Back to the Beach
Production on MTV's Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County
Producers of MTV’s Laguna Beach: The
Real Orange County take advantage
of Panasonic AJ-SDX900 24p/30p/60i
DVCPRO50 camcorders to provide an
unscripted look at the students of Laguna
Beach High School in Orange County, Calif.
The series’ second season debuted July 25 on
the cable music network.
Hisham Abed, the show’s director of photography,
says, “My background in features
has helped me create the look of Laguna
Beach and bring the discipline of shooting for
a scripted narrative to a documentary scenario.”
In recalling his selection of the SDX900 for
the show, Abed says, “At the outset, our goal
was to separate the look of Laguna Beach
from other reality shows, with the intention
of making it look like a scripted, episodic program.
It needed to be cinematic. Our pursuit
began at Wexler Video Corp. in Burbank,
where we looked at all the relevant new cameras
and tested a number of combinations of
lenses and cameras. We found the SDX900,
with its 24p mode and film-like gamma settings,
to be the camera that most closely
approximated the look we were after. Early
on, the decision was made to broadcast the
show letterboxed in 16:9, another cinematic
touch that allowed us to take full advantage
of the SDX900’s widescreen shooting. We
also noticed a significant increase in sharpness
when we added HD lenses, which really
made our long lens close-ups pop and the
background fall off in a more film-like manner.”
Abed has a longstanding relationship with
Wexler, where he rents the SDX900 camera
packages. “Before we started shooting,
Wexler chief imaging engineer Steve Lucas
and I set up scene files for our show that
would give me the imaging characteristics I
was looking for,” the DP says.
Laguna Beach producers use Panasonic
AG-DVX100A Mini DV 24p cameras for some
insert shots or for situations that may be too
dangerous for the SDX900s. “I love the way
the Panasonic family of cameras handles 24p,
all the way from the VariCam down to the
DVX100As. I feel they have a more film-like
response built in to the electronics, and there
is a richness to the images. I find the look of
competitive cameras to be a bit sterile, lacking
in character,” Abed notes.
He continues, “The SDX900s have held
up exceedingly well in a great variety of situations.
We’ve traveled with them to Mexico
to shoot off-road ATVs, on the water, getting
the occasional sea spray, and up in
Mammoth Mountain to shoot snowboarders.
“I’ve found the camera’s handling of
highlights to be more pleasing than any
other brand of camera I’ve used. The areas of
overexposure have a softness to them that I
like—it’s similar to film. The camera’s color
response is excellent, even in mixed light,
which is an important consideration given
that we are often in situations with combinations
of fluorescent, tungsten and daylight
sources. The characteristic that sets this camera
apart is definitely the film-like gamma
settings, which really bring the images closer
to what a cinematographer accustomed to
shooting film would expect.”
Abed added, “While we would have
loved to shoot the show on HD, our budget
wouldn’t allow it, so we are more than
pleased at the cost savings and image quality
that we are able to achieve by shooting
with the SDX900s. If you don’t require HD,
the SDX900 would be my first choice of camera
that records to tape; for the money, it’s
the next best thing in terms of look and quality,
even to film.”
Laguna Beach is edited on an Avid system
and onlined with a full da Vinci color correct
at West Post Digital.
← Back to News
|
