HD captures magic of Czech fairy tale

Hell with the Princess is a new comic fairy tale now in post production and coming soon to cinemas in the Czech Republic. It is a story about a princess who does not want to marry a clumsy prince from the neighbourhood.

“The director and producer Miloslav Šmídmajer continues in the best traditions of classical Czech fairy tale, but also respects audience expectations fostered by the Harry Potter movies,” says producer Biol Illusion. “Šmídmajer has a very specific and modern style. His art direction and vision accompany a rich pageant of images, with a sensitivity about characters and their relationships. The pace is varied: from fun to moments of thrill and drama, but although the movie is set at modern pace, it doesn’t forget about rich emotial experience.” The film is produced by Bio Illusion, Czech TV and UPP Praha, with Martin Duba as the director of photography.

A single HDW-F900R was used as the main camcorder for the shoot. “It has some very useful options, for instance, Picture Cache and Slow Shutter,” says Lukáš Rak, managing director of post production at the All in Agency in Praha, a company that works in HD throughout the region. The action was recorded both in the camcorder on to HDCAM tape, and to a connected SRW-1 HDCAM SR portable recorder, recording in higher quality HDCAM SR.

“When I asked the producer of Hell with the Princess, what were the advantages of HDCAM SR, I got a simple answer,” he says: “Instant results, good operation, flexibility and lower financial costs.”

Adaptable camcorder

On set, the HDW-F900R was very adaptable. “We use only black and white CRT viewfinders because they have a better sharpness than an LCD colour one. The colours and fine detail can still be seen by the director and other staff on a large LCD broadcast monitor (a 23-inch LMD-232W in a special safety box), which we use on every project,” says Rak.

“This particular movie shoot was interesting because we are providing an SRW-1 as the master. We also have a PDW-F70 XDCAM HD deck as a video assist; this format is very popular for its fast playback of any take and the high quality of image. When shooting a TV series it could be used as master VTR, or an XDCAM HD back-up master for the HDCAM camera tape. Everything that we are using, both VTRs and monitors, are connected to the camera with only two flexible cables.”

According to Rak, the quality of the image was high. “Using the F900R with a P+S Technik PRO35 Image Converter and a set of Zeiss lenses is a light and easy-to-operate configuration for shooting movies, TV series and ad spots,” he explains. “It is especially good for a TV project, as it takes the image very close to a film look and replaces the classic TV lenses of the last few years. When using this converter, everyone has to keep in mind that it makes images with fine grain, similar to 35mm film material. After the procedure of transferring the final video onto film, we can say this grain is doubled (once from the converter, once from film). Because of this problem, the PRO35 has the ability to adjust the rotation speed of the ground glass, so for movies you can find the best to achieve the clear picture.”

Post production

There is a lot of post production on Hell with the Princess. “Our film is a really a modern tale with original visual effects created at UPP Praha. All our company’s work – movies, TV series and ad spots – are being colour corrected on special grading stations in bigger post production houses now. The quantity of work on every shot depends mostly on the style and experience of the cameraman and his way of using light and other techniques. Generally, the F900R and HDCAM SR has a quality of image very close to 35mm film, good in daylight as well as for night scenes, and for blue-screen shots and other effect shots. It can even be used to zoom in a picture (up to 15-20 per cent), when there is a need, in post production.”

19 December 2008