How Did He Do That? Artist David Michalek Uses Ultra High-Speed
Camera to Capture the Beauty of Dance Motion
Vision Research Phantom(R) HD Brings the Advantages of High-Speed
Digital Photography to the World at Lincoln Center
WAYNE, NJ -- (MARKET WIRE) -- July 13, 2007 -- The intricate
movements of the human body are infinite, and with the use of the
Vision Research Phantom® HD camera, photographer David Michalek was
able to immortalize the movements of 43 professional dancers
capturing their unique styles of dance at an astonishing 1,000 frames
per second.
The world premiere of Michalek's project, titled "Slow Dancing," was
held last night at the Lincoln Center Festival in New York City in
which 50-foot-tall, hyper-slow-motion video portraits were projected
on the facade of the New York State Theater.
For the project, Michalek recorded each dancer for five seconds,
while they performed their own unique forms of dance; however,
because they were shot at 1,000 frames per second using the Phantom
HD high-speed camera, Michalek was able to essentially turn the
five-second routines into performances lasting many minutes. For each
five-second routine, the Phantom HD recorded an astounding 20
gigabytes of data. By capturing each dancer's movements at such a
high-speed frame rate and in full high-definition (HD) resolution,
Michalek gives viewers the ability to experience and analyze the
movements of the human body in a format never before seen.
"We evaluated several digital high-speed cameras, but chose the
Phantom HD for its superior image quality, high-definition
resolution, and speed," said David Michalek. "Considering we were
working with a prototype camera, we had very few camera problems.
And, I think Vision Research paid a lot of attention to our project
in order to get feedback for product improvement."
Comprising an ever-changing trio of dancers projected onto the
50-foot-tall screens, "Slow Dancing" begins with what at first
appears to be a series of "still" photographs and then unfolds
gesture by barely-perceptible gesture, into an elaborate
choreography, with the viewer allowed to choose to focus on one
dancer's complete "performance" or observe the interplay between the
three.
The Phantom HD high-speed camera boasts a 2,048 x 2,048
high-performance complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)
imaging sensor, and introduces the advantages of high-speed digital
imaging to the world of 2K and HD media production. Furthermore, the
Phantom HD offers users 35mm depth-of-field either at either HD or 2K
resolution. The flexibility and control that the camera offers is
limitless and applications abound for the Phantom HD, including
broadcasts of rapidly moving sports events, the production of
commercials, music videos or capturing documentaries, and even the
monitoring a rocket launch.
Key Features of the Phantom HD include:
-- HD (1920 x 1080) and 2K (2048 x 1536) resolution using a PL-mount lens
-- Up to 1,000 frames-per-second (fps) frame rate at 1920x1080
resolution, even higher speeds at reduced resolution
-- Adjust frame rate in one fps increments
-- Shutter speeds as fast as two microseconds (1/500,000 second)
-- 14-bit sensor depth (42-bit color)
-- ISO 600
-- 35mm depth-of-field
-- Circular buffer recording/Run-Stop
The subjects chosen for "Slow Dancing" are some of today's foremost
modern and classical dancers and choreographers, as well as
recognized master interpreters of a range of traditional and
contemporary dance forms including ballet, modern dance, and tap. The
dancers represent a diversity of body types, sizes, training, styles,
traditions, ages, and ethnicities. They hail from many places,
including the United States, Russia, Africa, Bali, China, Turkey,
Brazil, India, Taiwan, and New Zealand. The dance traditions and
contemporary styles represented are as diverse as Javanese court
dance, krumping, voguing, Afro-Brazilian Capoeira, Hip-Hop, Indian
Kuchipuri, Beijing Opera, and flamenco.
This awe-inspiring digital installation will run nightly during the
Lincoln Center Festival at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
in New York City, from 9 p.m. until 1 a.m. through July 29th.
For more information about "Slow Dancing," visit
www.lincolncenter.org/load_screen.asp?screen=slow_dancing_main, or
www.slowdancingfilms.com
For more information about the Phantom HD high-speed camera from
Vision Research, visit
www.visionresearch.com/index.cfm?sector=htm/files&page=camera_HD_new
About Vision Research Inc.
Vision Research Inc. designs and manufactures high-speed digital
imaging systems used in domains including defense, automotive,
engineering, scientific and medical research, industrial and
commercial, sports and entertainment, and digital broadcast and
cinematography.
The Wayne, N.J.-based company prides itself on the sensitivity,
high-resolution and quality of images produced by its systems, robust
yet easy-to-use software interfaces, and reliability and versatility
of its camera family -- that continues to be the benchmark for all
other high-speed digital camera manufacturers.
Vision Research cameras add a new dimension to the sense of sight,
allowing the user to see details of an event when it's too fast to
see, and too important not to(TM). More information on Vision
Research can be found at www.visionresearch.com.
Contact:
Kyle Kappmeier
R&J Public Relations
908-722-5757
kkappmeier@randjpr.com
