A snowboarder pauses before tackling a mountain in the
yet-to-be-released EA Games SSX, which includes footage
shot by Dunedin-based television company NHNZ. Photo by EA
Games.
NHNZ has been used by one of the world's largest video
game companies.
NHNZ Moving Images manager Caroline Cook said the footage
library was approached by gaming giant EA Games to license
its high definition avalanche blast film.
Emmy award-winning cameraman Mike Single shot the footage
near the Homer Tunnel after the company liaised with the New
Zealand Transport Agency, which was carrying out an avalanche
blast in the area.
Ms Cook said companies using stock footage wanted it in high
definition, so NHNZ "specifically went out and shot
avalanches".
"We shot the same thing in standard definition some years
ago, but no-one wants standard definition stock footage for
their productions any more."
There was a growing international market for stock footage,
and gaming was a "new outlet for our footage".
"That is where gaming is going. They are using actual footage
in the backgrounds for their games."
NHNZ's stock footage library was in the top 10 globally. The
company differed from other libraries by shooting its own
footage and produced about 60 hours of factual programming a
year.
"For every hour we produce, there is about 20 to 50 hours of
field footage shot," she said.
The best footage was made available on servers in New Zealand
and in Los Angeles. NHNZ retained the copyright.
Recently, the company had shot footage from Tonga,
Madagascar, Japan, China and the United States, and was not
just limited to the natural history genre, she said.
The avalanche footage would feature in the 3-D snowboarding
game, SSX, which will be released for Xbox 360 and
PlayStation 3 early next year.
hamish.mcneilly@odt.co.nz
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