With each passing year, the image-capture options available to filmmakers expand.

The first decision – one often dictated by budget, but one that is becoming more of an artistic choice as well – is whether to originate a project in the photochemical medium or digitally. And if you choose the latter, there are more alternatives than ever, especially at the high-end, high-definition end of the spectrum. The selection process will only get more complicated with the official launch this year of the Origin digital camera, which promises film-like resolution, from Waterloo, ON-based DALSA Corporation.

The increased choices are reflected in the chart below with the inclusion of the 24p HD Thomson Grass Valley Viper FilmStream system. The camera received excellent publicity when director Michael Mann chose it for last year’s Tom Cruise/Jamie Foxx thriller Collateral. Mann reportedly wanted a camera that could deal with natural light for the entirely nocturnal story, and, after substantial testing, the Viper won out over Sony cameras and material shot on high-speed Kodak stocks.

However, Kodak remains the stock of choice for many high-profile projects, including the season’s top feature films, such as The Aviator and Meet the Fockers. It has also cornered the market on TV’s top dramas, including the blockbuster Law & Order and CSI franchises, buzz show Desperate Housewives, and, closer to home, Da Vinci’s Inquest and Degrassi: The Next Generation.

Fuji has impressive credits of its own, especially on the silver screen. The manufacturer reports that the forthcoming Steven Spielberg/Tom Cruise sci-fi opus, War of the Worlds, is being shot mostly on Fuji stocks. Rumors indicate that this could be the most expensive production ever. The highly anticipated Don McKellar comedy Childstar also shot on Fuji, as is the MOW Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story and the CHUM series The Collector.

Sony’s HD CineAlta system remains a popular choice for TV series, and continues to show that it is a legitimate alternative for high-end feature production. Making this case are the FX-heavy Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, which was shot with the HDW-F900 camera equipped with three Fujinon lenses, and Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith, originated on the new HDC-F950.

Meanwhile, Panasonic’s competitive AJ-HDC27 VariCam camera continues to make some inroads in the feature biz, as with the low-budget drama How You Look to Me. The manufacturer’s less expensive cameras continue to be favorites for documentary production, such as on the Discovery Channel doc miniseries Ultimate Survival: Everest, which shot mostly with the DVX100 (see story, p. 24).

KODAK STOCKS

Feature films
The Aviator
Coach Carter
Kinsey
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
Meet the Fockers
Sideways
The Woodsman

TV series
CSI (plus spin-offs)
Da Vinci’s Inquest
Degrassi: The Next Generation
Desperate Housewives
Law & Order (plus spin-offs)

FUJIFILM STOCKS

Feature films
The Assassination of Richard Nixon
Before Sunset
Childstar
Garden State*
Head in the Clouds
I Heart Huckabees*
Nouvelle-France
War of the Worlds*

TV series and MOWs
Andromeda
The Collector
Evel Knievel
Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story
*originated predominantly on Fujifilm

SONY CINEALTA

Feature films
Dogville
Masked and Anonymous
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith

TV series and MOWs
8 Simple Rules
Les Aventures tumultueuses de Jack Carter
The Bernie Mac Show
Doc
Once Upon a Mattress
Paradise Falls
South Park
Star Trek: Enterprise

PANASONIC

Feature films
How You Look to Me (aka Sweet William; VariCam)

TV series and docs
Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of Smile (AJ-SDX900)
Girls vs. Boys(AG-DVC30)
Girly Ghosthunters (AG-DVC30)
Los Angeles Now (VariCam)
Missing (VariCam)
Past Life Investigations (DVX100)
Project Greenlight (AJ-SDX900)
Project Runway (AJ-SDX900)
Ultimate Survival: Everest (DVX100, VariCam)

THOMSON VIPER

Feature films
Collateral
Domino*
Silence Becomes You
TV Series
The 4400
Terminal City
LazyTown (Iceland)
*partially originated on the Thomson Viper

-www.thomsongrassvalley.com
-www.kodak.ca
-www.fujifilm.ca
-www.sony.ca
-www.panasonic.ca