Panasonic Varicam chosen for film short

Panasonic's AJ-HDC27 Varicam HD cinema camera was recently selected to shoot a narrative short – 'Last Night With Angel'.
The feature was produced by Geoff Garrett, directed by Mike Henry, written by Vanessa Tomayo, and James Mathers served as director of photography.
'Last Night With Angel', which is slated for festival submissions, is a Hollywood tale about a low-level executive who encounters a powerful literary agent on the downside of his career.
Director of photography James Mathers said: "With a plan to submit a film print for inclusion in film festivals around the world, but with a very limited budget, HD seemed to be the perfect choice for 'Angel'. The AJ-HDC27 Varicam performed extremely well on location, and I was especially impressed with its sensitivity, which came in very handy in the many low light situations we found ourselves in."
Mathers went on to explain that the team were able to take advantage of the Varicam's variable frame-rate capabilities in a variety of situations. As the director wanted to achieve a surreal feeling, shooting in POV at 60-fps took the edge off the reality of the footage and helped set the tone for many scenes. Mather was also able to take advantage of the variable speed facility to shoot a time lapse of the sun coming up over the downtown LA skyline .The actual night-to-day transition was filmed at 4-fps with no shutter which proved to be effective but the team's main challenge was to fix the shot at the right neutral density as the sun rose in a dramatic climax to the scene.
Panasonic, www.panasonic.co.uk
(GMcG)