TECH CINEMATIC LIVE PRODUCTION
WHY LIVE PRODUCTION IS TURNING CINEMATIC WORDS ADRIAN PENNINGTON
Technology & techniques from high-end TV and film are increasingly blending with traditional broadcast production. Definition talks to three DOPs about the evolution of cinematic imagery to cover concerts, stage performances and sports T he technology has improved and audience expectations are higher than ever,” says cinematographer Nathaniel Hill. “The gap between cinema and live
He recalls being camera supervisor on a large-sensor multicamera outside broadcast (OB) covering a 2012 Rolling Stones concert in Hyde Park. Although the creative teams wanted to shoot progressively, engineering priorities were still rooted in conventional interlaced broadcast standards. “The whole point of using those cameras was to get the look and feel of a large sensor, but there was still a mindset of ‘this is how broadcast has always been done’.” Today, the cinematic aesthetic is increasingly common. However, Hill believes not every format benefits from a shallow depth-of-field. For SNL , for example, traditional broadcast cameras remain the preferred choice. “Rehearsal time is incredibly tight and focus becomes much more critical when you’re working with larger sensors,” he says. “From a comedy perspective, you also want to see the reactions around people. A very shallow depth-of-field isn’t always the best storytelling tool.”
Concerts, by contrast, have become a natural home for cinematic cameras. Hill recently worked on Back to the Beginning , Ozzy and Black Sabbath’s farewell, using a combination of Sony VENICE, VENICE 2, HDC-5500 and FR7 cameras, creating a workflow capable of servicing both a live stream and a potential version for IMAX presentation. “I‘ll spend weeks talking with the lighting director beforehand,” he says. “We’re discussing colours, spotlight temperatures, LED screens and how the cameras respond to all of that. The aim is to represent the concert the way the audience, artist and lighting designer experience it.” That relationship has become far more integrated than in the past. “Years ago, when you turned up to film a concert DVD, you were often seen as a bolt-on. Now everybody understands it‘s part of the production from the start.” Advances in lens technology have also accelerated the crossover between cinema and broadcast. Hill points to
television keeps getting smaller.” Working across major concerts and light entertainment TV, including Saturday Night Live UK , Hill has witnessed first-hand how cinematic cameras have transformed the visual language of live. “Anything single-camera was already moving in that direction,” says Hill. “If you go back to the Canon EOS 5D, people were incredibly excited by what it could do. Documentaries were already embracing larger sensors and a more cinematic look, and then cameras like Sony’s F series made that approach increasingly practical.” The transition into multicamera environments was slower. Broadcasters were ‘nervous’ about the cost and also wary of progressive imaging. Hill explains: “There was a feeling that it wouldn’t look ‘live’ enough.”
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