DECEMBER 2015
Vol 220
Lupo in the News We are on Vincent Street in Auckland with Sam Walters, TVNZ cameraman on the ‘Breakfast’ show. We’re here to have a look at the lights he is using. Ed: Sam, obviously you have a bit of a range of natural lighting from a 6 o’clock cross to your 8.30 cross. How do you cope with that – what variety of lights do you use? Sam: It all depends on how the day’s going – if the sun’s out or if it’s overcast like it is today. For 6 o’clock, it tends to be dark so we use the Lupo for a backlight … Ed:
This is the Lupo Fresnel?
Sam: Yes that’s right. I use that as a backlight with the LED panel acting as a key light. Ed:
Lupo lights up ‘Breakfast’ on location.
Why do you use it in that combination?
Sam: You can dim this one right down and spot it out, compared to an LED panel where your spread doesn’t have barn doors or anything like that, so you can’t spot that. This Lupo is awesome for a backlight. Ed: I see you’re running it on battery; the same with the flat panels? Sam: Yes, everything for our Breakfast show is pretty much run on battery … easy, no more cables and when it’s wet, it still works. Ed: Were you shooting in the days when you had to have HMIs and mains power?
Sam: Yes, that’s when I was just starting off. We were still using HMIs … I do still prefer to use HMI when I can but … Ed: You’ve got a dial-up phone have you? Sam: Yeah, exactly. It all depends on the situation. If it’s just a normal scenic location and it’s a really bright day, then I will use HMI if I can but this does just as good a job most times. Ed: I notice that in between shots, and when Matty was reading the weather, your assistant was able to quickly pick up the Lupo on the stand and move it down the road so you’re ready for the next shot … no cables involved and it didn’t look heavy?
Sam: It’s perfect for that situation – easy, light, very portable, it’s awesome. Ed: And it doesn’t easily get damaged when you throw it in the truck at the end of the morning? Sam: No, we have a Pelican case that it lives in and travels all around the world. Ed: And you travel around the world with it? Sam: I do take it around when I go round. I’ve only just gone on my first overseas trip a couple of weeks ago. Ed:
Afghanistan?
Sam: Not quite … Brisbane. Ed:
Almost as dangerous!
Sam: Almost as dangerous … well the sun’s just as dangerous for me. Ed: So you still were able to use this in the bright sun of Brisbane? Sam: Yes, I used it for our “lives” over there and I also used a flecky to diffuse the sun, so still just as good as an HMI. Ed: Again, it’s not just a case of lighting the subject, it’s a case of getting a scene that has a good light balance and that’s where you find the Lupo Fresnel really good for that? Sam: Yes, today it’s overcast, so it’s perfect for what we need. Not too bright, does the job, whereas there was one time the other day I had to have it right spotted up against his face to get what we wanted. The reporter wasn’t too happy, because it made his eyes water. Ed:
But reporters are tough?
Sam: Exactly, exactly. I moved on to another location to talk with Phil Melville, a TVNZ cameraman of long standing who’s on during the day. Ed: Phil, you’re shooting for the 6 o’clock News and other things? Phil: Mostly 6 o’clock, a little bit of Seven Sharp and some of the other shows … Fair Go, Sunday, but mostly 6 o’clock. Ed: So pretty well, you’re a roving cameraman and someone tells you “we want you there, there and there to do this” – and away you go? Phil: Yes. We follow the News and sometimes we make the News. Often we’re reacting to what’s happened during the day, so we won’t know where we’ll be or what conditions we’ll come across. Ed: And for the very uninitiated “during the day” doesn’t mean that you’ve got daylight sufficient for your camera, although camera manufacturers will tell you “oh yes, this is very low light and you can shoot in any lighting conditions” … you pretty well always use a light?
Sam ready for action.
Phil: I would say I’d use a light or a light source on probably 90% of my jobs. That’s from inside offices to outdoors and it will be a mixture. You’re always supplementing your available light; we never have the tools to completely block out and light an entire space ourselves. So you’re supplementing what light’s already there. On a day like today, which is grey and overcast, you could go out there and shoot a piece to camera quite happily, but it would look a little flat and dull. You “pop” on someone’s face and it just brings them up, raising your production levels a little bit. Ed: But it’s not always the face is it – there are other areas where you’d use light as fill? Phil: Yes. If you got the chance, you might light a background – especially if it’s dark! You do your best to throw a bit of light on what’s happening behind you. Ed: So how do you decide where you’re going to put the light? Phil: For your standard sit down interview, it’s a very simple formula which normally goes “light, reporter, camera” and that’s where you put your light on the outside of your reporter and the way it hits the face of the person you’re interviewing is normally … that’s the general rule you know. Ed:
It’s a hard question isn’t it?
