(SECAUCUS, NJ -- November 29, 2006) Earlier this year, the distinguished filmmaking team of Charles and Marilyn Vanderpool, principals of Vanderpool Films (Baltimore, MD and Tarpon Springs, FL) received the job from the Department of Defense (DOD) of creating a series of instructional DVDs for middle and high school science teachers to promote science and technology education in the U.S. Though the Vanderpools' film pedigree encompasses high-profile marketing campaigns for Eastman Kodak - having helped test and launch many of Kodak's film stocks the past 15 years - Panasonic's AG-HVX200 DVCPRO HD P2 camcorder was their choice for this critical project.
The overall assignment emanated from the DOD's increasing difficulty in finding talented American scientists and engineers to fill its research labs. The DOD retained Building Engineering and Science Talent (BEST), a workforce initiative dedicated to increasing representation of underrepresented groups in science and engineering, to research methods to improve science and technology education in U.S. middle and high schools. BEST in turn hired Vanderpool Films to create DVDs that would instruct science teachers in the methodology of Materials World Modules (MWM), a unique inquiry-based, hands-on learning system that uses materials (concrete, polymers, composites, e.g.) to explore scientific principles. The project also includes a short marketing piece to promote the use of and raise funds for implementing MWM in the nation's schools. This marketing film is slated to be shown to Congress, technology industry leaders and top educators.
In production, Director/Cinematographer Charles and Producer/Writer Marilyn Vanderpool shot more than 35 hours of footage on location in science classrooms and in interview settings with nine of the country's most prominent and engaged science educators, including Dr. Shirley A. Jackson, the president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Northwestern University's Dr. R.P.H. Chang, the creator of MWM.
"In the past virtually all our productions were shot on film. With the introduction of the HVX200 P2 tapeless image acquisition system, we saw a unique opportunity to apply this technology to the MWM project," said Charles Vanderpool. "We wanted to shoot in HD for direct finish in DVD. Due to budget limitations, a long shooting schedule and the sheer volume of material to be documented, film acquisition was out of the question."
"The HVX200 has proven to be both a tremendous asset and a wonderful production tool," he continued. "After considerable experimentation with the HVX200's imaging parameters I was able to create custom scene files for a wide variety of shooting situations. Image quality was vastly improved over the basic factory settings after I developed a deeper understanding of the camera's capabilities. We primarily shot in classrooms and school science labs with the only light available -- a mix of fluorescent and daylight. We also shot all interviews in front of a green screen using a custom scene file. The HVX200 images are stunning."
Marilyn Vanderpool echoed her partner's sentiments. "While I was initially skeptical about shooting video vs. film, I found that the HVX200, set up properly, produces breathtaking images," she said. "When I first saw the footage Charles had shot in a classroom, my reaction was that the acquired images actually looked better than the classroom itself!"
"I have been particularly impressed with the camera's ability to capture detailed information," she added. "I was especially struck by the clarity of a scene where we had African-American students wearing black T-shirts in front of a brightly-lit window. Science labs typically are very colorful, with intricate backgrounds, and the HVX200 simply loved looking at this."
"Initially the new P2 workflow posed some challenges, as tapeless, file-based image acquisition has been largely uncharted territory," Mr. Vanderpool noted. "Our research found a lot of possibilities, but no tried and true 'best' methodologies. Eventually, we settled on a 'disk image' copy method to external Firewire drives connected to an Apple 17" PowerBook."
"We shot approximately 140 P2 cards full of images," he continued. "I basically apply the traditional film shooting model to a P2 workflow. Like a film camera, the P2 card is a magazine, so we shot with four 8GB 'mags.' Shooting was done in the 720p format at a frame rate of 30PN. The P2 cards held 16 minutes of images compared to 11 minutes on a traditional 16mm or 35mm mag. 'Processing' consisted of copying each 'exposed' P2 mag twice to two separate 300GB Firewire drives. These drives became our 'camera original' and a backup."
"We have a total of eight 300GB drives full of media files," said Mr. Vanderpool. "In spite of double copies, the cost of the drives is comparable to the cost of HD tape acquisition, and obviously far below the cost of film and processing. I do not consider the P2 cards an expense but rather just a part of the camera package--actually a rather magical part as every time I shoot a mag and transfer the media it magically fills up with 'unexposed film.'"
Mr. Vanderpool described the ensuing editing process as "pretty straightforward."
"Since all our post is Mac-based we use P2 Log from Imagine Software to review the original footage, name clips, add comments, take/scene numbers, and so on," he explained. "We export the logged clips from P2 Log via XML from the Firewire drives to our Final Cut Pro capture drives. This is a 1.8TB Raid-0 drive array on a Quad G5 PowerMac comprised of four 500GB SATA drives."
"Once imported into FCP, the XML files exported from P2 Log are organized into bins for editing," Mr. Vanderpool elaborated. "This project will incorporate a lot of still and motion graphics, including graphic backgrounds for the green-screen interviews. We are creating separate DVDs for each MWM science teaching module, and each DVD will have a series of menu 'buttons' for different content subjects. Essentially, each content area is a separate five to 15-minute film. The films will be compressed for authoring in DVD Studio Pro. Each DVD will have its own customized menu and 'play' buttons to navigate to each section of content. The marketing film will be released on DVD and various videotape formats based on the distribution and viewing needs of our client."
The Vanderpools are on schedule to deliver the ten-minute marketing film this month, with the four DVD modules completed soon thereafter. In turn, the nation's science teachers will have the opportunity to be fluent in MWM pedagogy by the start of the 2007-2008 school year.
About Vanderpool Films
Since 1988 Vanderpool Films has been producing award-winning commercials, documentaries and television program for clients worldwide--blurring the lines between advertising, information and entertainment. The team of Charles and Marilyn Vanderpool offers a diverse set of skills including writing, producing, directing, shooting and editing to tell a story in 30 seconds or 30 minutes. Clients have included the American Red Cross, Bank of America, the Discovery Channel, FOX, HBO, IBM, NASA, PBS and Toyota, among many others. Find them on-line at http://www.vanderpoolfilms.com
About the HVX200
The ultra-versatile HVX200 records in 1080i and 720p in production-proven 100 Mbps DVCPRO HD quality, with the ability to capture images in 21 record modes. The DVCPRO HD format offers users cost-effective, intra-frame compression, where each frame stands on its own for editing, and its full 4:2:2 color sampling allows the image to hold up under color correction. The camera records video on a P2 card as IT-friendly MXF files in 1080/60i, 30p and 24p; in 720/60p, 30p and 24p; in 50Mbps DVCPRO50 and in 25Mbps DVCPRO or DV. The HVX200 can capture fast or slow action in 720p at various frame rates--the first time this function is available in a hand-held camera. The shooting frame rate in 720p native mode can be set for any of 11 steps between 12fps and 60fps including 24fps and 30fps.
For more information on the AG-HVX200, visit http://www.panasonic.com/hvx200
About Panasonic Broadcast
Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems Co. is a leading supplier of broadcast and professional video products and systems. Panasonic Broadcast is a unit company of Panasonic Corporation of North America. The company is the North American headquarters of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE: MC) of Japan, and the hub of its U.S. marketing, sales, service and R&D operations. For more information on Panasonic Broadcast products, access the company's web site at http://www.panasonic.com/broadcast
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