Rogue one, A Star wars Story (2016)

Feature Film

Our Role
Main Unit onset DIT and Equipment Services

Directed by
Gareth Edwards

Cinematography by
Greig Fraser ASC

Shooting format
Arri Alexa 65

Experience
Principle Photography took place at Pinewood Studios London, with a location shoot in Iceland and the Maldives. Each with its own technical challenges.

Greig Fraser shot the film on the Arri Alexa 65 with Panavision Lenses with a 1.25x anamorphic de-squeeze utilising almost all of the 6.5K Alexa 65 sensor.

Digital imaging technician Dan Carling had to adapt the onset colour and exposure management workstation for each country visited. In Iceland due to the remoteness of the locations all DIT, Video and Sound equipment was built into the back of a huge 6 wheel drive off-road machine which could drive on the rugged Icelandic mountain terrain.

For the Maldives section of the shoot the equipment needed to fit into a Foldit kart and be pulled by hand around some very small islands through water and along sandy beaches. Often setting up a monitor and waveform on a stand to correctly judge exposures.

Data management was setup by Dan Carling but operated by Mateusz Szczesniak. The Codex Vault S was used in the UK but a more powerful Codex Vault XL handled the rushes backups in Iceland and the Maldives. Dan devised a rushes logistics chart that was followed detailing the safe transit of rushes SSD drives from location, via courier, via airline, via production unit driver, until handed to Pinewood Post up to 2 days later when leaving the Maldives.

Dan made sure enough Codex SSD sleds were carried on location to allow the safe storage of all camera media whilst abroad. Once the Days material had arrived back in the UK, Pinewood Post made an LTO backup which then gave the all clear to reuse the capture drives on set.