SHOOT RECAP - the camera

This entire movie was shot on a Panasonic HMC150 and HVX200, mainly the 150, which was available 24-7.

The biggest advantage the 150 had for this type of shoot was the convenience and affordability of SD cards. Just a 32 and 16 gig card meant never having to stop to download any footage while filming. The camera’s small size(about 4 pounds) also allowed for inconspicuous running and gunning.

The Panasonic’s have a nice pastel look to them. A little more filmy than the Sony’s, which look so sharp you could cut yourself on the images. The camera’s stock lens is fairly wide angle. The set General HATED the 150 at first, but learned to embrace it’s ‘short comings’, inclusive of a depth of field that keeps EVERYTHING in focus. For the movie’s ‘look’ we kept the focal points consistent and just rocked out with that crazy depth of field.

As for battery life, we managed to just barely get by with one big and small one. The only time there was an issue was when the little battery ‘mysteriously’ didn’t get fully charged(see day 16). 

We used an HVX200 on both big green screen days for extra coverage(see days 14 & 15). But unfortunately in all the chaos, didn’t end up matching the settings with the HMC150, luckily Raz was able to solve that issue in post. They mix pretty well.

The work horse of a tripod was one made by Libec, retailing for less that 200 bucks. Another piece of gear that performed well for the price.

 All things considered the picture looks remarkably pro.

photos by Suzan Jones