“It was a phenomenally easy format to use and get a good look from.”
It’s not just crews for the latest BBC wildlife or Michael Palin project that get to go globe-trotting. DoP Stuart Luck recently returned from a shoot with top-end corporate production company The Edge that took him to Brazil, Mexico, Spain and India.
The commission was from US-based farming control products supplier Syngenta for a 10-minute conference opener with that all-important ‘wow’ factor to launch an awards scheme for its employees worldwide.
The result is Bringing Plant Potential to Life, a stunning film shot at various Syngenta-owned farms.
“Knowing that the film would be shown at a big conference and, thereafter, used as a marketing tool, we persuaded the client to move from Digital Betacam to HD,” says Luck. “I chose the Sony HDW-750P because I was impressed with its resolution and it seemed like a natural progression from Digital Betacam.
The cameras are very similar – I’d used the original HDW-F900 camcorder before, and the HDW-750P has a similar menu system to the DVW-790WSP. For me, it’s easy to use .”
Night and day in Mumbai
Another big attraction was the time-lapse facility of the HDW-750P, which Luck used to good effect.
“We did a time-lapse from day to night in Mumbai,” he says, “and we used a slow shutter speed to shoot street scenes at night. We got a great effect with locked-off shots in which traffic and people preparing food blurred through the frame. And we got some boiling cloud shots which the client really liked.”
No extra lighting was used for the atmospheric Mumbai-at-night scenes. Similarly, when Luck, director Richard Grombie and the crew flew to southern Spain to film a tomato plantation, only reflectors were added to give the sunlight a push in the right direction.
“Basically, I light the same way as I do with SD,” says Luck, “but whereas with Digital Betacam I grade in the camera, I shoot it quite flat with the HDW-750P. It gives you a massive range of latitude and I try to lose the depth of field, though it’s best to go under rather than over with exposure because if you lose your whites, there’s no getting them back. But there’s much more of a palette to play with and I’ve been so impressed with the resolution – it’s very flattering when you’re shooting exteriors.”
In particular, the resolution was vital for highlighting the fine detail of the plants and insects Syngenta uses to develop its products.
“In macro mode, I could see details which SD video could never have picked up,” says Luck. “I employ a focus puller for HD. I think you really need the appropriate crew and all the accessories, such as a follow-focus system and an LCD monitor.”
Luck admits he much prefers the colour viewfinder with increased resolution, though he didn’t have a problem with the HDW-750P’s original black and white viewfinder.
The last word goes to the director. “This was my first experience of shooting with HD and, for this kind of shoot, where we were flying all over the world, it was a phenomenally easy format to use and get a good look from,” says Richard Grombie.
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