Recordable Media

An Interview with Jerome Bongiorno, Cinematographer/Editor Bongiorno Productions

Jerome Bongiorno and Marylou Tibaldo-Bongiorno have worked together since she was a graduate student at NYU Film School. She produces and directs while he shoots and edits. They were early to recognize the advantages of digital production. Today they're big fans of Sony Digital Master tape, which is designed for DVCAM and mini-DV camcorders.

"In documentaries, you've got one shot to get it," says Jerome. "If there's a glitch over a talking head-how are you going to fix it? You can't. You can fix the audio, you don't see that. But the glitch? That's a hard thing to fix. If you use mini-DV tape, you may get glitches. With Sony Digital Master tape, you don't." Marylou agrees. "When we're shooting events and talking heads," she says, "it's difficult to recreate these scenes, because these are real people, not actors. They're doing their thing on a one-shot basis. You don't want to be editing around any kind of tape distortion."

"With Digital Master tape, I'd be surprised if I ever saw a glitch in it. That's a big deal," explains Jerome. "You have that in your mind while you're shooting. You can rewind the tape and look back on the scene without worrying that you're going to mess it up. It's a heartier tape. If you're going to shoot anything, A, you're getting paid for or, B, you really love, you'd better shoot on something more than mini-DV tape."