The Preacher''s Daughter - The Camera

The production budget of The Preacher's Daughter is very small. It is a micro-budget in reality. As such the camera for this production will be the Sony PMW EX-3, and will use a Red Rock Encore M2 depth of field adapter. Zeiss SLR prime lenses with a Nikon mounts will be used with the adapter.  There is also a Nikon 80mm to 200mm zoom lens as part of the package. There is talk about using a Nikor 10mm to 24mm super wide angle zoom lens, but testing will take place to see if it provides the necessary affect desired by the Cinematographer.
The advantage of using this adapter is that it will create more of a film look with this 1/2 inch three chip camera. If you have never used a 35mm adapter before you might be asking how one works.
A 35mm adapter simulates the conditions that allow for shallow depth of field that is easily achieved with larger format 35mm lenses. Traditionally video has a long depth of field. The Depth of field is the area which remains in focus. When you watch the news on TV for example a reporter on the street is in focus, and so is the building and people across the street. When you watch a move depending upon the shot, the star sitting at a table at an out door cafe' is in focus but he people in the background across the street are out of focus.
The Red Rock Encore M2 is a small box that has a piece of ground glass inside. Similar to a glass pane in a bathroom window except on a much finer scale. This ground glass spins so that the camera is unable to see the roughness of this glass, which adds that sought after film look to the image. If you were to run your finger over the glass you could feel the roughness. With out this roughness the light would pass directly through the glass just like any window. This roughness allows the image from the lens at the front of the adapter to be seen by camera.
In reality the video camera is filming a small TV screen which is showing the image viewed by the SLR lenses.
So for very little money The Preacher's daughter will be able to film in video, saving thousands of dollars in film stock, and processing, and work print cost. Yest still achieve a short depth of field and a grainy film look.