness of the Yorkshire landscape and the intimacy of the characters' journeys, Saffer concludes.

Currently in post production, Dog is targeting a 2025 festival release.

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