Projects


TAKING THE PULSE OF MUSIC Director Giorgio Testi explains why the EX1 and EX3 are such hard cameras to beat on live music shoots


Director Giorgio Testi from Pulse Films has worked on a range of live, multicamera music shoots over the past year, making DVDs and TV specials for artists from Richard Ashcroft and Blur to La Roux, Hurts and Sting. Testi, whose Blur DVD has been Grammy


nominated, uses a range of cameras to capture the live action but is happiest with one of Sony’s file- based XDCAM camcorders in his hands. “I love shooting with Sony cameras, mainly the PMW-EX1 and PMW-EX3, because of their flexibility and versatility,” he enthuses.


“They are small, but big


enough to make you feel you are holding a proper camera and not a photographic camera. In fact they are exactly the right size for gigs, able to capture the intimacy of a medium sized concert without filming becoming too intrusive during the live performance. In particular I love the way you can quickly access


camera settings and change format, resolution, shutter speed, and in particular, the frame rate.” Versatility is a big plus for Testi, who is continually mixing frame rates from 25 to 50 fps. “Even though slow motion is not at full resolution it’s still very good for broadcast TV purposes.” The EX1s and EX3s have a good dynamic range,


and good lenses, adds Testi, who points out that even without the benefit of a lighting rig he could still achieve a gorgeous look, even in low light. There’s also the option of adding 35mm or photographic lenses with a Letus adapter with stunning results. Testi has also used the cameras on big live shows, such as Blur – live in Hyde Park, mixing the footage up with footage from other bigger cameras. “In the final edit you can’t really tell the difference,” he argues. Workflow wise Testi is also impressed with the ability to rapidly download and convert rushes


from SxS cards with the XDCAM codec working well on edit platform Final Cut Pro. “It’s very reliable and not too compressed. This workflow enables very tight turnaround – I am able to do the edit in just 12 hours from scratch. What you can achieve editing after the concert compared to doing a live/line cut is much better and suites my style. Basically for me the cameras have been quite inspiring, enabling me to customize my workflow in my own way.” Overall, these cameras are perfect for broadcast use, insists Testi. “XDCAM has a good compression codec, good colours and resolution, and the SxS memory cards are super reliable – I’ve never had a corrupted file since I started using these cameras two years ago. The workflow is unbeatable. All in all, for me, working with the EX1 and EX3 is not a choice driven by the programme budget, it’s the only choice.”


Winter 2011 theproducer 25


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