The portable production unit (PPU), crew and IMAG projection used during the festival were supplied by rental and staging specialist Militia Broadcast. The fully customizable PPU is built around optical fibre and also features Blackmagic Design's range of studio cameras, ATEM Talkback Converter 4K and HyperDeck Studio Pro.
Six cameras were used to cover all of the live performances during Sowing the Seeds 2016. Acquisition consisted of two cameras front of house and two more dolly mounted cameras in the pits. With another Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K on stage, the production crew also employed Blackmagic's Micro Studio Camera 4K to help capture detail shots.
Founder Eban Oliver explains that the bright sun of an African winter during an all day live event provided his crew with a challenge or two. "There was a lot of direct sun to the front of the stage, particularly at midday," he recalls. "And by the time the festival had wrapped up, the stage was in total darkness."
That wasn't to be a problem for Militia Broadcast, or the live directors producing the live to screen content. "We've built up a whole library of look up tables (LUTS) that allow us to quickly compensate for lighting changes," reveals Eban. "We use DaVinci Resolve to create them and then our shader is able to upload a LUT based on the time of day and conditions from a central position. That meant the operators were able to stay focused on the shot."
"You only ever get one chance at recording this kind of event and so it has to be good. You cannot afford for anything, technical or otherwise, to go wrong. That's why we absolutely rely on Blackmagic kit. It's never let us down," concludes Eban. "Thanks to the modular design of Blackmagic's products we can now transport everything that's required for any multi camera production to a site, drop down a single piece of fiber per camera and you're wired for action."
(Jim Evans)