Phil: It’s a basic key light question. A key light goes left or right of frame, depending on which way the person is looking. Ed: But then the intensity of that key light is important? Phil: Yes, there’s no point in calling up a gigantic great big light and having a lot of light hitting someone’s face if the background then turns into darkness, because you’d have to iris down. It’s a balancing act. Most times, like I say, you’re supplementing what’s available.
Go to https://sites.google.com/site/nzvideonews/ for more news. P8
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You might go into an office and there’s plenty of light – there might be exterior light coming through, there might be overhead lights – they could be different colours. I’d have to switch some interior lights off, put our light up, because you’re in the office for 10-15 minutes, you don’t have a lot of time. Ed: Does the lighting choice you make depend on the camera that you’re using or are you pretty much using the same camera all the time? Phil: We are, and generally the ENG cameras we use are very, very sensitive, even the ones that are 8 or 9 years old. You don’t normally need to use … Ed: You don’t need light for having an image in other words? Phil: No, other than deepest darkest night time would you need to put a light on. But it’s all about making people look good on the tele. Ed: Have you had any experience of using these short depth of field cameras, the cinestyle camera, where you’ve got just the face in focus, everything else out of focus. Do you light differently for that? Phil: The same rules apply. You are still looking for the face to pop out a little bit. Having that shallow depth of field will help … the face is always going to pop out because your background is going to blur, so the face will sit out there quite nicely. But then you still might want to pop a little bit of light in there just to give it a bit of shape or just to make a more consistent colour on the front. If anything, for those cameras you might need less light in terms of a mount, but there’s
still the same guidelines, still standards, always nice to have something just to give a little bit of a sparkle in the eyes. Ed:
There’s interest in shadows too isn’t there?
Phil: Yes, depending on how dramatic you want your interview to look. You might actually end up blacking out a room and then taking the time to light from scratch. That’s a minimum half hour job. Ed: When you’ve got the luxury of time, that’s what you do? Phil: Yes – and that will only come with long format interviews with your Sunday programme and, to a lesser extent, Fair Go. Everything else has to be a lot quicker. Ed: Now moving on to your kit, and I see your camera’s all set up with a little panel on the front, but you carry some other lights in here too. What’s the range of lights you carry and what do you use them for? Phil: Depending on what programme I’m shooting for will depend on lights I take out of the car. Ed:
Is that a time constraint thing?
Phil: Yes. With Sunday, we are given a time to turn up and light a room and, on a quick job, you might be able to do it in 20 minutes, but often it’s closer to 30-40 minutes, and you might put up 6 lights or 6 light sources. You might have a key light, a bounce light filling it in, a back light, 2 lights on the background and you might have had to black out a room with black material. When that happens, that’s a half hour job. Ed: Okay, so that’s the arrangement of the lights, now the actual physical lights themselves. Are they all LED – your whole kit is an LED kit now? Phil: Mine isn’t, some people’s are. The attraction with LED is the ability to easily shift colour, if you’ve got colour shiftable ones which we generally like. Ed: Including that little rectangle on the front of your camera? Phil: Yes, that little sun gun is shiftable from 3200 through to 5600. The attraction for it is that it can come off, you pop a battery on the back and you can then use it as a backlight. You can use it as a soft fill light from underneath. I used it yesterday for a piece to camera in the airport. I had a different light on the front, I took that one off, popped it on a light stand, had it at the back, no cables on the ground, no need to source electricity, everything was battery powered, I could adjust the colour temperature on the lights to match the light inside Auckland International Airport. In the old days, you’d be running cables across the ground, gaffering them down, you’d be gelling lights to get the colours quite right. This was a much simpler, much quicker operation. Ed: So nowadays, when you want more light, you still like the idea of the Fresnel, but you’ve got a very nice simple Fresnel in your kit? Phil: The LED Fresnel that we use – I think there’s 3 and they float around the pool of cameramen. Ed:
So whoever gets the Lupo first?
Phil: Yes. Ed:
Is that right – it’s highly sought after is it?
Phil: It’s a competitive sport, lighting! You can never have enough gear, you know that. Ed: Phil sad to not have his own Lupo Fresnel always.
Yes. So you really like this Lupo Fresnel?
Phil: Oh the punch it gives you, it’s pretty close to an HMI – it’s pretty close and, cost-wise, you’re looking Page 4
Phil: No, that’s the great thing about it – none of this having to wait for it to cool down and store it in a certain way so that a bulb doesn’t … no $1,000 bulb replacement there. Ed: You made the comparison of having 1 LED Fresnel as opposed to needing 3 LED panels. What’s a situation where that would occur?
anywhere between $5-6-7-8,000 for a 400 Watt HMI so this is a considerably cheaper option. Not only that, it doesn’t throw out any heat … Ed:
No cables?
