mostly big tv shows are shot on 2/3" ccd cameras. big heave cameras like you see news people using. now they have several different formats and all that as well (betacam, dvcam, dvcam pro, pro 50, etc...).
for film cameras for shooting movies/wakeboarding and what not, they use 35mm, 16mm, and sometimes 8mm film. some brands are arriflex, bolex, panavision, and konvas just to name a few.
when using smaller ccd camcorders that "we" can afford, like the dvx100a or canon xl2 for SD, or the jvc hd100u or sony z1u HDV camcorders, there DOF is more limited because of the size of the ccd.
and by film look, usually that means alot of things... lighting, camera exposure, depth of field, camera movements, and post production (color grading for the most part). without all of those you only get one piece of the film look.
there are solutions to not being able to achieve a shallow depth of field by using a 35mm adapter.
www.redrockmicro.com makes them and so do other companies/people on dvinfo.net. its "basically" an adapter you put in front of your camcorder and allows you to use 35mm cinema or SLR lenses. theres more info and clips on those on the websites mentioned.
for wakeboarding its hard to get the right exposure for shooting because the sun is always around to pester you, except at sunrise. thats the best time to shoot because the sun isnt extremely harsh.
does this help at all?}