Official Secrets’ taps Sony for VENICE motion picture camera
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Joseph O'Halloran
| 17 February 2019

Sony’s VENICE next-generation motion picture camera system has been used for principal photography on a new political thriller Official Secrets.

The film is based on the true story of Katharine Gun, a former translator at GCHQ, who leaked top-secret information to press concerning a joint US-UK illegal spying operation against UN Security Council members, in their push for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Gun was later arrested under the Official Secrets Act 1989 and her story commanded attention on a global scale.

Official Secrets’ made its debut at Sundance Film Festival on 28th January 2019. Official Secrets is produced and financed by Entertainment One (eOne) with Screen Yorkshire and Zuo’s company GS Media. It was directed by Gavin Hood, and produced by Ged Doherty, Elizabeth Fowler, and Melissa Zuo and the cast includes Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes and Matt Smith. It is scheduled for distribution later in 2019 through eOne across its territories. Sierra/Affinity represents all other international territories outside the US.

The action was captured by cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister and VENICE, with its forward-thinking full-frame sensor, phenomenal colour science and user-friendly operation, was selected to bring Gun’s story to life in the most accurate and telling way. The system’s Full Frame sensor can capture images with a resolution of up to 6048 x 4032 in almost any format, and sis designed to satisfy filmmakers’ shooting requirements such as aspect ratios, bokeh, to lenses. Its recording of wide latitude and gamut is claimed to expand significantly freedom of expression in grading and based on established workflow.

“I think that large format cinematography has become a great asset of digital filmmaking, and the Sony VENICE represents a huge step forward in that field,” Hoffmeister explained. “We immediately knew we wanted to trial the camera and after a test shoot, through Movietech, all of my expectations were met when it came to colour and contrast. The camera has an incredible ability to deliver a natural richness in colour, which - in my experience - means a huge development in digital. With any camera I try to find the ‘sweet spot’ where the image itself comes alive - through the way it communicates with the lenses and depicts the colour and light. The VENICE kept its promise every time we lit a scene.”