July 16, 2007 – Monday
CalTech & Griffith Observatory
First of all, let me begin by saying that the iPhone has become our new friend. The driving directions on this thing are pretty cool. It is definitely helping get us from point A to point B with little fuss.
Our day begins with the iPhone helping us find the nearest Starbucks (something the iPhone is well known for). After the coffee run, we made our way over to CalTech for our first shoot of the production, and interview with Dr. Suvi Gezari.
Dr. Gezari is one of America’s brightest young astronomers, engaged in cutting edge research to pull back the veil of mystery surrounding super massive blackholes. She has the privilege of working with some of the world’s most technologically advanced instruments, including the Chandra X-Ray telescope, and the Galex (Galaxy Explorer) telescope.
Following our interview at CalTech, we traveled to the Griffith Observatory, to interview it’s director, and one of the leading historians on pre-telescopic astronomy, Dr. Ed Krupp. The hills that surround the observatory make up what is known as Griffith Park. Last year, a tragic wildfire devastated much of the beautiful hillsides surrounding the observatory. We were honored to be the first production company on top of the mountain since the wildfire.
Dr. Krupp is an expert on archeo-astronomy and how star-gazing influenced early civilizations. He also reminded us that we aren’t that different from ancient astronomers, as we are using new technology just as they did, not only to answer question about our universe, but to raise new questions as well.
After our interview with Dr. Krupp in the 12 inch refractor dome, we put our newly engineered Plano-Cam to work.
The Plano-Cam is comprised of 8 individual high-definition cameras, and specially designed optics. When these 8 cameras record simultaneously, they capture a full hemispheric view of the surrounding environment.
With complex software engineering, we can then combine these 8 individual sources into one movie. When projected into a planetarium, we create a total immersion experience for the participant. This process in technology has never been used before and will premiere in the companion planetarium program to our documentary.
From there, we’re on our way to Escondido. But first, we had to pick up a specially modified Canon 5D, which we’ll blog about later. This put in Torrance, at 5:30, and we were running on Starbucks fumes.
Enter the wonderful ‘Claim Jumper’ restaurantWe had the appetizer sampler that consisted of fried zucchini, garlic onion rings, buffalo wings and cheese sticks. Dessert consisted of chocolate cheesecake. We promise we’ll start eating healthier tomorrow.
That concludes the events of today. We are headed to Escondido tonight and preparing for an all-day shoot at Palomar tomorrow.