Phil: No cables, no ballast, no really expensive HMI bulbs and it can run off a camera battery – and that’s how we normally run it. I don’t think I’ve ever run it off mains. It gives us flexibility in that, potentially now, as we move towards a more live view based live system, using bonded 4G transmitters rather than satellite gear, we will be going to places without satellite trucks and without live trucks. Ed:
So no mains power?
Phil: No mains power, no generator, no nothing. So you’d want everything to be battery driven. You’ve got a battery driven transmitter, you’ve got a battery driven series of lights. Ed: Now there must have been a time between using the HMIs and using the Lupo Fresnels – for example, I saw on one Breakfast shoot a few years back, they were only using the square LED panels? Phil: Panels are nice, yes. Panels are again a relatively simple and soft option, you know a bit of diffusion on the front. They’re colour shiftable so if you’re on Breakfast you might start with horrible tungsten overhead lights, so you want to be round the 3200K and by the time you come off air, it’s bright daylight, or you’ve left the same light up, all you’ve done is changed the colour temperature to match what’s happening. It’s very attractive. Ed: So there was a time when you were just using those flat panels and you didn’t have the option of the Lupo Fresnel? Phil: The Fresnel is a relatively recent development. Having that extra punch in the Fresnel is nice, but up to that point, you might have had to put up 3 panels, or you might have used an HMI … you probably would have used an HMI if you needed it. Nowadays, you can walk around with it, you’re not constrained by where your cables are. There’s a lot more freedom and the presenters and producers like that. Ed:
And it’s light?
Phil: Yes, it is. You’d still sandbag a light stand, but I think the case weighs more than the light. Ed:
And you’re not going to pop a bulb?
Phil: As an example, on a bright sunny day if you’re looking to fill in the face, the panels generally won’t put out enough and you might have to have them a foot away from the person’s face for it to be making any difference and, even then, its barely noticeable. Yesterday, I had one up outside and you wouldn’t have known. It was about 1 inch outside of shot and about 2 feet away from the talent’s face. Ed:
Because somebody got to the Lupo before you?
Phil: Yes, to be fair. I was a bit slow on that one. Ed:
You could always take it home?
Phil: Oooh taking it home … oooh that’s dangerous territory now. There have been a couple of times when I really wished I had it; you know, when you really struggle without having that extra punch that it can give you. Ed: And talking of the punch – it’s not just the intensity, it’s the focusability of it. You can bring all that light down into a small area, whereas with your panel – what, you’ve got 65 degrees or so? Phil: Yes and you’ve got a dimmer function, but you can’t spot it, you can’t spot a panel. It’s not like you can barn door it off and wind it up, no. There’s been a number of times … I can think of one live in particular at a cricket ground and I would have been pulling my hair out if I had any. I was just thinking “I need a Fresnel with some punch here just to fill in the face; it’s just too hard without everything else.” We had light, we had panels, we had reflectors and I just thought this is awful, I definitely need something with a bit more punch. Ed: There’s only so much of the background you can burn out? Phil: Well yes and it was a live shot for 6, it was with a guest as well and I would have had to light 2 people and the sun was setting across the field, so it was a really, really bright background. Ed:
Well that’s the test of a great cameraman isn’t it?
Phil: Yeah – not my best work to be fair. Sometimes you’ve just got to do your best and move on … go to the next job. Ed: Hey, it’s News – what is it, “tomorrow’s fish and chip wrapper”? Phil: It’s more like … news, updated regularly online at the following URL, you won’t believe what happened next! <https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news? gclid=CPTn4LiWnskCFQsQvQodhwoD2w>
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Studio Lighting Excellence We are in a very, very new studio – in fact, there’s no talent, no cameras, no microphones; just the workers – and Chris McKenzie to explain the role of PLS in this venture. Ed: Where are we Chris? Chris: This is the new NZME production studio … Ed: And NZME is? Chris: New Zealand Media and Entertainment. It’s a conglomeration formed out of APN buying Radio Network and deciding to put all of the operation into one building. We were contracted to fit out the lighting for their video studio, having previously done the smaller one in their original building in Albert Street for APN Online. Starting about 4 years ago, we were working with Steve Osbourne who was their “go to” man at the time. Steve’s an ex-TV cameraman, producer, shooter – does all of the APN Online content with some of his colleagues. Ed: This one looks about 4 times the size of that Albert Street studio? Chris: Yes it is. It’s an odd shape, but it’s a shape that can work. As you can see, there’s a large glass wall across one end which faces into the Newsroom of the whole operation, like you see on a lot of international News operations these days. The studio sits in front of the Newsroom and there’s a bustling Newsroom going on behind it. Ed: It gives the passing staff a chance to do a blowfish on air every now and again? Chris: All of that … there’s weird and wonderful things can turn up. Ed: But of course, they didn’t want any reflections caused by your lighting design? Chris: No and you’ll notice that the glass is angled at about 15 degrees to take care of that. One of the challenges we had in here was that, because it’s an acoustically designed building and an acoustically
Chris under lights.
