This is a new blog which is a first time experience for my partner/wife Kelly and me. We've been producing high definition television programs for this "Discoveries..." series since 2000 and releasing them also on DVD.
So far we've released a 51 hour series "Discoveries...America" which is an hour on each state of the U.S. plus Washington, D.C.. that was a 5 year project, spending at least 2 weeks in each state.
Before that we released a 7 hour series, "Discoveries...Spain", 3 hours in the "Discoveries...Ireland" series, and 4 hours in the "Discoveries...Argentina" series.
Recently we released a 3 hour "Discoveries...India" series, the first in what we hope will be many hours on this extraordinary and interesting country. We also recently released 4 hours in the "Discoveries...Asia" series, which again is the beginning of we hope a much longer series on this part of the world.
All are a collection of video essays about the people and places in each of these unique locations that give some insight into who and where they are.
In January of this year we spent nearly 3 weeks filming in East Africa, using two XDCAM EX cameras, an EX-3 and an EX-1. We had a terrific guide, Stanford Milinga, who ended up being the narrator for the programs, for the most part, though we did add some voice over as needed in each show.
Stanford is a very remarkable individual, whose terrific sense of humor and extensive knowledge of the country made our trip and these movies truly special. Not only did he have an amazing understanding of the national parks and animals therein, but his grasp of his country's people and traditions was exhaustive. We spent a couple of hours at a Maasai village and at one point Stanford was doing a short description of the Maasai and their traditions, while many of the Maasai listened. Afterward several of the warriors complimented Stanford on his knowledge of their people and commented they seldom if ever have heard anyone describe their lives so well.
Below is a brief description of the show and the opening montage of the first DVD in the series, "Discoveries...Africa Tanzania, Arusha & Lake Manyara National Parks"
In a week or so I'll add information and video from the second show, "Discoveries...Africa Tanzania, Tarangire National Park. You can always go to our website www.Bennett-Watt.com for more information.
The East African country of Tanzania is located just south of the Equator. Over 587,000 square miles in area, home of the continents’ tallest mountain, Kilimanjaro and more national parks and game preserves than any other wildlife destination in the world. Enlightened game management, strict regulation on hunting coupled with an excellent infrastructure for tourism and guided by professional guide, Stanford Milinga, makes Tanzania a world-class destination for game viewing photo safaris.
Arusha National Park is considered to be a gem in Tanzania's 'Northern Safari Circuit', just 40 minutes drive from the safari gateway town of Arusha, Tanzania’s second largest city and the local street markets there.
The major peaks of Mt Kilimanjaro and Mt Meru surround the park and Giraffes greet you as soon as you pass the park gates. From the green swamps and thick forest to Ngurdoto Crater to the shallow alkaline lakes, Arusha National Park has a diverse and changing landscape.
The only location on the “northern safari circuit”, where live the unique and beautiful black-and-white Colobus Monkey. Here too Elephants, Baboons, Cape Buffalo and a variety of other wild animals.
Lake Manyara National Park is at the base of the Great Rift Valley escarpment in an environment of forest, grassland and swamps. It is considered one of the country’s smallest national parks but with a unique ecosystem and a large variety of animals. Wildlife include the famous tree climbing Lions, one of the largest concentrations of Baboons in the world, Buffalo, Zebra, Hippopotamus, Giraffe, Wildebeest, Warthogs, Banded Mongoose, Monkeys, Elephants and over 350 species of birds.
Though Lions are found in trees throughout Tanzania, Lake Manyara National Park has developed a reputation for tree climbing Lions. Hippo pools offer a terrific view of animals whose hide alone can weigh half a ton and is the third-largest living land mammal, after elephants and white rhinos. Lake Manyara National Park is just off the main tourist highway from Arusha to Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Park near the village of Mto Wa Mbu, where the future of Tanzania is exemplified at the community primary school with children from a number of tribes and dialects.
We'll also have a 5th program, "Discoveries...Africa Tanzania, Maasailand Epilogue" which is collection of elements from our filming that didn't make any of the 4 primary programs...the "edit room floor" if you will. It will include a profile of Stanford Milinga our guide, animals from Serengeti National Park...lions, elephants, loeopards and hippos. Here too, Stanford explains the remarkable and very industrious dung beetle and why they're an important part of this complex ecological system, along with the whistling acacia and it's unique guardian residents.
