Pre Production 

4/9/06 

The producer, Michael Bennett is anxious to get most of the program edited whilst on location - at least to 'off line grade'. A good idea considering it is scheduled for Christmas programing on one of the Networks here in Australia.

Final Cut Pro is the choice for editing on laptop, however the stumbling block I find at the moment is that the 35mbs XDCAM HD is not yet compatable with FCP nor can you edit the proxy vision of anything on FCP till at least the end of the year - or so I've been told. This defeats the XDCAM worflow - so now the only reslove is by inputing via AVC, (DVCAM) via firewire direct to a Macbook Pro together with additional storage.

 

Production: 

5/9/06 Leaving  for Finland, and having had a run down with Paul Maroni from Sony Australia plus a few test recordings on the XDCAM HD, I'm confident that all will be fine. They really are nice pics!

Our editor, Neal Kelly, meets up with the rest of us in Istanbul.

 

6/9/06 The first outing for the F350 on this job was at a reindeer park in Lapland. Never been knocked around by reindeer antlers before. "heeloo" Just happen to be at lens height. A first for everything. Having a bit of difficulty with the viewfinder, looks ‘distorted’, wondering if the proximity to the magnetic north pole is the problem. Nope, just a tad faulty I think. Also a tad hard to keep an eye on exposures, think this is due to nature of this particular viewfinder. It will be hard not to make comparisons with the 530 just in operation alone.

 

 

7/9/06  A busy schedule for the only shooting day here in Finland. Weather wasn’t kind to us with overcast sky in the morn and showers in the afternoon. Seasonally snow is a few weeks away. Shot many interiors at Santa’s Village here on the outskirts of Rovaniemi on the Arctic Circle including of course an interview with Santa. Just a bit frustrated at having come from the 530 to the 350, could really have appreciated that extra ‘f’ stop for some of the set ups. 

However all that aside, shooting brilliant reds of Santa and his helpers, including Rudolph’s nose – holds well, the images are stunning.

 

8/9/06 Early start and travel to Istanbul via Helsinki. Looking forward at trying out the gyro kit obtained in Sydney for a chopper shoot on this leg. Editor, Neal Kelly,  should already have arrived in Turkey as we transit.

9/9/06

Now in Istanbul – getting lost here was very easy last night and traffic a horror, bed was very welcome.  Met up with Neal Kelly who was recovering from jet lag, well he was asleep when we arrived at the hotel.  

 Onwards to the first location in Turkey, around 250 kms from Istanbul, IZNIK a small rural town.  Shooting a medieval church, amphitheatre and rural streetlife. 

Here I try and explain to the 'locals's not to look at the camera or myself – be natural I said. 

It was customary to chat with a cup of tea.  Of course nobody spoke English and I obviously can’t speak Turkish. But the chai (tea) was nice. Thanks guys.

 

10/9/06

Onwards again, this time to DEMRE in Southern Turkey. 'Bout 120 kms  from ANTALYA,  yeah  where the  terrorist bombings have occurred of late.

 Interesting site, like this Turkish RV, it's got the lot including  satellite dish and a  portable Baa B-Q .

12/9/06

DEMRE and Neal sets up his edit suite, a Mac Powerbook and an external hard drive.

The days are hot and humid - around 40C+ in direct sun. 

A minor glich with the camera, it wouldn't shut down - took battery off and camera reset itself. Not sure if it was heat related or just a minor glitch, the fault hasn't occured since. Think it would be safe to say it would be unique to the camera I have, and not a general fault - nothing like this has been posted on the forum. Utilising the Microdolly to put a bit of life into the 'ruins'.

 

Neal's reaction on seeing rushes during transfer "That's fantastic!" and he's right, pics are just amazing. 

I'm using Hi Sat mode, to emphasise the colours and heat here. 

After cutting a sequence, we're all extremely happy - a great incentive at this stage to keep up the standard.

15/9/06 

Shooting from chopper utilising 2 Gyros from Gyro Cam , thanks to Chris Powell who made the rig and delivered from Brisbane within 48 hours prior to leaving Sydney.  

It's basic but it works - minimising vibration, and stabilising fore and aft (gyro 1) under lens and horizon (gyro 2) at rear.

The wind seems to pick up to around 20 knots during the afternoons on most days, a test for any mount, so after the first day's shoot I've decided to go 50 frames mode. 

The result is beautifully smooth despite the buffeting we were getting  from the wind. Anzac Cove area was spectacular.  The only complaint is a sore shoulder from carrying such a weight.

I've got to say the lens I'm using is superb - a  Fujinon 3.3 Superwide (1/2 inch), sharp as a tack! Just wish I could see that sharpess in the viewfinder though. Photo is a still from Sony R1 Cybershot camera.


3/10/06 With my last chance at an internet connection and with only a few days of the shoot left, I guess it would be fitting to sumarise my thoughts. 

The XDCAM HD PDW350 has withstood some grueling conditions on this trip, including travel by road and air and climbing over ancient ruins and umpteen amphitheatres. If I see another amphitheatre I'll kick and scream - oops I digress. 

Operation of the camera is a breeze, the menu system similar to the PDW530 / 510 but with the added benifit of variable frame rates up to 50 fps. This inovation I found exceptional as you would have found after reading my comments on the chopper shoot. I recently used it again here at Gallipolli for a POV shot of soldiers running from their boat up to shore and sheltering from enemy fire.  If you can imagine trying to do this  action as fast as physically possible and then look at the results after recording at 50 fps - it brings a new dimension for video (well for this cameraman anyway).

Neal Kelly has been editing the progaram along the way and it was always  inspiring to see the results of nearly five weeks worth of material.  He is still knocked out with the HD  images the camera produces, and so am I. The detail (resolution) contained is far and away more than I had ever thought possible from the 1/2 inch ccd block.

My dilema now is that the producer wants to shoot XDCAM HD for all his projects - and I don't blame him.


The program will air on the Nine Network in Australia Christmas Day 2006.