Set in 1951 at the dawn of the Television Age but filmed with the latest 24p digital technology, Formosa proved an intriguing paradox. Very early on, director Noah Kadner had a strong desire to shoot 35mm film but lacked the requisite finances. “When I first heard about the Panasonic SDX900 camera I became very excited, because I saw that it combined 24p, Cine-style lenses, native 16:9 CCDs and high quality compression,” he said. “I’ve owned a DVX100 since they first came out and have been very happy with the quality of the footage in 24p, so the SDX900 seemed like the next logical step.”

     Director of Photography Tyler Oliver agreed, “because we decided to shoot Formosa in a 1950s Hollywood style, the film presented a challenge for digital capture.” Undaunted, the filmmakers put the camera through its paces, ultimately utilizing two SDX900’s to maximize coverage and encourage spontaneity on the brisk 20-day shoot. Oliver reviewed the challenges of the show, “we were working with a variety of elements: classic picture cars with lots of chrome and hot spots, desert vistas in the background, and some establishing shots lit with only available light. Throughout, the camera gave me plenty of room to play with.” Both Kadner and Oliver agreed they would continue to use the SDX900 on additional projects after Formosa.

     The SDX900, if you’ve not heard of it before is considered something of the big brother to the DVX100. The camera uses many of the same conventions as the DVX. Formosa was shot in the 24pA mode. Just like on the DVX, this allowed the filmmakers to shoot 24p to a 60i tape and then extract the 3:2 pulldown in post-production and wind up with a true 24p file with no file recompression. Formosa was also shot in the thin mode of the camera to allow for maximum vertical resolution and pave the way for a potential HD upconvert or even an output from QuickTime to 35mm negative. So far the film currently exists as a color corrected 23.98 QuickTime file in standard definition.

     Visual effects were also completed digitally using off-the-shelf software. Kadner explained, “we shot all our driving scenes using greenscreen, to give them that classic 1950’s rear-projection look.” The vehicles were filmed stationary and then composited over backgrounds of desert driving. The filmmakers also used these techniques to recreate a drive-in movie theater when no suitable location could be found. Kadner primarily used Adobe After Effects for these shots. “I was a little worried doing so much greenscreen work with the SDX900. Anyone who’s shot greenscreen on a DV camera knows the compression can kill you in post, but with the SDX900’s 50Mbit DVCPRO50 signal we were pleasantly surprised,” he noted. When the final cut and mixed soundtrack were complete, Formosa was digitally output directly to DVD for festival screenings and home video.

     Formosa won Best Comedy Feature at the Garden State Film Festival and next screens this May at the Dances With Films festival in Santa Monica.

Come see the Screening!
2:45 pm on Friday, May 6 at the Laemmle Monica 4-Plex, 1332 2nd Street, Santa Monica, Califronia.

DVXUser.com is pleased to present the exclusive trailer for Formosa!
Click below to Download
 

For more information please visit:
www.formosamovie.com