Director Joss Whedon and Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, ASC, BSC recently employed ARRI Alexa cameras in a Codex/ARRIRAW workflow to capture principal photography for “Marvel’s The Avengers”. Produced by Marvel Studios, the eagerly-awaited Super Hero saga is slated for a May 4th release in the U.S. by Walt Disney Studios.
"Marvel’s The Avengers" is the first digitally-captured film for McGarvey, whose previous credits include The Soloist, Atonement and The Hours. In order to become comfortable with the new technology, the cinematographer conducted detailed tests with the ARRI camera and the Codex workflow technology during pre-production. “Shooting ARRIRAW with the combination of ARRI Alexa cameras and Codex Onboard Recorders made the transition to digital easy,” he recalls. “Everything worked flawlessly and the images look amazing.”
On set, production D.I.T. Danny Hernandez managed four Codex Onboard Recorders on his cart. He recorded CDL (color decision list) values to the Onboards along with the media from the cameras. McGarvey supervised color applications on set and the looks he established were communicated to Efilm, the post facility handling dailies processing and final digital intermediate work.
Editorial was located near-set and was equipped with a Codex Digital Lab. Editorial crew checked and fixed all the metadata, and made back-up copies of the ARRIRAW files to LTO-5 tape. The data-packs from the Codex recorders were then sent to Efilm for dailies processing.
Bruce Markoe, SVP Post Production of Marvel Studios, stated, “Having a Codex Digital Lab in editorial was invaluable, not only to speed dailies processing, but also to streamline visual effects. Visual effects utility shots such as tiling and color charts were restored from LTO-5 tape using an EDL and quickly sent to the appropriate visual effects facilities, saving time and money.”
About Marvel’s “The Avengers”
Marvel Studios presents "Marvel’s The Avengers"—the team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins.
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Tom Hiddleston, with Stellan Skarsgård and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, directed by Joss Whedon, from a story by Zak Penn and Joss Whedon with screenplay by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when Marvel’s The Avengers assemble in summer 2012.
Marvel’s The Avengers is presented by Marvel Studios in association with Paramount Pictures. The film is being produced by Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige and executive produced by Alan Fine, Jon Favreau, Stan Lee, Louis D’Esposito, Patricia Whitcher, Victoria Alonso and Jeremy Latcham. The film releases May 4, 2012, and is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of over 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing. For more information visit www.marvel.com.
About Codex Digital
Codex Digital, who are based in London, England design and manufacture high-end digital equipment for motion picture and television production, products include the award-winning high-resolution media recorders and a range of media management stations to manage the entire workflow of a digital production from set to post production. The company is setting new standards for end-to-end production workflow.
For more information please visit www.codexdigital.com.
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