Cameras: News and Updates
Depression-Era Story of Farmers with Gumption Who Stare Down the Dust Bowl (SECAUCUS, NJ) Filmmakers Sydney Duvall and Jay Kriss of Inspirit Creative recently wrapped production on Harvesting the High Plains, an evocative tale of courage in the face of supreme odds shot with the AJ-HPX3700, Panasonic's premier solid-state P2 HD VariCam camcorder. A co-production with Kansas' PBS flagship station KPTS, the feature-length documentary will be broadcast in 2012 nationally on PBS and submitted to leading film festivals. Harvesting the High Plains has as its backdrop the semi-arid plains of western Kansas and eastern Colorado, the unlikely setting for an agricultural empire largely the creation of two men, former field hand John Kriss (a distant relative of the filmmaker) and Wichita entrepreneur Ray Garvey. Undaunted by the Dust Bowl's eponymous severe storms and rampant soil erosion, Kriss and Garvey realized that the underlying ground was fertile and capable of wheat production. The pair developed then-radical agricultural techniques that led to a record production in 1947 (a record that still stands). Inspired by the extensive correspondence between Kriss and Garvey as well as interviews with family members, former employees and farmers from the area, the documentary celebrates a common heritage shared with all in the country's "breadbasket." Jay Kriss is the Director/Director of Photography on the project, with Duvall serving as writer and production designer. Principal photography took place in western Kansas and Nebraska and eastern Colorado during the summers of 2010 and 2011. "Every day, for weeks on end, had temperatures in the triple digits," said Kriss. "We consistently dealt with wind and enormous gales of dust. A constant challenge was to get really close to the tractors and combines, which we accomplished by shooting with the HPX3700 handheld for low angles on the dirt, as well as on a Steadicam and tripod." Kriss utilized the HPX3700's enhanced Film-Rec 600% setting, which provides additional latitude, and recorded in 1080/24p, 10-bit, 4:2:2 full-raster AVC-Intra 100. "The HPX3700 delivers the depth I want from a sensor, and shooting at 24fps facilitated matching our historic footage. The on-set workflow was unbelievable. We would off-load two or three times a day, with no data loss, to Panasonic's AJ-HPM200 P2 Mobile, which we also used to review footage." "My preference is to get it right in production and simplify post, which we were definitely able to achieve with the HPX3700 and HPM200," he added. The filmmaker shot interviews in full color, but reenactments were captured in black-and-white. The documentary will feature 16mm historic footage as well as moving video of photographs and artifacts shot utilizing a probe lens. Kriss' HPX3700 camera package includes a Fujinon HAe10x10 E-Series digital cinema zoom lens as well as Fujinon E-series Cine Prime lenses.. He also owns an AG-HPX250 P2 HD handheld, with which he and Duvall are currently shooting a second full-length documentary, Voices from America, featuring day-in-the-life interviews with a cross-section of well-known and unsung Americans. Harvesting the High Plains is being edited in Final Cut Pro, with a planned transfer to 35mm. For more information about the documentary and the filmmakers, visit www.harvestingthehighplains.com. Kriss and his team have also recently used the VariCam 3700 in the extreme conditions of the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, where Kriss as Director of Photography has completed primary shooting of the feature documentary, The Vanishing Hemlock. At times Kriss climbed more than 100 feet into a tree to shoot, and also captured extensive aerial footage with the HPX3700. The documentary focuses on the mass-scale death of more than 75% of the hemlock trees throughout the Smoky Mountains, and one man's commitment to save what is left. Produced by David Huff and Back 40 Films, The Vanishing Hemlock will be released on Arbor Day in 2012. For more information and to view footage, visit www.thevanishinghemlock.com.
Resources: www.harvestingthehighplains.com
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