DP NANCY SCHREIBER WINS SUNDANCE “EXCELLENCE IN CINEMATOGRAPHY” AWARD FOR “NOVEMBER”, PSYCHOLOGICAL DRAMA SHOT WITH PANASONIC AG-DVX100’s

SECAUCUS, NJ (February 10, 2004) - Veteran director of photography Nancy Schreiber A.S.C. was recently honored with the Excellence in Cinematography Award at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival for her “exceptional photography” on the drama “November” starring Courteney Cox, James Le Gros and Anne Archer, and directed by Greg Harrison. “November,” produced by IFC Productions’ digital initiative InDigEnt and Map Point Pictures, was shot with Panasonic AG-DVX100 Mini-DV 3-CCD camcorders.

For Schreiber (only the fourth woman voted into membership into the American Society of Cinematographers), this is her second Cinematography Award from Sundance, having shared the 1997 prize for “My America…or Honk If You Love Buddha.” Among her many other accolades are a Kodak Vision Award, an Emmy nomination (HBO’s “Celluloid Closet”), and an IFP “Spirit” Award nomination for her striking work on “Chain of Desire,” starring Linda Fiorentino and Malcolm McDowell. Other projects include “Your Friends and Neighbors,” directed by Neil LaBute, starring Ben Stiller, Amy Brenneman and Jason Patric; and “Loverboy,” directed by Kevin Bacon, starring Kyra Sedgwick, Sandra Bullock, and Matt Dillon. She has shot more than 100 music videos for such recording artists as Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, Sting, Van Morrison and Reba McIntire. In 2000, Schreiber was named one of Variety’s ten top DPs to watch.

From a script by first-time screenwriter Benjamin Brand, “November,” which had its premiere at Sundance, stars Cox as Sophie Jacobs, a photographer who is stricken with feelings of guilt and sadness when her boyfriend is murdered during a robbery. Haunted by a belief that she could have somehow prevented the death, Sophie soon begins to see things that should not be there, and is forced to question the reality around her. The New York Times took note of Schreiber’s “inventive digital camerawork on this noirish puzzle drama.”

Familiar with her work, filmmaker Harrison approached Schreiber and invited her to DP “November.” Impressed by the script and Harrison’s commitment to “make the movie a visually rigorous and artistic statement,” Schreiber was engaged, but concerned about the technical limitations of DV shooting, which clearly would be dictated by the production budget. “I am primarily a film DP, and was concerned about resolution, or sharpness, when shooting ‘November’ on small, mini DV cameras, then taking the product out to film,” she recalled, “but I was very interested in the AG-DVX100’s 24p capabilities and its Leica lens. At that point, I’d only heard about the camcorder, but we tested it, and were impressed with its color handling, and my ability to control contrast and work in a totally manual mode. I particularly liked the ability to shoot at 1/24th sec shutter speed, which meant I could shoot inside or outside at night, with much less light. The camera also handled the highlights well, with a beautiful burn-out, and fewer artifacts than other similarly priced cameras.”

The breakthrough AG-DVX100 is a unique Mini-DV 3-CCD camcorder with exclusive CineSwitch™ technology that supports 480i/60 (NTSC), cinema-style 480p/24fps and 480p/30fps image capture. Panasonic is now delivering an upgraded version of the AG-DVX100, the AG-DVX100A, with more than 20 new features.

"November” was shot in and around Los Angeles over the course of 15 days last May. The production used two AG-DVX100s, with an occasional third camcorder utilized for pick-up shots. Jamie Maxtone-Graham and Marie Chao worked with Schreiber as camera operators.

“I shot ‘November’ as if I were using a film camera,” Schreiber said, “which I felt was critical to my work on the project. I worked with Schneider & Century Optics, Abel Cine Tech, Birns & Sawyer, Ste-Man--all companies that have been unbelievably diligent about outfitting the - DVX100 for professional moviemaking. Through them, I was able to get everything I needed - follow focus, clip-on matte boxes, filters, wide and telephoto attachments, as well as a panther dolly, Cartoni tripods and a jib arm.”

The DP explained that “November” has three distinct “chapters,” each with its own color palette. “In the story, we keep returning to a convenience store, which we color balanced as a murky green. Then we had what we call the blue, golden and white ‘chapters,’ matching the emotional journey of Sophie. We tried to do everything in-camera in terms of color and contrast, which was facilitated by the camera’s Cine-Like setting and scene files. To achieve a film-like quality, I worked on the long-end of the lens, as wide open as possible, with not much depth of field. We had to do some wide shots—traditionally a liability with video cameras—but I thought these shots looked almost as good as if we’d shot with an expensive HD camera.”

Schreiber continued, “I really appreciated the luxury of having the camera throughout pre-production—with the AG-DVX100, that’s an affordable approach. We were able to shoot tests while scouting locations with the actual camera we would be using. And, in advance, we were able to go to film-out while testing a variety of in-camera settings. The camera’s Leica lens was indeed sharp, with great range. And I really liked the little fold-out screen that swivels in all directions, making it very easy to work with.” (The AG-DVX100’s large 3.5” color LCD monitor rotates 270 degrees, facilitating high-angle shots or self-recordings.)

Director Harrison., who also served as the editor for “November,” said the post process was first-rate. “Because we shot 24p, we were able to have a film post-production work flow, which I considered essential. We edited on a beta version of Avid’s Adreneline, which handles up to seven streams of uncompressed video. We output digitally to Digital Betacam, and did real-time up-res to 1080p. For Sundance, we did a cross-conversion to 1080i, which was projected on a 50’ screen. That was quite a blow-up, but the image held remarkably well.”

Harrison added that we did tape-to-tape color correction in a theatrical framework (on a 30’ screen) on a Pogel color corrector at Laser Pacific with colorist Mike Sowa. Audio was done at Skywalker.

“This was entirely a digital desktop movie,” he added. “Picture and sound never hit tape, staying on a hard drive until our final output to HD. Because we’d shot progressive, we had more vertical resolution in post. And on the acquisition end, I was very pleased with the way the camera dealt with color and overexposure. The highlights, in particular, were soft and rounded. Altogether, the images were more filmic than those of other DV cameras.”

The AG-DVX100A offers over 20 new user-requested features, plus all the top-performing functions of its predecessor. New features include enhanced 24p and 30p progressive mode functions; improved color reproduction; new cine-like gamma curves and enhanced image adjustments; a slow shutter function for higher sensitivity and dramatic motion effects; smoother zooming and focusing; a new squeeze mode for 16:9 recording; and new auto focus assist and interval recording modes for improved ease and versatility.