By Danfung Dennis

My technology startup Condition ONE evolved from the inability to convey the reality of what I was seeing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even though my images and documentary film were published and distributed widely, they were still a passive window into this world, constrained by the frame. I wanted to bring people closer, to actually let them witness these stories first hand.

Technology is allowing us to merge the once separate media of photojournalism, filmmaking and virtual reality to create powerful immersive experiences.  Condition ONE has developed a camera system (I can’t yet reveal the camera or number of cameras) that captures the equivalent of the human eye.  We have also developed the software that transcodes and stitches these images.  By attaching the images to the gyroscope and accelerometer in the iPad2, we have created a highly interactive window into a video.  The slightest movement of the device changes the corresponding image, which creates an emotional connection to the story in an entirely new way. The hope is to shake viewers out of their numbness to traditional media and give a visceral and immersive experience.

The challenge of the next generation photojournalist and filmmaker will be developing the syntax and grammar to tell an effective story in this new medium.  The traditional rules of cinematography and editing no longer exist.  There is no frame. Creating an effective narrative and still maintaining immersion will be the next frontier.  This is just the beginning.

* Condition ONE, an immersive video application for iPads, launched through the iTunes App Store this week. It gives users the ability to look in any direction while viewing footage. Pivoting and tilting the iPad literally manipulates the corresponding field of view. The highly sensitive motion controls produce the illusion of looking through a window into another reality, giving a visceral sense of ‘being there’. Condition ONE will offer highly engaging storytelling with a focus on visual content conducive to being experienced firsthand. You can get it on the Apple App Store here.

Danfung Dennis has covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2006. His images have been published in Newsweek, Time and The New York Times. His footage in PBS Frontline Obama’s War was nominated for a 2010 Emmy Award. His documentary, Hell and Back Again, won the World Cinema Jury and Cinematography Awards at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. He is the founder and CEO of tech/media startup Condition ONE. His background is in Applied Economics and Business Management, consulting small and medium sized enterprises in emerging markets.

You can find out more about Condition ONE here.

By Danfung Dennis

It’s been a long and hard road, but after several years of work, my film HELL AND BACK AGAIN will be released in theaters starting on October 5th.

As many of you know the project was entirely shot on the Canon 5DmkII and I’d especially like to thank the DSLR community especially for supporting me. The film now needs your help to reach as many people as possible.

Please help spread the word about the film by forwarding the trailer link: http://vimeo.com/danfung/hellandbackagaintrailer

Thank you once again for your support.

-Danfung Dennis

You can see Danfung’s original post about the project on dslrnewsshooter.com here.

Danfung has been producing incredible work from Afghanistan where he works as an embedded photojournalist. His filming is both editorially and visually compelling – especially given the extreme conditions under which he works. He is currently working on his own documentary, “Battle for Hearts and Minds”, as well as having his footage featured on PBS Frontline. This is his first post about his technique for www.dslrnewsshooter.com

Battle for Hearts and Minds Trailer from Danfung Dennis on Vimeo.

Embedded photojournalist Danfung Dennis in action with his Canon 5DmkII while following the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, RCT 2nd Battalion 8th Marines Echo Co. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty)

I’ve been inundated with emails asking what camera rig I use, so I will keep this technical to try to answer them. The 5D mark II is capable of unprecedented image quality, but since it is a stills camera, there are several limitations that I had to address before using this camera in a warzone.

The first problem is with audio. I used a Sennheiser ME- 66 shotgun mic and G2 wireless system running into a Beachtek DXA-2s (I’ve since upgraded to a Juicedlink CX-231 with the Magic Lantern hack) which converts professional XLR mics into a minijack suitable for the 5D. I built custom aluminum ‘wings’ in a workshop to hold this audio setup.

The second problem is stabilization. The design of the 5D Mark makes hand held video shooting difficult. I mounted my whole system onto a Glidecam 2000 HD with custom rubber pads on the mount and a foam ear plug to suppress the vibration of the the lens. The rig is very heavy and it took about two months to get my arm strong enough to shoot extended shots. I cut up a Glidecam Body Pod to make it fit with my body armor and used it to rest my arm when I was not shooting.

My 5DmkII and Glidecam custom rig (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty)

To achieve a cinematic look when shooting in bright daylight at f2.8 at 1/60th or slower, requires a drastic amount of reduction of light that hits the sensor. I used a Singh Ray Variable ND filter. While the filter can reduce the amount of light by 2 to 8 stops, I had serious problems with uneven coverage, so part of my frame would be darker than others. I have tried Fader ND filters, but also have the same problem.

Another issue is that all focus must be done manually after recording begins. The only way to address this was a lot of practice racking focus. I was not able to rack focus when running, so I often had to try to stay the same distance from my subject to keep them in focus.

The most frustrating problem was that the camera would overheat after about 15 minutes of continuous shooting in 120 degree heat. I had no option other than to turn it off and let it cool. I did not have a spare body.

The final serious problem is that the files straight out of the camera are difficult to edit with. I use a 2.93 GHz Macbook Pro 17in, 256gb SSD HD, 4 GB RAM and convert the files into Apple Prores 422 LT using Compressor (the program often crashes when handling many files, but the quality is better than with mpeg streamclip). I use a 8TB Sonnet D400QR5 set at RAID 5 to store the 45 hours of footage and Prores files.

I carried six extra batteries and five 16 GB Sandisk Extreme IV cards.

To be notified when the documentary is available online, sign up at
www.battleforheartsandminds.com

Danfung

PBS has also used Danfung’s footage for the opening of this documentary

Click here to see Danfung Dennis interview with PBS on covering the war in Afghanistan.