Goal Line Productions turns to HD for ESPN documentary


Goal Line Productions used three Fujinon HD lenses for the shoot.

De La Salle High, an all-male Catholic high school in Concord, CA, recently captured national attention with its football team’s record-shattering 151-game winning streak.

That streak caught the attention of ESPN, which purchased the rights to “151: The Greatest Streak,” a documentary on the team that appeared on ESPN2.

Goal Line Productions, a full service production company in Pleasanton, CA, filmed the documentary at De La Salle High and Seahawk Stadium in Seattle — home of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and site of a recent De La Salle High game. The company used three Fujinon HD lenses for the shoot, opting for the HD format over film. The production company used the XA101x8.9BESM zoom, the HA22x7.8BERM/RD ENG-style lens and the HA18x7.6BERM/RD ENG-style lens for the documentary.

A portion of the documentary covers a Sept. 4, 2004 game held at Seahawk Stadium between De La Salle High and Bellevue High School. Goal Line (owned by John Madden and his son Joe) went with a three-camera shoot for the production. Fujinon’s XA101x8.9 was positioned at the 50yd line and captured play action across the entire field, while the HA22x7.8 handled sideline shots and locker room events. The HA18x7.6 was used for close-ups and handheld coverage for specific highlight clips. All three lenses were affixed to Panasonic Varicam HD cameras.

Choosing HD over film was a major advantage in terms of cost. The documentary required 60 hours of HD footage and if film would have been used the budget would have doubled.

For more information, visit www.goalline.com and www.fujinonbroadcast.com.

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