designed floor, we didn’t have anywhere that we could fix our lighting suspension, so we’ve had to make the whole grid a freestanding scenario, which has probably made it a little more complicated than it needed to be. But it’s done the job, and it allows us to hang curtain track and obviously to hang lights where we need, within the space. The initial brief was a 5 headed interview setup. The desk that we’re currently looking at here is going to be replaced with a smaller one. It’s a little bit over-specified I gather. Ed: But in terms of specifications, if you were looking at the ideal scenario, they could have called you in earlier before they designed the room? Chris: Yes, and normally you do get in at the very early design stages. We’ve been involved in other fit outs like this where we’ve been at the absolute design stage and, 4 years later, we come in and hang lights when they’ve finished building. This one I’m not sure where the design process went, but we came in presented with a finished space. Ed: You seem to have a mixture here of ARRIs and Kino Flo’s … the reason? Chris: The reason is that fluorescent is still the most efficient way of making soft light. The secondary reason is we have to balance the colour temperature of this room to the existing lighting in the Newsroom
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Chris: Yes very uniform. I’ve used a lot of the ParaBeam 400s, which are a square configuration, at TV3, TVNZ and a number of other studios around the country. They are using ParaBeams because they do have that parabolic reflector and they have a punch. Ed:
How many tubes in each?
Chris: Two tubes – it has two 55 Watt tubes. In that fitting they also do a 4Bank version which is doubled up vertically, but we just didn’t have the height to run that.
recognize them as Fresnels. A fixture with a Fresnel lens allows you to project a sharply defined beam for good shadow formation, and the ability to shape the area lit with the barn doors. Yes, we’re using the ARRI L5C which is a colour tuneable LED Fresnel fixture. The brief was to keep the temperature down in here because the air conditioning is only “office rated”. The beauty of the L5 is that it’s colour tuneable to any colour temperature and any colour balance. I was
Ed: Surely though, with 2 tubes parallel along the full length, you’re going to get 2 focal planes? Chris: Not really. The way Kino have designed the reflector is that the 2 sources integrate very well in the horizontal plane. So if you look at the horizontal wrap of the soft light, it’s very uniform over a 1200 wide source … the 4 foot 4Banks that Kino are known for, that’s the sort of light source that people like where you get that horizontal wrap of the light source. Ed: And then along with that, it looks as though you’ve got about a dozen ARRI spots? Chris: You may call them spots Grant, but a true professional would
Cory as close as he will ever get to fame. Page 12
concerned when I looked at the LED sources in the rest of the office, that we may have to add a wee bit of green in to match it to the external sources. We have looked at it on camera and it’s looking pretty good at the moment, so we probably don’t need to do that. One of the other advantages with the L5C is that it can be colour tuned to any colour. So if they decide they want to do something a bit fruitier, they can put some rock ‘n roll colours in. I don’t know what the Christmas party plans are … but also there’s a 6 metre green screen going either on the side wall or on the wall across the window, so the ability to colour tune your back lights to make keys work is an additional bonus. Ed: Right – so the 12 lights aren’t just to light up the desk? Chris: No. There are 5 positions at the desk and 2 positions against the side for a digi green screen setup. With the truss, we’ve also done all the curtain track and the curtains. There will be black drapes in here, there’ll be a 6 metre green screen, and that can all slide round so they can put blacks behind the desk. They can shoot the Newsroom, or they can put chroma key behind the desk. Or they can shoot a weather scenario against the side wall. So there are about 5 or 6 positions catered for at the moment. There are bits of grid that are not being currently used, but as this space evolves, I’m sure they’ll find other positions to work in. These places are always a moveable feast once people actually get the experience of using the space. Ed: Having the flexibility to be able to adjust the colour on the ARRIs would become really important if, for some reason, they decide to change other lighting – you’ve got to have that balance? Chris: Yes that’s right, and being able to do it remotely. The people who are going to be operating this studio are going to be cameramen, so we will set them a bunch of presets and then we’ll show them how to do some straightforward stuff. As they get more in tune with what they’ve got, then they can start doing some different things but, as you well know yourself, there’s always pressures to get the product out and “don’t worry about the sharp edges.” But as the setup becomes more polished, they’ll get rounded edges and they’ll hopefully start using what we’ve given them. In terms of energy use, the biggest thing in here is, with all these lights burning, we’re probably burning a kilowatt of power. Everything is running off standard power points – there’s no heavy duty power supply in here. By the same token, there’s no requirement for large amounts of HVAC. Ed: Now I guess the key question is “was this a hard sell” because you’ve got Kino Flo, you’ve got ARRIs, you’re at the top of the range here. Surely many customers are keen to go for cheaper brands when available, and this is just a studio setup. Was offering the “best of breed” a hard sell? Chris: No it wasn’t. We pitched it at the top end and the customer obviously realised that it was worth spending the money. They’ve made a large investment globally in this whole building and it would be a pity to undersell what they’ve put into this. We certainly went in with a top end proposal and I was very pleased that they accepted our recommendations and accepted it at the value we pitched to them. So it wasn’t a big argument to get this system in. There was also a timeframe on it – this studio will be going to air, I think 12th of December, so we had to be able to meet that deadline as well, which we will have. The studio’s not
totally complete, but by a week before their deadline, it will be complete and you’ll see cameras … we’ll do some training and we’ll do some testing with their staff. Obviously, we’ve got to train their staff in the systems so they know what they’re doing. Ed:
You mean the lighting control system?
