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Bits
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On
the Road
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 When
Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. wanted to
make a film extolling the best motorcycle
rides in the country, it turned to ad agency
Foote, Cone & Belding Southern California.
In turn, the agency looked to 30 Second
Films, a Santa Monica,CA, production company,
to create the inspiring 45-minute promotional
documentary, Dream Rides.
Led by director and cinematographer Bob
Kronovet and executive producer Alan Stamm,
30 Second Films assembled a small crew,
usually six people, and shot for ten days
over a five-week period during the summer
of 2001. The locations, which were previously
scouted by Stamm and the client, included
national monuments such as Mt. Rushmore,
scenic vistas in Utah and Colorado, and
the California coast. And a second unit
shot some footage in Tennessee. The crew
also made a special stop in South Dakota
for the annual Sturgis Rally, which attracts
thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts for
a weeklong festival and campout.
To acquire their images, Kronovet and Stamm
used a variety of Sony products, including
two DSR-300A DVCAM camcorders as their primary
cameras. They also relied on two DSR-PD150
cameras and three XC-999 cigar cameras.
In addition, they made sure to leave a few
Sony PC-110 consumer cameras lying around
so that anybody, such as a rider, or a crew
member, could pick up a camera and shoot.
For running footage, a Sony DSRV10 clamshell
recorder, a portable player and recorder
with a built-in monitor, was often used,
either attached to the bike or placed in
the rider’s backpack.
Aside from some stock footage on Sony Betacam®
equipment, 85 percent of Dream Rides was
shot on DVCAM camcorders. “We had experimented
with the DVCPro™cameras, and what sold us
on the DVCAM™ products was the introduction
of the DSR-PD150,” says Stamm.“Sony had
made the next generation leap in technology.
We bought two DSR-300As and a DSR-PD150
at same time. We already had a DVCAM editor
and player in-house so we knew that if we
did our own editing using SDI off of our
DVCAM player, we would produce impressive
quality videos.”
For a glimpse of Dream Rides, check out
Speedvision, a cable channel devoted to
motor sports, which has been airing the
documentary since November 2001.
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