ARRI Alexa 35 Workflow Guide

Protecting contrast without flattening the collection

For an ALEXA 35 fashion shoot, the first creative decision is how the Super 35 field of view supports the collection. Lens tests should include the widest runway or location frame, a mid-length movement shot and a close beauty angle, all with the real styling whenever possible. This exposes differences in perspective, facial rendering and garment geometry that specification sheets cannot answer. The intended delivery crop also matters: a composition designed for widescreen may lose its balance when adapted to vertical social versions. Marking both frames on the principal monitor during prep keeps the operator, director and client aligned from the first setup.

Lighting tests should concentrate on contrast, colour separation and the surfaces that are hardest to reproduce. Saturated fabrics, metallic details, wet-look makeup and practical LEDs can each create a different exposure problem. Instead of lowering contrast globally, place the subject so the key material retains shape while the background remains intentional. Confirm dimmed fixtures and mixed-source colours on camera, because their appearance may differ from how they look to the eye. Establish a repeatable reference for skin and neutral fabric, then preserve it when the schedule moves between studio, daylight and practical interiors.

The colour pipeline needs the same clarity as the lighting plan. Agree on the recording format, monitoring transform and project colour management before principal photography, and label any show LUT as a viewing decision rather than baked-in truth. Keep a clean technical reference alongside the preferred creative view so editorial and finishing can diagnose a mismatch quickly. Lens, filtration, exposure and white-balance notes should travel with every major scene. In the grade, this makes it possible to shape contrast around the collection, protect believable skin and keep campaign assets consistent across horizontal films, cut-downs and still extractions.

Before the shoot closes, keep one compact handoff package with the approved framing references, camera and lens list, recording settings, monitoring transform, colour-temperature strategy, filtration notes, media report and two or three representative stills. Editorial should receive proxies whose filenames and timecode preserve a direct route back to the source media. The colourist should receive the same viewing reference used on set together with notes for intentional exposure changes. This is also the moment to identify which shots must support horizontal, square and vertical versions, rather than discovering the constraint after the cut is locked. A clear handoff is less visible than a new camera feature, but it protects more of the photographed intent across review, conform, grade and final delivery.