Opera Grand Rapids & Colvin Theatrical Present Film of ‘Stinney: An American Execution Opera’
By Afton Markay(Photo credit: Pocket Cinema Camera)
Opera Grand Rapids and Colvin Theatrical with Blackmagic Design have announced the film version of “Stinney: An American Execution Opera.”
“Stinney: An American Execution” spotlights the agony of the injustice of the 1944 wrongful execution of George Stinney Jr., the youngest person to be legally executed in America. The opera was composed by Frances Pollock with libretto by Tia Price and Pollock. The opera premiered at Opera Grand Rapids in 2022, starring Chasiti Lashay, Daniel Sampson, and Carter Dillet.
Executive Director Emilee Syrewicze and the Opera Grand Rapids’ team have played an integral part in opera film and streaming. In a press release, Syrewicze explained, “Grand opera is meant to be big and impressive just by its volume. It is spectacle. ‘Stinney’ is different. It’s a contemporary work that is deep and visceral with a social message.”
Syrewicze worked directly with filmmaker Cody Colvin to develop a film capture concept for the contemporary opera. Colvin stated, “When Emilee and I began discussing ‘Stinney,’ I felt it would shine if shot on cinema cameras, but couldn’t find an example of a full length opera filmed that way. Opera captures have been traditionally shot with broadcast cameras, which are more forgiving than cinema cameras. Cinema cameras, which use shallow depth of field and require high precision operation, are typically considered too difficult to deploy in live environments. However, my team and I had used Blackmagic cinema cameras in live theatre environments before, and felt comfortable using the Blackmagic cinema workflow for ‘Stinney.’ We are very happy we did.”
He continued, “Shooting with cinema cameras provided us with a level of detail that we think will set a new standard for filmed opera going forward. Capturing performers’ minute expressions, shifting focus from one actor to another, and capturing opera’s ultra dynamic lighting fixtures are all possible using Blackmagic Design gear.”
This film, which premiered on PBS, is one of the first live operas to be shot cinematically using six Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K G2 digital cinema cameras. The production also used DaVinci Resolve editing, color grading, visual effects, (VFX) and audio post production software for editing and color correction.
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