Digital Video - December 2007 - (Page 38) primary units. The show, shot in 30p, utilizes the DVXs to cover interviews, background footage, initial location walk-throughs, evidence analysis and some in-car footage. Much of the show takes place in the dead of night, as TAPS searchs for signs of the departed. The Ghost Hunters crew captures this nocturnal action with the smaller Panasonic AG-DVC30 because of its superior infrared shooting capabilities. The DVC30 is shot in 60i in “frame mode” for a simulated progressive image. An additional Sony DSR-PD150 and an assortment of Sony XC555 lipstick cameras are used for special situations as well as additional in-car camera setups for the second and third official TAPS vehicles. The lipstick cams connect to Sony GV-D1000 MiniDV clamshell recorders, which record in 60i. Hobbes hired on two camera operators, Kendall Whelpton and Brian Hodge, for B- and C-camera duties, respectively, and the trio completed the show’s first two seasons together. During the six-month hiatus between seasons two and three, Pilgrim drafted Hobbes to become the DP for American Chopper—so when Ghost Hunters production resumed, Hodge was invited to take over the reins of the camera department. “We’re always under the gun and working with a limited amount of gear and time,” Hodge explains. “We’ve got to make sure whatever we bring with us is versatile and compact, and that dictates a lot of decisions about gear. Both the DVX and the DVC30 are great cameras because they’re so compact. There are so many times that we’re stuck in very tight spaces that we simply wouldn’t get into with larger cameras.” Hodge added Drew Nicolello as his C-camera operator and Nick Ferrelli as their lone camera assistant, charged with handling all three operators and the multitude of production cameras. “Toward the end of season three, we brought on a camera PA, but, otherwise, that’s our crew,” Hodge explains. “So the AC position is very critical. He’s responsible for three primary cameras, as well as coordinating and organizing the multitude of tapes we shoot each night from the DVXs, the DVC30s, the lipsticks and the PD150. He’s also involved as a gaffer. It’s a tough position. In addition, he’s responsible for dubbing all the tapes to send off to editorial—so he gets very little sleep.” A two-man team handles audio—one paired with Hodge and the A-camera, and another with Whelpton on B-camera. They use Lectrosonics transmitters and receivers, as well as the AGDVC30’s optional audio breakout box, which accepts XLR inputs. For a documentary-style show that takes place mostly in the dark, there’s a considerable amount of lighting going on. “We do our best to light any situation that we can,” attests Hodge. “We’ll light the in-car stuff, if necessary, the initial interviews with the clients and the initial walk through the location. We light the case introductions, research and evidence analysis in the TAPS office, too. We want to control as much as we can, and get the best image we can, but still stay flexible.” The main Ghost Hunters lighting package consists of a small Kino Flo kit, featuring a 2-foot 4-bank and two 2-foot 2-banks, and a sizeable ARRI kit consisting of two 300Ws, two 650Ws, 38 dv december 2007 Hodge hefts a Panasonic DVX100A mounted with a Litepanels MiniPlus. two open-face 1Ks and a 2K light. While following the TAPS members and clients around locations for their initial walkthroughs, Hodge and Whelpton have LitePanels MiniPlus units mounted on their DVXs, supplementing that with LitePanels 1x1s that can be easily moved around with them. “The LitePanels fixtures are fantastic—they’re lightweight, compact, and don’t put out any heat but give us a lot of light,” Hodge notes. “We started working on the show with Frezzi lights on the cameras, which were awesome, but they were a bit too spotty, [and] I certainly don’t miss the heat they generate.” When the lights go out, Hodge and crew switch over to the DVC30s and turn on the infrared emitters. The DVC30s come with built-in IR emitters, but Hodge and crew also implement an additional Panasonic AG-YRL30G on-camera IR illuminator. “Working in IR is definitely tricky,” attests Hodge. “You think you’re a decent camera operator, and all of a sudden your world gets turned around when you’re walking in complete darkness. You can see everything in the camera viewfinder, but it’s so bright in relationship to the environment that if you try and look away, you can’t see anything around you at all. You have no reference point for where you are, where you’re going or what might be in your way. You’re trying to move around completely blind while still working to cover what the TAPS guys are doing and compose the shot. We always do a detailed walk-through beforehand, when the lights are still on, to get a feel for what kinds of dangers we’re going to be facing; what kinds of obstacles we need to keep in mind in each area of a location. You always want to www.dv.com http://www.dv.com
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