Open Water film shot on...?

[Heath McKnight]

I'm a big fan of shark movies, so I was happy an "alleged" (just kidding, it probably rules) great film was bought up by Lions Gate at Sundance.

It's called OPEN WATER, and IMdB said it was shot on a camcorder, and a Variety interview (found at their site) said it was 24p.

Anyone guessin' it was the DVX100???

Here's the site:

http://openwaterfilm.com

and

http://imdb.com/title/tt0374102/

heath

[John Hudson]

Tks for the heads up Heath.

What else can it be? Camcorder/24p? DVX100. I hope; it just motivates me even more.

[Heath McKnight]

We're shooting a hopefully $300,000 film on the DVX100 A next year (sorry, HD10 users).

heath

[Chris Sorensen]

I was wondering the same thing. The Film Threat review says the movie was great, but that it looks like it was shot on "really low quality DV."

http://www.filmthreat.com/Reviews.asp?Id=5459

The Newsweek review:

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3988558/

And another:

http://sundance.weblogsinc.com/entry/8795814146957781/

Can't wait to see it.

[Heath McKnight]

But the Film Threat review also says,

"That’s a minor quibble though as this film is downright freaky."

heath

[Chris Sorensen]

Oh, I know. That's why I said they thought the movie was great. I just mentioned the DV comment as it related to whether it might have been shot with the DVX100 or not. Which I would think would look better then "really low quality DV."

Of course, for a film that cost $200,000 or $300,000 (I've read both), you'd think they could afford the DVX. And it got picked up for $2.5 million. No stars, DV... that's encouraging.

[Heath McKnight]

Just because it's shot on a hi quality camera doesn't always mean it's gonna look great...

But, yeah, it's definitely encouraging!

heath

[Chris Sorensen]

You're right. And the husband and wife team that wrote, directed and produced it also did everything else. No crew other than the boat captains that took them out and the occasional family member as a PA. So assuming one of them operating camera, one on sound, and being outdoors on the water (or in the water) with no control over conditions and lighting (and with REAL SHARKS swimming around them), getting the best image was probably tough.

[John Hudson]

It was shot with the VX2000. Which actually serves to mitvate me even more considering I own a superior camera (DVX!)

[Chris Sorensen]

Just curious where you found that since I've been looking the last couple days. I thought I'd read everything Google could find.

[John Hudson]

I asked the filmaker. They said they wished they had the DVX for it but it was not available at the time of the shoot.

[Heath McKnight]

<<<-- Originally posted by John Hudson : It was shot with the VX2000. Which actually serves to mitvate me even more considering I own a superior camera (DVX!) -->>>

I can't stress it enough, because I fell into the traps for nearly 3 years (all of 1999 to the summer of 2001) that if I have a BETTER camera, my movies would be better.

I saw an HD 24P movie once that looked like CRAP! Then I saw an XL-1 movie (several, actually) that looked phenominal!

Worry about the cast/crew's talent, the story, etc., over the equipment.

heath

[Heath McKnight]

John,

How did you contact them? At Sundance?

They need a trailer up, unless I missed it!

heath

[John Hudson]

I agree with you 100% on the true talent being behind the camera and not nec the camera itself! YES YES YES

I emailed the filmaker and didnt really expect a response back, but, WHAM! got one.

[Heath McKnight]

Where did you find it? Don't publish it here, just tell us how you found it. I'd like to congratulate him. I'm a big shark movie fan, JAWS has been my favorite since I was 5 or 6 years old!

heath