The VENICE Extension System Mini Uncovers New Creative Possibilities

Capturing Life Through the Eyes of a Tourist

A narrative-driven cinematographer, Verhoeven approaches each project from a storytelling foundation. For his work on “Celebrations, Clear from Near to Far,” the story became a crucial part of exploring the realme 16 Pro Series smartphone and how users would experience it firsthand.

“Feature films are where I find my feet to soul, so to speak,” Verhoeven said. “That's really where I feel my creative need, and I try to replicate that [in commercials]. You get to work with so many different crews and different directors. And I was lucky to find myself on projects where there was creative space to experiment, even though it's a commercial.”

“This commercial was all in L.A.,” Verhoeven explained. “It’s why classic Hollywood chose to base itself here, because it has all the variety of landscapes. The idea of the piece is that this guy is traveling all over the world, going to the Middle East, then to Asia. We have to find those locations in one spot, and that ended up being L.A., which is very suitable for that.”

Having so many different “worlds” available to him in and around Los Angeles, Verhoeven and his director Carden Katz focused on the authenticity of a traveling tourist. They wanted to capture the freedom and nuance of the journey. 

"Speaking with the director early on, we wanted this [commercial] to feel loose,” Verhoeven said. “We want to feel like we're with this guy. It needed to feel authentic. As we're traveling around, it needed to feel like a travel doc and loose on its feet. But obviously, it needs to feel premium. It's a commercial.

“But we didn’t want to use super controlled dolly moves or something that wouldn't fit that language.”

Finding Freedom With the Sony VENICE Extension System

To capture the product's specific feel, Verhoeven looked for a toolkit that would give him the freedom the story required, while also providing the support and image quality of a high-end commercial. With the Sony VENICE 2, he had one component of his puzzle. 

Early on, Verhoeven wanted to pair the FX3 with the VENICE 2 to embrace that freedom and fluidity often found in documentaries. However, there was also a need for efficiency and consistency, which the cinematographer remembered from his time shooting on the VENICE Extension System.

“[For this commercial] I want to work with the RIALTO Mini specifically, because I've used the RIALTO before, but I wanted something that was even smaller and even more nimble,” Verhoeven explained. “I just felt like this was the perfect camera for this project because it allowed us to work fast, but we were also able to go undercover.”

“We had this setup with a bag where you carry a cat or a dog and we would put the VENICE 2 body in there with the little cable coming out. I was walking around like I was a tourist while my 2nd AC, Kai Philavanh, carried the bag. It was very easy and very lightweight.”

Even though Verhoeven also had the VENICE 2 setup in studio mode, the cinematographer found himself reaching for the VENICE Extension System Mini more and more as the project went on. The ability to capture shots on the fly while remaining incognito and maintain the same image quality changed the flow of production. Verhoeven even combined the VENICE Extension System Mini into the studio build for added versatility.

“There's a section that you see in the spot where the talent was in Chinatown. And that was almost all natural light,” Verhoeven shared. “I cranked up the ISO, we had one little battery-powered LED unit, and it was just me walking with the talent. And it looks great. It just looks like it's lit, but we just did it tourist-style where it felt like I was holding this little DSLR.”

In addition, using the VENICE Extension System Mini allowed the production to stay lean. Verhoeven didn’t need different rigging accessories or monitor solutions and could utilize all the equipment he had for his main camera. 

“That’s the other reason I chose the RIALTO mini. We would be able to keep our ecosystem of monitors and all that stuff that we've already established for the whole shoot,” Verhoeven said. “[With an FX3] we wouldn't be able to keep the same glass that we were using without a PL adapter. The whole camera rig would start building up. It would become bigger.”

“So the RIALTO just let us use our A CAM that we've been using. Instead of reinventing the wheel with another camera, we just used the same setup, same lenses, monitors, and we just keep moving.”

Speed and efficiency are crucial for commercials. With the VENICE Extension System Mini, the production didn’t have to worry about consistency between different cameras. Every shot was captured on the VENICE 2, either in studio mode or with the VENICE Extension System Mini.

“In another example, we wanted to have some shots in the moving car. We wanted some city shots as we were passing by,” Verhoeven said. “And what we ended up doing, as we were doing a company move, we would have that setup — I would be in the passenger seat holding the Mini with the Venice 2 main body and my 1st AC, Shi-Hyoung Jeon, in the backseat — and it was just really easy for me to literally film outside the window and get like these great images of buildings as we're moving through downtown.”

“And a lot of it ended up in the final edit.”

While Verhoeven loves shooting in cars, he often finds the process cumbersome because of all the rigging and accessories his cinema cameras have to contend with, making it awkward and, at times, unsafe to find unique compositions. With the VENICE Extension System Mini, Verhoeven found himself shooting the world around him as if he were using a smartphone.

Discovering the Possibilities That Change Everything

The VENICE Extension System Mini was a unique addition to Verhoeven’s commercial production. Initially, his approach was all about problem-solving, but with such a small camera at his disposal, Verhoeven began to explore the creative possibilities rather than solving creative problems. 

“As we were using this system, my eyes started opening up to ‘Oh wait, you can do this, and you can do that.’ The possibilities started to present themselves,” Verhoeven said. “And that's when I realized this is really a game-changer. That’s why we stuck with our setup, and I'm glad we did.”

“The easier thing was to just get the FX3, from a production point of view, but I was able to convince production to keep the system as is, and I think at the end of the day, everyone was really happy. Even the client said, ‘I can't believe the Chinatown stuff looks that good.’”

To learn more about the Sony VENICE 2, the VENICE Extension System Mini, and the other cameras in the Sony Cinema Line, visit our Camera Comparison Chart.