On a recent visit to London’s Churchill Museum, I experienced how transforming targeted audio can be. The museum is at the back of the preserved Cabinet War Rooms, the British government’s secret underground headquarters during the London Blitz. Narrow corridors, bunkers, command centers and map rooms appear much as they did during the war. A few well-placed wax figures help conjure the "you-are-there" illusion, but the self-paced audio tour delivers the full story.
Once inside the biography-driven museum, however, there’s more to look at, hear and experience. I noticed that most visitors, upon leaving the War Rooms and entering the larger museum area, held onto their headsets and continued to punch in the appropriate number on the headset keypad before each new exhibit. I wasn’t so lucky. Those of us with kids default to a more kinetic approach: flashing lights, interactive knobs and layers of intriguing sounds determine the frenetic flight path of a younger visitor through these kinds of spaces. Parents must be headset-free and ready to follow at a moment’s notice.
Miraculously, I wasn’t pummeled with sound bombs as I bounced around the rooms after my daughter. Instead, I was rewarded with brief but nuanced waves of sound and story as I passed exhibits. David English’s cover story, beginning on page 30, uncovers the technology behind this evolving area of digital signage and explains how you, your audience and the rest of us in earshot can benefit from more carefully planned and tailored sound.
Camera Season
It’s an exciting time if you’re in the market for a new camera. The first batch of limited production RED ONE cameras is now shipping. Does RED deliver on all it promised? The best way we know how to answer that question is to ask an early adopter.
In the November issue, we’ll bring you an in-depth review of the RED ONE from James Mathers, one of the first DPs to receive the camera. Earlier in his career, James shot Lily Tomlin in the film adaptation of her iconic one-woman show, "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe." More recently, he shot all the contemporary interviews and footage for the documentary The U.S. vs. John Lennon. As more of our expert contributors get their hands on this camera, expect to see a range of tutorials on RED workflow and technique here in the magazine and online across our network of sites.
Sony’s new solid-state camcorder, the XDCAM EX, will also begin shipping shortly. One major benefit to this sub-$8,000, 24p HD camcorder is its ExpressCard recording and storage technology, which has transfer speeds of 800 Mbps. ExpressCard is also the new standard replacing PC card slots on newer laptops and workstations. The camera’s three 1/2-inch type Exmor CMOS sensors (native 1920 x 1080 HD) make it great for shooting in low light (early footage is sharp and remarkably free of fringing and noise) and gives shooters a shallower depth of field than would seem possible from a camera of this size and cost.
If you’re already committed to P2, then forget about camera shopping and simply rejoice in the release of Panasonic’s 32 GB P2 cards. The price is still high ($1,650), but those who’ve recently upgraded to 16 GB can put these new cards into action immediately.
– Beth Marchant, Editor-in-Chief
bmarchant@accessintel.com