Cameras: News and Updates
Late Night and Weekends Shoots 'Gap Born to Fit' Ad Campaign with Panasonic AJ-HPX3700 P2 HD Varicam Camcorders
By Staff
posted Sep 30, 2009, 10:40
'Gap Born to Fit' ad campaign shot with Panasonic AJ-HPX3700 P2 HD Varicam camcorders.
(Secaucus, NJ) Manhattan-based creative services company Late Night and Weekends
(New York, NY) has produced a wide-ranging advertising initiative for Gap 1969
premium jeans that features theatrical and web video elements shot with the
VariCam 3700, Panasonic’s premier solid-state P2 HD VariCam camcorder.
Offering the ultimate in image quality, the VariCam 3700 (model AJ-HPX3700)
advances the art of high-end cinematography by teaming VariCam’s renowned
filmic-look, variable frame rates, and subtle tone control with master-quality,
10-bit 4:2:2 AVC-Intra recording as well as Dual link RGB 4:4:4 output.
The ‘Gap Born to Fit’ campaign, viewable at www.borntofit.com
and www.youtube.com/gap,
and in movie theatres across the country, was directed by Late Night and Weekends’
Andrew Zuckerman, who also photographed the print ads. Late Night’s Alex
Vlack was executive producer, with Eddie Marritz as Director of Photography.
“Gap Born to Fit’ is a subtle celebration of the personal style
of 10 artists and entrepreneurs who at a relatively young age have achieved
lifetime goals. They include photographer Anna Gaskell, actors Alessandro Nivola,
Sonya Walger, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Eisa Davis, musicians Anni Rossi and Cassidy,
Tom Szaky (founder of TerraCycle), Melissa Kushner (founder of Goods for Good),
and Gap fashion designer Patrick Robinson.
According to DP Marritz, the challenge for the cinematographer was to emulate
the classic elegance of Zuckerman’s photography, an aesthetic he established
in such books as Creature and, especially, Wisdom, a record of a multicultural
group of people who have all made their mark on the world. The subjects’
portraits in Wisdom were all photographed by Zuckerman against the same white
space, as were the subjects of the Gap ads.
“As we would be shooting against a white cyc wall, I was interested in
a camera with extended dynamic range, and because of the demands of projection
in movie theatres, I wanted to shoot 4:4:4 in 1080p, criteria that led us to
the HPX3700, “Marritz said. “ I also had experience with Panasonic
HD cameras, having shot a Puma ‘meta new wave’ industrial with the
AG-HVX200 P2 HD handheld (with Zuckerman and Vlack) and video for the Centers
for Disease Control with the original VariCam. There are a lot of things I like
about Panasonic cameras, especially the color palette.”
Veteran independent cinematographer Marritz specializes in documentary features,
for which he has been widely honored. His credits include the Oscar-winner Maya
Lin: A Strong Clear Vision, and Emmy nominee for Best Cinematography, In Memoriam:
9/11 New York City for HBO. He was the DP for the celebrated 2008 theatrical
release Young@Heart (Fox Searchlight), and he recently completed photography
on Mysterious Human Heart for PBS, which received an Emmy for Best Science Series,
2008. Upcoming is the documentary Still Bill, directed by Vlack and Damani Baker.
“Born to Fit’ was shot in June at Silver Cup East (Long Island
City, NY). Three days of shooting were preceded by one day of pre-lighting.
The production rented three AJ-HPX3700s from Abel Cine Tech (New York, NY).
There were 10 discrete sessions with the subjects, who sat on the same plain
wooden stool against the white cyc as Zuckerman engaged them in unscripted conversation
about their work. There is no mention of the product, other than the visual
reference of their all wearing Gap 1969 jeans.
“We had one HPX3700 with a Zeiss DigiPrime lens stable in front for a
wide shot, a second camcorder with a Zeiss DigiZoom also in a fixed position
up front for close ups, and the third with a Zeiss DigiZoom on a tracking dolly
for 180 degree shots,” said Marritz, who operated the tracking camera.
“We shot at F 2.5. I feel that shooting close to wide open is kinder to
faces and focuses the viewers’ attention where I want them to be looking.”
“Unlike a lot of three-camera shoots, Andrew didn’t call specific
shots on headsets from a remote location,” he continued. “He wanted
to establish an intimate, on set connection with the talent. Based on our past
experience, Andrew trusted me to follow the conversation and know when to feature
the jeans, hands, and faces. The subjects were unadorned, talking spontaneously
about themselves and their work. There was no filtration; we wanted everything
as palpable as possible. We lit simply, with a high, soft key over the subjects
and a soft bottom source: we wanted to see these people as straightforwardly
as possible, see the light in their eyes and make a visual connection.
“And because this was a jeans commercial, we needed to be loving the
product as well. We largely used the tracking shots to lend a tactile sense
to the denim. Altogether, this was the cleanest video I’ve ever shot and
very extraordinary.”
“I felt the challenge was in shooting a curved white cyc from a dolly
track that had an opposing curve, because it produced a somewhat round environment,”
said Digital Imaging Technician Robert Strait. “It can be difficult to
reproduce a flat white background for all those camera angles while also making
people of various skin tones look beautiful and natural. We took advantage of
the HPX3700’s Film-Rec 600% setting for extended latitude and grey scale,
which help create a very soft and filmic look, and coupled with the true 1080p/4:4:4
output gave us adequate information for printing to film. It was a huge benefit
that I could tweak white shading through the camera’s paint box, allowing
me to correct imperfections in the cyc and produce a perfectly white horizontal/vertical
and edge-to-edge camera response.” “Because the HPX3700 has multiple
outputs, I was able to monitor the internal camera menus independent of the
4:4:4 recording while also providing a 4:2:2 signal to the ACs’ onboard
HD monitors,” Strait added.
The HPX3700s recorded the uncompressed 4:4:4 signal to HD tape decks. The edit
began on the set to accommodate a fast turnaround as well as the clients’
interest in how the free-ranging content would evolve. Editors Jon Fine and
Geoff Gruetzmacher supervised the Final Cut Pro edit.
“The pieces look really wonderful,” said executive producer Vlack.
“The HPX3700s were great in their ability to take all the lenses. The
cameras were affordable, and we didn’t need a big camera crew.”
“The HPX3700 is at the top of the heap, and I’d use it again in
a second,” said Marritz. “Ultimately, the imperative for me was
to create a video equivalent to Andrew’s distinctive photographic style.
The HPX3700 enabled us to achieve video every bit as classic as the still portraiture,
with extremely sympathetic imagery.”
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For more information about Late Night and Weekends, visit www.latenightandweekends.com.
For more information about DP Eddie Marritz, visit www.marritz.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 Panasonic Broadcast
Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems Co. is a leading supplier of broadcast
and professional video products and systems. Panasonic Broadcast is a Unit of
Panasonic Corporation of North America. The company is the principal North American
subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation (NYSE: PC) and the hub of Panasonic’s
U.S. branding, marketing, sales, service and R&D operations. For more information
on Panasonic Broadcast products, visit www.panasonic.com/broadcast.
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