Blackmagic Design announced that URSA Mini 4.6K EF was used to shoot the music video for “Lights Down Low” by MAX. Blackmagic Design Video Assist 4K was used for 4K monitoring and recording on the intensely packed two day shoot, while DaVinci Resolve Studio was used for color grading the video.
MAX collaborated with production company and full service music management label Crush Music on “Lights Down Low” to create a music video emblematic of MAX’s personal experience behind the song, telling a love story over the better part of a lifetime. “We wanted to show what it would be like to be a fly on the wall,” explained Jade Ehlers, creative director at Crush Music. “It’s a one shot video that we shot with just one camera mounted directly above the room, and you watch MAX experience various relationships. The music video depicts what one’s life might look like if they lived in one apartment their whole life. And when it came down to choosing a camera, the Blackmagic URSA Mini 4.6K was ideal for the shoot.”
With just 15 feet between the floor and the ceiling, Crush was challenged with capturing the full scope of the studio built bedroom, complete with fake windows and artificial lighting. They paired a Sigma 8mm super wide angle lens with the URSA Mini 4.6K to account for the lack of distance between the camera and subject. “We wanted to be sure we had a lens that would give us a wide enough angle to capture the whole room, and the Sigma 8mm worked perfectly with the URSA Mini, which gives us as full frame as we can get.”
Because the video for “Lights Down Low” is shot entirely from the ceiling looking down on the room, the production crew had to mount the URSA Mini 4.6K camera above the set using C-clamps and a dolly. Once the camera was set in place and the shoot began, it was imperative that the camera was not moved, so as not to compromise the steady shot, not to mention the camera was far out of reach from the ground. To work around the physical limitations, Crush hooked up the Blackmagic Video Assist 4K to the URSA Mini 4.6K, which enabled them to manage all camera operations as well as to frame and focus their shot perfectly.
“Everything came out great, we were really stoked on it. Being able to shoot RAW, which gave us tons of information to use in post, and capture 4K was super important for us to be able to deliver an amazing looking music video for MAX,” said Ehlers. “Even before we went into grading with DaVinci Resolve Studio, when we just had the base color, I could already tell the color was going to be amazing.”
“The video for MAX’s ‘Lights Down Low’ was a unique concept because there was so much we had to do in regards to getting the camera just right, and in most music videos you can just shoot something and then scale different angles. This one was more complex in trying to find something that worked perfectly. Luckily, the Blackmagic URSA Mini 4.6K and Video Assist 4K did just that.”
Duane “Keffe D” Davis’ Murder Trial Heads To Closing In Tupac Shakur’s 1996 Killing
The murder trial of Duane "Keffe D" Davis in the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur is headed to closing arguments after the defense rested Thursday following testimony from three former Las Vegas police officers.
Jurors are scheduled to return Monday for closing arguments before beginning deliberations in the only prosecution brought in the killing of the hip-hop icon. The presentation of evidence ended after nine days of testimony.
Davis, 63, did not take the stand.
Shakur was riding in a BMW on Sept. 7, 1996, when a white Cadillac pulled up next to it at a red light near the Las Vegas Strip and gunfire erupted. Shakur was shot multiple times and died six days later. The driver of the BMW, Marion "Suge" Knight, survived.
Years later, Davis would say he procured the gun and his nephew, who has since died, fired the shots. Prosecutors say Davis orchestrated the killing, and he faces life in prison if convicted of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. He has pleaded not guilty.
Defense attorney Michael Sanft has argued that Davis fabricated or embellished his accounts of the killing for money and notoriety and that investigators failed to independently corroborate his claims.
Retired Las Vegas homicide detective Dan Long, the defense's final witness, testified that he tried unsuccessfully to verify several details Davis provided during a 2009 police interview.
Davis told Long that his nephew, Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, had gone to a Las Vegas hospital after being beaten by Shakur and others in a casino brawl hours before the rapper was fatally shot. Long said he was unable to find hospital records confirming Anderson was treated there.
Long also tried... Read More
