The Global Rivers Project

Photos From CILECT in Beijing

Elizabeth Daggett — 2008-11-27T23:44:11-05:00

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Tapeless Workflow - A few lessons so far

Karla Berry — 2008-06-30T11:30:54-04:00

Our workflow had to change some from our original plans for this international collaborative documentary project. We intended to provide faculty/student teams in five different countries with Panasonic HD cameras. Throughout the year each team would shoot river footage and share it with all collaborators via DigiDelivery. Teams were to share periodic edits from our five rivers. Then one final collaborative edit would be completed and exhibited at the Beijing Film Academy in November 2008.

One Lesson. DigiDelivery is a fantastic tool. However, the backbone or infrastructure needed to upload and download even small files was not adequate for our needs. The upload time for just one minute of HD material was over 20 hours. And that was working with broadband access in the US. Some Global Rivers Project partners had much more limited access. In India, we often faced routine power shut-downs when we planned to upload Ganga River files. In the end, we switched to a workflow that shared P2 files by shipping hard drives from production teams to an editor.

Another Lesson. P2 tapeless technology is a great new HD format. At first we were nervous about going all-digital. Erase footage after copying it to a hard drive? No tape for backup? We recorded to P2 cards and then reluctantly followed the workflow. Now after a year of working with the format, most of us plan to continue to shoot with the P2 cameras. I for one, cannot imagine going back to clunky videotape ever again.

And Another Lesson. Technical support from Avid and Panasonic is priceless. As you look back through this blog, you will see posts that address our anxieties and questions. You will also read about HD workflow workshops presented by Panasonic. This project would never have happened without the generous support of Avid and Panasonic. Even more valuable were their replies to our panic calls and messages.

Keep reading this blog for further instruction and insights, frustrations and troubleshooting. The Global Rivers Project has tested the HVX200 camera on rivers in scorching heat, wilting humidity, and biting cold. We survived. The cameras performed. Now the big final edit begins.

The Rio Grande/Rio Bravo from Southern Texas/Northern Mexico

Elizabeth Daggett — 2008-06-23T14:10:33-04:00

Melinda and I say hello from the southern part of the Rio Grande. As I type, I can look out the window to the river and see two international bridges, and Mexico's Nuevo Laredo on the other side.
We began our shooting in Terlingua, on the western side of the Big Bend National park. We were interested in the community of Boquillas, in Mexico, where before 9/11 tourists and park rangers would go to eat lunch and drink 25 cent beer. Imagine if one day, you woke up, and now the only way to visit a town you could throw a rock at is to drive 6 hours out of the way! In the photo below, note the walking sticks that the people of Boquillas illegally sell- the park considers it contraband.

One park ranger told us that he hadn't seen the people in Boquillas in 6 years- but before he had held their newborn babies and they had held his. The deepest part of the Rio Grande is the border, and where we were, it was knee-deep. The sign says it all:

In Quemado, TX, we happened upon Tony and Catherine Castenado. Tony, the police chief of nearby Eagle Pass, let us film him taking a hose down to the Rio Grande to pump water that he needs for his house for everything but drinking. If the border patrol stops letting him do this, he said he wasn't sure what he would do.

We then went to Eagle Pass, where we went with the mayor, Chad Foster, who explained that his city was being sued because they do not want to allow a border wall along the Texas side of the Rio Grande. We filmed a lot of people who were on the Mexican side of the river, keeping cool in the 103 degree heat. Then we went over to Piedras Negras, in Mexico, to film these same people from their home soil. Please note: you are supposed to have a passport or birth certificate along with your license to be let back into the country. We were asked quite a few questions, and were relieved to be let back into the US, but getting to see the Rio Bravo (Spanish for Rio Grande) up close from Mexico was well worth it!

Rio Grande

Elizabeth Daggett — 2008-06-11T11:15:19-04:00

The camera and I went from the Danube straight to Taos, New Mexico and the Rio Grande River where Melinda and I filmed snow runoff and adventure rafting. Establishing shot from bridge:

the camera, luckily, stayed dry through the rapids. Melinda Levin at camera and the helm:

And how great is it that the river rafting company is Los Rios, literally translated as "the rivers"? Next we will be in the Big Bend National Park and hopefully speaking with a border patrol agent about the river as a political border.