Chris: The lighting control system and what we’ve delivered them in terms of a lighting solution, so that they know where the sweet spots are to put people, and if they need to tweak it around. If suddenly a position we’ve lit for 1, turns into a 5 head position, then how do they adjust it to get to cover it for that scenario. We’ve tried to anticipate that with the amount of equipment we’ve put in here. A bean counter might look at it and go “why aren’t those 2 lights on?” Well, because those 2 lights are standing by for something else when shit happens. Ed: And it does. Now we’ve got Cory sitting in the host’s seat – has he had any part in this particular enterprise? Chris: He hasn’t been involved other than standing round looking pretty, but our new sales guy Eli has been down here hanging lights. There’s photographic evidence of him doing that on Facebook. It’s been good – we used one of our other contractors and the grid was done by ShowQuip who are probably the best supplier of trussing in this country. Nick Barnfield, their engineer, knows hanging stuff in crazy places inside out, so he was a lifesaver on this job in terms of me being able to wave my hands and give him a rough sketch and say this is what I want to achieve.
Page 14
Ed: Now Chris, there’s a huge variety of lighting equipment available at PLS, so for the non-media moguls are you able to fit out smaller studios who have fewer dollars to invest?
Nick delivered the goods in terms of the truss rig that he’s created for us. Ed: And hopefully it can be reassembled because I doubt if you’d get that out the door? Chris: Not all of it. At one point, they had the glass out of the big window, and we did actually bring the 4 metre lengths of truss in through that hole. I don’t think those pieces of truss will ever be going out of here without the application of a hacksaw! The rest of the grid could be removed, but we have set it up as a permanent installation.
Chris: Yes absolutely. I mean, this one really is a Rolls Royce studio and it was nice to have this opportunity but, yes, there are cost effective solutions for every pocket. At the end of the day, you might not be getting an LED solution, you might have to fall back to a tungsten solution … I was talking to a customer the other day who went “yes, I‘d like that, but what’s the tungsten option” so there are still those budgets, but if you want energy efficiency, LED and fluoro are the way to go. Fluorescent soft light is still the best way to make a soft light. As I’ve said to you on many occasions, there’s a lot of smoke and mirrors about LEDs but the efficiencies are getting there; they’re just still not as good as some other sources. Ed:
And if you want really good colour?
Chris: Yeah well that’s it … fluoro is still really good, tungsten is still the best, HMI is still the best, LED is getting there. We have LED sources that are 95 colour rendering, but those are the pricey ones. If you go to the Trade Me solutions then you’ll be getting green and magenta, but we don’t mind because we can NZVN sell you colour correction gel for that as well!
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Rockets on Target We are in the offices of Rocket Rentals in Auckland with the manager, Lee Allison. Ed: Lee, you joined the team in July as the facilities manager so my first question is “tell me your history in this industry that gives you the experience or ability to be a facilities manager at Rocket?” Lee: I have 20 plus years as a freelancer, as a camera assistant, focus puller and camera operator. I’ve made a lot of industry contacts along the way. I've worked with a lot of film and television makers and had Lee Allison and Jamie Goodwin from Rocket Rentals Auckland. experience with a lot of different camera systems on a large number and variety Ed: But sometimes you do have to go out and take of productions. gear to a set? Ed: So just to expand that a bit – the job of camera assist / focus puller isn’t just on the shoot when the button’s pushed … you do a lot of prep work and a lot of pack down work? Lee: Yes, there’s testing the camera for a shoot, prepping it, making sure you have everything you’re going to need and that it all works. Basically, on-set, you’re the guy in charge of the running of the camera, making sure it’s going to work – changing lenses, changing filters, batteries and essentially keeping everything running smoothly … as well as keeping the right actor in focus at the right time. Ed: And making sure the rain doesn’t get on the camera? Lee: Yes, keeping your equipment dry and safe is essential. Making sure it doesn’t get damaged and the camera just keeps running all day and keeps getting the shots. Ed: And then at the end of the day, you put it away safe and warm, ready for the next day? Lee: That’s right – it’s the focus puller’s responsibility to look after the camera. Ed: Well that sounds like perfect credentials for doing a job like this, so why aren’t you still out there pulling focus and camera assisting? Lee: Well as much as I loved it, having done it for 20 something years as a freelancer, I thought it was time to move away from freelancing. It’s great when you’re working, but the downside is when you’re not working, because there’s obviously a lot of uncertainty with freelancing. So I thought after 20 plus years it was just time for a change. Ed:
Did anybody else have a say in this?
