That is why Mi Casa Multimedia decided to take to the seas and photograph these beautiful ships and their crews using the latest high definition video technology. “My plan is to produce a series on tall ships and the people who sail them,” said Robert Margouleff, Mi Casa’s CEO. “Sailing is one of my personal passions, and I recently went out on the Lynx, a replica of an 1812 American privateer. The ship takes students out, to teach about the War of 1812, and its crew wears period costumes. We had a beautiful voyage and we shot all over the ship, including from the top of the mast.
For portability and true high definition quality, Margouleff used the camera package he recently acquired in partnership with Dan Kavanaugh, a friend and DVD documentary producer. Their Canon XL H1 high definition camera records direct-to-disk using the Wafian HR-1 and its award winning CineForm intermediate format. The footage he captured – shooting the beautiful ship from the top of its tallest mast, and recording the churning waves from tip of the bow sprit – is extraordinary. And even though the XL H1 is sold and priced as an HDV camera, its HD-SDI output going to the Wafian HR1 in the CineForm codec rivals the picture delivered by the best HDCAM cameras on the market.
But Margouleff already knew this fact when he boarded the Lynx with his cameras and crew. He and Kavanaugh had run some very extensive tests of the Canon-Wafian-Cineform workflow. They shot rigorous comparisons with acclaimed cinematographer Scott Billups, and they even did a film-out at iO Film, a digital intermediate facility in Burbank CA. “The results were quite astounding,” said Kavanaugh. “On the big screen, our pictures looked as good as anything captured on an F900, for a fraction of the cost.”
For three days, Margouleff and his team lived aboard the Lynx. While shooting, the HR-1’s ease of use, along with its touch screen LCD for real-time monitoring and immediate playback increased the efficiency and the confidence of the whole Mi Casa team.
And once they were back on land, Margouleff knew that post production would be very efficient as well. Mi Casa engineers simply copied 15 hours worth of CineForm files from the Wafian into their Adobe Premier 2.0 work station, and started selecting and editing – no digitizing or importing required. “And we never have to downconvert or offline in our workflow,” said Mi Casa’s editor Dana Sol. “Once we’re editing, it’s high def all the time. I get to enjoy working with these beautiful quality pictures every day.”
This isn’t their first time using the Canon-Wafian-Cineform workflow. Kavanaugh’s Mirage Productions employed the package to produce high-definition shoots for the upcoming Blu-ray edition of Will Smith’s hit film “The Pursuit of Happyness”. And he has found that the picture quality was perfect for green screen shoots he did recently with Bob Saget and the furry puppet ALF. “Every red hair on ALF keyed perfectly, thanks to real high def we captured on the Wafian at that shoot,” said Kavanaugh.
Mi Casa Multimedia continues to use the Wafian HR-1 along with the Canon XL H1 for Margouleff’s on-going production of the Tall Ships series for HD DVD and Blu-ray. In the near future, look for Mi Casa’s latest productions, including “Chase Boat”, another mini-documentary film now in full production using this proven workflow.
You can learn more about Mi Casa Multimedia and their impressive portfolio of clients by visiting their website at http://www.micasamm.com.
For more information about Wafian’s HR-1 Direct-to-Disk video recorder, please visit our Product Page or call Wafian at 858-863-4166.
