By Staff, September 3, 2008
International wildlife cinematographers Dereck Joubert and producer/wife Beverly Joubert, both Explorers-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society, are currently in production shooting a feature film about lions in the wilds of Botswana.
The as-yet-untitled feature film, slated for theatrical release next year, is being shot with Panasonic AJ-HPX3000 native 1080p one-piece P2 HD camcorders. Joubert, an HPX3000 owner, is shooting in AVC-Intra 100, a compression technology that delivers master-quality, 10-bit intra-frame encoding and full 10-bit, at full 1920x1080 4:2:2 video quality.
The Jouberts are filmmakers, photographers, writers and conservationists. Working with National Geographic and based out of Botswana, the Jouberts have influenced policy and people’s perceptions of the wild for more than 25 years. Through their films (for example, Living with Big Cats and Eye of the Leopard, which both aired on the National Geographic Channel), largely on the big cats of Africa, they show a side of the natural world that is often hidden and explore the relevance of the natural world to humanity.
Joubert is shooting in run-and-gun style with two HPX3000s on location in Botswana’s Duba Plains. “We believe our project will show lions for the first time as they truly are, probably as you will never be allowed to see them on television. It is raw and gritty and wild,” he explains. “We are following one pride of lions and showing their conflict with one herd of about 1,000 buffalo. But this war doesn’t always go the expected way.”
The filmmaker had previously worked with a Panasonic VariCam HD camera on television projects. “I searched long and hard through my various camera options for our current shoot. And given my experience with the VariCam in considering a 1080 choice for the larger screen, I first looked at what Panasonic could offer,” he adds. “I tested all the cameras I could get my hands on and decided on the HPX3000 for its quality, which is breathtaking, and its ease of use, which even improves upon the VariCam.”
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“We have worked in terrible conditions with the cameras,” Joubert says. “At the onset, it rained solidly for two months while we were following lions, getting bogged in, getting drenched, and generally fighting the elements. This is an electronic camera, and yet I have felt more confident with it, not less, because of its tapeless mechanics. The fewer moving parts to take on moisture, the better. When it isn’t raining, it is 120 degrees in the shade. If any camera really and truly wanted a test, these would be the conditions to do that in. The HPX3000s have held up very well.”
“As a veteran film cameraman, with every HD camera I use I try to set it up as much like a film camera as possible,” Joubert explains. “In my mind, the HPX3000 is an electronic film camera: I expose for the highlights and mostly let the dark areas take care of themselves because, in film terms, the camera’s latitude can handle it.
“I am finding a tolerance, latitude or dynamic range of around 13 stops out here. The HPX3000 has a far better light handling feature than other HD cameras I have used so far, and on the white balance settings, with tungsten light simulation, I can get exactly what I am seeing with the naked eye. In some cases I may want to vary that, but now I want a perfect rendition of what I am seeing because I am not sure exactly what look we will end up with; I want it neutral for now.”
“I add a minimal amount of black stretch, but I do like higher contrast settings to give me that full light,” Joubert continues. “At one point, I had a male lion on a mound at 6 p.m. front-lit against a sold dark blue/grey stormy sky. It was heart-stopping. I checked the image as I was exposing--again, for the highlights--and the images I finally made were beautiful. I wouldn’t want to mess with that. I find that with these cameras, you really don’t want to overexpose. I find that the HPX3000’s ability to go into the menus and lift any underexposed shadow gives me the freedom to work in a film philosophy realm.”
For this shoot, the HPX3000s are equipped with Fujinon 44x and 25x16.4 HD zoom lenses. “The HPX3000s fit right into our established production milieu,” Joubert says. “All the mounts work, the cases that I use in camera cars fit, the Steadicam doesn’t change, and the jibs and cranes all keep the same balance.”
In terms of location workflow, Joubert says he downloads the AVC-Intra files and mirrors them on two 1TB RAID hard drives. “If there is something I want to review, I do it from the P2 card either before or after transferring to the hard drive and before reformatting,” he notes.
The feature will be edited in Apple Final Cut Pro and finished online on an Avid system for digital intermediates.
“The HPX3000 bridges the divide between film and video partisans,” Joubert adds. “I expose the same way as with film, I use short depths of field because I think we see in shorter depths of field, and movie audiences expect that.”
“I need a camera that allows me to create my images the way I want them, not a creative ‘partner’ in the process, so I enjoy that honest and uncomplicated relationship I have with the HPX3000,” he adds. “I have tended to shoot it all clean or neutral and add grades or NDs on the lens, just as I would in film. So, in the end, what I have is a video camera that performs exactly like a film camera and that looks as good or arguably better than film. And I achieve all that without sweating over the techno details.”
“I would suggest that the HPX3000 is the best-quality 1080 HD camera for both theatrical and TV that is still in a moveable [camcorder] configuration,” Joubert adds. “Certainly, from an image capture, quality, and workflow standpoint, this camera is as good as it gets, and it takes the serious cinematographer into account. In fact, the images we can make with the HPX3000 give us converted film guys something new to be snobbish about.”
The upcoming feature film is a joint production of National Geographic Films and the Jouberts’ company, Wildlife Films.
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