‘Red Epic’ camera in Sri Lanka

Thursday, 12 January 2012 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Devin Jayasundera

Asia Digital Entertainment in its efforts to revive the local film industry on Tuesday introduced the state-of-the-art ‘Red Epic’ camera to Sri Lanka.

This ultra-modern digital motion picture camera has been widely used in leading Hollywood movies like the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ ‘The Hobbit,’ ‘Social Network,’ ‘Angels and Demons,’ ‘You Don’t Get to 500 Million Friends Without Making a Few Enemies’ and ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,’ to name just a few.

The ‘Red Epic’ camera, which is manufactured in the USA, has the ability to capture up to 120 frames per second and each frame at full 14 MP resolution with 5K capturing.

Speaking about the initiative, Asia Digital Entertainment Chief Operating Officer Lalinka Muthukumarana said: “For years Sri Lanka has been bringing cameras that were in the middle range, therefore the creativity levels had to end at a certain extent. The ‘Red Epic’ camera gives the opportunity to cinematographers and directors to experience the maximum creativity level. We would like to invite our cinematographers and directors to experience this digital adventure and make use of this to show the world what Sri Lankans can do.” The company hopes to bring down three more ‘Red’ cameras in the near future, including two ‘Red Epic’ cameras and one ‘Red Scarlet’ camera.

Asia Digital Entertainment, a pioneer in movie production, has actively endeavoured to promote the use of digital technology in Sri Lanka’s film industry. The film ‘Vaishnavee,’ produced by Asia Capital Chairman Manohan Nanayakkara and directed by Sumithra Peiris, will be the first-ever film to be shot with the ‘Red Epic’ camera.

Commenting on the increasing availability of advanced technology in Sri Lanka, veteran Film Director Sumithra Peiris noted that these initiatives would enable the rejuvenation of the industry. She pointed out that the once-limited boundaries of creativity had now been widened and the opportunities to exercise one’s creativity were much higher due to advanced technology.

Nanayakkara addressing the gathering said that the company hoped to produce at least 30 films during 2012. He added that there were five to six movies in the pipeline for production.

Having already used digital technology to produce the critically-acclaimed ‘Flying Fish,’ or ‘Igillena Maluwo,’ and several other movies, Asia Digital Entertainment hopes to use the technology exclusively in the future. Asia Digital Entertainment’s parent company, Asia Capital Group, is a financial conglomerate, which is now expanding into a general conglomerate.