Founded in January 2014, EpicTech Media have been providing high end video production to companies and musicians across the U.K. for over three and a half years. When approached earlier this year by the band Bodkin Lane, we relished the challenge of producing a video of their charity concert, in aid of Headway (www.headway.org.uk), despite the challenging size of the venue.

When it came to planning the spec for this project, our first call was to Steffan at Polecam to see if one of their rigs would be suitable for a venue of this size. Steffan’s response; of course! Not only did he provide a Polecam and operator (Stuart Nicholls from Emagine productions), he also pushed his new product, the Autopod, our way. The Autopod is an ‘elevation unit’, which Steffan recommended for use on stage behind the drummer. Obviously, one issue with having a camera on a cramped stage is that there is no room for an operator. Steffan (who seems to know just about everyone), passed us the contact details of Dean Offord at Panasonic, who on hearing about the project, offered to provide some PTZs for use as the cameras, eliminating the need for camera operators. Some PTZs quickly became some PTZs, the new Panasonic 4K POVCAM for the Polecam Rig, a control joystick, monitors and an operator for it all.
Jump forward a few weeks, and after numerous conference calls, we arrived at the venue and started rigging. Panasonics PoE+ (Power over Ethernet) system, meant only two cables going to each camera position, making the setup easy, quick and simple.

Panasonics’ PTZ cameras feature custom pre-set positions which can be recalled easily from the control panel. This allowed the mix to come across smoothly, as a pose to long repositioning times, a quick cutaway would allow the camera to reposition completely, cutting back to a brand new angle.

The addition of the Polecam/ Autopod were undoubtedly the star of the show however. These systems gave a fourth dimension to the footage, and took the production value to another level. In fact, Polecam are working with Panasonic to integrate the Autopod control into the Panasonic PTZ desks.

Ally Adams, Director at EpicTech Media commented:

“We’ve worked with Polecam on countless projects now, and there’s one simple reason. Where ever we’re filming, however long we have, Polecam delivers stunning footage; which our clients are proud to put their name too. This project was no different, and the Polecam and Panasonic POVCAM combination have once again delivered results beyond our expectation.”

Steffan Hewitt, Director at Polecam also commented:
“This whole project has actually been amazing. To be able to bring so many people together, in such a short period of time, and generate such a result. You’ve got Panasonic coming in bringing their toys in. You’ve got Polecam bringing theirs in. You’ve got Stuart Nicholls coming in to operate the Polecam. You’ve got the guys from EpicTech Media, again, offering the whole production service. What’s amazing is this whole thing was created in such a short period of time in such a small venue; it just goes to show that these things can be done, and can be done on a really good budget as well.”

Dean Offord, Sales Engineer at Panasonic said:
“It has been a pleasure working with EpicTech for the first time, as they excel in their professional expertise in both rigging for the event, and also producing the video for end to end production. The opportunity to work with Polecam again has been incredible as they helped to deliver stunning footage with the Polecam unit utilising our 4K POVCAM for the first time, operated expertly by the talented Stuart Nicholls who had integrated the kit easily on first viewing. We have also worked alongside the Autopod, which we feel is a game changer for our PTZ remote camera units as we can use the vertical raises of the Autopod for new camera angles seamlessly with a single operator, with the added bonus of very short set-up times. We feel strongly that the remote systems bring a whole new take on live events for all budget levels of production, and we look forward to developing further within this area.”