Iraq In
Fragments
– A DVX100
Miracle
cont'd.
by Noni Jones
(...continued
from previous page)
The director shot
the entire documentary using the Panasonic DVX100 and DVX100A
cameras. He utilized the 24p Advanced pull-down mode and
letter-boxed the 4x11 footage with 1:85 widescreen ratio. All of the
movie’s sound was recorded on camera with no boom pole or sound
engineer at any of the locations.
He frequently
pushed the DVX100 to its limits, often exposed to environments with
extreme heat, humidity, and dust. In the DVD special features,
Longley goes on to say that there were times where he would have to
wrap the DVX in duct tape to protect it from the elements and
thought that the camera would just give in to the extreme weather
conditions and fail. But he was surprised to say that the camera
never did fail and that the DVX100 kept running smoothly. He did
have to clean the recording heads, however.
Post Production
The footage from
both the DVX100a and DVX100 was edited using Apple’s Final Cut Pro
software and the film was blown up to High Definition size as well
as color corrected at Modern Digital in Seattle, Washington. Their
audio is a professional Dolby Digital sound mix engineered at Bad
Animals studios in Seattle.
Summary
Iraq in
Fragments is a story that has not only taken the DVX100 to its
limits, but has proven to the film industry that the Panasonic
DVX100 is an award winning camera and most dependable in situations
where you must practice a discrete shooting style, which probably
explains why the DVX is so popular amongst the DIY community. With
the visual story telling style of the director and his shooting
technique with the Panasonic DVX, it’s hard to believe that the
beautiful images seen in his movie were captured on a Mini DV
format. Iraq in fragments is a true DIY miracle.
Let’s recap:
Title:
Iraq In
Fragments
Genre: Documentary
Director:
James Longley
Camera:
DVX100 and DVX100A/Shot 24P Advanced matted at 1:85 and later blown
up to high definition.
Overall Score:
As a
documentary I give it 8 out of 10. The visuals were great, the sound
was all done in-camera and the results were fantastic. The DVX100
envelope was pushed far, making this movie is a hard one to top.
Stay
updated with all our Panasonic DVX100 movie reviews. It’s a
great way to experience the finished products of digital movies shot on the DVX
100, 100a and 100b and see the results the DVX mini-dv camera workflow.
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!
