Tv-bay questions with Richard Hooking

Author: KitPlus

Published 1st April 2013


Richard Hookings Q&A for TV-Bay
Different Animals - The Polecam Full Rig owner op


How did you get in to the Broadcast business?
When I was 12 I went to a Michael Faraday lecture; they were demonstrating the latest TV technology of the day– how they made Superman fly with green screen, how they did the weather - I got the bug, and from then on I wanted to get into television. I wrote to the BBC, - ‘how do I become a cameraman?’ They said A level Physics but it wasn’t my thing. I did Media Studies at A level then a Film & Video degree at Portsmouth University.
I set up a partnership with 2 other Uni guys; our final year documentary was commissioned by Meridian TV; we did a couple of other projects and were picked up for an RTS Best Local Documentary award.
When did you buy your first kit?
I decided to go freelance and we split up. I bought a Sony DSR-500 DVCAM camcorder, which served me well for 12 years. I even used it as recently as last year for a project. I think I spent £25 K at the time on kit, but I certainly got my value from it.

How did you get interested in Polecam?

In 2004 I did a 3 camera car and bike shoot. There was a Polecam guy on it too – John Gillan. I was immediately impressed with the speed that he could set up and the great sexy car shots he was getting. I’d seen Polecam at shows when it was in its infancy, but this was the first time I’d worked close to it. I wanted one.
I inundated John with a hundred questions then went to Polecam and ended up buying a full rig just a few weeks after that shoot. The camera was a Toshiba TU-63. It was SD and 4x3, so I bought an anamorphic adaptor for when I needed widescreen.
Polecam is an amazing bit of kit; you can achieve so much with it in a very short time; you can do some really creative things - I could see all this in my mind, but I needed to spend some time to be able to accomplish it. I practiced in the garden and all over, and in a short time it came to me.
I was approached to make a Corporate Video for a client who used a large Scalectrix track as a corporate bonding exercise. This was a perfect job for Polecam with the small camera head and extreme depth of focus. It was very well received and that boosted my Polecam confidence.
I then did a European concert tour with Dido, not in arenas but in great venues like an old Roman Amphitheatre. I was then fortunate to be chosen with my Polecam to cover the Games in Athens. This was an incredible experience. I was on the finish line when Kelly Holmes won the 800 metres. I covered some cycling too, and the Triathlon. Would you believe this was in SD and 4x3? – and that’s just eight years ago!
What’s the next milestone?
HD. It was a slow transition because it was slow in the industry too. I got a few enquiries but I couldn’t justify the spend, so I waited. In time, around 2009, I bought a Toshiba IK-HD1 small profile camera and the Convergent Design FlashXDR recorder.
I upgraded my Polecam monitor to HD and the rig poles as well to a new more rigid carbon fibre. I did a ‘Dream Homes’ shoot for Discovery with my new Polecam HD. This HD upgrade was an important stepping stone to where I am today. I found myself in a steep HD learning curve though like many of my colleagues at the beginning. All talk was of megabits per second, codecs and wrappers, but with no practical experience many of us were going with instinct or best guess.
Next step?
3D. When I went HD I went for a slightly wider Polecam head that Steffan at Polecam had designed which would allow a second small camera to be mounted for 3D shooting. So for the 3D shoots I did I hired in a second camera. I did a shoot with two GoPro cameras too.
and then?
The DLSR and large sensor revolution. I could see that a part of the industry was moving towards DSLR and large sensor camera production. I went on quite a few shoots where a Canon 5D was the main camera. I was shooting alongside with my Polecam and my Toshiba HD camera. Then I heard that Steffan at Polecam was coming up with a DSLR cradle and I was pretty excited about that. I was still cautious because I could see that shooting video with a DSLR was full of compromises, so I waited, then the Long Head for Polecam came out so I bought that in 2012. Now there were other large sensor cameras to choose from. I bought a Canon 5D and then eventually the Canon C300.
So what can you offer clients with your full Polecam rig setup now?
Maximum flexibility. Because I’ve worked with Polecam now for eight years I know exactly what a full rig is capable of, and I can do it quickly and efficiently, getting all those original Polecam sexy shots with ease – some of which just can’t be done on a shorter Polecam with a heavy large camera on board.
But if you want the filmic look, my rig and I are also capable of large sensor-shorter pole shooting too. In fact these two Polecam variants are very different animals and must be handled differently. Also you need more counterweights for the larger camera setup, so it’s not as easily portable as when you use the small camera. But I can quickly offer whatever the client wants, along with all my experience and my creativity.
For OB, live events and other multi camera events the little Toshiba HD camera has the big advantage that it has a full RCP capability so it can be plumbed in to the truck colour matching /racking system.
In this form it’s still the quickest, lightest, most unobtrusive HD crane around.
For shooting off-Polecam my C300 is now my main camera. Eight years on I still love shooting with Polecam. Much of that is down to the success of the original design and also the company continually moving with technology and staying ahead of the changes.
Richard Hookings, Polecam Owner-operator with Full Polecam Rig
Tel: 07976 399959

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