WONDER OF SONG PRODUCTION.
LYRE LYRE The beautifully plumed lyrebird is a ground-welling Australian native, with a song that’s famed for mimicking its surroundings
WORKING WITH A LEGEND Filming with Attenborough had been shelved until August 2020. When the time finally arrived, it was possibly the only day they could shoot with him, despite budgeting for five more. However, filming a nonagenarian who happens to be TV royalty in a pandemic meant a change of approach. For a start, no one could go near him. “Covid-19 was no problem for me when it came to filming birds in the wild because I was on my own,” says Woodcock. “I was very fortunate in that respect. However, when we had to film
had to use a Sony A7S camera. They are also great in low light and you can go to ISO 125,000. Noise can be fixed in the grade when editing.” After that, Woodcock generally used Canon Mark III long lenses, 400mm and 600mm primes. “They’re lightweight, so good for working by myself and having to carry long distances,” he adds. “Also, f/2.8 is great in low dawn light.” After a day’s filming, he would download the footage onto 3TB drives, each of which had its own duplicate. The data was then handed off to the Storm TV edit suite.
it in this series. George patiently waited for hours for the right weather conditions – and he got what was asked of him. I just tell George what I want and he delivers it every single time. That man is a genius.” Woodcock wanted to travel light, but employed a couple of different cameras depending on where and when he was filming – and the light available. “I filmed with a Red Gemini, which is good in the low light and particularly useful filming at dawn, when the birds are singing,” he adds. However, Woodcock had to change kit for shoots later in the day. “I was up from 4am until around noon,” he recalls. “Then I would sleep for two hours, before filming again until dusk. Nightingales start singing in the evening around 6pm through the night, so for those guys we
GROUNDED International travel restrictions forced the crew to rely on local teams for overseas shooting
13. DECEMBER 2022
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