The Society of Camera Operators (SOC) volunteered to document the journey of the Space Shuttle Endeavour to its final home at the California Science Center as part of a project being managed by Terbine Entertainment and many other vendors and volunteers.
Cinematographer Haskell Wexler, ASC/SOC, served as a camera operator and employed Ki Pro Mini portable digital video recorders from AJA Video Systems to capture the landing of the Endeavour Space Shuttle at LAX Airport in Los Angeles, CA.
The footage, along with footage captured of the shuttle’s journey through the streets of Los Angeles on Oct. 12-13, will be incorporated into “Endeavour’s Final Journey,” a documentary project spearheaded by producer David Knight, to accompany the forthcoming Endeavour exhibit at the California Science Center (CSC).
“With no budget and a tight timeline, a tapeless workflow seemed like the best fit for this project, and we knew that Ki Pro Mini would give us an ideal recording setup. They’re easy to deploy and use, plus all of our camera assistants had good experiences working with them,” said Mark August, SOC, Second Unit DP on the documentary.
Ki Pro Minis were mounted to three Panavision Genesis Cameras using Noga Arms. Wexler served as one of the camera operators and was positioned near the flight line in preparation for the arrival of the Endeavour Shuttle riding atop a Boeing 747. Apple ProRes 422 footage of the landing was recorded to the Ki Pro Minis and sent to Deluxe, which is donating its services to compile, edit and archive all of the material captured for use in the documentary.
Volunteer camera operators from SOC also employed AJA Ki Pro Minis to document the Shuttle as it hits the streets of Los Angeles to travel to its ultimate destination, the CSC, where it will remain permanently on exhibit.