Monday, April 26, 2004

Documentary premieres on Discovery Channel HD Theater

Randall Dark's documentary of his older brother, Shayne, premiered on Discovery Channel HD Theater on Sunday, April 25, 2004 across the United States. Artist in the Round: Shayne Dark explores the life and work of his older brother Shayne who has dyslexia, and his battle to overcome this life-long learning disability, while becoming a contemporary artist of international renown.

Saturday, April 17, 2004

"Iced" puts Maxell tape to the test

Maxell High Definition Tape Proven the Ultimate Medium for Capturing Professional Skiers in Their Natural Habitat

Las Vegas, NV (April 17, 2004) Director Randall Dark’s new skiing documentary, Iced, provides the perfect illustration of the advantages of shooting in High Definition (HD) video with Maxell HD media. Dark and his crew hiked for miles into the wilderness of Jackson Hole, Wyoming’s out-of-bounds skiing territory to find untouched powder, and the most adrenaline-inducing descents, in order to capture the sharp, kinetic images of professional skiers pushing their skills to the limit. Because of the freedoms afforded by HD, Dark was able to simply let his cameras roll, capturing skiers Lance Pickett, Jamie Sunberg, A.J. Cargill and Greg Epstein in all their unrestrained glory as they carved the mountainside during the brief two-day shoot.

“A skiing documentary is a blending of the two different genres – the nature film and the sports film,” said Dark. “In both cases flexibility is the key. Because of the economic benefits of tape over film, and because the logistics of shooting HD are simpler – you can see exactly what you’re shooting by glancing at the monitor – we were able to set up quickly and shoot a vast amount of footage, providing the freedom for those ellusive ‘magic moments’ to happen.”

With HD’s tremendous resolution and the 16:9 aspect ratio, Dark and his cameraman, Dave Nash, were able to capture the skiers as they shredded the wide vistas and untouched snow in rich, vibrant tones. “I was able to capture some of the best-looking HD slow-motion footage I’ve seen,” said Dark.

With the durability and reliability of Maxell’s 40-minute HDCAM videocassettes, which Dark used to both capture and edit his images, worries about tape performance were removed from the equation. With its sturdy, ultra-high performance binder system, which is an essential asset for working in volatile environments, and a recording density of 1.4 times greater than Digital Betacam, Maxell’s HD media guaranteed that the beauty of Dark’s arresting images would be held for posterity.

Iced was produced by Jackson Hole local Jason Winkler in cooperation with HD Vision Studios.

About HD Vision Studios
Co-founded by Randall Paris Dark, who started working in HDTV in 1986 when the High Definition industry was still in its infancy, HD Vision Studios is considered one of the world's leading digital production companies. The company opened in April 2002 to take advantage of the high concentration of entertainment-focused companies in Los Angeles County. HD Vision Studios is led by Dark, Steve Wiener as CEO and Jayme Wing as Editor/VP.

HD Vision Studios is a complete High Definition production and post-production facility for anyone producing motion pictures, independent features, television shows, or any project where HD video is the medium of choice. For more information, visit HD Vision Studios at www.hdvstudios.tv or call (818) 769-7300.

About Maxell
Maxell Corporation of America, a Hitachi-Maxell, Ltd. Company, is a leading full-line manufacturer of professional digital and analog audio and video media; computer data storage media; media products for consumer audio, video and camcorder applications; and batteries. Maxell also markets a full line of care and maintenance accessories and headphones.

For more information, visit Maxell at www.maxell.com.

Thursday, April 1, 2004

"I Believe In HD"

In the current issue of High Definition Magazine, Randall Dark is as enthusiastic about HD as a man can possibly get. In an interview with Bob Pank, Dark says he regularly gets booed by film people, but they don't understand film is "fiction." Read this highly entertaining interview here: I Believe In HD