Portland, Ore.-based director/DP Peter Richardson, a veteran of P2 HD production, recently purchased the Panasonic VariCam 2700 P2 HD VariCam, which he is using to shoot a feature-length documentary about Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act. He has also utilized the camcorder to shoot promotional video for Nike.
The latter debuted at the 2009 Boston Marathon to launch Nike’s LunarGlide+ running show. The video was produced by ALPHA Multimedia Solutions, Portland, with Mike Lepis producing. The project included interviews, B-roll shot on both Steadicam and tripod, slow motion footage of a runner on a treadmill, and stylized set-ups for silhouetted runner shots. The video was shot over the course of three days at Nike’s world headquarters in Beaverton, Ore., and Cathedral Park in Portland.
Richardson is known for both his commercial and documentary work. His documentary, Clear Cut: The Story of Philomath, Oregon, shot on Panasonic’s DVX100 series camcorders, premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. Since then he has shot and directed a variety of commercials and short-form content for Microsoft, Bluetooth, HP and Nike.
A Lensing Perspective Fujinon has introduced the XA50X9.5B ESM-D HD telephoto lens. The XA50X9.5B ESM-D features the same optics as the XA50X9.5 lens introduced at the 2009 NAB Show in April, however, the new lens is designed for “hard” cameras–or ENG cameras that use system expanders.
The cost effective XA50X9.5B ESM-D was designed for smaller venues and applications that do not require extremely high magnification. It is ideal for basketball arenas and certain camera positions in other professional and collegiate sports coverage, as well as houses of worship and corporate events. Rental companies that already have the build-up kits or a Fujinon lens adapter only have to buy the lens.
Dave Waddell, Fujinon’s marketing manager, said, “This lens offers the high quality imaging our customers are used to seeing from our products, but works with the types of cameras they already have in their inventory.””
hdstudios Fortifies RED Workflow Farmington Hills, Mich.-based hdstudios has bolstered its RED Camera workflow capability with the purchase of the redBOXX II by Assimilate and Boxx Technologies. hdstudios is a division of Grace & Wild, Inc.
The redBOXX II system comes equipped with Scratch color correction software to allow native processing of raw .r3d RED files. “Before we had the Scratch system, RED projects were always hindered by the time required to render huge files,” noted Grace & Wild senior VP of technology Keith Neff. “Now color correction and processing happens in real-time or faster, making quick turnaround for commercials and motion picture dailies practical.”
Scratch allows real time color corrected output to tape at the highest quality level HD Cam-SR 4:4:4 HQ recording while also being able to render industry standard 2K DPX files faster than real time. “This is a game changer in the world of RED production,” said Neff. “We can now have the fantastic images RED is known for and efficient workflows that we are familiar with.”
The redBOXX II and Scratch system enhance hdstudio’s extensive entertainment and commercial production and postproduction offerings. Capabilities include dailies delivery, audio design and post, edit system rentals, sound stages, production offices and the State’s only motion picture film lab. hdstudios has contributed to more than a dozen feature film and TV projects since Michigan’s film incentive bills were passed in April 2008.
Grace & Wild, Inc. offers creative and technical services within the audio, video, film and emerging media industry via its operating divisions hdstudios, Postique, Griot Editorial, Emerge, Division X and Filmcraft Imaging. Capabilities include sound stage rental; studio and remote video production; motion picture processing and printing; film-to-video transfer; new media development specializing in interactive video and rich media; CGI/3D computer animation and VFX; video editing; audio recording and mixing; creative editorial services; mass and custom duplication; 24P HD video equipment rental; and new media development, authoring, and replication.
Contact SHOOT’s Robert Goldrich with HD-related developments and news at rgoldrich@shootonline.com or (323) 960-8035.