More from Serbia

Elizabeth Daggett — 2008-06-01T10:29:31-04:00

The Beograd team of faculty and students in Serbia on the Danube packed every moment of every day with great shooting- from the 4 am sunrise to ships passing in the night. For the last 4 days we were in a national park in Northern Serbia near the Romanian border. In some places the river is 3 miles wide and looks like a lake:

we filmed a dam

and, of course, from boats:

In all, we filmed archeologists' discoveries in caves, fishermen, and so much more (20 cards or a whopping nearly 700 minutes)! The workflow- well, worked and flowed nicely once we got in the groove.
Here is the crew in front of the waves of the Danube!

The camera and I arrived safely back in the states and Melinda and I will be filming here on the Rio Grande for the next few days- more on that coming soon!

On an farm on a Danube Island

Elizabeth Daggett — 2008-05-31T11:02:16-04:00

I am continually amazed at how BIG the Danube is- so big that there are islands in which traditional Serbian families farm and raise animals. We ate goulash cooked over a fire, rode wild horses, and of course, filmed it all!

More Danube

Elizabeth Daggett — 2008-05-19T03:21:23-04:00

The Bratislava crew in a small town along the Danube. The banner reads: long live the arts!

The romantic Danube in Budapest:

Warm Weather on the Danube

Elizabeth Daggett — 2008-05-14T16:00:17-04:00

The river really comes to life when it is warm in Bratislava, with couples sitting on benches watching the sun set over the river and everyone enjoying dinner or a drink in a boat or cafe riverside. Today we filmed, among other things, a famous Slovak actor on his boat, which is a bar and art gallery.

I am excited to learn that we will be going on a speed boat trip on the river, and filming in Vienna and Budapest to capture the old-city atmosphere that illustrates how the Danube connects ancient Roman history to today. Also, I have learned that our esteemed colleagues here in Bratislava have obtained the 1989 footage of people crossing the river freely for the first time during the revolution, so we can illustrate how the river that once divided as the iron curtain is now a symbol of unity and is enjoyed freely by all. More to come!

What a difference a Card makes

Karla Berry — 2008-05-09T11:04:17-04:00

One of the goals of our Global Rivers Project is to test best practices in tapeless HD workflow. Thanks to Panasonic, all of our teams are shooting with the HVX200 camera. As you read back through our blog posts you will see that our teams were a bit frustrated by working with the 4 gig P2 cards. Now, thanks to Panasonic and to B & H Photo Video, we have new 16 gig cards. What a difference a card makes!

We are shooting in 720p/24pn. In this mode, a 16 gig P2 card captures up to 40 minutes of HD video. On a recent Mississippi River shoot, I spent a several hours on the river with the Missouri Department of Conservation. I had two 8 gig cards and two 16 gig cards. These cards provided enough recording time to capture the tagging and sampling from the boat. When I got to shore, I copied the cards to a MacBook Pro, erased the cards, and got back on the boat. Back in the motel at night, I backed up all the P2 media to a portable hard drive.

As I've said in previous blogs, erasing the cards produces a bit of anxiety. Of course, videotapes jammed and creased sometimes, but there was something tangible to hold. However, that is not reason to go back to tape. I cannot imagine wanting to search through tape ever again. And with the larger P2 cards, our workflow got even easier.

For further reading on P2 workflow:
http://www.panasonic.com/business/provideo/p2-hd/white-papers.asp

You can't turn around without running into rivers in the news!

Elizabeth Daggett — 2008-04-29T11:52:00-04:00

More than 37,000 river restoration projects under way in U.S., study says
Researchers: Three quarters of world could face fresh water scarcity by 2050
Pollution or overconsumption will affect every part of U.S., conservationist says

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/04/23/river.rescue.ap/index.html?iref=hpmostpop