The National Museum of Taiwan premieres an immersive 8K short film shot with Blackmagic

Cinematographer Frank Chan led the shooting of ‘Taiwan Imagery’, a piece for the National Museum of Taiwan shot in 8K with Blackmagic’s URSA Mini Pro 12K.

Taiwan Imagery is a short film that aims to capture Taiwan’s landscapes, people and culture from a unique perspective. The commission was given to Frank Chan, who combined improvised footage with various planned shots.

To undertake the project, the cinematographer built several preliminary short films with a number of Blackmagic solutions. In his own words: “I have done everything from shooting noodles to airline spots. And even though I loved doing commercial work, I came back to Taiwan to do something significant with substance. And I wanted to get to know Taiwan better. This is when I first picked up the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K G2 and started using DaVinci Resolve to edit and color. With these tools, I could work and explore an image while maintaining the quality of still photos and film. This let me create four short films capturing the humanity and emotions of Taiwan in non staged events, which prepared me perfectly for the museum project.”

The next step in Chan’s vision involved a technological leap, and that’s where Blackmagic’s URSA Mini Pro 12K came into play. Taking advantage of this camera’s 12K resolution, Chan was able to obtain 8K images with “subtle skin tones and an extraordinary level of detail,” in the tech’s own words. This is evident in different sequences in which you can see dancers in brightly colored costumes, immersive shots of the country’s beaches and mountains, or a burned boat as part of a festival that consists of setting fire to boats: “When I saw something interesting I had to capture it. And I had to be aware that every shot I did would need to be seen across three screens as a single image. Whatever is provided to you, you better be prepared, and with the 12K camera, I was prepared,” he explained.

Chan traveled around Taiwan in a 4 x 4 vehicle with several URSA Mini Pro 12K units and various props, shooting several hours of footage, much of it on his own. He then turned to DaVinci Resolve Studio to edit and color grade the footage.

“The URSA Mini Pro 12K let me shoot at a moment’s notice, and I knew I would be getting a beautiful image with all the data I needed. A few years ago, it was not possible for an indie filmmaker like me to be able to do something like this, but Blackmagic has changed this. Blackmagic’s cameras and Resolve have given me the freedom to create and work on any type of project,” concludes Chan, pleased with the performance of the solutions.