Epson P-7000 Multimedia Photo Viewer Plays Productive Role in Latest Lucasfilm Project

The sun is sinking over the far-off hill, so there’s barely an hour of available light to shoot still photos and videos of the terrain planned for a battle sequence in Lucasfilm’s “Red Tails.” The film is the inspirational story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American pilots to fly in a combat squadron during World War II.

 

On location in the Czech Republic, producer Rick McCallum, director Anthony Hemingway and production manager Brian Donovan just climbed out of the van for the long day’s 5th stop on a location trip to 22 cities and 5 countries. After checking out the location’s overall aesthetic and suitability for filming, the team hands over their media, all shot on different cameras, to McCallum.

 

On the bumpy ride back to the hotel, he quickly downloads all the images and videos into his hand held Epson P-7000 Multimedia Photo Viewer. Rather than lugging a laptop, McCallum quickly stores the data to its 160GB hard drive and gives the cards back to the others to use again. If they stop by another location on their short list, they will follow the same efficient on-location workflow.

 

But it’s now time to call it a day, and the van of tired filmmakers winds down backcountry roads to the hotel before the restaurant closes. Propping the viewer on the tabletop, the director and crew then review and discuss the day’s location images on the 4-inch screen as if watching dailies. Superb color accuracy and 640x480 resolution make it easy to picture P-51 Mustang fighter squadrons coming alive across the open countryside.

 

“We have 3 months to prep an incredibly difficult film with 5 extraordinary battle sequences,” said McCallum. “Being able to download, view and organize the photos we shoot and compare them with reference shots, all without a cumbersome laptop and media reader, has been remarkably productive.” On a historical drama like “Red Tails,” the team needs to compare their historical reference shots with each possible shooting location. With films like “Star Wars,” there can be over 10,000 pieces of artwork to be referenced against sets and locations.

 

When a director, production designer, cameraman and producer go on a scouting trip, each has their own criteria for the location. They often don’t have the time or the means to transfer their images on the spot for comparison and organization. Once home, they burn their material on CDs and courier them to a point person, who is faced with the daunting task of organizing and presenting the images so quick decisions can be made. “I knew there had to be a more efficient way to reconnoiter locations for shooting and reference,” said McCallum.

 

For those who know McCallum, it’s not a surprising that he would find a better way to download, view and organize location materials, given that he is an advocate for smarter applications of technology in the film business. “Still photographers are so far ahead of the moving picture industry in digital technology,” he said. “It is a mystery to me why more filmmakers, who rely so much on images in the crucial location scouting stage, aren’t more familiar with technology like the Epson Multimedia Photo Viewers.” He believes it’s a matter of time before it will be routine to take viewers on tech scouts.

 

Unlike many producers, McCallum is enthusiastic about shooting on location. “You never know what’s going to happen,” he said. “It makes the job a lot more spontaneous and interesting.” Since 1990, McCallum has worked with film legend George Lucas producing movies like “Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace,” “Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones” and “Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith.” The two also collaborated on “Radioland Murders” and the ABC TV series “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles,” shot over a period of 4 years in 35 countries.

 

After years scouting locations worldwide, McCallum knows how important image quality is to evaluate and determine the suitability of a location. “The color and detail of the screen make a big difference, particularly in viewing wide angle shots,” said McCallum. With the Epson viewer, each shot appears as it was originally captured, in brilliant detail and vibrant color on a large, 4-inch LCD screen. Epson’s exclusive Photo Fine Premia LCD technology encompasses an amazing 94% of Adobe RGB color gamut for a professional level of color accuracy. McCallum finds it easy to zoom in to confirm focus and fine detail, and then share and discuss the images, with both audio and video output. With the instant feedback of the viewer, the director can quickly make decisions about what he wants or doesn’t want.