The RED digital cinema camera is causing quite a stir. It’s the paradigm shifting, production tool equivalent of Apple’s Final Cut Pro and it’s changing everything about ultra-high resolution digital cinematography. Directors such as Peter Jackson and Steven Soderberg have embraced it, and the Southern California based company can not make the camera and its accessories fast enough. In fact, if you were to order a RED camera today, it wouldn’t ship until December; that’s how hot this thing is.

That’s why I was psyched when I heard my friend, cinematographer John Leonetti, had just shot his latest film, HYBRID, with six RED cameras on location in Saskatchewan, Canada. HYBRID is an action thriller, and as John reveals, the thirty-one day schedule really put the RED system to the test. Here is part one of a three part series on John’s experience shooting with the RED; his background with digital cinematography cameras from other companies; his thoughts on the future of film and finally, the RED camera’s potential effect on the future of Hollywood.