How’d They Shoot That? Here Are the Cameras Used by the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival Filmmakers
Eric Eidelstein
In anticipation for the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival, we reached out to the directors who will be showing their films at the event this month. While we asked for some personal anecdotes from their shooting experiences, we also wanted to know what camera or cameras these directors used to make their films. You’ll find their responses below, along with information about lenses used whenever specified. It’s clear that the ARRI Alexa dominates the list with RED Epic and Canon C300 also proving to be popular. Quite a few of the filmmakers used GoPro to capture at least some of the shots.
The films are listed below in alphabetical order:
“1971,” directed by Johanna Hamilton Panasonic HDX 900, ARRI Alexa
“5 to 7,” directed by Victor Levin ARRI Alexa
“A Brony Tale,” directed by Brent Hodge Canon 7D, using old Olympus Lenses, Sony FS700
“About Alex,” directed by Jesse Zwick ARRI Alexa
“Alex of Venice,” directed by Chris Messina ARRI Alexa
“All About Ann: Governor Richards of the Lone Star State,” directed by Keith Patterson and Phillip Schopper RED Epic
“An Honest Liar,” directed by Tyler Measom Panasonic AG, Canon C300, Canon 5D, Panasonic HPX, RED Epic.
“Art and Craft,” directed by Sam Cullman and Jennifer Grausman HPX 170
“Ballet 422,” directed by Jody Lipes Canon C300
“Below Dreams,” directed by Garrett Bradley Two 7D rigs
“Beyond The Brick: A Lego Brickumentary,” directed by Kief Davidson and Daniel Junge Canon C300, Canon 5D
“Björk: Biophilia Live,” directed by Peter Strickland and Nick Fenton RED Epic, ARRI Alexa
“Champs,” directed by Bert Marcus RED Epic, ARRI Alexa
“Compared to What? The Improbable Journey of Barney Frank,” directed by Sheila Canavan Sony EX3
“Dior and I,” directed by Frederic Tcheng Canon C300
“Electric Slide,” directed by Tristan Patterson ARRI Alexa
“Famous Nathan,” directed by Lloyd Handwerker All of them
“Fishtail,” directed by Andrew Renzi
Arri-Flex 416 Super 16mm Camera, Kodak 200T 16mm
“Five Star,” directed by Keith Miller Sony F3
“Gabriel,” directed by Lou Howe ARRI Alexa
Read More: Meet the Tribeca Filmmakers
“Garnet’s Gold,” directed by Ed Perkins Canon 5D Mark II
“Gueros,” directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios ARRI Alexa M with Cooke 5/i optics
“Goodbye To All That,” directed by Angus MacLachlan ARRI Alexa
“In Order of Disappearance,” directed by Hans Peter Moland ARRI Alexa |
“In Your Eyes,” directed by Brin Hill ARRI Alexa
“I Won’t Come Back,” directed by Ilmar Raag and Natalia Drozd ARRI Alexa
“Indigenous,” directed by Alastair Orr GoPro Cameras, Panasonic Broadcast cameras, Phones and iPads; ARRI Alexa, Epic
“Intramural,” directed by Andrew Disney RED Epic, ARRI Alexa
“Just Before I Go,” directed by Courtney Cox ARRI 
Alexa
“Keep on Keepin’ On,” directed by Alan Hicks Canon 5D and 7D, Zoom H4n for audio
“Life Partners,” directed by Susanna Fogel RED Epic
“Loitering with Intent,” directed by Adam Rapp ARRI Alexa
“Mala Mala,” directed by Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles Sony FS100
“Maravilla,” directed by Juan Pablo Cadaveira Canon 5D, 7D, 60D; the Red Camera, HD on cell phone
“Misconception,” directed by Jessica Yu Nine different cameras
“Miss Meadows,” directed by Karen Hopkins ARRI Alexa
“Ne Me Quitte Pas,” directed Sabine Lubbe Bakker and Niels van Koevorden Sony F3, photo primes Zeiss ZF
“Point and Shoot,” directed by Marshall Curry Panasonic HPX-250, mini DV cameras, Go-pros, compact HD cameras
“Preservation,” directed Christopher Denham RED Epic
“Sister,” directed by David Lascher ARRI Alexa EV
“Summer of Blood,” directed by Onur Tukel Canon 5D
“The Canal,” directed by Ivan Kavanagh Universal hand-cranked 35mm camera, RED Epic
“The Other One: The Long Strange Trip of Bob Weir,” directed by Mike Fleiss SONY HDR 5
“The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin,” directed by Nicholas Mross 
Sony FS-700, Canon 5D Mark III
“The Search for General Tso,” directed by Ian Cheney Sony EX-1, Canon 5D Mark II, Sony FS 700
“This Time Next Year,” directed by Jeff Reichert and Farihah Zaman 5D Mk III, GoPro
“Time Is Illmatic,” directed by One 9 Canon GL1, Canon 5 & 7D, Canon C300, Sony F55, Super 8 camera
“Tomorrow We Disappear,” directed by Jimmy Goldblum and Adam Weber Canons 1D and 5D, Phantom Flex
“True Son,” directed by Kevin Gordon Panasonic AC160
“Virunga,” directed by Orlando von Einsiedel Canon 5Ds, 7Ds and C300s, Sony F5, ARRI Alexa, Panasonic AK HC150, other small cameras
“X/Y,” directed by Ryan Piers Williams The RED Epic 4K HD
“Young Bodies Heal Quickly,” directed by Andrew Betzer Arriflex SR 2 and SR 3
“Zero Motivation,” directed by Talya Lavie ARRI Alexa
“Zombeavers,” directed by Jordan Rubin ARRI Alexa, GoPro, point-and-shoot Leica
