Shelton, Conn. (June 15, 2016) - Racing down North America’s longest vertical drop on Mount Mackenzie, cruising on the groomed pistes of Austria’s Stubai Glacier, and outrunning avalanches in New Zealand – filmmaker David Peacock and Absolute Cinema deliver all this and more in their latest film Passenger. This thrill-seeking cinematic ride of a lifetime, made in partnership with Red Bull Media House, chronicles the travels of a group of skiers known as Legs of Steel as they chase snow from the Alaskan backcountry to the “Powder Capital of the World” in Hokkaido, Japan.
To completely immerse viewers in the experience, Absolute Cinema used the RED Epic and a DEFY G12 gimbal to get creative angles and 4K shots from several sides and altitudes. After wrapping up production, they needed a second camera for more rigorous projects filled with remote locales and extreme temperatures, including their upcoming trip with Red Bull Media into the rugged wilderness of Northern British Columbia, Canada.
“When we were looking to get a second camera, we ended up getting the RED Scarlet W since it was more bang for our buck,” explained David Peacock, Director for Absolute Cinema. “Once we did that, we took a lot of things into consideration when we were shopping around for power and the CINE batteries in V-Mount from Anton/Bauer were perfect. The form factor of the CINE cubes just fit the camera so well; even better that the actual RED batteries. They’re shorter, wider, and they pack a punch,” said Peacock.
With its 13.8 MP Super 35 mm CMOS sensor, the Scarlet W’s power draw is about 50-60 W under typical conditions. Peacock’s V-Mount CINE 150 batteries were able to power the RED camera in below-freezing temperatures thanks to its 12 amps of continuous power, completely streamlining his workflow.
“What we usually have to do is bring a whole bunch of batteries with us and then figure out how to ration them up so we can last for a few consecutive days,” mentioned Peacock. “With Anton/Bauer’s CINE batteries we didn’t have to do that. Whether we were in the cold or in the backcountry, having that digital readout on the battery’s life was really important because then we could tell right away how much power we had and the exact number of batteries to bring. There was no guesswork involved.”
With the Anton/Bauer CINE batteries, Peacock was able to read the battery’s run-time immediately with its extremely accurate LCD that displays the capacity in hours and minutes when it’s on the camera. When the battery was detached, the LCD screen displayed the battery life as a percentage, allowing Peacock to effortlessly track usage throughout his production.
“When you’re on set, especially in the middle of nowhere, things can get pretty hectic and start to seem a little out of control sometimes. We sometimes see gear fail catastrophically. But while all that’s going on, it’s huge for me to know that I have reliable power I can count on.”
To learn more about Anton/Bauer, visit antonbauer.com.
