KitPlus | Articles

How I shoot those Amazing Spaces

by Chris Smith Issue 93 - September 2014 Channel 4 has just finished showing series 3 of its popular ‘Amazing Spaces’, which is all about people building unusual living spaces. Watch it, and even after one viewing it could have you looking at your back garden in a new light, ready to start building that underground family space or cinema, or maybe...

Submitted by Chris Smith

Published 01 October 2014

Portaprompt Tablet Prompter

by Mark Stopher Issue 93 - September 2014 The Portaprompt Tablet Prompter is a nifty mounting system that allows you to place a tablet on the front of your camera and use it as a screen for your teleprompter. Recently, I was using it in a studio set up to film some product demonstrations - using an iPad. I was impressed!The system has a 12’’ piece...

Submitted by Mark Stopher

Published 01 October 2014

The First Musketeer

by Neil Oseman Issue 91 - July 2014 Based on The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, The First Musketeer is a brand new take on this famous adventure. Written and directed by Harriet Sams, director of photography Neil Oseman takes us behind the lens of this new gritty six part mini drama shot on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera. Set in the South of Fr...

Submitted by Neil Oseman

Published 01 August 2014

UWP-D11 Review

by Kevin Cook Issue 91 - July 2014 Ever since the new regulations in the UK on radio microphone frequencies were introduced in the UK at the end of 2012, the days were numbered for my trusty old Sony UWP series radio mic system (consisting of the URX-P1 UHF dual-diversity receiver and UTX-B1 transmitter). Whilst super-reliable and excellent quality...

Submitted by Kevin Cook

Published 01 August 2014

4K at NAB

by Bob Pank Issue 89 - May 2014 The long term NAB veterans will be well aware of just how quickly new technologies can come and go in the television industry. For instance, only a couple of years ago, 3D was still the hot topic, now it has gone quiet, but not altogether gone away. So it is good to report that 4K had another very good NAB, probably...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 June 2014

When the going gets tough

by Will Strauss Issue 88 - April 2014 When working in the field, the kit we use has to withstand a fair old battering. And Im not just talking about the cameras, viewfinders and those expensive lenses. While glass still needs protecting, these days so does your laptop, your storage, your memory cards: the lot. They all need bags, cases and toughene...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 May 2014

Rising to the occasion

by Kevin CookIssue 83 - November 2013 I must admit I wasnt really in the market for a camera crane until I set eyes on the iFootage M1 Mini Crane. Sure, I love seeing craning shots in a film - and I understand perfectly how these types of shots give the viewer an additional and otherwise unavailable perspective to A scene but it all seemed like a l...

Submitted by Kevin Cook

Published 01 December 2013

Bob Pank looks at shooting 4K TV

by Bob PankIssue 82 - October 2013 Not unexpectedly IBC was full of buzz and products for 4K the new image format for television. This is generally taken to be a 2x2 version of HDTVs 1920 x 1080, i.e. defining a 3840 x 2160 pixel picture. But there is nothing new about big pictures like this. Back in late 2004 a draft of the Digital Cinema Initiati...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 November 2013

BroadcastShow Tour October 2013

Issue 82 - October 2013 October heralds the second tour of 2013 for BroadcastShow. The travelling road show of exhibiting manufacturers and seminars visited London, Glasgow, Manchester, Cardiff and Bristol earlier this year with well over 1000 visitors through the doors. For the autumn leg the first stop will be the Europa Hotel in Belfast on 16th...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 November 2013

Polecam delivers 500th rig

by Mel NoonanIssue 81 - September 2013 We in the UK should be rightly proud of Polecam and what it has achieved, with news that the 500th rig has been delivered. Extreme sports cameraman Steffan Hewitt designed the lightweight jib for his own use, as a tool to get the shots he wanted. He kept refining it as he used it. Others saw it and wanted it....

Submitted by Mel Noonan

Published 01 October 2013

Preparing for the future in television and film

by Kieron SethIssue 80 - August 2013 We prepare students for a career in television and film, says Sean Thornton of Anglia Ruskin University. As such, the technology we use has to be real-world and broadcast standard The Media Services team provides equipment to under- and postgraduate students and operates facilities that include TV and photograph...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 September 2013

Why test and measurement is for real life, not just for e...

by Will StraussIssue 79 - July 2013 Thanks to its long-standing association with virtually incomprehensible acronyms, dark machine rooms and (lets face it) engineers with unruly beards, the subject of Test and Measurement (T&M) always gets a bit of bum rap. Yet, for all the pre-conceptions, it is a hugely important part of the production and broadc...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 August 2013

A cinematic makeover with Blackmagic Design

With the announcement of Blackmagic Cinema Camera at NAB 2012, Mark Linnhoff, a France based cinematographer, began to see the future of filmmaking in a new light. “Finally, an affordable acquisition tool that doesn’t compromise on image quality,” he recalled. “When I got the camera, I carried out some tests with a series of Carl Zeiss ZF.2 and Nik...

Submitted by Mark Linnhoff

Published 01 July 2013

Preparing for the future in television and film

“We prepare students for a career in television and film,” says Sean Thornton of Anglia Ruskin University. “As such, the technology we use has to be real-world and broadcast standard.”The Media Services team provides equipment to under- and post-graduate students and operates facilities that include TV and photographic studios, video editing rooms...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 July 2013

Will Strauss captures some decent sound gear

Capturing decent location sound requires skill, experience and, as Will Strauss discovered when compiling a list of recent audio acquisition innovations, piles of expensive kit. Although some cameramen might disagree, audio is still the most important thing to get right when on location. The odd dodgy shot can, generally speaking, be sorted in post...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 June 2013