This time last year I was preparing to shoot the amazing “Earth Ritual” performance by the Of The Wild Ecological Circus Collective. I have been incredibly fortunate over the last few years to have been involved with various circus acts and performers, from Glastonbury to traditional travelling circus. I filmed this performance using the then new Fujifim GFX-100 II. The GFX-100 is a large format camera with a 102 megapixel sensor that has an area around 1.7x greater than a full frame sensor (approx 1.3x wider/taller). This sensor can be used in many different ways, for example using it’s full width to shoot 4K or shooting at 8K with a frame size just fractionally smaller than Full Frame. For Earth Ritual I used the large format 4K mode with the large format Fujifilm GF 55mm f1.7 lens for an extremely shallow depth of field. 
I really like the way this camera looks, I shot using F-Log but it also has a number of different film emulations built in. Since I shot the film there have also been firmware updates to improve it’s autofocus. There is a more in depth write up about the shoot here.

But also since I shot this Fujifilm have announced that this year they will be releasing a large format cinema camera based on the GFX100 II.  The Fujifilm GFX Eterna looks like it will be a really interesting camera, especially if you are interested in larger than Full Frame formats. You can find more information about the Eterna here.

I used Nanlite and Nanlux lights to light this. Mostly utilising the Forza 720B with a projector lens and gobo as well as a number of Nanlite Pavotube lights for the background.

One thing about all of the circus people I know is that they are passionate about what they do and put a huge amount of effort into delivering entertaining performances. Yet circus is often seen as something seedy or second rate – I can assure you that most contemporary circus is hugely entertaining. Whether that’s a beautifully artistic performance, a funny comedy sketch or a show just for grown ups. So, next time a circus comes to your town, go and see a show. And I hope to bring you more circus later in the year.