Panavision

We are very proud to announce that Red Epic cameras supplied by Panavision Australia are the first Epics to be used to shoot not one, but two Australian feature films, Mental and Drift.

Mental is P.J. Hogan’s Queensland-based semi-autobiographical film starring Toni Collette and Rebecca Gibney and was shot by Don McAlpine ACS, ASC. It’s a tale of how a charismatic yet somewhat crazy nanny is randomly employed to be the carer for five teenage girls when their mother is hospitalised.

In an excerpt from an interview he gave us recently (the full version will be published in the next few weeks) Don told us why he chose the Epic and Panavision for Mental.

The Seven Network’s ratings success, Winners & Losers, is currently shooting Series 2. Producers - Bevan Lee, John Holmes and AFI Award nominee, MaryAnne Carroll (All Saints) - and directors - Nicholas Bufalo and Ian Gilmour – have updated tech-specifications with this series thanks to their Cinematographer Darrell Martin.  While he shot the first episodes on Sony F23s, he has chosen the Alexa for his return gig on production.

In recent months we have seen the arrival of the new Phantom Flex, Red Epics and upgrades to the Sony F3. All of these cameras are now available for rental so please contact your local Panavision office for pricing and technical enquires.

Phantom Flex

The Phantom Flex offers an unprecedented degree of flexibility in all areas of high-speed shooting. With a claimed rating of 1200 ISO and capable of capturing images from 5fps to 10,750fps, the Phantom Flex is one of the most versatile high-speed cameras in today’s industry. The Flex offers two user-selectable shooting modes, in standard mode; the Flex shoots up to 2570fps at 1920x1080 resolution. In Phantom HQ Mode, Vision Research’s proprietary image enhancement technology results in more stable blacks, lower noise, higher dynamic range with out the need for pre-shot black balancing; maximum frame rates in HQ mode are 1275fps in 1920x1080 or at 2640fps at 1280x720.

The Phantom Flex supports multiple workflows: a raw digital workflow, a video workflow or a combination of both for flexibility. With a video workflow, the Flex offers a video signal on the dual-link HD-SDI ports. The camera will automatically scale the oversampled image when rendering the video signal. The benefit of this technique is that it increases the dynamic range and decreases noise in the video signal.

Sony PMW-F3

Panavision is pleased to announce the upgrade to the Sony PMW-F3 fleet by adding the much anticipated S-Log feature and the Dual Link 4:4:4 output.
The S-Log feature allows the F3 to take advantage of a wider dynamic range of the sensor which Sony calls a digital negative, ready for grading. The S-Log feature comes with the look up table option (Viewing LUT) for director monitoring.

Along with the S-Log feature, the Sony PMW-F3 now has the ability to output the video signal in dual link HD-SDI 4:4:4 or 3G-SDI depending on connecting devices, being a first for a camera in its price point to output in 4:4:4 with a Super 35mm sensor. Cinematographers around the world have quickly taken advantage of the new features and they are now available for your next big or small (with big looks) production.

Red Epic

The latest generation of Red cameras has arrived, in a package one third the size of a Red One is the new Red Epic. Inside the Epic is a 5K Mysterium-X™ Sensor enabling up to 120fps at full 14MB resolution and up to 300fps in 2K mode. The Mysterium-X™ can deliver 13.5 stops of dynamic range and 18 stops with HDRx™. The package includes the new Red LCD 5” Touchscreen Display for controlling and monitoring the camera, the Bomb EVF™ high def viewfinder and 128Gb Solid State Drives.

Recently, we cyber-chatted with cinematographer, Denson Baker ACS, whose achievements over the last couple of years have rocketed him to the front rows of his profession. You would know his credit best from awards received for The Waiting City (Dir.: Claire McCarthy, 2010) and The Black Balloon (Dir.: Elissa Down, 2008) and he has had quite a few prolific and ver- satile years starting at age twelve when his interest was piqued by an encouraging teacher. A few months ago, he became a dad for the first time, something that has inspired him to reach for even more meaningful projects.

' ... that hopefully stand the test of time. I was very fortunate to have incredibly supportive parents who encouraged me to pursue my dreams and my career of choice, I will do the same for Pax, no matter what he decides he wants to do. Unless he decides to become a parking inspector!' Read the rest of this article by downloading the PDF attached

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Denson Baker ACS	Denson Baker ACS

Starting on the 25th May, 2011, is the next Terra Nova shoot. Panavision welcomes the production back to Australian shores and looks forward to the next nineteen weeks of creativity and endeavour.

Bringing a wealth of television series experience to this science fiction, futuristic family epic is Emmy Award winning cinematographer, Jeffrey Mygatt (above). Just a few of the many shows he has under his belt as DP include Chase, (Warner Brothers / Bruckheimer TV) The Whole Truth, (Warner Brothers / Bruckheimer TV) Prison Break (Fox) and 24 (Fox). If you see a bit of a theme developing in his résumé, you correctly guess that Jeffrey is somewhat of an expert on action at a fast pace and has been asked back several times to work on this genre. His Emmy awards were for his work on the stunt scenes in 24. Read the rest of this article by downloading the PDF attached

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	Jeffrey Mygatt

According to Panavision Australia Group Marketing Director Paul Jackson, the Australian TV industry is continuing to push boundaries with different production workflows. Jackson said, "We have recently supplied equipment and support for two new Australian television series, each with different workflows and each unique in their production."

The first of the two series was CROWNIES. Shot in Sydney the show follows five young solicitors fresh out of law school, as they face the pressures and endearing madness of modern single life - in a fast-paced workplace that highlights the moral dilemmas and big issues facing an apparently civilized society.

