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Lighting a Half-Mile Highway at Night– ARRI ALEXA 35 ES Mode & SkyPanel X

Cinematographer Ralph Kaechele recently used the ARRI ALEXA 35 and SkyPanel X fixtures to shoot the German-Austrian miniseries “Hundertdreizehn” (“One Hundred and Thirteen”) for ARD. It is a drama about the many lives connected by a single serious accident.

Kaechele primarily used the ALEXA Mini LF as the primary drama camera, but the ALEXA 35 was utilized for challenging night exterior scenes on a half-mile stretch of dark highway. The camera was run in its Enhanced Sensitivity (ES) mode at ISO 2500, which allows the production to capture clean, noise-free images with full dynamic range and highlight retention. Lens-wise, ARRI Rental ALFA Anamorphic Lenses were selected for their lack of barrel distortion and controlled streak flares.

For lighting, a large number of ARRI SkyPanel X fixtures were used to provide strong waterproof lighting that mimicked fire effects behind crashed cars. The production also needed to light a half-mile stretch of a defunct highway, which was a challenge.

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