Judi Krant’s debut feature, Made in China, has won the Grand Jury Award in the narrative feature competition at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival, which ran through March 21 in Austin, TX. The movie was shot in its entirety with an AG-HVX200 P2 HD handheld camcorder on location in Texas and Shanghai.
Made in China, which premiered at the festival, follows a Texas novelty inventor, Johnson, who travels to Shanghai. Determined to bring his big idea, a humorous “domestic hygiene product,” to an awaiting public, Johnson journeys to the mecca of the novelty world, where anything is possible and everything has its price.
“Shooting a low-budget indie in mainland China guerrilla-style is a fairly dicey proposition,” said filmmaker Krant, who shares the screenwriting credit. “The HVX200 allowed us to be nimble and efficient while filming in the busy streets of Shanghai.”
“We shot for 15 days in Shanghai and five in Texas, and everyday we were constantly moving,” Krant continued. “We covered at least 25 locations in Shanghai alone, and about 10 in Texas. There was a lot of sweat involved.”
“My DP and I did considerable research before choosing the HVX200,” Krant said. “I was thrilled to find a camera within our budget that would shoot HD quality and at 24 fps. You always want the best image acquisition you can afford and, working on a micro-budget, we were delighted by the picture quality we achieved with the HVX200.”
Made in China was shot at 720/24fps, with many of the set-ups using natural light. The feature was edited in Final Cut Pro, and digitally projected at SXSW.
“Throughout the festival, we had very favorable comments on how high the production values of Made in China are, and the Grand Jury Award was, of course, the ultimate compliment,” Krant added.
SWSX screened 133 feature-length films including 57 world premieres. For more information, visit www.sxsw.com.
For more information about Made in China, visit www.micthemovie.com.
About the AG-HVX200A
Panasonic recently introduced its new AG-HVX200A, an enhanced version of the HVX200. The 1/3″ 3-CCD handheld P2 HD/DV camcorder now features improved progressive 3-CCD imagers, a DSP that increases sensitivity while lowering noise and smear, and a new 13X zoom lens. The ultra-versatile HVX200A records in 1080i and 720p in production-proven 100 Mbps DVCPRO HD quality, with the ability to capture images in 21 record modes. The DVCPRO HD format offers users cost-effective, intra-frame compression, where each frame stands on its own for editing, and its full 4:2:2 color sampling allows the image to hold up under color correction. The camera records video on a P2 card as IT-friendly MXF files in 1080/60i, 30p and 24p; in 720/60p, 30p and 24p; in 50Mbps DVCPRO50 and in 25Mbps DVCPRO or DV. The HVX200A can capture fast or slow action in 720p at various frame rates: the shooting frame rate in 720p native mode can be set for any of 11 steps between 12fps and 60fps including 24fps and 30fps. For more information on the HVX200A, visit www.panasonic.com/P2HD.
About Panasonic Broadcast
Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems Co. is a leading supplier of broadcast and professional video products and systems. Panasonic Broadcast is a unit company of Panasonic Corporation of North America. The company is the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation (NYSE Symbol: PC) the hub of Panasonic’s U.S. branding, marketing, sales, service and R&D operations. For more information on Panasonic Broadcast products, visit www.panasonic.com/broadcast.
