Progressive Productions Makes Panasonic AJ-HDX900s Preferred Cameras for Music Videos, Documentaries, Promotions

Secaucus, N.J. (June 11, 2007) -- Progressive Productions (Los Angeles), a production company long known for top-end projects shot with Panasonic AJ-SDX900 DVCPRO50 Cinema cameras (including 250+ episodes of the live music performance series “AOL Music Sessions” with such artists as Green Day, John Legend and Paul McCartney) has traded up to Panasonic’s AJ-HDX900 multi-format DVCPRO HD camcorders. Since taking delivery of two HDX900s last January, Progressive has utilized the cameras to shoot a performance documentary DVD for Capitol Records, instructional DVDs for high-fashion hair company KMS California, and a feature short shot for veteran film and television director William Crain (Blacula, Dr.Black, Mr. Hyde, The Dukes of Hazzard).

“We arrived at the decision to purchase the HDX900 after testing all the HD and HDV cameras released in 2006,” Progressive founder Chad Wilson said. “We were impressed with the HDX900’s combination of performance, versatility and price. The camera yields an incredible picture that holds its own when compared to more expensive cameras. The versatility of selectable recording formats is terrific, and the built-in down converter and HD-SDI outputs are important to us, as we use a lot of Steadicam and jib shots on our projects. We also like the ability of the camera to record to DVCPRO HD tape and hard drive simultaneously.”

Progressive’s inaugural project with the HDX900 was shooting the band Reliant K for Capitol Records. The resulting 30-minute documentary and performance DVD is included as a bonus disc on the band’s new album, 5 Score and Seven Years Ago.

“Capitol wanted to capture the rare acoustic performance from the band in HD—this was a perfect first project for the HDX900,” Wilson said. “Having shot so much of this type of content previously with the SDX900s, I was surprised to discover that the HDX900 was about 2/3 of a stop faster. Additionally, there is a lot more shadow detail in HD. As a result, we worked at incredibly low-light levels, which allowed for a considerable subtlety in the lighting.”

He continued, “We shot the project with four HDX900s (two rented) in 1080/24p advanced mode, and cut on Final Cut Pro HD 5.1 using the ‘multi-cam’ feature. We imported via (IEEE 1394) FireWire on a Panasonic AJ-1200A DVCPRO HD deck. Shooting advanced mode reduced the file sizes, as FCP5 removed the pull down while importing. Editing in true 24p not only saved on hard drive space, but also helped the multi- cam feature performance, as we were able to easily stream four 1080/24p video clips simultaneously on the G5. We delivered a true 1080/24p master on D5 tape. Our clients at Capitol were thrilled at the quality of the final product.”

Wilson next used the HDX900s to shoot instructional DVDs for KMS California’s new high-end hair care lines.

“For the past two years, we have worked with Reza Imagery, a design and post production firm, on this assignment. For the instructional portion, we typically shoot four haircuts a day, which last up to 90 minutes each, with three cameras – wide, close-up, and overhead,” he explained. “Needless to say, we generate an enormous volume of footage per day of shooting. Previously, we used the SDX900s and recorded to tape, but for the Spring 2007 shoot, we saw the opportunity to use the HDX900 and record to a Firestore Direct to Edit drive. Consequently, we were able to save Reza Imagery countless hours of batch capturing raw footage. Additionally, they will have a tape backup of the raw footage should they need to rebuild the edit at a later time. It’s a great workflow.”

Wilson recently wrapped a short film shot on the HDX900 for director William Crain that was digitally projected in HD at the LA-based Directors Guild of American Theater (DGA) on May 29, the culmination of a DGA workshop that introduced Guild directors to new digital filmmaking tools.

“It was good timing, as I was eager to shoot a narrative project with the HDX900,” Wilson said. “William is very much used to working with film, and it took him a while to get used to the digital workflow, but he came to appreciate it. For instance, we shot the interior of a bar, and the low-light level performance of the HDX900 made it easy to light with very small instruments. We shot in 1080/24p mode, and set the gamma on the camera at ‘Filmlike 3,’ the setting with the least contrast, in order to capture the widest dynamic range and it worked very well.”

“The HDX900’s dynamic range is very good, better than the SDX900, but including the same menu features that allow for gamma, knee, and black stretch,” Wilson observed. “In addition, it has the Dynamic Range Stretching feature, which is helpful in verite situations with extreme contrast. The camera’s light-handling characteristics are faster than the SDX900, and the low-light response is terrific. Color response is fantastic – a little bit of color saturates very quickly.”

“For our purposes, the features the HDX900 offers are perfect,” he added. “I greatly prefer the ergonomics of a full-size camera over any of the smaller HDV formats used today, as well as the HDX900’s superior compression and enhanced dynamic range. Although the imager is 720 native, I find it holds up very well in 1080 mode.

“In terms of cost-effectiveness, I would say the HDX900 ends up costing about the same as a premium-priced standard definition shoot. In short, it makes shooting HD affordable for a much wider range of clients and projects.”

Wilson’s HDX900s are outfitted with Fujinon 16x6.3 HD lenses, OConnor tripods, Chrosziel matte boxes and the Panasonic 8.4” BT-LH900A HD LCD monitor for field monitoring. His HDX900 projects are typically edited in Final Cut Pro HD, and mastered to D5.

Cinematographer Wilson founded Progressive Productions in 2002 with wife, producer/director Robyn Bliley, and through 2006 used Panasonic SDX900s for virtually all company productions. Wilson and Bliley’s independent feature documentary Circus Rosaire, also shot with the SDX900, recently won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Sarasota Film Festival. For more information about Progressive Productions, visit www.progressiveproductions.com.

Panasonic Broadcast, www.panasonic.com/broadcast