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Grizzly Creek Films Selects Fujinon Eng Lenses For National Geographic Channel Film
WAYNE, NJ, April 29, 2009 - In April 2008, Grizzly Creek Films executive producers Leslie M. Gaines, Mailande Becker Holland, and Thomas Winston began documenting the grizzly bears of Yellowstone National Park for an upcoming one-hour special for the National Geographic Channel. On location, the crew paired the Panasonic AG-HPX500 P2 HD camcorder with a Fujinon HA42x13.5BERD lens, as well as a Panasonic AJ-HPX3000 P2 HD camcorder with a Fujinon HA13X4.5 wide angle lens for special segments. Aerial footage was shot by Aerial Director of Photography Gary Kaufman of Omniscience High Definition Video, who used a gimbal-stabilized Sony HDC-F950 camera outfitted with a Fujinon HA42x9.7 lens.
The special, "Expedition Grizzly featuring Casey Anderson," is scheduled to air on Sunday, May 3, 2009 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on National Geographic Channel. The documentary chronicles renowned naturalist Casey Anderson's year-long odyssey to shed light on Yellowstone's "island" population of about 600 grizzlies.
With a subject as difficult to locate and document as wild grizzly bears, lens selection was critical for this project, according to Thomas Winston, Executive Producer, Grizzly Creek Films. "The Yellowstone grizzlies are quick to retreat at the first sign of human intrusion, so we had to have the longest and sharpest lens available," he said. "The Fujinon 42X allowed us to shoot from a distance without affecting the behavior of the bears. The lens' built-in OS-Tech image stabilization system removed any unwanted movement, which can arise during unstable long shots."
In order to simultaneously capture both the natural history of the Yellowstone grizzly and Anderson's on-camera analysis and reactions, the crew devised a two-camera strategy that integrated dynamic handheld verité footage of Anderson tracking and observing the bears with more traditional natural history footage of the grizzlies. A Panasonic AG-HVX200 was used for the footage of Anderson, while the HPX500 equipped with the Fujinon lens was used to capture the natural history footage.
Conditions were often far from ideal during production. The equipment was exposed to spring blizzards and high elevations throughout the shoot. Winston said the Fujinon lens performed in all conditions, delivering pristine HD images.
