ARRI ALEXA Mini LF camera ships and inspires cinematographers worldwide

The first to receive a working prototype of the ALEXA Mini LF was multiple-award winning cinematographer Roger Deakins CBE, ASC, BSC. He used the ALEXA Mini LF together with ARRI Signature Primes, and ARRI TRINITY camera stabilizer system on the World War 1 epic “1917.” Roger Deakins: “The image that the Mini LF and the Signature Primes produce seems, to me, more like what my eyes see than anything else I have experienced so far."

Tackling the enormous depth of the world’s best-selling science fiction novel, cinematographer Greig Fraser ASC, ACS and director Denis Villeneuve finished shooting “Dune” in August, 2019. Shot primarily with ALEXA LF, Panavision Ultra Vista, and H-series large-format lenses, during the last months of shooting they also used an ALEXA Mini LF prototype. During those months they continually increased the amount of footage being shot with the ALEXA Mini LF, until at the end they felt so comfortable with the camera that they used it for an extensive aerial desert shoot. Greig Fraser comments: “Using the ALEXA LF gives me a greater dimensionality, a combination of a bigger field of view, and a shallower depth of field. I easily could push the ALEXA LF to 2000 ASA with no visible noise but a very pleasant texture. The Mini LF has made possible what I thought was previously impossible with large-format photography. The freedom it allows me as a DP, to move the camera in whatever way I feel is best, is unbeatable. Congratulations on successfully and constantly pushing the boundaries in technology, making my job even more exciting!”

The success of "Kung Fury", an English-language Swedish martial arts/action/comedy short film written and directed by David Sandberg, has put him in the director’s chair of the big Hollywood feature film “Kung Fury 2,” lensed by Tom Stern ASC, AFC. The crazy action nature of this production called for a small camera. Shooting has commenced with an ALEXA Mini LF and ARRI Signature Primes. “The new Mini LF: Less, much less, in many respects; especially weight and size but not less powerful than its big sister, the ALEXA LF, in image quality. Truly, for a cinematographer, less is now more,” says Tom Stern. On the ARRI Signature Primes he adds: “I really like the Signature Primes. Super MTF, but not too sharp or full of contrast. They are extremely fast and have a great flare resistance!”

To capture the excitement and fast-paced action of volleyball, cinematographer Zhao Xiao Shi and director Peter Chan chose an ALEXA Mini LF, ARRI/ZEISS Master Primes, and Leitz Thalia lenses for their new biopic “Chinese Women’s Volleyball.” This feature film chronicles the struggles, setbacks, and achievements of China’s women’s volleyball team over the past 40 years, including Chinese volleyball legend Lang Ping who is the only person, male or female, to have won an Olympic gold as both a player and a coach. Zhao Xiao Shi mentions: “ALEXA Mini LF has the same super excellent image quality as ALEXA LF, but with a more compact and lightweight camera body, very similar to ALEXA Mini. We are shooting a feature film about sports and there are many moving and handheld shoots, so the Mini LF really helps us.”

“Outlander” is a vastly popular TV series based upon author Diana Gabaldon’s historical time travel books. The plot has former World War II nurse Claire Randall traveling back in time from 1946 to Scotland, 1743, where she encounters the dashing Highland warrior Jamie Fraser and becomes embroiled in the Jacobite risings. Shooting on locations all over Scotland, co-cinematographers Stijn van der Veken ASC, SBC and Alisdair Walker employ ALEXA LF cameras, an ALEXA Mini LF, and ARRI Signature Prime lenses. Stijn van der Veken comments: “The wedding between LF sensor and Signatures Primes is such a winner for me – velvet skin tones and still great crispy eyes. The LF sensor and the Signature Primes got me through a couple of difficult night shoots on ‘Outlander 5.’ I had to push the camera to 3200 ISO with almost no noise while the Signatures kept a brilliant contrast all the way to a wide-open stop. I have never seen this before!” On the ALEXA Mini LF he adds: “The rental swapped one of our ALEXA LF bodies for a Mini LF just in time for a big battle sequence that we absolutely wanted to shoot handheld and the result is stunning! And in no time the Mini LF became the A camera.”

“La Bonne Épouse” (English title: “How to Be a Good Wife”) is a comedic drama by Martin Provost, featuring Juliette Binoche and recounting the female condition in the 1960s. Cinematographer Guillaume Schiffman AFC chose ARRI’s large-format camera system, consisting of ALEXA LF and ARRI Signature Primes. This setup integrated seamlessly with a pre-production ALEXA Mini LF for Steadicam shots by camera operator Benoit Theunissen. “Large-format has an immersive beauty with a rich image texture. I chose to match it with ARRI Signature Primes for their beautiful smooth skin tones and wide range of focal lengths,” said Guillaume Schiffman earlier this year. Benoit Theunissen, who used the Mini LF on Steadicam for “La Bonne Épouse,” adds: “It’s the perfect tool in the way of a light, large-format camera body and it looks and feels just like the ALEXA Mini I’m used to! A great evolution in the ARRI camera family!”

An iconic Australian brand is soon to launch a global ad campaign using images created by cinematographer Jeremy Rousse ACS and director Kiku Ohe with ALEXA LF and ALEXA Mini LF. DP Jeremy Rouse comments: “The ALEXA sensor has been my preferred choice for naturalism, skin tone, and general color. With a project of this scale, the director and I agreed large-format would give us high-resolution landscapes and beautiful portraits, but we also wanted a camera that I could just pick up and be improvisational with. We tested many and agreed the combination of ALEXA LF and ALEXA Mini LF was perfect for the job.”

Shooting an independent movie is not easy, especially if you have a story that spans 25 countries, 7 continents, and your ambition is to shoot all in original locations. Add to that a love for the unique large-format look and the smooth skin tones of Signature Primes, and you can understand how much trouble cinematographer Kevin Garrison is in, currently shooting Taron Lexton’s feature film “Nomad.” Having started their shoot with an ALEXA LF with a spectacular solar eclipse captured in Chile, the production moved onto Australia and Africa, where their pre-production ALEXA Mini LF caught up with them. Kevin Garrison on ALEXA Mini LF: “The Mini LF is the perfect camera for our project: a small-budget independent film that’s shooting for massive, epic imagery. We travel a lot and with the Mini LF we can use a camera in places where a much bigger body just wouldn’t have been possible. Plus, it is very reliable; we’ve been running it all day in some crazy environments out here in Africa – dust and sand blowing with crazy wind 14 hours a day, unreal heat and cold.”