Panasonic have just brought out a new video camera, nicknamed by some the “DSLR killer”. There seems to have recently been a craze for shallow depth of field (that cinematic look) and vibrant, HD images which a DSLR with a large sensor and interchangeable lenses is able to produce. However, they have a lot of compromises, such as awful sound, shakey images and reduced recording times. The AG-AF101 seems to be the perfect compromise, offering all the pros of a prosumer video camera AND all the pros of a DSLR, without any of the cons. Sure, it might cost £3k more, and it may not be the most aesthetically pleasing camera ever, but goodness me the image quality it produces is nice… here’s a random video of some Japanese stuff to prove it:
Eastern Europe. Cold, dark, brutal communist architecture, outdated engineering, unfriendly people – mistrusting of the west. Apparently not in Prague. Brandcast’s first trip behind the iron curtain was an absolute delight. Lovely friendly people, stunning old buildings, beautiful autumnal sunshine and the aptly named Skoda Superb always on hand to glide us through the streets. Only the economic oddity of everything being ‘about a tenner’ caused any consternation… How much is the cabbage soup in pounds? About a tenner. How much is a pizza? About a tenner. How much are 2 beers? About a tenner. How much are 3 beers? About a tenner… Are you sure we’ve got the exchange rate right? Probably not. Still, with 15 interviews and podcasts from the International Gynecologic [sic] Cancer Society (IGCS) biennual meeting in the can, we can’t complain and that Irish bar looks lovely. Now.. How much is a pint of guiness?
EPIC. Who said TV advertising is dead? Needs several viewings to appreciate the complexity of what Nike have done here. The gauntlet has been well any truly thrown down to other sportswear manufacturers (any just about anyone else) in the run up to the World Cup.
We spent the day at The Times Literary Festival on Monday for content for our Bluesinc.tv website. The highlight was filming David Freeman with Paul Jones, Paul Oliver, Ian Seigal, Michael Messer, Ed Genis and Marcus Bonfanti. Not only did they talk about the history of Blues, they played and sang their way through it. Brilliant!
David Bowie once described Berlin as “the greatest cultural extravaganza that one could imagine.” So off we all tootled to ECCO 15 – ESMO 34 – Europe’s biggest cancer conference with 15,000 delegates arriving over the space of 4 days.
Berlin’s ICC is a strange place, although as one of the team said, “If there was a nuclear explosion at least we’d be safe” – no windows, heavy doors and very easy to get lost in. In fact we spent a good half hour trying to find one of the stands.
The congress though was a huge success though, full of fascinating symposia and we got some great interview coverage for ecancer.tv
Other highlights included
- Watching Dave and Steve’s sting at the Opening Session and being blown away by how good it was
- All the boys curled up under fluffy blankets after a hard days work – telling stories and listening to some seriously dodgy tunes
- The prof snoozing with the camera crew
- J snoozing during one of the symposia
- The boss fitting in as many flights as poss over the space of 24 hours
- Bagels
Tis the land where the columbines grow,
Overlooking the plains far below,
While the cool summer breeze in the evergreen trees
Softly sings where the columbines grow.
Jon, Claire and Linda are busy filming at AARC in Denver for ecancer.tv. Had to battle through a snow storm but all safely there to film. We’ve just put them on twitter so Jon was busy tweeting in between takes.
However much you tell people what you’re about, there’s nothing like showing them.
That’s why we encouraged the London Handel Festivalto make a video of a typical major production of the Festival in rehearsal. We filmed some great music and heard what the stars, the artistic director and his colleagues have to say about Handel, his music and his place in the life of London (his adopted home for 50 years, and the place where he died).
We picked Theodora – one of the last and greatest of Handel’s oratorios whose theme – dear to mid-eighteenth century novelists – was that of a virtuous damsel in distress. The setting for this production was the great church of St George’s in Hanover Square, where Handel himself worshipped, and where the London Handel Festival has its home. The result, we hope you will agree, is astonishing and curiously moving.
We’ve recently finished shooting and editing some films for Kazakh metals and minerals company ENRC with our chums at Phoebus. Covering a country the size of Western Europe had its challenges – quaffing the local horse-flavoured vodka was just one. Genuinely hospitable people although the local jimmy-jibbers out of Almaty didn’t seem to have the sense of humour gene switched on – I guess a 24hr car journey to the first set up isn’t very funny. Astana extraordinary – bit like ancient Rome meets Dubai. And the wild apple forests were gorgeous – Marco Polo knew his apples. Check out our little behind the scenes clip put together by J.
