(SECAUCUS, NJ - August 30, 2007) Filmmaker Austin Smithard, a veteran director/cinematographer of primetime documentaries and blue-chip commercials, chose Panasonic's AG-HVX200 DVCPRO HD P2 camcorder to shoot "MARINE ONE - The Presidential Flight", a retrospective of six decades of Marine Squadron One's top-level assignment of flying the "Marine One" helicopter for the Commander-in-Chief. The piece, projected in large-format, premiered in April at the National Marine Corps museum in Washington, D.C. Discussion is underway for an hour-long version of the project for television broadcast, and a two-minute version is slated to be posted on the White House web site.
The Presidential Flight takes a unique look at what it takes to transport the President of the United States, through the eyes of the most elite pilots in the world, the men and women of Marine Squadron One. For 60 years, this top secret-operation has been charged with flying every President since Eisenhower, anywhere in the world, anytime. Given unprecedented access inside the Squadron's operation to document the extraordinary security and precision it takes to move the President safely from point A to point B, Smithard also received special clearance to assemble every presidential helicopter type and document them flying down the National Mall and hovering in formation over the White House.
Smithard, who directs through two production companies, American Rogue (long-format projects) and Aero Film (commercial production for clients including Volvo, the New York Stock Exchange, Mercedes Benz and the U.S. Army), is an HVX200 owner -- and evangelist.
"To my mind, the HVX200 represents as big a step forward in filmmaking as the Bolex 16mm camera," Smithard said. "It's more than affordable, and so portable I can use it in every environment. Because it lets me be so nimble, I am able to shoot double the footage in half the time.
"My background is in film," continued Smithard (who apprenticed with Steven Spielberg). "The HVX200 is infinitely capable of anything you want it to do. I firmly believe you can achieve results comparable to film -- if you shoot with a sense of style and have a similar approach to the post process, complete with color correction and visual finishing. Indeed, when The Presidential Flight was shown on a large format screen to 1000 VIP guests at the Marine museum, anyone would have been hard pressed to identify what camera we'd shot on. The ability to shoot in the 60 frame rate is a joy."
Smithard noted the camera's handling of low light and high contrast. "We shot at Marine Squadron One's headquarters in Quantico, VA, at dawn, with a dark, black hangar as the backdrop," he said. "It was a very strong lighting situation with hot metal and black shadows. We took this raw material to Riot!, an incredibly sophisticated post facility, where they put the material in a FLAME to conform. When the technicians saw the footage on a big, HD monitor, everyone was totally sold on the fact that we'd shot on a full-size HD camera or maybe even 35 mm."
Smithard shot all B-roll footage in 720pN at 24, 48 and 60-fps. Interviews were shot on 480i/24PA. On location he would copy P2 files onto his 17" Apple G4 laptop, and then copy them a second time via FireWire to an external 250GB Lacie drive. When conditions precluded setting up the laptop (for example, when bouncing around in the back of a Marine troop helicopter), he would download the cards into a P2 Store.
The director/DP is also editor on his own projects, and handled both the SD off- and online edits of The Presidential Flight at his facility. A SD version was completed in-house for a pressing deadline, then a HD version completed later by Riot!
Offline editing was initially completed with the SD DV tape interview footage (captured in the 480i 24PA mode) digitized into Final Cut Pro at 720 by 480 at 29.97 fps, with the final online output being SD uncompressed 720 by 486 / 29.97 fps on Digi Beta tape.
B-Roll footage, (shot in the HD 720PN24 mode) was imported into Final Cut Pro from P2 cards using DVCPRO HD -720p24, and then sent via drives to the Riot! facility, output to D5 and conformed into the SD footage for final online in HD.
Smithard makes frequent use of the HVX200 as his "A" camera. He has shot 85 hours of footage for a documentary-in-progress called Men of Character, featuring interviews with such prominent Hollywood character actors as George Dzundza, John Spencer and Christopher Lloyd.
"I go in with a crew of two, minimal lighting, and I'm one-on-one with the subject," the filmmaker said. "The camera is small and unobtrusive, we have an unforced conversation, and the resulting image is beautiful."
Smithard has also used HVX200s to shoot an infomercial for Chevrolet trucks with NFL quarterback Howie Long. Currently, he is in pre-production for a Western that he plans to shoot with the camera, entirely indoors against blue and green screen, a classical Western where the style of John Ford meets The 300.
For more information about the filmmaker, visit http://www.austinsmithard.com ; click on "Documentary Three" to view a trailer and longer version of The Presidential Flight.
About the AG-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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