From Gordon-Tyne Productions, RoboDoc takes a darkly comedic look at the many maladies of the country’s health care delivery system. Starring Alan Thicke (of TV’s Growing Pains), the feature was directed by Stephen Maddocks, with cinematography by Stephen Campbell. Cinematographer Kevin Lang, a founder of Best Friend Films, served as Digital Image Technician (DIT).
As one of the first VariCam customers in the Southeast, Best Friend Films has a full roster of production equipment that also includes Panasonic’s AG-HVX200 P2 HD camcorder, and the BT-LH2600W 26”, BT-LH1700W 17” and BT-LH900A 8.4” multi-format HD LCD production monitors. Lang brought two VariCams (the second rented) and four LCD monitors to the set of RoboDoc.
“The VariCam, outfitted with our Pro35 digital lens adapter and Cooke S4/i 35mm lenses, delivered a seamless reproduction of the look of 35mm film without the big price tag,” said Lang. “We made considerable use of off-speed shooting on RoboDoc, speeding up some operation scenes shot at 6-fps and slowing down a comely nurse at 60-fps.”
The director used the two BT-LH1700Ws to monitor the output of the VariCams. DIT Lang checked back and forth between the cameras on the BT-LH2600W. The BT-LH900A was mounted on the VariCam and used as a viewfinder.
“During the course of the shoot, the 26” monitor tumbled down some concrete steps,” Lang recalled. “The monitor is durable as can be — it only suffered a little scratch, which I buffed out. Our clients love the monitors — they’re lightweight, compact and bright enough to use outside.”
“Its ease of use is one of the key reasons I invested in the VariCam,” Lang said. “We do a lot of music videos, and it’s so useful to get into the camera and achieve different looks — turning off the gamma, blooming out the highlights-- that can be recalled quickly. Essentially, special effects are built right into the camera.”
Best Friend Films teams the VariCam and HVX200 for dozens of independent films, high-end-commercials and music videos, as well as various corporate programming including in-room and underwater video shot for Sandals Resorts. Upcoming projects include an episode of The History Channel’s series Modern Marvels and a pilot for the Discovery Channel about the “Wizard of Orlampa,” the second largest landowner in Florida with the world’s largest collection of airplanes.-Panasonic