Iraq In Fragments
– A DVX100
Miracle
by
Noni Jones
Iraq In
Fragments in my opinion is the best feature length movie ever
shot with the Panasonic DVX100. It is also the most acclaimed.
Garnering awards that include Best Director, Best Editing and
Best Cinematography from the Sundance Film Festival and an
Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary Feature, I think it’s
safe to say that Director James Longley had a vision that
surpassed any digital acquisition format – never minding Hi-Def
or Film.
About the DVX
Movie
In short, Iraq In
Fragments is a story told in three parts from three different
perspectives. The broad scope of the story takes you through the
eyes of an 11 year old auto mechanic who is working to support his
family as an apprentice; Longley follows Sadr soldiers in two Shiite
cities as they prepare for regional elections; and he also gives you
time to view the perspective of Kurdish farmers that welcome the
presence of the American military. All three stories combined result
in a compelling look at Iraq.
Production
Value
The overall
production value of this DVX100 movie was outstanding. The locations
were definitely key to transport the viewer into the story and
successfully provided a sense of alienation of not only a foreign
location for any American audience, but also from Iraq’s people to
their own country.
The visuals were just flat out great and hard to believe that these
images were generated from the little DVX100 as they displayed a
quality that looked far more superior to most DVX films that have
been previously released, thus taking the potential of the DVX to
even further heights.
For me, what stood
out most of all was the access that Longley had been granted
throughout the filming of this documentary. He took the camera into
places that you would normally think would be unheard of –
especially for an American with a camera – such as a prisoner
holding cell where he sat among blindfolded prisoners and gun-toting
guards. He was also smack dab in the middle of a Shiite rally
capturing every moment in a place where media would never have been
allowed. Of course, Longley credits the possibility of all this to
the DVX100 and the mobility it’s given him without having to
sacrifice either image or audio quality.
Production and
Technical Direction
James Longley
was also the primary camera operator for this documentary and had
recorded up to 300 hours of Mini DV footage in Iraq from February
2003 through April 2005. In many instances, Longley shot with only
one camera while pre-visualizing the final edit of the film to
maximize multiple camera set-ups all the while using just one DVX at
a time.(continued
on next page -
Iraq In
Fragments
page 2...)
Do
YOU have a cheap, low budget, do-it-yourself DVX100 tip or trick that
you'd like to contribute?
If so, just email it to
us and we'll post it up!
Thanks
for helping the grass roots grow!
