Cameras: News and Updates

'Harvesting the High Plains,' Upcoming Documentary Shot with Panasonic AJ-HPX3700 P2 HD VariCam, Slated for 2012 Airing on PBS

By StudentFilmmakers.com
posted Dec 14, 2011, 09:27

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.


About the VariCam 3700
Combining uncompromising cinematic quality, film-style operability and the exceptional reliability of solid-state, file-based recording, the VariCam 3700 provides premium-quality performance for narrative feature films, episodic television and commercial production. The 2/3" 2.2 megapixel 3-CCD camera features full native 1920x1080-pixel acquisition and independent-frame recording with 10-bit, 4:2:2 color sub sampling. It records in full-raster 1920x1080 resolution in AVC-Intra 100 for the highest quality, in lower-bit-rate AVC-Intra 50 for extended recording and in DVCPRO HD for added flexibility. The HPX3700 outputs a 4:4:4 RGB dual-link live signal (via HD-SDI) to deliver pristine images for uncompressed workflows and composition of visual effects, while simultaneously recording 4:2:2 HD video in camera. The HPX3700 offers variable frame rates from 1fps to 30fps in single frame increments for overcranking and undercranking. For more information, visit www.panasonic.com/P2HD.


About the AJ-HPM200 P2 Mobile
With new editing and recording functions, expanded AV/IT connectivity and optional AVCHD support, the AJ-HPM200 P2 HD Mobile field recorder/player is an exceptionally versatile 10-bit, independent frame, 4:2:2 quality HD field recorder and can be used with virtually any camera. The HPM200 offers all of the popular features found in its predecessor, the AJ-HPM110, and adds new functionality including: enhanced cuts editing with separate source and record windows, full-frame rate playback from external disk drives, AVCHD compatibility up-conversion of live video inputs in real time, e-Sata and Giga-bit Ethernet interfaces for expanded network connectivity and 24p Time Code input for production applications, including use as a source for a traditional dailies process. The HPM200's ability to record in master-quality AVC-Intra (100/50) as well as DVCPRO HD/50/25 and DV gives it the flexibility to be used at the center of any production, from tape-based digital cameras to high-end cinema cameras with 1080/24PsF output.


About Panasonic Solutions Company
Panasonic Solutions Company empowers people whose jobs depend on reliable technology. The company delivers collaboration, information-sharing and decision-support solutions for customers in government, healthcare, education and a wide variety of commercial enterprises. Products and services within the company's portfolio include Panasonic Toughbook® mobile computing solutions, projectors, professional displays (including both plasma and LCD), and HD and 3D video acquisition and production solutions. As a result of its commitment to R&D, manufacturing and quality control, Panasonic is known for the reliability and longevity of its products. Panasonic Solutions Company is a Division of Panasonic Corporation of North America, which is the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation (NYSE: PC).

 

Resources:

www.panasonic.com/broadcast

www.thevanishinghemlock.com

www.harvestingthehighplains.com