The Angenieux Optimo 24 - 290mm Zoom Lens has now arrived. This lens adds exceptional quality to a new optical design that completely eliminates breathing. It is extremely fast at T2.8 and has a minimum focus of 4' and covers all formats, including Super 35. Available with PL or PV lens mounts.

With the help of Panavision's John Virtue and Chris Robinson, we managed to transform the Panavision / Sony HDW-F900 into a lighter-weight documentary kit, capable of fast and furious hand-held work, alongside the more precise operation needed to shoot with the Fraziers.”

-Pieter De Vries

Triumph at Cannes and 2003 AFI Awards for Aussie Short Cracker Bag

The only Aussie short film selected for Cannes has won the prestigious Palme D'or Short Film Award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and picked up numerous awards at this year’s AFI Awards. Melbourne based DOP Greig Fraser shares with us his story of how he shot Cracker Bag:

“What appealed to me about the story was that it was set in a period of time that was particularly vivid for me; the late 1970s. I wanted to be able to photograph the short in a similar fashion to the way I saw life when I was a kid around Eddie's age.

I tried to capture the world around Eddie with washed out colours and an overcast darkness. It would appear externally as somewhat of a depressing character study. Internally though, Eddie's world is one of obsession and enjoyment as she focuses her time on preparing an arsenal of firecrackers.

From the first production meetings Jo Ford, production designer, Glendyn and myself, spoke at length about trying to create a look that drew the audience into Eddie’s private world, but gave brief glimpses at the wider world in which she was living. To achieve this I deliberately avoided using wider lenses, instead choosing mid to long lenses to introduce Eddie's world. In most establishing shots, I used at least a 35mm lens, trying sometimes (where location allowed it) to shoot the establishing shot on a 50mm.

Because we were going to try and make Eddie’s world quite dark, I felt that Fuji was the most appropriate stock choice. I felt that the subtleness and beauty of Fuji's shadow detail would help the audience see further into this world we were trying to capture.

We shot the film over 5 full crew days, with another 5 minimal crew days for pickup shots. During these pickup days, we went back to some of the locations to shoot cutaways, and even some close-ups that were always boarded but the original schedule didn't allow us to achieve.

The help of the Cracker Bag crew and suppliers were crucial to getting the film made. I personally would like to acknowledge the help and generosity of Panavision Melbourne's Nigel Gorham in supplying gear and advice, as well as the camera department: Rohan Zerna and Anna Jeffries. Electrics department: Lez Frazier, Adam Kercheval, and Chris Loveday. Grips: David Cross and Glen Arrowsmith.”