Hal Long principal of production company Henry Films Los Angeles recently directed a launch video for the 2010 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe. The 90-second video produced by Aquila Productions of New York originally screened at the Detroit Auto Show continues to play at auto shows around the country and is used in General Motors’ marketing of its new prestige coupe. The director of photography was Mark Raker with additional cinematography by Jeffrey Dougherty. The video was made over the course of two days at GM’s test-drive facility in Detroit. Camera equipment and accessories were rented from Abel Cine Tech’s Los Angeles office. The video emphasizes the performance and comfort of the CTS-V ride. A Panasonic VariCam 3700 was used to shoot the well-appointed interiors and as the B camera when the coupe was on the road. A Phantom HD camera was used to shoot high-speed footage up to 400-fps of the car idling on the tarmac and peeling out on the track. A Panasonic AG-HPX170 P2 HD handheld camcorder was deployed on car mounts and to shoot some interior details in small spaces. The production team used the AG-HMR10 AVCCam compact field recorder/player and AG-HCK10 POVCam camera on car mounts the AG-HPG20 Portable P2 HD recorder for real-time P2 back up of the Phantom and confidence playback and the P2 Mobile recorder/player for video village review. “While we needed an ultra high-speed camera for exteriors the VariCam 3700 integrated beautifully into our specialized workflow ” says Long. “The interiors are a major part of the piece and shooting with the HPX3700 at full-raster 1920x1080 resolution in AVC-Intra 100 we achieved images that fully convey the passenger luxury inside the car.” “The HMR10/HKC10 AVCCam products were a great addition to the production ” he says. “The car in the video was the only CTS-V Coupe in existence and had to appear in the auto show only a week after our shoot which meant we couldn't do standard car mounts which can require rigging directly on the body. That's why the POVCam was such a terrific player – it only needed suction mounts.” “Considering its minute size and weight—a little more than half a pound—the POVCam is a big performer ” Long says. “We shot in the highest-quality PH mode using a long lens and recorded 1080/30p to the HMR10. The car mounts were all about singling out detail and we got a really nice looking defocused background with the HCK10.” The video was edited in Final Cut Pro finished in Final Cut Studio and delivered in DVCPRO HD for presentation on a 100-foot theatre screen at the Detroit Auto Show.
