KitPlus | Articles

The Teradek Bolt reviewed

The location is a small busy working kitchen of a top London restaurant; the chef and kitchen staff have enough on their plate (!) without having to worry about avoiding cables and bumping into members of the crew filming them go about their business. The soundman is able to keep himself out of the way, not causing trip hazards with cables and the...

Submitted by Jon Boast

Published 01 July 2013

PAGlink reviewed

Up until recently I always thought that a battery was, well just a battery. After all it’s just a load of cells strung together and put in some kind of case right? Well apparently not, it seems that there is a bit more to it than that, and the folks at PAG were keen to prove this by providing me with a set of their PL96e V-Mount Batteries to test....

Submitted by Jon Pratchett

Published 01 July 2013

Does size matter? with Polecam

It’s simple. Horses for Courses! ScenarioWhen shooting Anything, Anywhere, there is always a trade between budget, performance, manpower, speed and space – the production company and client will inevitably want quite simply “the best they can get and at the best price”. However when the application and location of the shoot dictate over and above t...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 July 2013

Alice Chants final term: Following the Ravensbourne 3

The final term of a degree is going to be challenging, but what an amazing learning curve I have been on. I have had the opportunity to work with some great people on various projects and have been able to further develop my skills as a Director. My main project is an experimental film of which I wanted to showcase my ideas and a concept, without t...

Submitted by Alice Chant

Published 01 July 2013

Sony UWP series microphone review

It’s all well and good having a beautifully lit and well framed and focused shot, but if the sound is rubbish then you might as well throw the footage in the bin. Sound is as important as the quality of the video image. This is especially true when interviewing someone or recording a corporate presentation. Here the message is the key reason that t...

Submitted by Jon Pratchett

Published 01 June 2013

Following the Ravensbourne 3: Ruth Matos manages her time

by Ruth MatosWho has not been in a situation when work opportunities and commitments happen all at the same time? We never know why it is like that. It can be frustrating and it can take time thinking about what to do. As Paulo Coelho wrote on his book The Winner Stands Alone: ‘Life has many ways of testing a person's will, either by having nothing...

Submitted by Ruth Matos

Published 01 May 2013

Live from the supermarket car park

What’s Cooking? is the new daily daytime TV show beamed from a temporary studio in the car park of a supermarket. As chefs prepare dishes live on air, a roving camera crew relays pictures from the aisles of the shop while Channel 4 viewers interact with the presenters and cooks via social media. Produced by Superhero TV, technical integration and i...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 May 2013

Rock steady support for Duran Duran

When Den Lennie was asked to be DP for a Duran Duran live concert in the Manchester MEN Arena last year, he was looking for some solid heavy duty camera support. His choice fell on a range of 2575 and 2060 fluid heads by OConnor. The team shot the two-hour gig very unconventionally with 14 Sony PMW-F3 manned, five fixed camera positions and another...

Submitted by Den Lennie

Published 01 April 2013

Premiere 4K aquisition - LIVE

SIS LIVE recently put together a working group to explore the technology and workflows required to deliver live, 4K, multi-camera event coverage from an outside broadcast unit, which culminated in a field test at St James Park on 2nd February. Working with major camera and equipment suppliers, SIS LIVE has conducted proof of concept tests at base u...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 April 2013

Adventure Filmmaking with Ian Burton

What exactly is it that you do now/ what do you specialise in? How did you get started in filmmaking?I'm an independent adventure filmmaker, specialising in shooting in remote and ‘vertical’ locations. I shoot my own projects as well as commercial projects for a huge range of companies, and I love filming world class extreme athletes pushing themse...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 April 2013

Achieving the critical link in live HD deployment

By: Patrick Coenen, chief technical officer for Actua Films, GenevaAs employees of a facility service provider for TV stations, networks and corporate businesses, we at Actua Films understand better than most that in today’s broadcast world, it’s imperative to get everything done at lightning speed. We have our own camera crews going into the field...

Submitted by Patrick Coenen

Published 01 April 2013

Crowd pulling at BVE

There is no better crowd puller at a trade show than a stand using equipment from multiple manufacturers being used in way it will be once unpacked by the customer. This ethos is really the idea behind our monthly live studio show and was also the theme for our stand at this year’s BVE. Pooling stands with Autocue was the first good move as it not...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 April 2013

Life live beyond the Premier League

by Kieron SethIn Europe outside broadcast has traditionally been within the reach of a handful of deep-pocketed television companies. Across the Atlantic, small OB vans have been popular for years with niche, regional news crews beaming state pie eating competitions to eager viewers. With the advent of Local TV and low-cost fast turnaround producti...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 April 2013

Cue Systems, more important than ever in live OB producti...

An effective cue system performs a crucial role in coordinating broadcast activity, keeping directors, production crew and camera operators informed and in control. Data gathered from vision mixers, routers and other production path components generates tally information that can be displayed on under-monitor displays (UMDs) and multi-screen viewer...

Submitted by Bob Head

Published 01 April 2013

Lights Camera Action for Silverstone F1

Rotolight ANOVA, the world’s most advanced LED Floodlight was recently used as the light of choice for the 2012 Autosport Awards shoot at the Silverstone Formula 1 track, produced by MAKE Television (formerly Sequence Creative). MAKE Television produced the two-day shoot capturing six of the UK’s best future Formula 1 stars, competing head to head...

Submitted by Rod Aaron Gammons

Published 01 March 2013