8K moves up the agenda

Danny Boyle’s latest film Yesterday is a crowd-pleasing romcom which features singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, yet this middle-of-the-road set-up belies the production’s high-tech credentials.

Cinematographer Christopher Ross recorded the whole picture in 8K resolution with some concert scenes rolling 17 8K cameras simultaneously.

“The additional overhead in shooting 8K provides a better quality master in 4K,” explains Ross, who used a similar technique on Boyle’s mini-series Trust about the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III. “It gives our VFX team extra information for compositing and it allows us to cover the full aspect ratio and idiosyncratic quirks of the [Panavision] lenses.”

The use of 8K for delivering a higher production value in TV drama or even mid-budget features is increasingly unremarkable. IBC2019 will feature a keynote from Warner Bros VP of technology Mike Zink who will stress this point…