Panasonic Press Release - HVX200A's shooting History's highest-rated show, Pawn Stars

Barry_Green

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

REALITY TV POWERHOUSE LEFTFIELD PICTURES SHOOTS HISTORY HIT, ‘PAWN STARS,’ WITH PANASONIC P2 HD HANDHELD CAMCORDERS

SECAUCUS, NJ (March 29, 2011) – New York-based, full-scale production company Leftfield Pictures is currently shooting the fourth season of Pawn Stars, the History network’s highest-rated series—ever—with a pair of Panasonic AG-HVX200A P2 HD handheld camcorders. Leftfield Rentals, the company’s rental and production services arm, owns dozens of Panasonic camcorders, including AG-HPX170 P2 HD handhelds and tape-based HD models like the HDX900, which along with the HVX200As are utilized on other prominent productions such as Oddities on Discovery Channel and American Restoration, a Pawn Stars spin-off that’s set to air at 10P EST on April 15th on History.

Pawn Stars, which often vies for the position of cable’s top-rated show, is set in the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas. Having been described as a cross between Antiques Roadshow and American Chopper, the series serves up high-stakes buying and selling as well as domestic byplay among the three generations of the Harrison family, the store’s owners.

Pawn Stars is known for its close-up beauty shots of its coveted wares, which on any given day range from Rolexes to Super Bowl rings to Confederate currency.

Colby Gaines, the co-founder and owner of Leftfield Pictures, executive produces current Leftfield Pictures programming including American Restoration, Oddities and Pawn Stars. ”We’ve ridden the wave of distinctive Panasonic professional camera quality since our original investment in DVX100s close to a decade ago,” Gaines said. “Now the P2 HD handhelds are delivering the mobility, ease of use and, above all, superb image production that our signature style programming requires.”

Pawn Stars is shot entirely on location at the Gold and Silver shop. The production team typically shoots 50 hours per week, working around the 5,000+ customers the store sees on a daily basis. Several 25-40 minute scenes of staff interplay with customers are shot, as well as up to five different objects a day. For these beauty shots, the production outfits one of the HVX200As with a Letus 35mm depth of field adapter.

The History series is shot in Las Vegas where an on-site media manager ingests, synchronizes A and B camera footage, and does a simple cut-down of material. Leftfield Pictures supervises the full edit and delivery at its production headquarters in New York; Pawn Stars is edited in Final Cut Pro.

Leftfield Pictures is currently producing a new intervention-style reality show for A&E, a fashion-based show for the Bravo Channel, and new series for The Science Channel and the HGTV network, all shot on Panasonic HD camcorders.

For more information about Leftfield Pictures and Leftfield Rentals, visit www.leftfieldpictures.com and www.leftfieldrentals.com; for more information about Pawn Stars, visit http://www.history.com/shows/pawn-stars.
 
Wow- I've been watching every episode of this show lately and had no idea it was shot with the same camera I use everyday. I would venture a guess that the opening sequence and the commercials for the show, which look incredible, were shot with a Red or on film.
 
Always good to hear press about Panasonic's success.

But really, how is this show the number one rated show History has ever had? Maybe because of the nature of its programming, being mainly one-offs on certain subjects and a lack of any real series (aside from Modern Marvels?).

Again, good press, but not really pushing the limits of what that little camera can do, IMHO.
 
After heavily returning to my HPX-170 after shooting a lot of HDSLRs, I'm still amazed at how well that particular model holds up. I believe that shooting with HDSLRs has improved my technical understanding of how cameras work and that has translated over to the HPX and allowed me to up my game with it considerably.

And it's so nice to get back to a real video camera as well, especially one with a deep depth of field to it to make focusing much easier (to say nothing of autofocus which really comes in handy for specific purposes).
 
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