We just received an email from Stanford who outlined the rains have still not come to the southern Serengeti, which is becoming a serious situation with a number of wildebeest apparently dying.
The second in the "Discoveries...Africa Tanzania" series is "Tarangire National Park".
Tarangire National Park lies to the south of the large open grass plains of southern Maasailand and is the best-kept secret on the “northern safari circuit”.
This park has the largest population of Elephants anywhere in Tanzania. It's sparse vegetation, strewn with Baobab and Acacia trees, makes it an incredible location. Baobab trees are one of the world’s oldest and can survive up to 3000 years.
Families of elephants play, graze and rest around the ancient trunks of Baobab trees and strip Acacia bark from the thorn trees for their afternoon meal. Herds of Elephants scratch river beds for underground streams. It is estimated 2500 Elephants, consisting of approximately 32 distinct family groups make Tarangire their home. A physically fit elephant can survive for 72 years. Natural death comes when their teeth can no longer function.
Tarangire National Park has the greatest concentration of wildlife outside the Serengeti ecosystem, second only to the crowded Ngorongoro Crater. During the dry season, the Tarangire River is a shadow of its wet season high, but it is choked with wildlife. Thirsty animals have wandered hundreds of parched kilometers knowing that there is always water here. Predators rarely go hungry as their prey is attracted to the water as they lie in wait nearby.
The swamps, tinged green year round, are the focus for 550 bird varieties, the most breeding species in one habitat anywhere in the world.
Highlights include a variety of game animals in addition to Cheetah stalking a herd of Impala, a pair of Lions on their “honeymoon”, large herd of Cape Buffalo, Kikoti Lodge, a safari guide school and a virtual parade of Elephants. The East African country of Tanzania is located just south of the Equator.
Traveling Light....
Discoveries…Africa, On Safari with EX-3 & EX-1….
My partner/wife, Kelly and I just returned from shooting (video not “bang/bang”) in Tanzania for three weeks with our Sony Ex-1 and Ex-3 cameras. We’re producing a series of 5, one hour programs on Tanzania’s National Parks, people, wildlife and the safari experience in East Africa through the eyes of our professional safari guide. He’s an extremely knowledgeable and gregarious individual who loves to tell stories of his animals, people and country.
The mystique, mystery and magnificence of the African bush is made for high Definition, and a program Kelly and I have wanted to make for more than 20 years. Our timing with the economy “in the pits” could have been better with a much likelier chance of pre selling the series, but all our contacts were enthusiastic, but after the shows were finished, so no up front money. We finally decided that we would take the leap and finance the adventure ourselves, plus DVD sales of our series are good, so it’s not a “fool hardy” investment of time & money. An additional benefit is we’re not
A little over a year ago we decided for some overseas work we had planned, to switched from using our Varicam H model to the Sony EX cameras.
We made the change to the solid state cameras for a couple of reasons, not the least of which were these new Sony’s take splendid video, plus we can shoot in a variety of recording formats and they’re small. We wanted to travel light, very, very light, with a back pack each and one checked bag, No light kit, no grip kit, no dolly, no jib.
Since these assignments were mostly outdoors, we carry 3, Lite Panels portable LED lights that run off double A’s. We have 3, Sennheiser G-2 500 series RF’s with a couple of butt plug transmitters for an MKH 60 and 416 directional mics if we need them. The Sennheiser RF’s also run off double A batteries and run for a long time. At least 16 to 20 hours on a pair of lithium double A’s. What a treat. Beats 4 or 5 hours on Lithium 9v’s for our older units from another manufacturer. These mics are frequency agile we have a couple in the same block so we can set up dual receivers so each camera has the same audio coming from the transmitter which we can place on a guide or subject we are focusing on.
Another reason we made the switch from tape to solid state recording is we can at the end of each day of shooting, transfer the day’s work to small portable 500 gig bus driven hard drives. We make two copies, one to keep with us and another for a locked case in our room. It’s a great feeling to know that you have a backup copy and that one copy is always in your possession. There’s no more worry of having all your tapes in a case in a room when you’re out shooting or out for dinner. It also eliminates one shipping case on the trip over, even though we always hand carried shot tape at the end of a shoot.