Lee: My partner did, yes. She was definitely quite keen for me to find a fulltime position within the industry. Ed: So you now enjoy the stability of regular office hours? Lee: Yes, I like the stability of it. Occasionally I miss being on a film set, but I’m sure I’ll get the opportunity again …
Lee: Yes – hopefully I don’t have to do that too often, because that usually means there’s a problem! Ed:
Well they might have forgotten something?
Lee: Yes, they might have forgotten something, but generally, if you don’t hear from them while they’re on a shoot, that’s a good thing. Ed:
And you’ve been on some pretty big productions?
Lee: Yes – I’ve been on a lot of big productions over the years. In the early film days, I was a clapper loader on Once Were Warriors and The Piano and a focus puller on Xena for 3 years, and The Lord of the Rings; a New Zealand film called Fracture, Chronicles of Narnia, Tintin as well as numerous dramas, TVC's, music videos and short films. Ed: So that all goes to give you those credentials that you can handle some pretty high level gear and also a wide range of gear? Lee: Yes. When I started, it was all film. It’s all changed now – it’s gone digital and the technology is very different, but the basic understanding of lenses and cameras is still there. It’s a job where you’re constantly learning and having to train yourself every day; you’re continually studying up on different, new cameras and technology. You never really stop learning. Ed: So it’s not just a mad rush at the start of the day when stuff goes out and then a rush at the end of the day when stuff comes back, and you sit in your armchair for the middle part? Lee: Not at all, no. I’m prepping or getting ready for the next job, quoting jobs, maintaining equipment or doing the necessary paperwork. It’s a very busy position. Ed: I guess there must be quite a few people in this industry who arrive at the front door to pick up their camera and say “Oy, what are you doing here?” Lee: Yes, there’s been a few of them that have come in and were surprised to see me here because they’ve known me as a focus puller or an operator. I think it’s definitely a bonus that I know a lot of them. It makes it
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more on page 19
easier for them because they know I have an understanding of a production’s needs and of the requirements of their camera department. It also gives us piece of mind when I know they have an experienced team involved. Ed: Have you machine here?
got
a
nice
coffee
Lee: No – I need to talk to Nic about that! Ed: Well if you had a nice coffee machine some of your friends might come in and visit and be tempted to hire something? Lee: Exactly. I think a free flat white with your hire is a good idea. Ed: So is there anything you’d like to ask Nic for? Lee: Yeah – a coffee machine. Now we move to Wellington to hear from David Morrison who has been working with Rocket for many years and is now the GM of the company.
Entrance to the Auckland office in Virginia Ave East, Eden Terrace.
David: Yes, I started out in the industry with Film Facilities many years ago, working my way up the ranks in the camera rental department. We rented mainly ARRI 16mm, 35mm film cameras in those days as video was still only an emerging technology back then. Film Facilities eventually morphed into Panavision. A position became available at Rocket working with Peter Hudson (Rocky), one of the country’s top DoPs who had worked with film and was now building up a sizeable video rental company. Ed: How has the camera rental industry changed over the years and how has that impacted on the cameras Rocket now rents? David: When I first joined Rocket, we had a range of low to high end electronic cameras. While video cameras were widely used in our industry, high end TV drama, commercials and features were still being shot on film, as electronic cameras couldn’t match the latitude and richness in detail of film. This was a time when film was still seen as the pinnacle. Video technology was however improving and, as you know, video cameras and systems have
been continually evolving since then, and the tables have now turned with the electronic camera more or less in complete dominance. All Rocket’s cameras today are now computer based digital image acquisition systems which produce better pictures cheaper than ever. A great example of this is the two new Canon C300 Mark II kits that we have just taken delivery of. We have set them up for TV drama with ARRI Pro Cine top/ base systems, HD sidefinder EVFs and PL/EF switchable mounts. Ed: So tell us about the C300 Mark 2 switchable EF or PL mount options, as that sounds interesting? David: Canon has thought the lens issues through quite well and the C300 Mark 2 has an interchangeable lens mount system so it’s fully interchangeable and can run with either EF or PL lenses. This gives our customers a greater choice of images and looks that can be produced from the one camera. This camera is a perfect example of the technical changes that just keep on happening – 4K, great image quality, slow mo, EF/PL interchangeable, and light-weight. Ed: How has the proliferation of formats and new cameras impacted on your customer base? David: It’s meant that cameras and gear that create great looking images are more available than ever, so some production companies have purchased their own kits. The flip side is that, because there are so many different cameras and formats available now, many camera operators and production companies still prefer to rent the camera gear that fits the job. Most production companies nowadays create images for a wide range of applications, from quick friendly relaxed web based feeds to very high end quality footage and production values, so they have a need to be able to access gear that’s appropriate for a range of budgets and applications. This is where Rocket is able to help. I’ve been working in the industry for a while now and change is actually the one constant. At Rocket, we all embrace that and it’s all just par for the course within the technical equipment side of the production industry.