Jackson said, "For CROWNIES we worked with Co-producer Lisa Scott, Production Manager Kelly Vincent and DOP Bruce Young (Underbelly, Rush, Tangle - Season 2). Bruce shot with the Nano Flash System, the same system he used on last year's Cleo – the acclaimed ABC drama project that looked at the Whitlam era through the eyes of former Cleo editor, Ita Buttrose. Bruce has effectively pioneered the use of this system in Australia. The Nano's record onto CF cards at 100, 140, 180, 220, or 280 Mbps and can record MXF files or MOV files. Alongside the Nano Flash system we supplied Fujinon zoom lenses and Sony F23 cameras which we calibrated and matched for colour – something Panavision is known for and specialises in."

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Crownies Bruce Young and Laurie Zafino	Winners & Losers DOP Darrell Martin

The last few weeks have seen Panavision present demonstration nights on the new Sony F3 in Sydney and 3D capture in New Zealand.

John Virtue and Peter Lorz from Panavision Sydney flew to Auckland to share their knowledge of all things 3D with the NZCS. Click here to see the response. http://www.nzcine.com/index.php/archives/2358

Meanwhile, Panavision Australia combined forces with John Barrys and the ACS to launch its new line of Sony PMWF3 cameras.

The night included a presentation by digital marketing specialist Jemore Santos and National Operations Manager John Virtue. "We wanted to bring a high detailed analysis of the cameras specifications, the good, the bad and the work arounds" says Jemore "We included test footage of latitude and compression, Panavision exclusive kitting and accessories, post production paths and what to expect in the near future".

The event took place in the new ACS headquarters in North Sydney and was attended by over 40 ACS members and guests. The new ACS headquarters was opened on March 17th and is a perfect venue for cinematographers and members to meet, chat or just watch a movie in the purpose built facilities. "We greatly appreciate the ACS for allowing us to be the first event to use their amazing and well presented HQ" Jemore adds, "We love the venue and are hoping to hold many more Panavision nights there."

More demo nights to follow in Queensland and Victoria shortly.

The new Phantom Flex has arrived and is the next generation High speed, full 1920x 1080 HD camera, capturing images that the eye cannot normally see.

The Phantom Flex was released by Vision Research in the last quarter of 2010 and the first one in the region was delivered to Panavision early this year. It was immediately snapped up by DP Aaron Morton for use on the second series of Spartacus, which has just begun shooting in New Zealand. Aaron had been using the Phantom Gold on the previous series, but amongst the many improvements the Flex offers, he was particularly impressed by the increased ASA rating. "The sensitivity of the Flex is nearly three times greater than the Gold which not only gives me more flexibility, but also saves time as in some situations we can get the shot with less lighting."

Key Differences between the Flex and the Gold: click here for PDF document

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Phantom Flex	Phantom Flex

Timing is everything and so it was for the new Spielberg high concept sci-fi drama series, Terra Nova, piloted in Queensland last year. The series finished principal shooting in November, 2010 beating floods by several weeks. Clever scheduling played a big part in meeting the demands of a challenging storyline.

A post-apocalyptic tale of Planet Earth - suffering from pollution, over-population, resource depletion and so on in the year 2149 – the story reveals a scientific quirk that allows the Shannon family to lead a group of a thousand pioneers back to the deep past – 85 million years ago. The aim is for the group known as the Tenth Pilgrimage to create a population with more sympathy to the world's needs. They will give humanity a second chance by applying what they now know. Dinosaurs and other gargantuan beasts, already in place, have their own take on this invasion. Even more conflict comes from within the group as some unnamed saboteurs have an agenda not wanting the project to succeed. The Shannon family must identify and defeat them. ... Read the rest of this article by downloading the PDF attached

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First locally supplied 3D feature film in Australia

John and Steve both received recognition for their work at the 25th American Society of Cinematographers Outstanding Achievement Awards held on 13th February in LA.
John received the annual ASC International Award, which celebrates the work of a foreign cinematographer that is produced on a global scale.
Steve's work on the locally shot TV series 'The Pacific' saw him win the ASC Award for a Television Movie/Miniseries for the episode 'Okinawa.' Being Steve's first ASC nomination, he now enjoys a 100% success rate!
Congratulations to both of them from all of us at Panavision.

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John Seale, ACS	Steve Windon ACS

This year the 2010 SPAA Producer of The Year Award for Services & Facilities was presented to Panavision.

Martin Cayzer, Panavision Managing Director said, "We are proud and honoured that SPAA members, our clients, have recognised our contribution to the local industry over the last 45 years. It's great for our staff to see that the service we provide is an integral part of a production."

The SPAA Independent Producer Awards are awarded to SPAA members who have produced an outstanding contribution to the advancement of the independent production industry.

Further to this achievement Panavision was also nominated in Encore magazine's inaugural Awards program in the category of 'Service Company of the Year'. The Encore Awards were conceived to recognise the work of screen industry companies, rather than specific projects or individuals.

Panavision was proud to be recognised and congratulates Rising Sun Pictures as recipient of this award.

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Kodak is supporting the TVC market by offering the entire range of 35mm x 400" stock at the same low price of $300.00 (ex gst) per roll.

This offer which is available to the end of the year will allow TVC productions to access the latest Kodak products at great pricing with no fuss.

To take advantage of this offer please contact either Kodak or Sound & Vision Stock Shop as per details below. ... Read the rest of this article by downloading the PDF attached