The Producer Report: Location shoots
The main problem on this location was sand “There’s no room for large cameras in jet planes
and heat, which soared to 56 degrees during the but I wanted something I could get my hands
day and only down to 35C at night. “While the round and feel like I’m filming,” says Lee. “When
human body can adapt to any extreme, camera kit pulling 9-Gs you need something you can
needs some help,” says Farish. “Even the reflective manoeuvre and that will stand up to the strain.”
covers didn’t prevent the cameras reaching boiling Four HDR-TG3 handycams (recording to 4GB
point but they slowed the process down.” memory stick) were fitted to the cockpits for
At the active volcano Erte Ale, a camera remotely filmed footage with aerial shots captured
operator climbed down next to the crater with the from a helicopter by an EX3 and ground filming
EX1 to film an attempt to record the lava’s completed on a XDCAM HD F350.
temperature. With tape at risk of melting, the Impact Image’s production director Bob Hayes
camcorder’s SxS Pro cards captured the event wasn’t phased by having to handle over 29 hours
without a hitch, the media swiftly downloaded to of rushes from disc, two types of solid-state media
a laptop and backed-up again onto hard drive. and tape. “Using 32GB cards in the EX1 we could
“The picture quality was brilliant,” reports Mark exchange them easily, download to a hard disk and
Shelley, the production’s technical manager. “It keep shooting all day – although the erase process
slotted alongside the HDCAM footage perfectly.” is a little unnerving,” he says.
“XDCAM HD is our workhorse,” adds Hayes.
HOLD STEADY “It’s been slung around in airplanes, jeeps and
There are few occasions when crews must battle helicopters and we’ve never had a problem with it.
intense heat and excessive speed yet those were the The HVR is the last bastion of tape but it delivered
conditions to which Impact Image had to truly stunning images that matched perfectly in the
edit. When Sony devise a tapeless high definition
“XDCAM HD is our workhorse. It’s been replacement for it then everything we shoot will be
slung around in airplanes, jeeps and helicopters
to file.”
Ginger Productions are also advocates of the
and we’ve never had a problem with it
A1E, finding it the “perfect combination of weight
Bob Hayes, production director, Impact Image and image quality,” says Stobart. The company
first used it for discrete filming of ITV2’s Kelly
acclimatise for a commission showcasing the Osbourne: Turning Japanese, where the crew could
aviation skills of the Oman royal air force. “It’s not pass themselves off as tourists without drawing
like flying in an airliner,” remarks specialist air-to- attention to the star. Recently though Stobart
“
air photographer Geoffrey Lee, who handheld an
”
trained ex-Army adventurer Ed Stafford to self-
HVR-A1E in two-seat fighter hawks F-16 and PC- shoot with the camera for an epic three year long
9 during the three week shoot last January. solo walk along the length of the Amazon.
“When you zoom at low level over the desert at “Anything smaller than the A1 would limit our
midday, the heat generated from the ground means options in terms of getting it onto TV,” says
you get a very bumpy ride,” he says. “I needed to hold Stobart. “Self-shooting is perfect since we would
the camera with both hands to keep it steady but the never obtain such a raw story by sending in a film
camera’s integral image stabiliser did the rest.” crew.” Stafford is freighting hundreds of tapes back
Impact Image had reengineered the A1E’s lens to Ginger at intervals where the team is compiling
collar so that a wide-angle zoom could be fitted. a documentary for broadcast or feature release.
6\[VM[OLVM�JL&
32 theproducer Summer 2009
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