Upcoming Australian features Satellite Boy and Not Suitable for Children are being shot using ARRI ALEXA’s higher-quality uncompressed RAW format.
At least six local features have now used the camera, which has quickly carved out a popular niche among cinematographers since it was launched late last year.
The first of those films, Wish You Were Here starring Joel Edgerton and Teresa Palmer, recorded HD ProRes files onto onboard SxS PRO cards while the following three have used ARRIRAW.
The Stephan Elliott-directed comedy A Few Best Men became the first Australian film to capture footage using the camera's RAW uncompressed data earlier this year. (Gear Head supported that production with the RAW data captured on the S.Two OB-1 data recorders.)
Upcoming musical Goddess was the second local film to capture ARRIRAW. (WA film Drift, starring Sam Worthington, is also understood to be using the ALEXA.)
Post house Frame Set and Match supported both Goddess and Not Suitable for Children via its FSM On-Set service, while Red Apple Camera Rentals supplied the ALEXAs and the Codex recorders, which recorded the RAW data (it still has the only ones in Australia).
FSM managing director Steve Dunn said it was able to provide key crew, such as the director, cinematographer and producer, with daily footage (shot up to 3pm), which includes synced sound, on a firewire drive. The crew can then view that footage on their computer or a plasma screen.
The $2.8 million Satellite Boy follows Pete, a small boy who tries to save his home from developers. It is being shot by cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson ACS in Western Australia.
Not Suitable for Children stars Ryan Kwanten as a freewheeling 20-something guy who learns he will be infertile in a month, prompting him to find someone to conceive with before it's too late. It is largely being shot in the Sydney suburb of Redfern by cinematographer Lachlan Milne.