Photo Credit: Andrea McCallin
The spirit of the Slamdance Film Festival powers Holiday Road, a feature-length anthology of 12 separate comedy shorts shot with the Panasonic AG-AF100 large imager HD cinema camcorder. Having premiered at Slamdance 2012, then traveled to the Oxford (MS) Film Festival, Holiday Road will next be seen at the Durango Independent Film Festival (February 29-March 4) and Chicago International Movies and Music Festival (April 12-15), and is being screened by several A-list distributors.
The ineffable spirit of the holidays is showcased in Holiday Road, written and directed by 13 of today’s hottest, up- and-coming independent writer/directors. The project is the brainchild of producer/actor Kevin M. Brennan, writer/director/actor Todd Berger, writer/director/actor Michael Suter, writer/director/actor Doug Manley, producer/actor Will T.S. Coleman and producer Kelly Williams.
“At Slamdance 2011 we began talking with colleagues about a collaborative project that would embody the spirit of Slamdance and its slogan, ‘For filmmakers by filmmakers,’” Brennan said. “That was the genesis of Holiday Road and its parameters, basically that the filmmakers were charged with delivering a comedic short, eight minutes or less, about an assigned holiday. No actors could recur, and each short (except the St. Patrick’s Day animation) was shot on our AF100.”
Helena Wei directed the November, Thanksgiving-themed short and served as Director of Photography on two other segments, May (Mothers’/Fathers’ Day) and October (Halloween).
“On Holiday Road, multiple filmmakers used the same camera and achieved many completely different looks: it was truly a communal experience,” said Wei. “Given the limitations of budget and time, I feel like we were able to pull it all off because we used the AF100.
Photo Credit: Andrea McCallin
“With all our powers combined we were able to complete a feature in under a year. We had polished stylized saturated segments with lots of play on depth, we had fast-paced handheld realistic comedic sketch, we had black and white static horror, we had moody overcast underwater drama… the possibilities became endless!”
“I love the AF100; having the ability to throw on almost any type of lens for that film look without having to deal with cumbersome and complicated adapters is a dream come true,” Wei added. “The DSLRs may have similar lens capabilities to the AF100, but lack in sound options. With the AF100 I get to adjust levels and record crisp, clear sound straight into the camera. The AF100 is such a great tool for shooting anything from web content to broadcast-quality movies and TV.”
For more information, visit www.holidayroadfilm.com.
Panasonic is currently accepting entries for the “Shoot it, Share it” video contest for AF100 users. For complete contest rules and to learn more about the “Shoot It, Share It” video contest, visit www.ShootItShareIt.com.