Traveling this light certainly causes some anxiety and wanting for a jib or a dolly sometimes, but for the most part it’s very liberating. It allows you to “fly under the radar” at customs, for the most part anyway. You look like a tourist and are treated so. In Japan this is the first time in over 42 years of traveling to that remarkable country that we’ve been able to ride public transportation. Subways, trains, the bullet train, all are now possible. Every time we’ve been there in the past we had at least 10-20 cases, hired cars and great expense in moving around. We saw a part of Japan we’ve only seen as tourist, but with our cameras this time, plus the savings in travel expense is staggering. Excess baggage alone used to be $1,000 to $2,000 each way, plus cars & drivers. If you’re traveling on ABC or NBC’s money that’s one thing, but on your own dollar, it’s a significant savings.
One element of security that we’ve used for our back packs. Whenever we leave them in the room for dinner or whatever we use a little device called pacsafe which is a cable netting that closes around the pack and is secured with a lock, then there is a cable with which you can lock it to some large object in the room. A serious thief with a lot of time will likely be successful, but most would move on to an easier target. We also use these in the car & lock them to the frame, roll bar or whatever.
For the Africa trip we wanted 2 cameras so we added the EX-3 to our inventory of equipment. We tried to get Sony to lend us another EX-3 for the trip, but they obviously don’t need the publicity and declined. One camera, the EX-1 we’d keep focused on our guide. The EX-3 was on the roof of the safari vehicle for animals and scenery, either portable while we’re driving or on the tripod when stopped.
We brought a pair of very old and heavy Gitzo legs that shorten to a couple of feet, with a ball head and a Sachtler 20P head to use on the roof. We weren’t sure of exactly what kind of setup we’d have in the safari vehicle. We brought a high hat and some steady bags we made, but the tripod worked out perfectly. The gitzo legs have 3 angles of spread that will lock, so it was pretty easy to fit to span the roof hatch and the weight was valuable to keep it on the roof when moving since I was holding the camera off the tripod then to grab any shots that might happen on the go. The ball head helped of course in leveling. The 20P is overkill for the EX-3, but it’s what we have for our bigger cameras and the smaller Sachtler DV head we have for normal use with the EX cameras wasn’t in our opinion, beefy enough for the wind and long lens.
We actually added an additional 15 pounds of weight to our smaller head just to get the stability we like when we’re using it with the EX-1 or 3. With out the additional weight there’s not enough bulk to be as steady as we like. Maybe I’m just getting old and shakey…who knows? I’m admitting to nothing, but Kelly likes it too until we carry it.
For lenses we tried the Fujinon ACM-21 to use with our 2/3rd’s inch HD lens from the Varicam, but after doing some testing weren’t satisfied with the resolution on the long end. It’s possible that our HD lens, one of the first Fujinon released in 2000, just wasn’t compatible with the adapter since we’ve heard other DP’s have had good luck with it. We opted instead for the Century 1.7 telextender and it worked great. It uses a bayonet mount and was fast to change and the mount was extremely secure and the added weight didn’t seem to be a problem for the stock Fujinon. You’re limited to about half your zoom range but that didn’t really present a problem too often.
The stock Fujinon lense on the EX-1 and EX-3 is spectacular. I’m sure they lost money on the lens or at least there’s no big profit margin in the deal for Fujinon.
Though this was supposed to be the light rainy season in Tanzania, it was very, very dry and there was dust everywhere…clouds of brown, fine, talcum sized dust followed us and enveloped us every time we stopped or drove slower than the ever present 30-40 knot winds. This is when we appreciated the advantages of solid state recording. No clogged heads!
Another nice feature of these cameras is the batteries, the BP-U60’s ran forever. We would usually get into our second battery at some point in the day, but never ran it all the way down. Pretty good considering we had our cameras on all day, often starting at about 6:45 in the morning at sunrise and shutting down 10 or 11 hours later. We’d turn them off for lunch, but the rest of the time we were up and ready so the batteries were lasting about 5 hours each. This is another advantage over our Varicam…we use Lithium NP-1s for it and power our RF receivers from the camera…in addition to the added weight, the batteries will only give us a couple of hours before we need to change, plus the camera drops off the heads after a short period so it takes a lot longer to come up to speed if something jumps out in front of you. Granted the solid state cameras take forever to fire up if they’ve been turned off. At least it seems like forever if you have a shot happening in front of you with a black viewfinder.
More later….
If you're interested in the DVD's you can go to our website www.Bennett-Watt.com
