We Love Our New Camera

Reporter Will Hanrahan, the FirstLookTV Creative Director, was impressed by both the quality and quantity of his new colleagues on his first day working for the flagship BBC Programme ‘Watchdog’ in 1990. The film had a cameraman, a camera assistant, an electrician and a runner. There was a sound recordist, too.

The producer had an assistant and a researcher, ‘make-up’ was on site, and then there was Will himself.

A Regional news reporter only a few weeks earlier, he was used to filming with two or three people on the crew. There were nine on the crew he was
now working with.

It was all about the technology. A film camera meant the need for lighting, it was dusk so they would also need an assistant to ensure cables were
tidily kept safe – the road was too nearby hence the need for sound – and so on.

Today, at a push, Will can get a similar filmic look and sound from a DSLR Canon 5d  EOS Mark 3 or 4 camera. It is a ‘still’ camera which takes [ .mov ] videos and can be set-up to record sound externally with use of a Tascam or similar. The camera settings now allow for 25 frames per second shooting and the range of prime lenses available to be used on the camera can create a gorgeous ‘film’ image.

A DSLR cannot replace a top quality camera used in TV or Film, but the quality has now become so good, it is a useful 2nd or ‘B-roll’ camera and is
so small it can be transported easily so becomes very user-friendly when on location.

It isn’t bad news for the technical crew either – it simply means more creatives can do things more creatively and at a price many can afford.