MISSION POSSIBLE
WITH ALEXA MINI LF
AND CODEX

To push action cinema to new heights, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One required the very latest and most advanced filmmaking technology. Director of photography Fraser Taggart says that in essence, the goal hasn’t changed all that much from the silent era and Buster Keaton’s The General and Harold Lloyd in Safety Last! 

“Like those amazing early films, Christopher [director Christopher McQuarrie] and I have always tried to make the audience feel as if they’re in the car or on the train and going through the same emotions, as though they’re participants in the movie and not just observers,” says Taggart. “In that regard, we’re not really breaking barriers. With today’s toolset, we’re in an advantaged situation, and we’re just about managing to match what they did. Advances in technology have made it more accomplishable to actually get in there with the actors and feel the blows and the inherent danger. It’s so important in these movies – but it’s not easy. And Tom Cruise, who of course insists on doing his own stunts, is our Buster Keaton.”

Tom Cruise on location

Just about every imaginable camera system, rig and technique came into play at one point or another. One key tool was a nine-camera array system made up of ALEXA Mini LFs that was carried around the world, capturing Cruise from every angle and providing flexibility to the visual effects pros. 

"HDE REDUCED THE AMOUNT OF DATA SIGNIFICANTLY AND HELPED WITH EFFICIENCY IN TURNAROUND AND TRANSPORT"

In addition to his regular set duties, digital imaging technician Ben Appleton oversaw the collection and collation of the resulting mountains of data. He and his colleagues depended on HDE (High Definition Encoding), the bit-exact CODEX processing technique that losslessly slims data, and CODEX Transfer Drives, the latest in secure, speedy solid-state drive technology. 

Tom Cruse on location

“Because Tom wants to do his stunts for real, it seemed like we were constantly running on the arrays,” says Appleton. “That way, VFX could pin down anything that was needed. That approach also maximized flexibility for the director, who likes to adapt to the situation and the location whenever possible. For the big train sequence, we only had a stretch of track that we could use, so it was important to run the array every single time – we never knew exactly when the action would take place. Obviously, that meant a very, very large amount of data. HDE reduced the amount of data significantly and helped with efficiency in turnaround and transport.”

"GIVEN THE STRICT COVID RULES AT THE TIME, I THINK WE COULDN’T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT THE SPEED AND SECURITY OF THE TRANSFER DRIVES"

The production generated massive quantities of digital data wherever they went, including Norway, Rome, Venice, and Abu Dhabi. On one of the train sequence shoot days, an estimated 97 terabytes of data was generated. After the HDE process was applied, that translated to about 24 terabytes. The data – the precious product of tens of thousands of hours of work by hundreds of very skilled contributors – needed to be secure and accurate. The 8 TB CODEX Transfer Drives took information from the CODEX Compact Drive on each of the cameras and were flown back to De Lane Lea, the post facility in London, on a daily basis.

Tom Cruise and Hayley Atwell on location

“Transporting this data around the world was difficult,” says Appleton. “Mark Dempsey, my data manager, did have some sleepless nights! But the Transfer Drives solved the security aspect. You have to have the hardware in order to read the drive. So encryption and security were fulfilled, which meant we could move data around the world without a worry. Everyone, from the director to the production manager to the post house, were very happy with how quickly we could turn things around. Given the strict Covid rules at the time, I think we couldn’t have done it without the speed and security of the Transfer Drives.”

"CODEX AND HDE IS A BRILLIANT SYSTEM FOR TRANSLATING AND COMPRESSING THE FILES. WE ALWAYS TRY TO GO WITH CODEX"

In other words, the technology allows certain specific shots to be achieved safely and with the requisite dynamism. But it can also facilitate cinematic accomplishments because of the efficiency and control it offers, which can translate to more takes, more options in editing and more control in VFX.

“On this franchise, Tom is the last action hero who does his own stunts, and that’s a key part of what we do,” he says. “I admire him completely, but that puts a lot on the budget and the schedule, because it’s all for real. The technology allowed us to make the film that way, and to bring the audience into the world of the character. CODEX and HDE is a brilliant system for translating and compressing the files. We always try to go with CODEX.”