TechRevu Finding Sanctuary On TV

Try as we might, we were unable to find out which of the three models of this modular system was used, but we did discover that RED is a digital camera system that captures images at four times the resolution of a high-definition camera, resulting in a look that is unmatched on television. How we'd love to visit their headquarters in Lake Forest, CA so that we could give one of these cutting edge cameras a real test.

Issue"> TechRevu Finding Sanctuary On TV

Finding Sanctuary On TV by Marsha Lederman, Globe and Mail
Globe and Mail, RED Digital Cinema Camera Company ISBN/ITEM#: CM081006FSOTV
Date: 06 October 2008

Links: Globe and Mail article / RED Digital Cinema Camera Company Home Page / Sanctuary Home Page /

Airing in the U.S. on the SciFi Channel and in first run in Canada on The Movie Network and Movie Central, "Sanctuary" is moving from the Web to TV, just the opposite of the norm these days. One thing that sets "Sanctuary" apart from other sci fi shows is that it is a purely Canadian show, not an American show shot in Vancouver like "Stargate SG-1," "Stargate Atlantis," "Smallville," "Eureka," and "Battlestar Galactica."

Far more important from a technical standpoint is the fact that "Sanctuary" is the first show in North America to begin production using the RED camera - a straight-to-hard-drive, high-resolution digital system. Other productions that used the RED camera include "Jumper," "Crossing The Line" (directed by Peter Jackson), "The Argentine" (Benicio Del Toro), and "Guerilla" (Steven Soderbergh and Benicio Del Toro).

Try as we might, we were unable to find out which of the three models of this modular system was used, but we did discover that RED is a digital camera system that captures images at four times the resolution of a high-definition camera, resulting in a look that is unmatched on television. How we'd love to visit their headquarters in Lake Forest, CA so that we could give one of these cutting edge cameras a real test.

From release/information:

The Vancouver-based sci-fi series is a hit on the Web, and is now making the big leap to the small screen.

October 2, 2008 VANCOUVER — It has become second nature for television producers and networks to use the Internet as a marketing tool - a way to promote their schedules, offer after-broadcast downloads, create online fan communities. But a new Canadian science-fiction series is moving the other way: After originating on the Web, Sanctuary is making the leap from desktop to small screen, premiering on television with a two-hour episode tomorrow night.

Technology plays a big role in Sanctuary - not just in its origins, but in the way it's made. In any given episode, as much as 80 per cent of the content has been shot using green-screen technology to create elaborate, virtual sets, and completely digital characters.

So a bare set (in a former bicycle factory in Burnaby, just outside of Vancouver) becomes a subway tunnel, a windy bridge, or a creepy street scene. And actors frequently find themselves interacting with non-existent co-stars.

To shoot one scene, Amanda Tapping (Dr. Helen Magnus) recited dialogue toward director/executive producer Martin Wood's hand - with lips painted on it. In the finished product, she is talking to a mermaid.

(Source: Globe and Mail, RED Digital Cinema Camera Company)

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