EX
TAPELESS RECORDING SYSTEM
PMW-EX1
Demand explodes for revolutionary solid state camcorder
Seamless editing
XDCAM EX supports all the major editing systems
SxS PRO media
32GB memory cards record up to 140 minutes of HD
Licence to thrill
BEHIND THE SCENES ON THE NEW BOND MOVIE
EX
Welcome to the tapeless world
Since the revolutionary PMW-EX1 solid state camcorder started shipping towards the end of last year, there has been an explosion in productions turning to tapeless for the first time. The high capacity SxS PRO ExpressCard memory cards offer affordable solid state recording of up to 70-minutes HD quality, with a doubling of capacity this year when new 32GB cards start shipping. With incredible workflow advantages and robust, industrystandard media, the XDCAM EX production system is changing forever the way programmes are made.
The PMW-EX1 solid state camcorder is being widely used to capture the sights and sounds at large music events whether it is classical concerts at the Royal Festival Hall, an UNKLE gig at the Brixton Academy, or Iron Maiden's 2008 World Tour.
EX steals the show
Videographer Johnny Burke has been responsible for filming and post producing rock group Iron Maiden's concerts for a decade. Now, he's using the PMW-EX1 to shoot the band's latest tour. The first leg of the 2008 Somewhere Back In Time World Tour played 21 cities across four continents in just 45 days. EMI Classics is to promote the new album by pianist Evgeny Kissin and conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy with a behind-the-scenes video shot on PMW-EX1s supplied by Prime Television, and directed by Paul Bates of White Water Media. The recording features Ashkenazy conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall with Kissin performing Prokofiev piano concertos. 11:22 Entertainment captured the action at an UNKLE concert at the Brixton Academy in London in March. The shoot, involving five PMWEX1s, is for feature film documentary, The Man from UNKLE.
UNKLE in concert
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Published by Small World Publishing Limited on behalf of Sony Europe, Jays Close, Viables, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG22 4SB, United Kingdom. Contents copyright 2008 Sony Corporation. Reproduction in whole or part is strictly prohibited. Permission may be granted by application to Sony Europe, Marketing Communications. No responsibility for loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by the authors or publishers. Whilst information given is true at the time of printing, small production changes in the course of our company's policy of improvement through research and design might not be indicated in any specifications. Please check with Sony to ensure that current specification and features match your requirements. Sony and all Sony product names are trademarks of the Sony Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Cover picture: © 2008 Danjaq, LLC, United Artists Corporation and Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.
Putting the boot in
Nice Shirt Films had YouTube viewers stampeding to post reactions after it released a viral ad for Nike football boots. Shot on the PMW-EX1 camcorder, Lace Your Feet shows an athlete appearing to tie up his own feet. Nice Shirt's Jon Hollis used a prosthetic foot manipulated in post production to create the effect. The ad, part of a four-part viral campaign for Nike's 230g Mercurial Vapor 4 boot, caused a stir when it appeared on YouTube in February. Hollis, who directed the four ads, says the Sony PMW-EX1 deserves a lot of the credit. "For one shocking moment, you think maybe the athlete is tying up his own feet. It looks like a film camera captured the images. Nike are so impressed, they'd like to show the ads on TV. Unfortunately, they can't because the content is too disturbing. "If they could be shown on TV, the funny part is I'd have to downscale the internet version from HD to standard def," he says. Hollis, a founding director of The Mill, says solid state makes a huge difference in post production. "Transferring rushes from EX cards to a laptop is quick and simple. The same amount of material on 35mm would have taken about half a day. With the EX cards, I was editing within ten minutes," he says. Nice Shirt Films has also used the PMW-EX1, which was supplied by Sony Specialist Dealer Creative Video, on ads for Allied Irish Bank and Frisks, a Japanese mint.
To the ends of the earth
Life in the city
Midlands production house, Isis Media, has produced a pop video for the Community Channel on Sony's solid state PMW-EX1 camcorder. The project, made with charity The Young Disciples, tackles teenage gang culture in Birmingham. "The PMW-EX1 is a one-man outfit with an incredible end result," says Isis Media's Ben Robinson. "It's unobtrusive, the picture and sound quality is what you'd expect from Sony's CineAlta brand and it feels like a professional film camera."
Expedition Media has used an XDCAM EX camcorder with HotCam UK for their latest expedition in the African desert. Operating 120 metres below sea level, Sony's PMW-EX1 showed exceptional endurance and robustness, and proved to be a light-weight option for both crew and the camels that carried them. "This small camera was literally taken to `hell' and back! Despite the bodywork taking a beating and the LCD screen pushed to breaking point, the internal working of the memory card-recording camera held fast," says Richard Farish, co-director of Expedition Media, a website resource of adventure crews. Expedition Media's latest expedition was heading up a technical team that trekked to a part of Ethiopia that is officially the hottest location on the planet. The team, working with the PMW-EX1 and an HDW-790P HDCAM A new series of camcorder, passed through some of the most short films treacherous and hostile designed to be environments known to man. shown on "Tracking alongside the presenters, or PlayStation3 have running ahead to film majestic shots of the just been shot in team passing through the breathtaking terrain HD with the took a super human effort," says Expedition PMW-EX1 Media co-director Paul Mungeam. "When camcorder. carrying the HDW-790P in 50 degrees of heat "These are short became too much, the crews would tie the snappy, low budget larger camera to a camel and opt for the films: the idea is to lightweight PMW-EX1. This combination showcase digital meant that none of the epic journey was technology and missed. The durability and versatility of the show what you can Sony cameras combined with the skill of the do with good ideas Expedition Media cameramen resulted in and small some stunning results." budgets," www.expeditionmedia.co.uk comments Carl Christopher, sponsorship and events manager for Sony Computer Entertainment UK. "The EX1s gave excellent picture quality and were very easy to use," he says. "The results show what you can do with the right digital technology."
PS3 shorts on EX
Picture credit: Rupert Smith
EX 3
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