Ten years ago, give or take a few months or days, the John John Florence camp bought a camera. It wasn’t just any camera, though — it was a RED camera. A RED Scarlet, to be precise. At the time, RED cameras had been around for about 5 years, but they weren’t exactly popular. John and his team were working on a film called Done at the time, and what he didn’t know at the time was just how much influence that purchase was going to have on his future film projects.
“Looking back now it’s pretty cool to think how that decision and then meeting everyone at RED over the years helped shape all of our film projects moving forward,” John wrote. “We’re fortunate to have the chance to visit these amazing places around the world, and meet so many incredible people — it’s always been a fun challenge to try and capture those experiences and bring them to life in the best way possible.”
RED cameras, for those not in the know, changed the game for a variety of reasons. They can shoot in 8K, for example, a resolution so high most people’s screens aren’t up to snuff. But even if your screen can’t see it, that high pixel number has other benefits. Low light capabilities skyrocket. For editors, 8K means they’re able to reframe in post, zooming in to different areas of the shot and still maintaining a high definition. When you film in 8K, it means that each frame from the film is incredibly high quality; big enough to put on a billboard with no scaling. When you watch a film shot on a RED camera, you know it. And the film above is proof, should you need it.
“For what we do, spending a lot of the year on the road, and the way Erik shoots in general, whether it’s a long session on the beach, or shooting from the water, there just isn’t a better option,” Florence continued. “Here’s a look at some of our favorite clips and moments from the past decade.”
