Madison Avenue Gets Ready for its 4K Close-up

Canon Shows Off Ariola's 4K "Man and Beast"
at Heads of Production Meeting

A short film by MJZ's Dante Ariola, designed to show off a new line of digital cameras that record at ultra high resolution, was screened as agency production heads were introduced to the latest in digital capture technology.

By Anthony Vagnoni

Creative Consultant Ken Yagoda and Canon's Larry Thorpe at Saatchi & Saatchi.

Canon, makers of digital cameras such as the wildly popular D5 and D7 digital SLRs that have been showing up in commercial, web video and music video shoots for some time, brought a short film directed by MJZ's Dante Ariola to the most recent Heads of Production meeting in New York. The film was designed to show off Canon's dazzling new family of cinema cameras, the Cinema EOS line. (Photos of the gathering appear below.)

Over two dozen agency heads of production from shops in New York, Richmond, Boston and Chicago gathered at the New York office of Saatchi & Saatchi last week, where they were hosted by the agency's Head of Broadcast Production, David Perry. There they screened a ten-minute short titled "Man and Beast," which was shot using the latest Canon cinema camera at 4K resolution, which is quickly becoming the industry standard for ultra high definition content, according to Canon's Larry Thorpe, Senior Fellow in the company's Pro Engineering & Solutions Division.

Working in conjunction with Ken Yagoda, the former Y&R New York Head of Production who's now an independent director, producer and creative consultant, and its agency, Dentsu New York, Canon hired Ariola and veteran DP Jeff Cronenweth to create a film that shows off the capabilities of the new gear, which has been developed to make Canon a major player in digital cinematography. The effort was spearheaded at the agency by Brian McDermott, who was CCO at the time, and Doug Fidoetn, President of Dentsu's New York office. Canon's David Sparer, Director, Research and Solution Engineering, Pro Products, also played a key role in the project.

Yagoda said the brief on the project was simple: "Go out and make a great story," he said. Canon had a list of things they wanted the camera to demonstrate, in terms of visuals and shooting situations, but beyond that it was up to the filmmakers to create a compelling piece.

Yagoda added that the choice of Cronenweth was key; the DP has shot extensively with digital capture formats, particularly on the feature films he's made with Director David Fincher, such as "The Social Network."

"Man and Beast," directed by Dante Ariola, was shot entirely on the Canon C500 Cinema EOS.

Ariola's short was shot using the Canon Cinema EOS C500 camera, one of several new digital cameras that the company began rolling out late last year. The film is based on the true life story of Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, Ph.D., one of the world's leading experts in big cats and the C.E.O. of Panthera, a wildlife preservation organization dedicated to protecting the world's species of wild cats. Rabinowitz's ability to overcome a childhood stutter is told in "Man and Beast," which is narrated by the subject himself.

The film was edited at Peepshow Post Production in New York, where it was cut by partner and Editor Andrea MacArthur. It includes visual effects from The Mill, music from Stimmung and color grading from FotoKem. It was initially screened in full 4K splendor at a theater in Las Vegas during the NAB Show this past April. HD versions have been screened at a number of small industry forums, including the recent IBC show in Amsterdam, as well as at events held for Cinema EOS dealers.

The project has some similarities to the Sony Dreams series Yagoda spearheaded when he was with Young & Rubicam. In that initiative, which ran for several years, a group of directors were asked to shoot short films around a central theme using Sony digital cameras. Thorpe was at Sony at the time and worked with Yagoda on the "Dreams" project, although he was not involved in the production of "Man and Beast." "The thought of helping introduce new technology again was very appealing," Yagoda said about teaming with Canon on the project.

Thorpe pointed out that the D5 was initially developed by Canon at the request of Reuters and the Associated Press, which wanted a small, lightweight digital SLR that could not only be used to capture still images but could also shoot HD video. The camera was notable, Thorpe explained, for its large image sensor, its' shallow depth of field and its wide-angle view.

(SourceEcreative first covered the camera's adoption in commercial and music video work in a feature article published in June of 2009, focusing on work shot by directors at Chelsea and humble. Click here to read the story.)

Based on the success of the D5 and the D7, Canon made plans to enter the world of digital cinematography. The company spent several years in development on the Cinema EOS line, Thorpe pointed out, noting that they met with many DPs who work in features, episodic television and commercials, to gain insights and recommendations. The result is a wide range of cameras capable of shooting at various resolutions, and a complementary series of 4K zoom and prime lenses (which Yagoda attests are "phenomenal") that Thorpe says are designed to straddle multiple tiers of the marketplace, ranging from entertainment to advertising applications.

For more on the Cinema EOS line, click here.

Saatchi & Saatchi's David Perry (left), with Arnold's Bill Goodell, Creative
Consultant Ken Yagoda and SourceEcreative's Pamela Maythenyi.

The Canon team on hand to show off the gear included (from left) John Rose,
Mike Kuwabara, Ken Rowe, Larry Thorpe, Mike Venaski and Mike Erlich.

Jeremy Fox of Leo Burnett, New York with The Martin Agency's Steve Humble.

Rapp's Jeff Goodnow, Laura Lagatta of Atelier-LB and Bennett McCarroll of Grey.

Dane Johnson of Berlin Cameron United and Gary Grossman of Merkley.

Jenny Gadd of Johannes Leonardo with Ken Yagoda.

Steve Torrisi of Digitas with Doug Megill of Digitas Health.

Leticia Jacobs of Y&R New York with Steve Humble.

Patrick Berry of Razorfish with Anrold's Bill Goodell.