Filmmaker Glen Samuel from Mountain Lake Films tests the Sony NEX FS100 camera for the Kelowna Film Society

The Kelowna Film Society has bought a super-35mm digital motion picture camera, which will give Kelowna filmmakers the ability to create cinema-quality productions at sharply reduced costs.
The camera, a Sony NEX FS100, features large digital memory, follow-focus, tripod and range of peripherals, allowing it to capture images comparable to those acquired by equipment which typically rents for many hundreds of dollars per day.
The camera will be available to qualified local film creators at a fraction of this cost, enabling Okanagan media workers and cinema students to complete professional projects, which previously required Hollywood-sized budgets.
“Film is the most influential art-form there is, entertaining, inspiring or even changing the way people think,” said local filmmaker Wendy Ord. “The main stumbling block for film artists is the costs of high-end camera equipment.
“This camera puts imagination back in the driver’s seat.”
Ord, co-owner of Mountain Lake Films, whose most recent production Tora starred David Suzuki, is sure local colleagues in the film community will use this new opportunity to create better productions.
Her enthusiasm is echoed by Ruth Mellor, president of the film society who says, “One of the purposes of the society is to advance knowledge, appreciation and interest in Canadian cinema.
“This camera, by reducing the cost of the actual filming of a project, will allow local filmmakers to produce more work.”
The camera and images shot with it were on display to filmmakers at an event at the Streaming Cafe on Friday.
As well, loyal patrons of the film society’s Wednesday evening screenings, and whose admission dollars have underwritten this initiative, got a sneak preview of the camera and its capabilities at their Jan. 11 film night.
The Kelowna Film Society started as an outreach of the Salmon Arm Society. In 2007, KFS became independent with its organization, a loyal audience and some funds already in place. The society has built up funds that now support grants and bursaries for Central Okanagan filmmakers and post-secondary film students, which totalled $7,000 in 2011.
The society screens about
30 films each year, many selected from the list of movies shown at the annual Toronto International Film Festival.

by kelowna@courier.none (Kelowna Daily Courier)