2 Panasonic Cameras Used For Brian Wilson Documentary

Panasonic has announced the recent documentary production of "Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and The Story of Smile," was shot using both the Varicam and the SDX-900 24P camera. The live concert footage relied on the HD Panasonic Varicam while the more extensive behind the scenes interviews were done with the SDX-900. According to Panasonic:

Two of the most alluring myths in popular culture are those of the reclusive artist and the lost masterpiece. These narratives coincide in this evening?s world premiere of "Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and The Story of Smile," a feature-length documentary chronicling the most famous unreleased album in music history, the legendary work of Beach Boysi co-founder and composer, arranger and producer Brian Wilson.

Directed by award-winning writer David Leaf and produced by LSL Productions (David Leaf, Steve Ligerman and John Scheinfeld) in association with Richard Waltzeris Chautauqua Entertainment.

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Director of Photography James Mathers shot major portions of the documentary with Panasonic?s AJ-SDX900 DVCPRO Cinema camcorders.

According to DP Mathers,"The portion of the program shot during the premiere concert at Royal Festival Hall was recorded using a six-camera remote truck with 24P HD cameras.? The producers needed a more economical and portable camera to shoot the more than 100 hours of interview and background documentary footage, but the footage needed to cut up against HD.? I researched and shot extensive tests with the SDX900, even cutting it together with HD footage at Sunset Digital in Burbank.? With its high-quality 24P recording and native 16x9, even the facility?s engineers were hard pressed to tell the difference, and of course, the SDX900 was a much more economical alternative.

You can read the full article about the Panasonic Global Web site.