Season two of The Chitlin Circuit, a virtual music performance series, has been captured using the Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro from Blackmagic Design. Directed and executive produced by multimedia artist Tiayrra Bradley, the series showcases emerging black artists in jazz, blues, alternative, R&B, hip hop, and more.
Upgrade to Higher Resolution
Bradley and her team opted for the Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro to enhance their workflow from the previous season. Initially using the Pocket Cinema Camera 4Ks, they were impressed with the quality but sought a higher resolution for the new season.
“We were introduced to Blackmagic Design’s Pocket cameras through fellow collaborator and filmmaker Christina Faith of Creative Thought Media,” explained Bradley. “For our first season, we used her Pocket Cinema Camera 4Ks to film 24 episodes and loved the footage quality.”
Advantages in Low Light Performance
The larger sensor of the Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro provided more flexibility with lighting setups. “We design our light to be moody to match the music energy,” said Bradley. “Having a camera with a larger sensor allowed us more room to play with lights for the second season.”
The dual native ISO feature of the Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro was particularly beneficial for silhouette shots of artists performing acapella in low light conditions. “We used this content primarily for Instagram reels and created a unique look by using just one light, which resulted in very limited low light settings,” noted Bradley.
Color Grading with DaVinci Resolve Studio
The series was edited and graded using DaVinci Resolve Studio. The Blackmagic RAW format and Generation 5 Color Science provided the colorist, Vafomba Donzo, with significant freedom in grading the performances.
“Filming in Blackmagic RAW with the cameras’ Blackmagic Generation 5 Color Science gave our colorist more freedom in DaVinci Resolve Studio,” Bradley said. “It took the color grading design of the performances to a higher level for our production.”
The team was also pleased with the ease of uploading videos directly to YouTube while maintaining custom settings through DaVinci’s export options.