Screen Gems Cadaver Shot with a Sony a7S II

Today Sony announced that Screen Gems’ Cadaver – in U.S. theaters this summer – will be the first motion picture shot entirely on their Sony α7S II. The horror-thriller is pioneering a wide range of new technologies to realize a modestly budgeted motion picture with high-quality production aesthetic.

The press release can be found below with full detail and see this video on the set technique.


LOS ANGELES, CA, January 17, 2017 – Sony Pictures Entertainment today announced that Screen Gems’ Cadaver – in U.S. theaters this summer — is pioneering a wide range of new technologies to realize a modestly budgeted motion picture with high-quality production aesthetic. The horror-thriller will be the first motion picture shot entirely on the accessible, consumer-facing Sony α7S II camera, and the first to employ the EmagiBlock™ System — a new, sustainable building block technology for set construction from Emagispace, Inc.

“Not only is the α7S II right for my studio production,” says executive producer Glenn Gainor, “but it will help democratize storytelling around the world because it is a powerful camera accessible to people who may not otherwise be empowered to tell their story.”
While traditional sets are typically unrecyclable wooden flats, Cadaver is also the first film to employ the EmagiBlock™ System — sets made of reusable and recyclable materials. These sets are constructed without the hassle, cost, or environmental waste of traditional construction.
Widely accessible camera Sony α7S II was designed to allow storytellers to express their vision under virtually any budget with its 35mm full frame sensor and high sensitivity. For Cadaver, the cameras are paired with large format Hawk 65 Anamorphic Lenses from Vantage in Germany and Atomos Shogun external recorders from Australia, built into Dallas-based Red Rock Micro’s rigs and wireless follow focus systems. Tiffen, of Los Angeles, provided its camera filters and Aero 30 Steadicam system for stabilized movement, and Small HD is providing electronic viewfinders and on-camera monitors.
Cadaver uses Digital Sputnik modular LED lights, which are highly efficient and can create wide range of high precision white light (1500K – 10000K) with capability to mix in any primary or secondary colors. This approach enables cinematographers to work with a visual toolset allowing them to achieve the look that they want with grading the lights instead of grading the image.

In Cadaver, disgraced ex-cop and recovering addict Megan Reed (Shay Mitchell) must take a graveyard shift at the morgue in the hospital where she got sober, but things get out of control when a suspicious cadaver is delivered. Cadaver stars Shay Mitchell (“Pretty Little Liars”) along with Stana Katic, Grey Damon, Nick Thune, Jacob Ming-Trent, Max McNamara, Louis Herthum and Kirby Johnson. Diederik Van Rooijen directs from a script by Brian Sieve. The producers are Todd Garner and Sean Robins of Broken Road Productions, Glenn Gainor is executive producer and Andrea Ajemian is co-producer. Cadaver will be in U.S. theaters this August.
SCREEN GEMS’ HORROR-THRILLER CADAVER TO BE THE FIRST MOTION PICTURE SHOT ENTIRELY ON SONY α7S II CAMERA, AND TO USE SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGY FOR SET CONSTRUCTION

The film, starring Shay Mitchell, is pioneering new technologies to realize a modestly budgeted high-budgeted high-quality motion picture.

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