Press release from Well Above
Recently his Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, visited Australia for the eighth time. As part of his tour of Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane and Perth a full broadcast production crew followed the Dalai Lama and his entourage recording their movements and each of the teachings he gave.
In charge of shooting the live shows was Xander Collier of Dragonfly Productions. Collier said, “Earlier this year I accepted the job of directing and producing the Dalai Lama's 2011 Australian Tour’s live shows which consisted of His Holiness' teachings, a series of public conversations, media events, private audiences, lunches and a concert in Perth. We needed to create a high quality production and shoot this tour in HD as all previous tours had been shot SD and varied widely in camera formats across the country letting the production down. It was clear from the start that I needed to put together a high-end travelling production kit that would tailor to the events in every state and that could be easily integrated into the venues. The kit would also have to provide excellent quality footage which we could web stream to viewers across the country, internationally and ultimately be used for the DVD production of box sets at the end of the tour.”
Collier began his search for the right production kit with a call to Videocraft. He continued, “As soon as I got the approval for this production my first call was to Nick Gleeson, Rentals Manager at Videocraft Sydney. I have a long history with the Sydney office for a number of reasons – firstly they can supply quality products. Secondly and more importantly they really look after their clients whether you're a first time hirer or returning customer – the quality of support, service and professionalism I believe is unlike any other rental house in the country.”
Collier’s requirements were specific and he knew he needed not only the right kit but also a high level of confidence in his equipment supplier and SI partner.
He added, “After the first meeting at Videocraft it was clear that I really had nothing to worry about from an equipment perspective. Nick and the team not only educated me in up to date equipment and add ons but opened my eyes on all the equipment that would, in the end, save us time in setup and production. The main elements for the kit we chose consisted of the Videocraft 'FlyAway Production Kit' (Panasonic AV-HS400 vision mixer, monitoring and audio all in one box), XDCAM PDW700 and PDWF800 cameras and XDCAM workflow and storage solutions. We chose the FlyAway Production Kit as it’s a custom designed, specialised system built with the user in mind and has everything required to put together a full broadcast quality OB. The versatile kit also allowed us to record live to disk and simultaneously stream to the web.”
Xander Collier’s comprehensive mobile production solution supplied by Videocraft consisted of the Videocraft FlyAway Production Kit, four Sony XDCAM 700 and 800 camera kits with on board LCD monitors and zoom/focus demands, Sony Diversity Radio Receivers/Transmitters, three Canon 40x Tele Lenses, one Canon 22x lens, two Sony XDCAM EX3s, three Sony PDWHD1500 Professional Disc Recorders, a Panasonic AVHS400 vision switcher, Panasonic LCD Monitors, Sony Lipstick cameras with wide angle lenses, Go Pro cameras, Rode shotgun NTG3 mics, Dedos/Kinoflos, four Apple MacBook Pros, three 6Tb RAID systems and 50Gb Sony Optical Discs.
Commenting on the equipment he rented Collier said, “The best piece of equipment for me would of have to have been the Videocraft FlyAway Production Kit. It's a little road beast. We had various cameras running numerous video signals into the kit as well as laptops with content and playback. We were able to supply numerous programme outs to venues and media and also to our live streaming webcast. It saved us a massive amount of time on set up in every state – just position, take off the attached doors either side, patch in and you're in business. It was quick, easy to set up, had all the I/Os we required and was compact where space and time were two major issues.”
For the tour Collier and his production crew recorded XDCAM HD straight to 50Gb optical discs so they could ingest by file transfer straight into portable edit suite. The crew were also providing programme outputs from the kit for the venues’ large screen systems, overspill and uplinking to Federation Square in Melbourne and live web streams for interstate and international audiences. Programme audio was wireless directly from the audio desk mix to the Sony transmitter and received via the Sony receivers onboard the XDCAM cameras.
Collier added, “Even the fact that we were using optical discs, stock of which was completely touch and go with the global shortage at the time, wasn’t an issue as Videocraft helped us quite considerably with a combination of hire and new stock. As the optical discs came in on disc changes we were connecting up to the Apple MacBook Pros and downloading via the PDWHD1500s straight to the RAID systems and taking the files through XDCAM Transfer providing manageable files for the edit in FCP.”
With shooting environments as diverse as The Main Plenary Hall in the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, the Canberra Royal Theatre in the Canberra Convention Centre and the Burswood Dome in Perth, Collier and his team had a plethora of logistical shooting issues to overcome.
He said, “Essentially the majority of the time it was His Holiness sitting on the throne or lounge so typical shots for this were wide shots, MidCU, CU, ECU on objects and side MidCU/CU. For some events I added slow tracks or movement and tried to keep it fluid as there were also prayers, singing by Tibetan monks, mountain songs and performances. Different events called for different variations in shot size and fluidity for example the teachings are, in essence, religious events as opposed to a more candid public conversation or the concert in Perth where there was nothing but roaming, tracking and slow movements. However, some creative choices were obviously restricted due to budget, venue and audience seating allocations.”
In addition to the equipment Videocraft also supplied onsite technical experts for the entire tour.
Collier commented, “I would totally recommend renting this kind of kit from Videocraft. I had never had the need to hire this kind of kit before but with the help of Videocraft and their tech assistants we were able to unload, setup and be ready within two hours of walking into each venue. There are no installations, its easy to use and the kit has everything built in: switching, audio processing monitoring and comms – its all in the box. Traditionally you would need an OB van to provide this level of equipment, but the Videocraft FlyAway Production System is an inexpensive way to boost the production's value and take it to a new level whether it be a small corporate event, concert or television show. Videocraft have custom built these systems with their hands-on knowledge of what a production and user would need out of this equipment, how it will be operated, and how it needs to integrate with a wide variety of delivery platforms.”
With the tour wrapped and a great success Collier took time to reflect on what had been a truly worthwhile technology partnership. He concluded, “I have had a great relationship with Videocraft since 2004 and they are my preferred equipment and sales house. Right from the beginning Videocraft has been amazing! Every time you walk in the door, whether its a small low budget project or a huge monster production their level of detail, expertise and professionalism is the exactly the same. Videocraft helped me right from the get go with the Dalai Lama tour and were eager to get stuck in as soon as I could give them booking dates. Faced with two weeks of production in four states they were available at any time in pre production to discuss the job and assisted in everything from equipment hire, tests, hardware recommendations and sales, to logistics and working out a schedule for shipping a variety of gear all around the country – and they were able to coordinate it all. I took two technical assistants on the road for the duration of the tour and nothing was too difficult. Setups and pack downs were simple and fast and between them both I felt confident to be able to give them instructions and tasks and be able to cross them off my list and not have to worry about them again. All the while Videocraft’s Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne offices were on call with whatever we needed at any time whether it be additional equipment or technical support. I don't know how much more confident you could feel in an equipment supplier and systems integrator!”