American Cinematographer - June 2009 - 84

New Products & Services to reach into the highlights,” says Fred Murphy, ASC. “It has warmer, richer, better skin tones than its predecessors. It is also good to have a relatively fast stock that gives you strong images in falling light.” For more information, visit www.kodak.com/go/motion. Helical Antennas Go 12 Rounds Although they have been on the market for a number of years, Professional Wireless Systems’ proprietary Helical antennas only recently made the transition into feature-film production with 12 Rounds, directed by Renny Harlin and shot by David Boyd, ASC. Production mixer Paul Ledford employed the Helical antennas to capture dialogue in the midst of a highspeed chase. Inspired by the use of Helical antennas for Super Bowl broadcasts, Ledford spoke with Carl Cordes, PWS’s general manager, who “indicated that Helicals would be equally effective on car-chase and foot-chase sequences for movies,” says Ledford. Prior to buying the antennas, Ledford experimented with a rental kit. He notes, “Our test van consistently monitored transmissions from a car moving in the same traffic direction a couple of blocks away.” The advantages of the Helical system were especially appreciated by 12 Rounds’ stunt drivers, who could put more distance between themselves and the audio van. “We were able to maintain continuous contact with the talent while keeping well away from the driving action,” says Ledford. “Everyone could see and hear everything. The units functioned flawlessly throughout our 52-day location shoot, even when we were driving across bridges. They were particularly helpful during a streetcar sequence shot on Canal Street. They picked up transmissions Kodak Introduces Vision3 250D Eastman Kodak Co. has unveiled Vision3 250D 5207/7207 color-negative film, the second emulsion in the Vision3 line. “We introduced Vision3 technology in response to our customers’ requests for an expanded range of capabilities from capture all the way through postproduction and distribution,” says Ingrid Goodyear, general manager of Worldwide Image Capture Products for Kodak’s Entertainment Imaging Division. “By extending the Vision3 portfolio, we continue to give our customers more workflow efficiencies combined with all the existing advantages of film: image quality, resolution, unrivaled dynamic range, flexibility and archivability.” 5207/7207 is designed to retain the richness in colors and contrast that are characteristic of Vision3 technology, with more details in the extreme highlight areas. Like Vision3 500T 5219/7219, the new stock incorporates proprietary Advanced Dye-Layering Technology, which renders finer-grain images in underexposed areas and produces cleaner film-to-digital transfers for post. 5207/7207 also offers exceptional imaging in natural daylight, artificial daylight and a variety of mixedlighting situations while maintaining pleasing flesh tones and color reproduction. “What I like about the 5207 is its intense rendering of color, its strength when it is underexposed, and its ability 84 June 2009 from distances of almost six blocks away. “We shared our chase van with our video-assist operator, Chris Murphy,” Ledford continues. “During production, we tested the PWS Helical on our IFB transmissions and videoassist receivers and found them to be a great improvement.” He worked with a Six Pack kit of 100mw and 250mw Lectrosonics units; some transmitters were outfitted with pack antennas, and others used small mag mounts on car exteriors. “These were quite acceptable visually and proved functional at virtually any angle,” he enthuses. “I think this technology has a real future in location-based feature-film production.” According to Cordes, PWS Helical antennas deliver 14 dB of forward gain and cover a bandwidth from 450 MHz to over 800 MHz, with an overall beam width of 57 degrees. “They’ve performed flawlessly at Super Bowl broadcasts for the past five years and

http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

American Cinematographer - June 2009

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