December 2007
The television show “Mythbusters” is all about setting the record straight on long-held urban legends, but one fact that doesn’t need to be proven is the production capability of Sony’s XDCAM HD™ Professional Disc™ System.
“Our show is all about credibility; what you see is exactly what’s happening,” said Peter Heap, director of photography for the Discovery Channel’s popular show “MythBusters.
“You can tell someone that diving into water stops the penetration of firing bullets, but until a person actually sees it first-hand, the legend will never completely die.”
To provide viewers the best possible view of the separation of truth from fiction, Heap and the “MythBusters” production team carefully evaluated all available options before making its recent transition to HD production.
They chose the XDCAM HD system as the primary workhorse for a variety of factors: its cost-effectiveness, reliability and potential for conveying realism.
They were also impressed by its IT-based production workflow and use of “proxy video,” recording both high-resolution original and lower-resolution, frame-accurate proxy audio and video to the Professional Disc media.
As a result, production teams on location can transfer the proxy information to laptop editors or back to their studios at up to 30 times faster-than-real-time, so producers can immediately start writing scripts or editing programs, at the same time the high-res content is being shipped back on the actual discs.
According to Heap, since the show is shot in the United States and edited in Australia, the logistical advantages of the XDCAM® proxy file system are significant.
“We ship our discs back to Australia each Friday,” Heap said. “I copy the proxy files to the laptop and FTP (File Transfer Protocol) them back to the post crew. When the discs arrive in Australia, the proxy files can be instantly matched to the high res files. It’s a tremendous time saver.”
Heap said, “We’re constantly on the run and since we usually do things in one take, the shot must be in focus the first time. In our case, it’s beneficial to have the greater depth of field the ½-inch chip provides.” He added he also prefers the PDW-F350’s ½-inch chip for its latitude in low-light situations.
Occasionally, a stunt is performed over a time period that is best conveyed in slow- or fast- motion footage for TV purposes. To capture this perspective, Heap said his crew attaches an intervelometer to a Sony HVR-Z1U HDV camcorder, a smaller and less costly camera that’s helpful to use in specific spots.
This camera, protected inside a custom waterproof housing, is also ideal for capturing underwater footage, necessary for busting myths such as whether bullets are deflected by water or a person can escape from a water-submerged vehicle.
To avoid putting the more costly XDCAM HD and HVR-Z1U camcorders in harm’s way during intense explosion scenes, Heap said his crew brings in a Sony HDR-HC3 consumer camcorder so there are no wires to trip over or get pulled out, and only one set of batteries to run down instead of two, a much preferred option to the previously used lipstick cameras with batteries that are separate from the recorders.
Using these carefully selected production tools, Heap said he seeks to keep the show from looking too polished opting to go all handheld to create an appearance he calls a perfect mesh of “independent and slick.”
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