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James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger AD Shot With Canon 5D Mark II.

November 1^st, 2010

by jared1November 1^st, 2010

Brodie Butler sent me the link to this monumental event. A Canon 5D Mark II was used to film this political Ad with Director James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger. They went with the 5D MK II in part because of the quick turnaround needed for this spot. I love how James Cameron uses the term “Terminating” in the opening. It really does look very cinematic. Here is a quote from Brodie’s site.

“Filming with two of the most influential men in Hollywood was a very humbling experience. It was the first time in 16 years James and Arnold had been together to film since True Lies in 1994, so the energy in the room was indescribable.”
“Working with James & Arnold was an absolute pleasure and was surprisingly not daunting at all. James joked on set ‘so this is what it feels like’ when I gave him direction for a certain scene. There were also a few moments where I needed Arnold to adjust his timing for his line delivery and he just listened intently and followed through next time with the perfect take. They were both true professionals and gentlemen.”
I think in total I cut almost 20 versions of the commercial. Myself and Cameron liked the more risqué cuts w
The Director of Photography on to take charge of this project was Guy Livneh. Guy told me they decided to go with a HDSLR as the turnaround time for post production was much quicker with one of these cameras than say a RED at 4K. It suited the project. Guy also stated they chose the 5DMKII over the 7D due the sensor, which all you HDSLR users would probably be nodding at right about now. For those that don’t the 5DMKII has a larger (full-frame) sensor which helps for a shorter depth of field and a more film-like characteristics when shooting.
here he and Arnold played up a little, but the marketing company”