Digital Video - May 2008 - (Page 31)

and each student attempting to get into the lead, the slow motion (with the slowed audio) adds to the moment. The actors are still covering the same space in one second, but 60 images are captured and 24 are played back, giving the illusion of slow motion. Once the boys get into the control room, we changed things up again for comedic effect. Using the undercranking mode and setting the frame rate to 12, the slowest the HPX500 allows, we increased the speed of the action. Fewer frames are captured of the action resulting in a quickened pace when played back at 24. Playing the image back at 24 fps, Chris and Tim feverishly hunt for the right button on the switcher in a frenzied panic. Of course, you don’t have to use the variable-speed feature of the HPX500 for comedy. News crews can illustrate the rate of traffic on a highway by undercranking — the end result is still the same, but the faster rate suggests the passage of time. The Panasonic also has a time-lapse feature when a single frame is shot at selected intervals (clouds speeding by, flowers blooming, etc.) Shooting a sporting event in the overcranking mode details how a player performed on the field, with the movement being slow enough to properly analyze. In order to accurately determine if shooting in a variable-frame rate was the correct creative option for our film fest opener, we did first did some tests. We began by mounting the Panasonic to a Steadicam and shooting the scene in 720p/24pN without adjusting the frame rate. Inserting the P2 card in the P2 player and connecting it to Final Cut Pro, we played both versions (the normal frame rate and the overcranked) to see which one looked best. The footage shot at 24pN, when slowed in FCP, had a blurring effect behind the actors as they moved. To some, this might be the result they are after, but, in my opinion, it looked too jittery and over-processed. (We watched the footage in native HD without downconverting.) The same footage shot at 60 fps had clearly defined characters in each frame www.dv.com on the timeline. It was as if we could pull a pristine still frame from the timeline without the blurring (and rendering) we saw with the footage we slowed in post. Clearly, the overcranking in the camera looks sharper and cleaner. If you want the blurring effect, then post may still be an option — it would have been our only option if we had used the HPX500 in any other mode than 720p. We also had a test of the under cranking effect in post as well as shooting it in the camera. Setting the clip’s speed rate to 200 percent, we had the same “look” as shooting the footage in 12 fps. Final Cut did not display any artifacts when increased to double normal speed — so we could have used this effect in post. We ended up using the footage shot at 12 fps because it actually was a better take from the actor’s perspective. Choosing the correct camera support is also important when using the variable frame rates on the Panasonic. A stabilizing device like the Steadicam made the higher speed footage flow more smooth- ly, but an inexperienced operator’s footage in the undercranking mode would call attention to every mistake he or she made. Rehearsal is the key for any shoot where the actors know exactly what is expected of them and the crew has their movement honed also. The end result is what the audience may or may not remember, and it our case we hope the fluidity of the over- and undercranking will enhance the audience’s experience. Cameras keep getting better and better and this small effect would not have been possible a short time ago. My advice has always been to push the technology to its limits and you will be glad you did. DV Chuck Gloman is an awarding-winning producer/director of photography with over 800 commercials to his credit, and is program director of the TV/Film Department as well as a member of the faculty of DeSales University. He may be reached chuck.gloman@desales.edu. Creative Possibilities OSCAR®. EMMY®. GRAMMY®. SONNET. Professional ambitions. Sonnet solutions. Award-winning Fusion™ D800RAID desktop and R800RAID rackmount storage solutions are designed for performance (up to 577MB/sec) and fail-safe ﬁle protection with support for RAID 4, RAID 5, and DVRAID conﬁgurations. Fusion 800RAID systems even support hot spares—you can designate a drive to automatically replace a failed one in the event of an emergency. Compatible with capture cards from AJA®, Blackmagic Design, Matrox, and Blueﬁsh444, Fusion D800RAID and R800RAID are perfect storage solutions for your creative possibilities. www.sonnettech.com http://www.sonnettech.com http://www.dv.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Digital Video - May 2008

Digital Video - May 2008 Contents DV Update Close-Up AJ-HPX3000 Camcorder Sidecar Raid Zoom H2 Recorder Instant Expert 324 Flat-Panel Display Extreme 35MM Adapter Type-S JIB How Slow Can You Go? Global Gastronome Mixing It UP Long-Distance Runaround Tools & Technology DV 101 Production Diary

Digital Video - May 2008

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