(PARK RIDGE, N.J. Oct. 11, 2005) The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition brings together some of the world's most accomplished musicians and for this year's event, the quality of the performances on the stage was equally matched by the technology used to capture it all for broadcast.
A combination of Sony HDV™ and HDCAM® camcorders recorded the performances and the artists' behind-the-scenes interviews, using DigitalMaster™ and HDCAM professional videotape.
When "In the Heart of Music," directed by Andy Sommer, aired nationally on PBS television stations this month, it marked the first time in the Van Cliburn competition's 12-year history that high-definition acquisition and editing was used throughout the broadcast.
The decision to use the HDV-HDCAM combination was not made for quality purposes alone. Using the HDV handheld camcorders—a mix of Sony's HVR-Z1U and HDR-FX1 models— made it easier to unobtrusively record intimate conversations and other nonperformance activities, while still producing broadcast-quality images.
"These pianists are under a tremendous amount of stress," said Molly McBride, line producer for the competition. "So we needed to have small crews roam around and discreetly capture the performances. And for the documentary portion, you also want a smaller, lower impact crew that can do a lot more running around."
HDCAM was the delivery/mastering format, used mostly for set-up shots, sit-down interviews, and other scenes where there was more time for lighting set-up.
According to McBride, the two formats complemented each other without hindering the production process.
"Obviously, certain shots require the finely detailed resolution of the HDCAM format," she said. "For others, especially the personality profiles, the HDV format certainly provided broadcast-quality footage, and the ability to integrate close up shots without any extra time required for color correction was huge. And, the extra mobility we were afforded just added to the benefits."
Three of the HDV camcorders were used for the documentary portion, interviewing the 35 pianists in the competition. There were four camcorders on stage on remote heads during the preliminary round of the competition, which was a solo piano recital.
"Those camcorders were hooked into a switcher," McBride said. "We did a live feed to the Internet, and also to closed circuit in house viewing and to a local cable access TV broadcast."
The new HVR-Z1U HDV camcorder is part of Sony's comprehensive HDV video production system for professionals, which also includes the HVR-A1U camcorder and the HVR-M10U VTR.
A key part of the HDV system is the new DigitalMaster videotape, Sony's highest-quality 6mm videotape, and the recommended media for professional HDV applications. Due to its unique manufacturing process, Sony DigitalMaster tape is able to reduce drop-out and error rates by 65 and 95 percent, respectively, compared to consumer DV tape -- critical statistics in documentary production where there's often only one chance to capture footage.
"The performances that we were capturing were true works of art," McBride said. "We needed to be confident that the tape we used would accurately record what we were seeing and hearing. The DigitalMaster tape came through with no problems, no drop-outs."
According to the Van Cliburn organization, the HDV footage was down-converted to standard definition as it was being shot, in order for it to be streamed live on the Van Cliburn web site (www.cliburn.org). The complete competition performances have been archived and will be available for viewing online at www.cliburn.org, starting on Oct. 15.
Also, the Van Cliburn team was able to deliver an SD version of the performances to a local media house, which quickly and inexpensively dubbed each performance to DVD every evening. As a result, DVDs of each performance were available for sale by the following day.
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