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Director Wim Wenders Produces "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" in Sony CineAlta; Sony HDW-F900 Camcorder Used to Capture Stunning 24P Digital Images for New Music Production

Business Wire, April 9, 2000

Business/Technology Editors

NAB2000

Booth No. L12107

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 9, 2000

Attendees to Sony Electronics Broadcast and Professional Company's NAB press conference were privy to a pre-screening of noted director Wim Wenders' latest creation, a music clip shot using Sony's advanced 24P high definition camcorder.

The production of Wenders' The Ground Beneath Her Feet, features a song by U2 from the movie, The Million Dollar Hotel. The HDW-F900 and specially developed lenses by Panavision enabled Wenders to shoot the short digital music movie stylistically like a film, but with all of the advantages afforded by digital 24-frame progressive high definition HDCAM(R).

Wenders is one of a few European cinematographers to produce in CineAlta using a Sony 24P camcorder. The one-day shoot for The Ground Beneath Her Feet took place in Dublin, Ireland and included only a small support team from Sony and Panavision.

"I worked with people from Sony and Panavision once I received the camera and within a remarkably short timeframe, I was shooting complex scenes quite easily with it," said Wenders. "I was amazed at the quality of digital images produced using Sony's HDW-F900 and how well it intercut with the film footage shot on 35mm."

Wim Wenders is an award-winning director, screenwriter and producer who is most widely known as one of the top directors of the New German Cinema genre. Wenders' film credits include The American Friend; Wings of Desire; Paris, Texas; Until the End of the World; Faraway, So Close and Buena Vista Social Club. Wenders has earned the Palm d'Or in 1984 for Paris, Texas, Best Director in 1987 for Wings of Desire and Grand Jury Prize in 1993 for Faraway, So Close, all at Cannes Film Festival. Just last month, Wenders was an Oscar nominee for Buena Vista Social Club. His latest movie is The Million Dollar Hotel.

"The HDW-F900 camcorder's ability to emulate the 'film look' is of vital importance to many cinematographers seeking to capitalize on the advantages of digital acquisition but needing the look and feel of 35mm film," said Larry Thorpe, vice president of acquisition systems for Sony Electronics' Broadcast and Professional Company. "The excitement is growing in the industry as leading cinematographers and directors, such as Wim Wenders, avail of the opportunity to use the Sony 24P camcorder."

Sony's HDW-F900 24P digital high definition camcorder combines a 3-CCD HD color digital camera, where each RGB imager has 1920 x 1080 sensors with an HDCAM(R) compact digital 1/2-inch cassette recorder. The camcorder is intended to complement 24-frame film origination, facilitating a new creative choice for program producers for both television origination and certain types of movie making.

Sony Electronics' Broadcast and Professional Company (BPC) provides advanced products and systems for a variety of professional and broadcast markets, including production, corporate, industrial, government, security, medical and education. BPC products, systems and applications are designed to facilitate the transition to digital technologies and the emerging broadband network era, while managing current assets. Sony BPC products and services include those for broadcast and professional acquisition, production, storage, data management, system integration, digital imaging, digital printing, large and small venue display and projection needs. BPC is a division of Sony Electronics Inc., a U.S. company that had record sales exceeding $11 billion for fiscal year 1999. For more information, visit www.sony.com/professional.> Editor's Note: For information regarding the nearest Sony authorized dealer or service location, call 1-800-686-SONY. Press releases and digital images are available online at www.sel.sony.com/news.>