Shot on the RED: Gamer

I went to see "Gamer" with Pia (my girlfriend) today.

"Gamer" is a high-concept action thriller set in a near future when gaming and entertainment have evolved into a terrifying new hybrid. Humans control other humans in mass-scale, multi-player online games: people play people...for keeps. Mind-control technology is widespread, and at the heart of the controversial games is its creator, reclusive billionaire Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall). His latest brainchild, the first-person shooter game "Slayers," allows millions to act out their most savage fantasies online in front of a global audience, using real prisoners as avatars with whom they fight to the death.

Kable (300's Gerard Butler) is the superstar and cult hero of the ultra violent "Slayers." Kable is controlled by Simon, a young gamer with rock star status who continues to defy all odds by guiding Kable to victory each week. Taken from his family, imprisoned and forced to fight against his will, the modern day gladiator must survive long enough to escape the game to free his family, regain his identity and to save mankind from Castle's ruthless technology.

It was definitely a ride. Gamer opened right away with a great hand-held action sequence with awesome editing and motion graphics effects. Ekkehart Pollack (DP) definitely pushed the RED to it's limits during these intense hand-held fire fights. From what I hear, the RED tends to dump footage during high impact and intense hand-held operation. So it seems as if that issue didnt come up during this production. His color and lighting treatments worked so well for the in game sequences with "Slayers" as well as "Society". "Society" is this films version of "The Sims" or "Playstation Home". Unfortunately, I couldn't find too many stills from those scenes. The lighting is very soft and even and all the colors pop. Instead, I'm going to compare the film stills to stills of actual games. I really felt like I was playing a video game when I was watching, haha. Below is at trailer to the film. Be sure to watch it in full HD to get as much quality as possible.

"Slayers"

Video Game Stills

So i guess my point is that Ekkehart kicked ass and really made this film feel like a next generation game. You should check out Ekkehart Pollack's website.

http://www.epollack.com/

He's definitely an up and coming feature DP worth mentioning!