DV Magazine — September 2016
‘The Get Down’: How the Netflix Series Recounts the Birth of Hip-Hop

The Get Down, Baz Luhrmann’s musical drama series created for Netflix, chronicles the origins of hip-hop in the late 1970s set against a disco-infused backdrop of the South Bronx. Six episodes are set to debut on August 12th, with an additional six episodes to be made available later this year.

Famous for hugely stylish extravaganzas like Moulin Rouge! and The Great Gatsby, Luhrmann is closely involved in the series and directed the first 90-minute episode himself. Borrowing elements of opera and stage musicals, The Get Down tells the story of a group of teenagers who come of age in 1977-1979 amid the fiery rubble of the Bronx. The series stars Justice Smith as poet-in-residence Ezekiel and Herizen Guardiola as diva-in-training Mylene, and carries some serious street cred: hip-hop legend Grandmaster Flash, a regular character portrayed by Oakland-raised rapper Daveed Diggs, is an associate producer, while rapper and music producer Nas serves as executive producer and writes lyrics that help frame the narrative and give the story momentum.

Ten years in the making, The Get Down marks Luhrmann’s first foray into television, and, with a price tag of roughly $120 million, is reportedly one of the most expensive series ever to be brought to the small screen. The series was shot in 6K resolution by cinematographer William Rexer using a combination of RED Epic DRAGON and RED Epic WEAPON digital cinema cameras outfitted with Zeiss Master Primes and Compact Primes augmented by vintage Angenieux Zooms and Tokina Macro lenses.

Known for his work on OK Go’s 2014 music video, “The Writing’s on the Wall,” and Beyoncé’s 2011 release, “Love on Top,” Rexer is no stranger to digital workflows. The DP has captured footage for countless commercial, television, music video and feature projects, and has worked with virtually every digital camera and format available over the course of his career.

“Baz loved the look of the RED Epic because of the larger 6K sensor, which is employed in both the DRAGON and the WEAPON,” Rexer recounts. “The fact that you can shoot in 6K RAW and ProRes at the same time, to the same card, is probably the biggest asset that the WEAPON has to offer in terms of day-to-day functionality. The major difference with the WEAPON is that it’s lighter — they’ve improved it ergonomically and in terms of cooling and power consumption, but in terms of image quality it was identical. In a year of production, we had not a single camera malfunction or present any problems, which is pretty extraordinary.” (Read full story…)