Fremont, CA – May 29, 2015 – Blackmagic Design today announced the new Japanese feature film “Hibi Rock” was shot on Blackmagic Cinema Cameras, Production Camera 4K and Pocket Cinema Cameras, as well as was graded using DaVinci Resolve. The film was recently released in Japan and to DVD this June.

“Hibi Rock” is based on a popular comic by Katsumasa Enoki. It is the story of bullied young boy, Takuro Hibino, who starts his own band and tries to seek his dream. Two young acclaimed actors, Shuhei Nomura and Fumi Nikaido, starred in this film, and a number of popular rock musicians in Japan participated in this film, both for music making and acting.

“A lot of things happen in the story so we needed many cameras. We had to find a camera that was not only affordable but also capable of shooting in RAW or Log to ensure the right look for a feature film, which is so important,” said Sohei Tanikawa, the film’s DoP. “The tone that Blackmagic cameras capture is something that filmmakers need.”

For “Hibi Rock,” a Blackmagic Cinema Camera MFT and a Blackmagic Production Camera 4K EF were used as the film’s main cameras. The Blackmagic Cinema Camera was used as an A camera, while the Production Camera 4K was used as the film’s secondary camera, with Pocket Cinema Cameras added for a number of scenes which required a number of cameras. “We used about 5 or 6 Blackmagic cameras for a teen idol’s concert scene. Also, there is a scene in a live music club and we installed Pocket Cinema Cameras on a wall and ceiling. Because the stage in the club is so narrow, the compactness of the Pocket Cinema Camera was a big advantage.”

“I have done many film shoots with digital cameras and I often had a trouble with digital shooting. However, with Blackmagic cameras, I had no trouble. They were very stable during the whole shooting. I know many professionals who now own Blackmagic cameras, as they are such compact and affordable and also capture a great image.”

Grading for this film was done by colorist Jun Takada at Tokyo based production company IMAGICA. Tanikawa said: “We used DaVinci Resolve for grading the film. I prefer a filmic tone, so I aimed for the picture to have decent black, yet the black is not crushed too much, so that you can see the details. I took this to the post production for grading but I sometimes use Resolve myself. I like that Resolve lets me use unlimited Power Windows. Lately it is hard to take as much time as we want to create the best lighting condition. Also, taking too much time may interfere with actors’ concentration. So if I think on set that fixing the lighting takes too much time, this is fixable in post production and I bring it to post production to handle.”