David with a C300 Mark II.
Ed: With the fall off in people shooting film for features and the like, has this meant you have had to invest in the very high end digital cameras? Page 19
David: Yes. We took the plunge some time ago with RED One. We have been with RED from the beginning and now have 3 RED Dragon kits available for hire. More recently, we purchased the ARRI ALEXA XT Digital camera to service our high end work. It’s a beautiful piece of kit that is capable of out-putting really stunning images. We have supplied it into a number of features and top end commercials. It’s the same level and build quality that I started out on in my Film Facilities days when working with ARRI film cameras, and I really enjoy the technical side of working with top end cameras. Ed: Rocket hires out camera crew as well; how has that side of Rocket’s business been adapting to the technical gear changes over the years? David: Production companies will pick a particular DoP for a number of different reasons. High level shooting skills that are applicable to the job at hand combined with a personality to match the project and client would be one of the main drivers. Being able to give aesthetic in-put into the project, combined with an ability to get the director’s vision in the can is also super critical.
David: These days, the requirements of our customer base are very broad, so our guys shoot a huge and varied range of jobs. We have worked on a lot of commercials, TV shows, short films and music videos this year, along with plenty of corporate work and have more in the pipe for next year. Docos are always a favourite as our DoPs love to explore a style and aesthetic over a longer shoot period. Shooting shows like WOW always stimulates them as there is a ton of creativity involved. Then there is a lot of good solid bread and butter work that they enjoy working on as well. Ed: Ok, well it sounds as if Rocket has a come a long way and is looking in good shape moving forwards? David: Yes, we have seen a lot of changes over the years, technology has had a big impact and has changed the face of the industry in many ways. It’s not going to be slowing down any time soon either. As computers get more powerful, they will just keep on driving the technical changes. We are looking forward to getting our hands on some of the new gear that is slated to come on the market over the next year or two and being able to add it to our inventory. NZVN
Each shooter has their own set of styles they can call on and, over time, our customers have got to know our guys well. They are well thought of within the industry and have shot a hell of a lot of great material. The gear and technical changes have just flowed through and over our crewing operation, with one advantage being that we can offer our guys with a broad range of formats and cameras and they always have the most up to date gear available to work with. Ed: I have heard your crew have done a lot of work for the feature film industry, EPK etc. What other areas do they concentrate on?
In fact, David has a whole range of cameras for you - from either office. Page 20
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Merry Christmas from Ed and his elves and we will be back in action mid February … unless the excesses of holiday cheer lead to Ed’s total moral collapse. It’s possible, but unlikely.
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The Italian Touch A well-constructed email intrigued me enough to seek out a recent arrival to our country, Francesco Calderone from Italy. Francesco is here on a work visa and he’s looking for work. Now we’re always interested in new talent – people coming in with fresh ideas, but first of all, we have to make sure that Francesco understands our language and some of our New Zealand culture. We begin by asking him some questions about New Zealand. Ed: Francesco, what is the most common farm animal found in New Zealand? Francesco:
Kiwi – I know that.
Ed: No, we don’t farm kiwis yet! This one is white and fluffy and you make jackets out of its wool? Francesco:
Ahahah, it’s sheep.
Ed: Very good. The main colour of the New Zealand flag? Francesco:
Maybe red?
