Prime Video’s ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ comes to life with Blackmagic’s URSA Mini Pro 12K

Der Schwarze Magie URSA Mini Pro 12K camera has been used to shoot the visual effects sequences for the fourth season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, an Amazon Studios production for Prime Video.

Created by the renowned Amy Sherman-Palladino and executive directed by Daniel Palladino, the co-written and directed series is set in 1958 New York and tells the story of a woman who has everything she ever wanted: the perfect husband, two children, a posh flat on the northwest side of the city, perfect for a Yom Kippur dinner. However, her dream life takes an unexpected turn when she discovers a new talent that will change her life forever.

Lesley Robson-Foster has been the visual effects supervisor for all four seasons of the show. Initially, in season one, she used the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 4.6K digital cinema camera to capture supplementary shots and visual effects images. Later, for seasons two and three, he turned to the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K. Finally, for season four, he decided to shoot in Blackmagic RAW format using a URSA Mini Pro 12K unit, in view of its flexibility and ability to shoot in 12K.

Simplicity and versatility

For the fourth season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, the production team used the Schwarze Magie camera to record visual effects shots on the Coney Island Ferris wheel. Robson-Foster elaborates on what it was like to shoot in this context: “To capture the plates, I took the URSA Mini Pro 12K up on the actual ride. We took the doors off a carriage and got strapped in to capture the aerial views from the top of the ride. We then used the plates in our CG model to bring the actors, who were shot against a green screen, onto the Ferris wheel. A camera’s usability is always important, but when you’re strapped in above the ground in a moving Ferris wheel, it is crucial. One of the reasons I rely on the URSA Mini Pro 12K is that it’s very easy to use and the Blackmagic OS is intuitive. It allows the team to be very self sufficient so we can easily go around New York City capturing the plates we need for such a VFX heavy project.”

Another key reason Robston-Foster decided on the URSA Mini Pro 12K is its versatility: “With the URSA Mini Pro 12K, we can easily go out and shoot wherever and whatever is needed. This is especially helpful for a project like this where we need to capture weather and seasonal dependent plates. For this season, I had to go back to locations and shoot plates of things such as trees in bloom, since we originally captured the locations in winter, but they needed to appear as if in summer. Due to the camera’s ease of use and comfortable design, we were able to shoot these plates at a moment’s notice, so we could stay flexible and creative.”

Lesley Robson-Foster also used this model as a witness camera during the shoot to capture footage throughout New York City, including locations such as the Coney Island Boardwalk, the Wonder Wheel and Central Park.