RENTAL ROUND TABLE | GEAR
events from otherwise empty venues throughout the last year, which have proved extremely popular with audiences around the world. The majority of these productions have opted for a high-end cinematic look, using cameras like the Sony Venice and Arri Alexa Mini paired with cinema lenses over traditional broadcast equipment. Many productions have been able to continue working by doing so ‘remotely’. How have you been able to provide this for customers? AP: We saw an uptake in video transmitters, because there’s now at least one extra person on set that’s responsible for communication, which means they’re responsible for transmitting images to anyone who needs to see them. But these are generally quite specialist and a lot of DITs either own their own system or they source them from a dedicated rental house, like CineArk. With this need for extra comms personnel, we’re on the set less. Previously, anybody involved in the production could meander on to the set, grab a coffee and take a look – it got quite lazy actually, and I have to say that there would be a lot of people there who didn’t need to be. It’s been a huge loss for me personally, though. I’ve always been heavily involved in the productions of various films and TV shows, especially on ones where we’ve customised kit for the DOPs. For instance, we supplied custom anamorphics to Greig Fraser, who began filming Batman at the beginning of this year. Usually, I’d be on the set with him, asking him questions about what he sees, what he likes and dislikes and if anything needs tweaking. Now, that communication has to happen through the AC or via phone or video, which is much more difficult. I remember when I gave Bradford Young the DNA lenses that we had made for Solo: A Star Wars Story . I could tell straight away, just from being in his presence, that he loved them. And so, you lose that instinct when you’re not present on set.
Throughout this time, our core management team, who worked closely with Take 2’s safety consultants, conducted a comprehensive Covid-19 risk assessment and put together a robust set of safety protocols, enabling us to come back strongly and resume operations with confidence. As members of ASPEC, we collaborated with other facilities to share information and put together consistent return-to-work guidelines, which created a real sense of camaraderie among those involved. Once the guidance documents for safe filming were released, we started to see short-form content return, followed by long-form dramas and features. It was really positive to see productions quickly adopt these new methods of working, and we have worked more closely than ever with customers to offer support and accommodate any requests that help them resume filming safely. The challenges we have all faced have brought people together and, when it was announced that productions could resume filming, it was a real testament to the hard work everyone had put in. With a lot of talent setting up from home this year, have you seen an increase in the demand for streaming equipment? JB: Streaming isn’t really in our remit. Video playback companies seem to have taken up the slack there. RW: Our streaming equipment has been sold many times over. But we did have great success with our voiceover kit, which allowed voiceover artists to set up and record from home. SW: Very early on, we saw that streaming and remote production services would be key to our industry’s return to work and, because of our background in providing video transmitters, we knew that our expertise and support would become paramount as the requirement for streaming and social distancing grew. As well as devising streaming solutions under our Arklink brand, we also built up a whole new sector within major motion pictures with our Commslink, enabling real-time, conversational communication across a wide range of locations. These two technologies were paramount in helping several large studio blockbusters, as well as numerous TV productions, commercials and documentaries, get back to shooting. MG: Not for Take 2 Films, however our sister company, Procam Projects, has facilitated many large, livestreamed music
ROUND TABLE PROFILES ANDREW PRIOR ARRI RENTAL Prior is head of camera and technology at Arri Rental. As part of the wider Arri ecosystem, Arri Rental is built on a bedrock of knowledge that dates back more than a century. It is known for providing first-class camera, lighting and grip equipment. JEFF BROWN BROWNIAN MOTION Brown is head honcho at Brownian Motion, a company that has embraced the crossover between cameras and post- production, with its large supply of VR solutions, DIT and data lab services and multicam rigs. RUPERT WATSON & SEBASTIAN KHANLO JIGSAW24 Watson is the director of M&E sales and Khanlo is a technical pre-sales consultant. Jigsaw24 is a unique company, specialising in providing workflows that smooth the transition from on-set work to post. SPENCER WEEKES CINEARK Weekes is head of operations at CineArk, which was founded due to the stresses of having a lack of storage options. The company is a specialist in DIT, Data Wrangler, video and wireless equipment. MELANIE GEORGIEVA TAKE 2 FILMS Georgieva is one of two business development directors at Take 2 Films. As well as its camera division, Take 2 facilitates grip, crane and remote head rental. Since 1999, the company has serviced many films, TV dramas and commercials.
JB: We saw an increase in the use of IP cameras, particularly in the Z Cam E2s
We didn’t begin the year with an understanding that a pandemic would disrupt the industry
JANUARY 202 1 | DEF I N I T ION 1 1
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