LOS ANGELES, CA (May 2, 2000) -- Quantum Project, the first film specifically produced for distribution over the Internet, was shot last month in Hollywood with Panasonic’s DVCPRO50 progressive AJ-PD900WA camcorder.  The movie, starring John Cleese, Stephen Dorff and Fay Masterson, premieres on SightSound.com on May 5, 2000.

Quantum Project, a SightSound.com and Metafilmics production, is described by the producers as “a man’s journey from his head to his heart.”  A combination of live-action and extensive CGI and 3-D effects, the film marks the directing debut of Eugenio Zanetti, a longtime production designer who won an Oscar for Art Direction for Restoration.  Quantum Project’s Award-winning Director of Photography Robert Primes’ special-effects photography was seen in the film, Total Recall.   Primes’ work on the television series Felicity garnered him the 1999 Emmy for Best Cinematography; he also directed Theo Plays Chopin, the first short film shot in progressive-scan for digital television.

SightSound.com (Mount Lebanon, PA) is a five-year-old Internet company that distributes movies and music online in an unprecedented, cutting-edge format. Metafilmics (Los Angeles, CA) develops and produces film, television and new media projects that portray characters as both human and spiritual.  Metafilmics’ motion picture debut, 1998’s Academy Award-winning What Dreams May Come, went on to gross over $100 million and receive numerous international awards.

Art Hair, SightSound.com’s Chairman and Chief Technology Officer, said the selection of the Panasonic AJ-PD900WA camcorder was entirely driven by technology requirements.  “The material had to be digital to be appropriately compressed for Internet distribution. And we had to shoot progressive scan, as the film will be viewed exclusively on computer screens.  Given those requirements, there was only one established selection, the AJ-PD900WA DVCPRO50 progressive camcorder from Panasonic,” he explained.  “Additionally, given the abbreviated production schedule, it would have been impractical to shoot in film and transfer to digital tape.”

Warren Allgyer, President, Panasonic Broadcast, said, “DVCPRO50 Progressive’s use in the documentary world is growing rapidly, and it has tremendous potential in cost-effective feature-film productions like the innovative Quantum Project. DVCPRO50 Progressive records artifact-free images at a significantly lower cost than shooting 35mm film, offering content originators a new means of acquiring and finishing in high resolution.”

D.P. Robert Primes, ASC, said, “I’m a film guy but I thought the images we got from the AJ-PD900WA were beautiful! The camera was responsive in low light and recorded the dramatic, expressionistic lighting of the Quantum Project impressively.  We had to adjust the contrast range of our lighting to that of the camera, which was a bit more limited than the dynamic range of film, but once done, all went quite well.  Also, I love working with progressive scan.”

Hair added, “Panasonic may have thought it had a high-end broadcast product on its hands when it introduced this camcorder, but with the appropriate lenses, the AJ-PD900WA is every bit cinema production gear,”

The Panasonic equipment, including AJ-PD950 DVCPRO50 progressive studio VTRs for playback into the computer rendering system, was rented from Plus 8 Video (Burbank, CA).  Considered the production community’s leading source for renting digital cinematography equipment, Plus 8 Video has made an extensive investment in Panasonic DVCPRO50 Progressive gear.  

SightSound.com has made Internet history, first in 1995 by selling the first music online, then in 1999, renting the first full-length movie online and now releasing the first feature film produced exclusively for Internet download sale.   SightSound.com delivers the highest image and sound quality using Microsoft’s new Windows Media Player 4.0 technology.  The 30-frames-per-second viewing creates a fluid, graphic and vibrant picture--the same standard as home video.

DVCPRO50 Progressive offers 480 lines of Progressive Scan recording at a digital video data rate of 50 Mbps, 5:1 DV-based compression, 4:2:0 signal processing and four 16-bit 48 kHz sampled channels of uncompressed digital audio. DVCPRO 480p provides content originators a new means of acquiring and finishing in high resolution, yet close to conventional SD budgets.  Progressively scanned images convert with excellent quality to HD formats as well as digital cinema (tape-to-film) applications. 

Capable of recording either 16:9 or 4:3 images, the AJ-PD900WA DVCPRO50 Progressive camcorder features three 2/3-inch M-FIT CCDs and records 480 progressive scan images in 50 Mbps and 480 interlace images in 50 Mbps and 25 Mbps. Other key features include 33 minutes of progressive recording, 10-bit digital processing, a signal-to-noise ratio of 63dB, and minimum illumination of 1.6 lux.  Fully-operational at under 14 pounds, it consumes less than 28 watts of power and offers a bayonet mount for 2/3-inch lenses as standard.

Los Angeles-based Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems Co. is a leading supplier of broadcast and professional digital video and audio products and systems. Panasonic Broadcast is dedicated to providing customers with comprehensive equipment choices, from Emmy Award-winning D-5 high definition and DVCPRO digital VTRs to ultra-bright presentation systems and advanced digital audio mixing consoles.  Panasonic Broadcast is a division company of  Matsushita Electric Corporation of America, the principal North America subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (MC, NYSE), one of the world's leading producers of electronic and electric products for consumer, business and industrial use.