Christopher Pendergraft

Test footage shot with the HV20. Wasn’t shot by myself.

Dying bumblebee from HighlyDeceptiveVideo on Vimeo.

I’ve spent the last 2 weeks or so researching camcorders that are friendly to independent filmmakers. It seems that the Canon VIXIA HV20 kept popping up in my searches, primarily because it can be modded so third party lenses will easily attach to it. This allows for a higher degree of flexibility in shot choice. The camera also comes with a “cinema mode,” in which the camera will record at 24 frames a second (or 23.976/fps on the NTSC standard). Recording in 24p delivers an aesthetically pleasing “filmic” appearance to footage, and is considered a cheap alternative to shooting with film. The camera also has many other features, but I won’t list them here as it’s much easier to just read about them from the Canon website.

I, for one can’t wait to get my hands on it and start shooting stuff. I’m possibly heading to Wilmington this weekend for a Talib Kweli concert, so Kevin and I are collaborating on a script for a short sketch that we’ll film then.

If all goes well, I’ll also be shooting a short “documentary” on martial arts very soon.

Excited? Click the image below for full specs.

As to be expected, the armchair film critics has their panties in a wad over the newly released trailer for the big screen adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road.” The whining stems from the few seconds of the trailer, where short clips of various disasters are displayed, insinuating that the movie will attempt to explain the reason behind the world’s post-apocalyptic state.