Projects


ESSEX GIRLS COME OUT TO PLAY The speed of the PDW-700 made it the camera of choice on Lime’s ITV2 series The Only Way is Essex


was the turnaround time of XDCAM HD


TV’s latest guilty pleasure, ITV2’s reality soap The Only Way is Essex has been one of the digital channel’s biggest hits of the year. The series details the lives of the Essex socialites who frequent the counties’ nail bars, nightclubs and tanning salons, and part of the secret of its success is the innovative way it is made by indie Lime Pictures. Shot


just days before transmission, the 10-


part series has an immediacy with each episode containing the fallout from the previous episodes as characters discover what others appearing in the series have to say about them. A crucial ingredient in that fast turnaround feel is the show’s workflow, which was designed around the use of the Sony 700 camcorder. Lighting camera operator Ben Spence, who shot the programme’s pilot episode, explains: “One of the things that made us choose the cameras


26 theproducer Winter 2011


optical discs. We were shooting stuff for broadcast just two days later, so tape-based acquisition was out. We chose the 700s because ingest is at least twice as fast.” Shot with two crews operating three 700s, with


one camera team from each crew shooting wide and two filming tighter shots, Spence stresses the importance of flexible kit which enables camera operators to think on their feet. “In situations such as night clubs, which are dark


and cramped, the last thing you want is a big camera that is difficult to operate or unwieldy. The trick was the budget meant that for it to work everything a crew needed had to fit into one van, so we needed flexible kit which could be used in different situations.” For Spence the 700 is a solid professional camcorder, more cost effective than other alternatives, with a


simple, manageable workflow which can produce shallow depth of field and images which are not too sharp - which has the benefit of resulting in a more filmic look. “Plus – being a Sony camera – it has a familiar


menu structure so crews can quickly get to grips with it,” he adds. But Spence’s favourite aspect of the 700 is the camera’s HyperGamma function. “It maximises the latitude and is particularly useful in protecting highlights and skins tones. It lifts the whole picture, so I’m a big fan.” Posted and graded at Evolutions, at one point


the unusual step of performing an in-camera grade was considered using the HyperGamma settings. “Although we managed to find an extra half a day to do the grade, it is possible to produce the graded look all set in-camera,” explains Spence. “Potentially it’s another useful option to have up your sleeve.”


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