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Sony XDCAM HD
Customer Reviews
Shooting THE
LIMITS with XDCAM HD
The
project is an independent feature length film from Little Engine
Moving Pictures, called THE LIMITS.
The World Premiere was at the Edmonton International Film Festival on October
1st, 2007.
It won BEST DRAMA at the Digital Video Festival in L.A. and BEST
CANADIAN FEATURE at the ReelWorld Festival in Toronto.
The format is Sony XDCAM HD.
Writer/Director Ben Mazzotta and
Producer/Co-Writer Maria Kennedy-Mazzotta set the scene:
Making it Happen
The script, a very ambitious ensemble piece drama, had been in the
works for over a year before our Ryerson Film School buddies got hold of it and The Limits started to develop a life of
it's own. It wasn't long before we had several talented industry
professionals willing to give freely of their time to make the film
a reality. People like Drazen Baric (Producer) and Andy Jakebsons (DOP)
not only came to bat, but used their experience and industry
connections to garner all the favours a micro-budget film of this
nature desperately needed.
Also, a very special thanks to Videoscope
for cutting us an amazing deal on the equipment.
Our budget would never have permitted us to shoot a feature
film of this caliber if it weren't for shooting on the Sony XDCAM
HD. This, above all,
brought the production value we needed to elevate the status of the
film to compete with anything on the market today. For any
low-budget feature with big aspirations, this is the camera for you.
Which
brings us to:
The
Camera
The
PDW-F530 is the perfect camera for a project of this nature. Its
image is stunning and the option for 23.98P makes everything look
just like film. We've put the slo-mo 1080i60 into effect several
times now, and it looks much better than relying on post slo-mo
where you simply double the frames, making the image stutter.
One
of the best features has to be the thumbnail review capability.
Under our circumstances, this does away with having to hire someone
specifically for playback, as well as the pricey equipment necessary
to do that particular job.
Allowing
the DOP to check his framing on a previous set-up, while he's
setting up the reverse, makes for accurate framing at a glance.
It's
easy to wrap your head around the ENG-style make-up of the body.
Having the capability to interchange lenses is crucial.
When
you compare the price of the discs against standard HD tapes, there
is a considerable price advantage as well. Overall, the camera has
exceeded our expectations and propelled the production value of the
film forward.
The Story
THE LIMITS
"Prostitute. Outcast. Adulterer. Killer. Look
deeper."
Told over the span of two days, THE
LIMITS is about four seemingly disparate stories that come together
in a seedy motel at the edge of
Toronto
. A social outcast
fulfills his every fantasy a week before ending his life; a black
youth on the run from an inner city gang finds work with the motel's
East Indian proprietors; a suburban man begins an affair after
uncovering his wife's terrible secret; and an ex-prostitute who's
found God is haunted by her past when her pimp is released from
prison. Their intimate
stories expose us to lives less ordinary, and reveal in all of us
the pressures of coping with fear when pushed to the limits.
Unaware of their inter-connected roles in the grand scheme of
things, a volatile event at the film's end sets forth a life or
death chain reaction that affects them all.
It invites the viewer to take a closer
look - beyond conventional assumptions about class and racial
identity to the vital truths within each character. It asks - what would you do in their place, under those
circumstances?
Click
for comments by The Limits DOP.
For more about The Limits, go to www.thelimitsmovie.com
Videoscope specializes in Sony XDCAM HD
cameras, decks and recording media.
Complete grip kits, including tripod and lights, are also available.
To check out the PDW-F350, contact Videoscope Camera Specialist,
Joe Freitas at 416.449.3030
and take advantages of our XDCAM HD Rental
Packages.
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