Sony a1 II: 4K HDR Wildlife Cinematic (200-600mm Test)

Film Summary: An intimate observation of elephant behavior and juvenile play-fighting, filmed from a tracking boat and safari vehicle under mixed lighting conditions and different cameras. This project serves as a stress test for dynamic range, stabilization, and color cohesion in an HDR pipeline.

Technical Workflow Notes:

Stabilization: Boat-based panning shots were stabilized in DaVinci Resolve Fusion using a custom 2-point tracker workflow (Subject X-axis / Horizon Y-axis) to isolate wave motion from manual panning.

Color Grading: Mastered in DaVinci Resolve Studio 20. The pipeline utilizes a full HDR workflow (Rec.2020 / ST.2084). Key challenges included matching iPhone computational footage to the Sony a1 II RAW sensor data and correcting "magenta drift" on elephant skin tones using vector-scope isolation.

Delivery: Rendered in H.265 10-bit Dolby Vision and mastered for 1,000-nit displays.

Technical Specifications:

Cameras: Sony a1 II, Sony a1, iPhone 16 Pro Max
Lenses: Sony 200-600mm G, Tamron 30-150mm, iPhone 16 Pro Max
Resolution: 4K UHD (3840 x 2160)
Gamma: HLG1 on Sony, Dolby Vision on iPhone
NLE: DaVinci Resolve Studio 20
Monitoring: ASUS ProArt PA32UCR-K

Chapters:
0:00 Dawn
0:27 Drinking (High Contrast)
0:50 The Crossing (Overcast / RGB Mix)
1:35 Sparring (Color Warper Recovery)
1:50 The Retreat (Spatial Contrast)
2:44 Dusk

#SonyAlpha #HDR #DaVinciResolve #WildlifeFilmmaking #ColorGrading