Actor and Chairman of Openfilm, James Caan (Las Vegas, The Godfather, El Dorado) will be hosting a live online webcam chat to answer questions sent in from fans and filmmakers about everything from how to get into "the biz" to expert-level advice, and reflections and anecdotes about his career.
Thursday May 20, Noon - 1 pm PT. Register to watch here.
According to their About Us page, Openfilm is an independent film community company dedicated to developing, marketing and distributing great works.
What the hey?! - Canon pimps HDV video
Even though they've announced some cool solid-state professional camcorders, Canon obviously sees a continuing future for their HDV cameras. They just sent out a press-release about producer Randall Dark and his use of the Canon HDV camera, the XL H1S. Actually, it's an interesting little piece about using the camera, worth a read, though the last section: "The Advantage of Tape" is notable:
"We are in a transitional period with regard to recording media," Dark said. "I've spent 23 years shooting high definition and recording it to tape, and I can honestly say I have never had a problem with losing content on tape. I have, on occasion, risked my life to get images, and I'm not afraid to do that. What I am afraid of is losing content due to media failure.[emphasis added] I love the fact that the Canon XL H1S enables me to record to tape, which I can then transfer to my preferred brand of hard drives. I'm confident in those hard drives, and I also like having tape as a back-up. It's prudent to always protect your assets. There's a great opportunity today to do things cost-effectively by using both tape and hard drives if you understand how to use them efficiently together. I shoot with my XL H1S, transfer that tape footage to hard drives, and it makes my workflow unbelievably easy."Anyone reading that might think Canon was warning them away from solid-state cameras. Heavens! This is what I would expect from a company that didn't have a solid-state camera coming out in less than a month, not from Canon who does.
It's a little puzzling; are they intentionally trying to confuse their customers? Was this written before they came out with the XF305, or is this the HDV division fighting with the solid-state division? Conspiracy theorists; have at it!
I'm not saying that HDV is a bad thing, or what they are saying is wrong, or even that they should be driving their customers away from HDV. I just find it interesting how difficult and confusing these transitions can be both for customers and for manufacturers, and this article, given it doesn't even mention their new cameras, I find especially puzzling.
Shootonline: Canon U.S.A. XL H1S High Definition Camcorder Chosen For Multiple Video Projects by Veteran Producer Randall Dark
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