“Plantman & Blondie”: How the Sony BURANO and FX3 Helped Bring a SXSW Indie to Life

Bringing The Dress Up Gang to the Big Screen

The Dress Up Gang has been crafting sketch comedy for almost 20 years, both online and through a television series. With Plantman & Blondie: A Dress Up Gang Film, the comedy troupe makes its big-screen debut, bringing its jokes and unconventional workflow to a different production environment.

“Early on, director Robb Boardman told me [because of their] sketch background, The Dress Up Gang usually has the director shoot all of their sketches,” Mentzer said. “They may hire a sound person, but they really just keep it small because, creatively, they do a lot of improv, they do a lot of additional photography, and they like to be on location.”

“They also wanted to have the movie inspired by 90s thrillers, like Collateral and Crimson Tide,” Mentzer continued. “So the idea was to shoot it right on the edge, make it a little bit dangerous — which is where the handheld portion of it comes in — and make it unpredictable. Those are the documentary aspects that I think we liked, but we also wanted to make it a love letter to LA.”

Shot entirely in Los Angeles with mostly available light, the film blends these references with recreations of material the gang had already shot in previous sketches. This tied Plantman & Blondie into the broader universe the troupe had already created, but gave Mentzer opportunities to explore new ground when it came to the visual language. 

“A quarter of the movie takes place in Blondie’s bungalow, where The Dress Up Gang has shot in the past, so there were certain looks that they wanted to recreate,” Mentzer explained. “Another quarter of the movie takes place at a nursery, which had green mesh tarps overhead, filling in green light everywhere.  We tried to pump in some daylight, so everything didn’t shift in that direction.

“Daylight was a key element in the film, and we always wanted some kind of sunlight to filter into our frames.”

The goal was to keep the film grounded in Los Angeles. From here, Mentzer explored the thriller genre with lighting and composition.

Bringing the Sony BURANO Into the Narrative World

To weave these elements together, Mentzer needed a toolkit that would work well with a smaller crew but still provide the visual language of a flagship camera. While he also captured The Napa Boys on the BURANO, which premiered at TIFF in 2025, Plantman & Blondie was shot first and became one of the first narrative films to be shot on the BURANO. 

“From the beginning, Robb [Boardman] wanted to be able to have an FX3 on as a B Camera for additional photography, get other angles, or cross shoot,” Mentzer said. “And so right from our first conversation, I knew the BURANO was our ideal A Camera.”

"We're going to have a lot of improv, handheld, and run and gun footage. It's a story about LA. We're in Griffith Park, we're in Hancock Park, we're in Hollywood, we're on the east side, so we just had to be able to move freely and react with the camera like a documentarian would, the BURANO was instantly my choice.”

For most of the film, Mentzer would pair the BURANO with the FX3 and even use the Sony A7SIII to capture additional angles and pick-ups. Knowing that he could match these cameras in post, Menzter would scout with an FX3 to better understand what he could capture on set with the limited resources he had.

“Early on, when we scouted, we had an FX3 with us, and I had some of my own G Master lenses with me. I already knew we were going to use G Master lenses with the Sony's autofocus system for a lot of these shots because we just didn't have the crew that we needed,” Mentzer said. “We were on location where the entire camera, grip, and electric package was in one Sprinter van, and we only had two grips and one assistant who would occasionally operate.”

“We just had to be portable, and we couldn't charge batteries. So again, the BURANO was ideal for this. We didn't have to charge batteries at all during the day. We just charged them at night.”

But it was on set that the BURANO would shine, supporting his small crew and the visual language with added versatility from the autofocus features, exposure assists, and dynamic range. 

“I've shot the BURANO and the FX3 at the same time on multiple projects, so I feel comfortable combining them in post, knowing what the dynamic range is on both, and how all the lenses work on each camera. They were [on set] every day, and they worked every day,” Mentzer said. “I would lean on the dynamic range more than anything. The FX3 dynamic range is obviously well known, but having 15 to 16 stops on the BURANO really made me feel comfortable. And I think it shows, especially in the theatrical premiere. There are just certain wider images and landscapes where the detail that you would get from it really shines.”

"The newest feature for me to discover that actually surprised me was being able to use G Master lenses and have the BURANO do auto-exposure adjustments,” Mentzer added. “So if you're following somebody out a door or interior, the exposure is changing. The BURANO is variably adjusting the aperture, ISO, and ND on the fly. You don't notice the ISO or ND pull.”

In addition, having the compact X-OCN LT codec in the BURANO gave Mentzer the freedom to be creative on set. Knowing that he could push the camera in available light, crafting a scene became less about technical obstacles and more about the visual language. 

“I felt very safe with it, especially on the post end where we were able to shoot proxies on set and we would have instant dailies that I could take home and review on the weekends,” Mentzer said. “For me, it's not just the dynamic range or the strength of the X-OCN LT codec, it’s also the resolution itself that gives you just a little more color information that helps you in post.”

“So much of the movie is just about LA light, whether its that soft, hazy morning, warm sunsets, hard top light, or something dappled through trees. I just needed as much highlight information as I could get, and having the BURANO full frame sensor and [X-OCN LT] 16-bit codec, combined with its high resolution, I feel like that all helps in post.”

Trusted Durability Brings Indie Films to Life

When crafting indie films, balancing resources like time, money, and gear is a constant battle. Having a toolkit that supports you, gives you more time to be creative. For Mentzer, trusting in his toolkit — especially when that camera is being used on one of its first narrative features — helped him find comfort in his workflow and let the film flourish. 

"Over the years, I've tested a bunch of new cameras as they've come out, and the best place to test them, unfortunately, is in real life, on set. There’s only so much you can learn in a prep house or on stage in a controlled formal location,” Mentzer said. “ And honestly, the thing that surprised me was that the camera didn't fail. The BURANO, right out of the box, was almost perfect, and that was really gratifying.”

Plantman & Blondie: A Dress Up Gang Film had its world premiere at SXSW in 2026 as part of the Narrative Feature Competition and is currently seeking distribution. Check out the SXSW festival page for more information about the film. To explore the BURANO and the other cameras in the Sony Cinema line, visit our Camera Comparison Chart.