According to Blackmagic Design, the popular Tamil film Mudhal Nee Mudivum Nee was shot entirely on the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 digital film camera. The independent film won numerous awards in India, New York and Macedonia. Cinematographer Sujith Saran uses the URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 to capture nostalgic high school life in the 1990s and pubs in 2022.
“Mudhal Nee Mudivum Nee” tells the story of high school students who grow up in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, and attend a strict Catholic school. The first half of the film is set in the late 1990s, and then the scene shifts to the present day, where members of the same group share old tales in a pub. This 2022 coming-of-age film is written and directed by Darbuka Shiva and produced by Samar Bharat Ram.
Saran commented:
Director Saran:I wanted Mudhal Nee Mudivum Nee to have a natural look. I didn’t want it to feel like I was watching a movie, I wanted it to feel like I was watching from afar. Also, I wanted the ’90s flashback to have a cheery vibe and the later pub scene to bring out the darkness of the bros. To do that, I needed a camera that could handle both scenarios. Moreover, since it is an indie film, it must be affordable. The URSA Mini Pro fits this bill perfectly.
Saran started his cinematography career in 2008 and has worked as cinematographer on dozens of films, including the feature films Alias Janaki, Thaakka Thaakka, Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru and Suttupidikka Utharavu. .
Director Saran:The film was shot over a period of nearly 40 days in the depths of South India during the summer. The URSA Mini Pro did a great job and the shoot went smoothly without a hitch.
Saran chose the URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 for its high dynamic range, built-in ND filters, easy-to-use user interface, wide range of lenses and the ability to shoot in Blackmagic RAW. It says. He also appreciates the lightweight design and the ability to shoot handheld or on a tripod.
Director Saran:As a filmmaker, I like to challenge myself and venture out of my comfort zone. Thanks to the high dynamic range and super 35mm sensor, I was able to take the risk of raising or lowering shadows and highlights to a certain level. The result is a very clean image with no blown out highlights even in the brightest areas. Also, the built-in ND filter is very useful and saved me from buying an external filter.
In “Mudhal Nee Mudivum Nee”, directors Sarang and Shiva created a nostalgic atmosphere by reducing the saturation and gloss of the flashback scene. Many of these scenes were shot in daylight, with as little artificial lighting as possible to preserve the dull visual consistency they desired. Meanwhile, for the current scene in the dimly lit pub, which takes up the entire second half of the film, the high dynamic range of the URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 was used in a low light setup to make the most of the darkness.
Director Saran:Most of the scenes were shot at the camera’s native ISO, but sometimes up to ISO 1600. There was no noise at all and the camera extended what I could shoot.
After each day of shooting, Saran used DaVinci Resolve Studio, an editing, grading, VFX and audio production software, to grade the scenes to match the palette of flashback scenes and pub scenes. Final color grading was done by Naveen Sabapathy, who also used DaVinci Resolve Studio.