American Cinematographer - July 1986 - 90

strong backlight that would have played
havoc with video. Additionally, in deal¬

ing with a woman, a hard edge was to
be avoided. And with the comfort of the
audience and Jeannette a consideration,
the light levels were relatively low and
diffused. Thus, Kodak 7291 was used,
and it performed well.
Over the next two days,
Jeannette was going to speak for nearly
30 minutes at each of her four ses¬
sions. With three cameras running si¬

multaneously,
demanded

budget and time

take of each show.
Placed in the confines of a small room
one

and with

a

continuous take of about 25

minutes,

a

top-of-the-line, quiet, profes¬

sional 16mm

camera was

needed. For¬

tunately, the people at Panavision came
up with a camera that met all the
qualifications.
"Travel Tips" used three of
the

Panavision 16mm Panaflex
Because of the growing use of
16mm in the professional market, Bob
Dunn of Panavision explains that "they
wanted to give top line professionals a
new

cameras.

professional camera." Mike Smith, di¬
rector of photography, says, "if you've
worked with the 35mm Panaflex, you'll
feel very comfortable with the 16mm
Panaflex." And, Smith echoes Dunn's
remark in

saying, "it's

a

high quality,

comfortable, studio-type of camera."
Aside from the high quality
equipment Panavision supplied,
the strong points of the 16mm Panaflex
provided were essential for this project.
First of all, the 1200 ft. magazine load
provided over 30 minutes of filming
time at 24 fps. This allowed all three
cameras to shoot Jeannette telling her
stories in one take, without changing
mags. Essentially, this kept Jeannette's
rhythm and energy level constant and
undisturbed. Second, the quietness of
the camera is reported at being less
than 22 db with film running. 1n a quiet
room where the soundman can pick up
old bones creaking, a quiet camera (ac¬
tually three quiet cameras) is
indispensable.
camera

impression

on

the audience and the

This "speaker on film" type
production has become increasingly
popular with organizations since the
cost of bringing in a noted speaker can
be prohibitive for many groups. But
more often than not, the production val¬
ues for these types of films have been
fairly dismal. Usually, the speaker lec¬
tures before a hundred or more people
in an auditorium and is captured on
videotape.
of

It must be

pointed out that in
"Travel Tips," the show is 99% Jean¬
nette

Robinson
create an

crew.

and

nette can

American

MO-Ranch near Hunt, Texas, located in
the heart of the scenic Texas Hill Coun¬
try. An antique-filled living room in an
old hunting lodge turned out to be the
ideal setting. Jeannette was placed at
the end of the room where three large
windows gave a view of the vast green

countryside of south central Texas. The
warm,

sired

intimate situation that

was

tion of

1% style and technique.

Cinematographer

work and communicate." So,
crew traveled to the

Jeannette and the

use

88

explains, "The goal is to
ideal situation in which Jean¬

a

made

de¬

small audience.

The setting
of film. The large

July 1986

was

complete with the addi¬

demanded the
windows gave a

While Jeannette

film, the three

was

lit for

setup looked
strikingly similar to a television set. To
enhance the effect even more, two of
the cameras were on Elemack dollies,
camera

giving them the mobility

a

is afforded. The third

television

the
Panaflex was essential to this produc¬
tion was the sophisticated, built-in
camera

reason
American Cinematographer - July 1986

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