GEARHOUSE BROADCAST IN LIVE AUSTRALIAN FIRST AT AUS-X OPEN
With live onboard, on-bike cameras
SYDNEY, 8 December 2016: Gearhouse Broadcast delivered yet another Australian first as it provided live onboard, on-bike cameras at the recent AUS-X Open. As one of the biggest action sports event in the Southern Hemisphere AUS-X Open took over the Qudos Bank Arena so that World Champion Supercross riders could race and demonstrate their amazing Freestyle Motocross tricks over two action packed days.
Production company for the event was Ignition Productions and producer/director Nathan Prendergast explained why the event was so unique and how Gearhouse added to the spectacular, “Having exploded on the scene AUS-X Open has quickly cemented its place as one of the world’s greatest supercross events. Headlined by the return of four-time AMA super cross champion Ryan Villapoto the event attracted some of the best talent from around the world including Australian and two time AMA champ Chad Reed. This was a big event and the production had to be first class.”
A big event it was as this years event sold out the arena over the two days with a combined audience of over 26,000 people in attendance.
Prendergast continued, “This was a full turnkey production. It went to air live for three hours each day into FOX sports Australia, FOX Asia, SKY New Zealand and a live stream on MTOD into the USA. There were also two hour highlights packages produced for 7Mate in Australia and two one hour shows for CBS in the USA.”
AUS-X Open showcases the best in international and national supercross racing along with a freestyle motorcross competition which includes daredevil flips and world first tricks.
According to Prendergast this high-octane excitement poses challenges for the production as he explained, “There is a lot of action to cover. Add in the high production levels of pyrotechnics, big screen content and a live DJ and we really had to cover all the angles. That’s why we chose Gearhouse to implement this huge event. In short it’s down to the quality of their equipment, their ability to deliver all services on time and budget and their experience with motorsport. Gearhouse made this experience an extremely enjoyable one with high levels of professionalism and organisation across all facets of planning and implementation.”
In total Gearhouse provided their HD9 supertruck as the main OB truck along with a separate production room and gallery for the dedicated big screen operation. The OB consisted of ten OB cameras, two RF cameras, an extreme slow motion camera to capture the incredible aerial action and two specialty cameras.
Then there was what Prendergast refers to as the “icing on the cake” as he concluded, “Along with all their other kit Gearhouse through their partnership with BSi provided live onboard, on-bike cameras in what was an amazing Australian first and what could well be a world first for supercross bikes in competition. As a result we were able to get incredible live images from a supercross bike whilst it was racing inside the venue including through the tunnel. We also successfully managed to beam live pictures from a freestyle motorcycle as it was performing tricks including a backflip. When you see the pictures they simply blow you away. This combined with Gearhouse’s experience and professionalism enabled me to implement my vision to perfection.”