HVX's on PBS

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Orangemoon

Member
Hey, all.

I thought I’d share a little progress I had with my HVX’s on a documentary film I produced. Since “all things” HVX get discussed here, I thought I’d throw this in for general information and credibility for the camera.

The film, “On the Edge of Black and White”, just got picked up for national distribution to PBS. It will airing around the country starting April. I shot it on two HVX’s. I used one camera (Outfitted with my M2 and Nikons) for the more dramatic, staged shots. I used the other camera (Stock HVX) as a safety camera – alternate angle – and for mobile shots.

It was about a year-long project that involved 12 former child stars and their thoughts and perspectives on television’s transition from black and white to color film “and” America’s cultural revolution in the mid 1960’s (Which, coincidentally, was going on at the exact same time).

The cameras were outstanding for the job! It was interesting filming former child-stars who have been in front of some of the best cinema cameras in Hollywood. I wasn’t sure how they’d respond to the “lil” HVX’s but no one was concerned. I think with the rails, Chroziel, Marshall, etc.... it sorta beefed-up the camera's look.

I shot it all at 720/24pn. There were some long interviews and opted for the slow-burn setting. I’ve seen the footage on a full-size theater screen (HD Projector)… and it looked great! For broadcast, I had a Post House up-rez it to 1080/60i, add closed-captioning, etc. I had a chance to review that HDCAM tape at TV studio and that too looked great. It uprez’d real nice! I was happy to find that all of the Post-footage was legal for broadcast directly from my FC output. The Post House didn't find any issues on the scopes and meters that had to be tweaked.

So, bottom line, the cameras “really” served me well. They have been flawless (Even when I wasn’t) and were great for the documentary storyline.

I have a low-rez trailer on my site if you want to take a look.

http://www.orangemoonfilms.com/ote/index.htm

Well, off to the next project... with my HVX's!
 
Wow ... I checked out the trailer and you did very nice work. I'll bet the project was really fun to work on. The subject matter is great. I grew up in the sixties so I kind of know exactly that feeling of how different things were when TV and technology was so basic and less invasive to our time spent playing outside and dealing with each other face to face.

Hey, let me know if you ever need help with another project like that ... that would be so cool to work on.

Thanks for posting :)
 
Bravo. sounds like a great project. I always thought Eddie Haskell deserved his own show. Angela Cartwright was a fave too. Did you give an update as to what each actor is doing today- that might be fascinating (or not). Did you have to offer a stipend to them to speak in front of camera or did they just sign the obligatory release?

Congrats again.

chris /Wash. DC
 
Thanks for the kind words! Here are a few answers...

1.
Nice work! How'd the Non-Adapter footage hold up to the Adapter footage?

I use the "non-adapter" camera as my close-up camera for interviews. I set it back and zoom-in to get a long lens look that "matches" (sort-of) the M2 when I cut between them. There's a little work in Post to match the two cameras but it's pretty straight-forward. I use my M2 camera as my wider shot. It's nice having the two cameras running so when my guest says something that I want to emphasize, I have a nice tight CU to cut-to.

2. The stars were absolutely great! They are so used to "only" be asked the basic questions like, "What's it like being famous?", that they were very relieved to be asked about their thoughts on American culture and that huge Social Revolution that occured in the mid. 1960's. It was absolutely fascinating to hear their thoughts. Now that they're older and far removed from that experience, they had a great perspective on it.

3. I filmed a lot of retro-B-roll to sit underneath some of the narration. We Re-created a 1965 street scene with kids, bikes, classic cars, etc. We made a 1965 living room etc... it was big fun! I used the HVX with the M2 exclusively for these scenes. It really did a good job re-creating a warm and classic feeling.

Thanks!
 
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