Much ado about 4K

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With the influx of entry level 4K production cameras from Sony, Blackmagic, Canon, Lumix etc into the film market owning a pro camera has never been easier but what nobody tells you as an independent filmmaker is -you definitely have to squeeze yourself dry to have a workable 4K production workflow if you're on  a budget, I know the perks of shooting 4K far outweighs the downside if you are on a handsome budget, that's an uncontested fact. 

 Let's get the technicality out of out of the way, High Definition 1080p resolution is composed of two million pixels (1920 x 1080), while 4K UHD (note emphasy on Ultra High Definition) is a resolution of 3840 pixels × 2160 lines (8.3 megapixels, aspect ratio 16:9) each frame your camera captures on a 4K camera is roughly eight million pixels, multiply that by the fps, let's say you're shooting 24frames per second, do the Math.

So you’re able to get some cool lenses, stabilisers, matte box and a few gears on your camera and shooting was a breeze. You got some nicely shot 4K RAW footages running into hundred of GBs sitting on your card waiting for the awesomeness of DaVinci resolve, FCP, AE or the software of your choice, the next step is post production which should not be taken lightly, as processing your RAW 4K footage can leave a bad taste in your mouth if not properly approached with the fitting firepower. 

For an indie filmmaker on a budget here are a number of factors to consider before joining the 4K bandwagon. 

 Storage and codecs: Shooting 4K means you’ll always run out of storage space on your native drives. Assuming you’re shooting a documentary, music video or film at 24fps, the average RAW file size is roughly 40GB per minute, by the time you do your various takes and B-rolls, if you don’t have external drives you might have to forfeit precious footages that took you time and resources to shoot. 

Processing power: Having your software crash every 5minutes in post is a hazard you don’t want to get into. But interestingly you’ve invested so much time, resources and man power in capturing the moments in camera and you’ve forgotten to put into consideration your computer specification back at home, processing 4K files is going to demand all the fire power your computer has got, therefore you must power up by adding more RAMS to your computer hopefully your computer’s memory is expandable, if not getting a new powerful system is the way out. 

Platform: You’ve shot in 4K and you just realised your platform for broadcast is online, how silly. You’ve not heard of the word ‘web compression’ hellloooo! Let's break it down. You’ve shot, edited, graded and delivered your 60 seconds commercial and it comes to 5GB in size (just saying) you don’t expect Youtube, Facebook or your favourite depository site to hand you that 5GB space from their end just like that even if you’re paying for it. Sorry NO! they are going to crunch that pappy down, and you know what that mean, after compression about 15-35% of your quality has gone down the drain together with the ultra high definition details on your film/video. It’s just the way things are for now.


PRODUCTION VALUE ON LOW BUDGET

Here's how you still get production value, you really don’t have to break the bank to get that cinematic look, take these pointers to heart, they are all you need to make your picture look like they're taken on a big production camera.

*Lighting is everything, take lighting seriously, its the most important aspect of filmmaking, if you get it       wrong on an expensive camera its as good as you shooting with a camcorder.

 *Ditch zoom lenses, prime lenses are so much better than zoom lenses, in production it produces pictures  3times better, a 50mm f2.8 should be an important lens in your kit, its versatile in use, its handy and    most importantly its cheap.

 *Shoot HD (1920x1080) it's still very much available to you in all its glory on entry level professional           cameras, your computer will be happy for it. Processing your footages won't be demanding on your    
  computer.
*Shoot 24fps, its gives a more filmic look except when you need slow-motion then you can shoot with the     highest available frame rate in your camera, or when you're shooting special effects like time-lapse, stop   motion etc you'll have to tweak frame rate accordingly.


*Shoot RAW HD, formats like the ProRes 722 or any other preferred codec type with minimal file size         can also do the job without demanding too much firepower.

*Grading your footage right can make all the difference, if properly done people will think you shot on a       big camera, Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve is available online for free, its by far the best grading software   I’ve laid my hands on.

In conclusion,  nobody cares about your backstage gear except your techie neighbour and Instagram followers, the very essence of your endeavour is your story, nothing else should take preeminence not even your love for the latest camera, gadget and trend. Camera companies will continue to raise the bar and ask for more money, focus on your craft and not cool tools, people are making epic stuff with 'cheap' cameras, so don’t be pressured into 4K just yet, enjoy your passion with what you have available.

Here’s a camera test I specifically shot for this post, shot in ProRes HQ (1920x1080) with the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera and a 30mm Sigma lens, edited and graded in DaVinci Resolve 10.








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