Ed: Not yet. Perhaps only one week here is too early to pass the New Zealand test. Your English is certainly very good but we’ll see how you go on the television questions. Round one … editing platforms. You say you’re an editor so tell me about the platforms you are capable of editing on? Francesco: I can edit with Final Cut Pro X and Adobe Premiere. I can also do a bit of motion graphics with After Effects. Ed: What sort of work have you done on these platforms? Francesco: I’ve been editing commercials and documentaries. In Italy, I was also directing small TV shows and I was editing those as well. In addition, I’ve been shooting my own short movies, but mainly I’ve been working for other companies. Ed: What stage of Premiere were you working on … the latest Cloud version? Francesco: latest version. Ed:
Yes, the Premiere PRO CC – the
What’s your preference for an editing platform?
Francesco: I find myself more comfortable with Final Cut because I’m a Mac user so it’s easier for what my needs are. Ed:
And you’ve never tried an Avid?
Francesco: Not yet. A lot of people ask me that, but I’ve never had the chance to try it because I really don’t feel the need to change platforms right now. I’m very comfortable with Final Cut. Ed:
But maybe there’s a job for an Avid editor?
Francesco:
Yes, so I shall learn it as well.
Ed: Alright. Other areas of expertise … I understand you’re a keen photographer or have done commercial photographic work? Francesco: Yes, I’ve been working as a photographer for documentary productions on Italian National Television. I’m also a traveller, so I like to take lots of landscape pictures. I really enjoy nature. But I can work on other kinds of photography as well. I have even worked on weddings, which I don’t like so much … it’s too commercial and less artistic.
Ed: Tell the bride that … she’s trying to look beautiful and that’s surely the job, especially for an Italian photographer, to make every woman look beautiful? Francesco: bit stressful. Ed:
Yes, that’s for sure, but it was a little
Just like this interview?
Francesco: conversation.
No, I am enjoying it, it’s a nice
Ed: We’ve just started. Right, that’s still photography, what about television cameras, motion picture cameras – any experience there? Francesco: About filming … not really. Just for myself, not in a professional way, because I only have my own Canon 6D camera which is a DSLR camera. I don’t own a big camera but I’ve been working together with big productions so I had the chance to see this kind of work. Ed:
Any other skills in the television industry?
Francesco: I was running a YouTube channel. It was about reviewing Italian songs, but I’m not much of an actor, I was just having fun in my free time. It was quite successful though, I had lots of followers. Ed: Other areas … I believe there’s some scriptwriting interest? Francesco: Yes, I’ve also been writing – I’m a novelist actually. I wrote a book, it’s a treatise about social interactions between people which was published in 2012. I’ve also been doing some scriptwriting for TV shows and short movies. But everything that I have done is in Italian, so I really would like to improve my English skills by starting to do that also in English. Sadly my English is not good enough right now. Miss Hellfinger interjects from her battered Imperial typewriter: He’ll do me. I’ve had far worse that you’ve landed me with.
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Ed: But surely there’s an opportunity here for companies, especially those who have tourism videos who want, not only to do a presentation that would suit an Italian audience, but also to make sure that their translation is correct? Francesco: Now that I could totally do and it would also be a very interesting job because I like the tourism and travel industry. So yes, that would be really nice if I could find a job like that. Ed: So that would be the best mix of your Italian language skills and your Italian knowledge of the television industry? Francesco: Yes – at least in the beginning, it would be kind of a dream job, but my long-term goal is to settle here for a while, a longer period than one year, and find a way to produce my own movies or whatever I would like to produce. Ed: So what is your connection with New Zealand … I mean this is a long way away from Palermo and I know that the last New Zealand-Italian connection was when we drew with you at the World Cup. I believe there were a lot of tears back in Italy at the time? Francesco: Italy. Ed:
Yes, I know. That was a sad day for
Ed:
So you’re running away?
Francesco: Not running away, but I like to travel in countries far from my home. I’ve been almost everywhere in Europe and I wanted to see a different culture. I’d been travelling around Iceland for a month and I met a guy, who is now a friend of mine, and he's from Auckland. He told me that the nature in New Zealand is really similar to the Icelandic one, but also here you have a warm environment, not only the ice. So I thought: yes, maybe it’s worthwhile to see it. Ed: So the final question has to be, you’re not tied to Auckland, you could move anywhere within New Zealand – even Gore for example? Francesco: Yes, why not. I can go anywhere. I like New Zealand so I think I can manage to stay for a while. I like the place and I like the people. You Kiwi guys are very friendly! Ed: So if Gore Television, or anyone else, has a place for Francesco, we will put Francesco’s details at the bottom of this. Give him a call. Mobile: 021 130-9059 Email: cenerebianca@gmail.com PHOTO PORTFOLIO:
It was a great day for New Zealand.
Francesco: I’m sure about that. I actually have no connection at all. It was just the furthest place I could find on the map …
www.flickr.com/photos/124353103@N06/albums VIDEO SAMPLE: www.youtube.com/watch?v=D81IRR3yhyc
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