Escape kit: cameras
On 21 February 2011 at 12:52 Logan McMillan hefted his tripod and decided to leave it behind. He would need both hands free to climb down six floors of the cracked stairwell that was filled with water and debris.
Less than a minute before he had been in fear of his life as the building that houses his top floor apartment threatened to collapse during the violent earthquake that shook Christchurch.
It wasn’t an unnecessary fear – many buildings did collapse during the shake, creating a death toll no less distressing for being eclipsed by events in Japan a month or so later.
“Once it finished I just kicked into gear,” says McMillan. “I knew I needed my video camera, my stills camera and my laptop.
“I waited a bit because I didn’t want to be caught in the stairwell during the aftershocks.
“I had a look around – I knew I wouldn’t be able to get back into the building once I left. I had my tripod in my hands but I knew I probably needed both hands free so I dropped it and now it has gone,” he shrugs.
“When I ran out of my building I didn’t think to look back, you get a real tunnel vision; I can’t even remember some things. I walked down some streets where I looked to the left down a side street where some buses were crushed, but I didn’t think to turn around and look down the other side.”
McMillan captured some of the first video footage and still photos of the disaster.
“I got all these photos and put them up on flickr, AFP news agency bought them then the Daily Mirror commissioned me to do another four days of photo shooting.
“I needed that because all my stuff just disappeared. I lost my truck, all my clothing – everything like that is gone.”
One reason for McMillan’s reaction was the rehearsal given Christchurch last year when an earlier earthquake caused building and infrastructure damage but no loss of life.
“Last time – the earthquake on 4 September last year – I didn’t have a camera with me and I had to drive all the way out of town to a mate’s place and pick up his one then come back in to town before I got any shots. Now I always keep gear in my bag now just for such occasions because I don’t want to get caught out again and miss opportunities to get shots.”
McMillan isn’t talking about keeping an iPhone handy, although he has one with a busted touch screen that still goes despite a spider web of cracks across the glass.
He is talking about a Panasonic Lumix GF1 a still camera with a Micro 4/3 inch sized sensor – a size approaching 35mm motion picture film.
“The body design has a very cool retro feel to it, and it works for my purposes – it is like a compact point and shoot camera with an awesome lens, full manual controls and great quality.”
The same lenses double for his Panasonic AF102 video camera which also sports a Micro 4/3 inch sensor. The camcorder was part of a prize of $20k of Panasonic products that McMillan picked up for best cinematography in last year’s V48 hours limited time film making contest.
His film Death in the West shows just what can be achieved in 48 hours with next to nothing but a guy and a Canon DSLR.
And his earthquake footage shows what can be achieved if you happen to be first on the scene with a GF1 and AF102 in your hands.
But along with collapsed buildings and hard hit businesses in Christchurch the prospect of McMillan paying his bills with local corporate work disappears – and it is something that in the past has supported his film making habit.
Now he is moving to Auckland.
“You have to make choices about what you want to do, and I want to get into feature films,” he says.
“I will definitely be shooting stuff back in Christchurch,” he then adds quickly, perhaps in case we think he is disloyal.
At least the cost of moving his household effects will be cheap; all he has fits in one bag.
Which he opens, demonstrating he is ready.
“Right now I have a good enough camera to get some high quality photos,” he says scanning the Auckland waterfront for an impending disaster.
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To assist the Christchurch Film and Television community get back on its feet NZ Crews , part of Crews.TV is offering a free membership for a year to those affected by the earthquake.
