Panasonic AJ-HDC27 VariCam HD Cinema cameras are being used to shoot the new FX drama series "Dirt."
Production of the first 13 episodes of the drama is now underway, using two of the Panasonic VariCam units. The director of photography is Geary McLeod and the digital imaging technician for the project is Ethan Phillips.
"We used the F900 for the pilot, and had to carry around an Arri 3 film camera to handle the off-speed work," said McLeod. "Bob Primes (a veteran, Emmy Award-winning film and television cinematographer) recommended the VariCam to us, and not only did the camera give us variable-speed capture, but we also preferred the way it handles skin tones.
"We've shot off-speed for pretty much every episode. Customarily, we shoot at 60 fps, so post can do whatever it wants in terms of speed. But Ethan has done some in-camera ramping, allowing the director to ramp up and down on cue for specific Steadicam work."
Dailies for the series are upconverted to 1080/24p and mastered on Panasonic D-5 HD. Tape-to-tape color correction is handled via a da Vinci 2K system.
