KitPlus | Articles

Key Grip Woolf Secures the Gear for GUILLERMO DEL TOROS P...

Jonathan Woolf has gathered a wealth of trade secrets from half a century working in the motion picture industry. His recent chapters have led him to key grip the miniatures unit on Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy and act as a lighting technician on the 2022 Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio. Woolf’s big job on Pinocchio was to find reliable...

Submitted by Kathryn Ferentchak

Published 08 September 2023

Cinematographer Matt Ryan pairs ZEISS Supreme Primes and...

LA based cinematographer Matt Ryan’s enthusiasm for finding the most capable technology to support his creative process has enabled him to shoot across genres and formats. As a Director of Photography, Ryan has shot television for such networks as Disney, FOX, Warner Bros, MTV, PBS, and TruTV. Outside of narrative, Ryan has lensed high-profile comm...

Submitted by Kathryn Ferentchak

Published 08 September 2023

Lets do the Time Warp

Time Warp is one of the biggest indoor electronic music events in Europe if not the world, and recently returned to its spiritual home in Mannheim, Germany for the first time in four years for a sold-out attendance that saw 30,000 people soaking up world-class sound. The influential festival was hosted across six floors of Maimarkthalle, a huge...

Submitted by Patrick Hussey

Published 05 July 2023

DIT Sam Petrov Taps AJA ColorBox for Live Grading Flexibi...

Whether working on a feature film, episodic series, or unscripted show, crafting the look of content before it reaches post requires technical acumen and a creative eye. The DIT (Digital Imaging Technician) is integral to this process, bridging the technical realities with the creative goals on-set to ensure the team can achieve its desired aesthet...

Submitted by Anna

Published 27 June 2023

HOLLYLAND LARK 150 Review

HOLLYLAND Lark 150 reviewThe exponential growth of video supercharged a technological revolution that began in the early noughties with the advent of DSLR cameras. The cinematic-style shallow depth of field image video quality from DSLRs was a revelation, but, back then audio was the big drawback. As demand has grown so the technology has improve...

Submitted by Phil Vinter

Published 05 February 2021

In Ear Monitors Help The Cast And Crew of Americas Got Ta...

Capturing performances for television is a stressful business, especially if the programme is being filmed live. You want everything to be perfect but you are also aware that many things can go wrong, even with the best laid plans. Reducing the list of potential disasters is therefore high on any production crew’s agenda and one area where it is po...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 21 December 2020

An Argument for the Z Cam

Z Cam first dipped their toes into the cinema camera market back at NAB 2018 with the release of the E2 and since then they have proven themselves as one of the go-to camera manufacturers for affordable and unique camera solutions. Their family of cinema cameras has since evolved into a set of 6. Their entry-level E2C is a Micro Four Thirds camera...

Submitted by Jake Ratcliffe

Published 26 March 2020

Five Rules for Creating a YouTube Business

Ever dream of creating entertaining, impactful videos for a living? YouTube sensation Cherry Wallis and her technical consultant Chris Pearless tell us what they’ve learned throughout her channel’s rise to fame. With a channel boasting more than half a million subscribers, Cherry Wallis is the perfect embodiment of a modern video entrepreneur. She...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 26 March 2020

The Value of Trade Shows

When you think of trade shows some might consider the relevance in today's digital world where, with the click of a button, you can research the latest technology and, with another click, someone will deliver said item to your door later that day. So on that note let's dispel the naysayers!It’s true that shows can come and go but those that have th...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 27 January 2020

Eye Contact in Documentaries

Eye contact filming (where the interview subject speaks directly into the lens) is now more common in documentaries. But it hasn’t always been possible or acceptable for filmmakers to do. When I studied Screen Documentary in 1998, I was taught that the subject should look to the left or right of the screen. As an interviewer, I sat close to the cam...

Submitted by Sybil Ah-Mane

Published 27 January 2020

Creating Diverse Show Content For Diversity

Diversity has been a household name in the UK for many years now. Can you tell us about your involvement with them?After winning Britain’s Got Talent (BGT), the group’s entire existence got turned on its head. One of the first things Diversity’s leader, Ashley Banjo, did was to make a list of all the things he thought made a show great. The screen...

Submitted by clive silver

Published 27 January 2020

MEDIAPRO leads across the audiovisual value chain

MEDIAPRO is a leading independent production company in Europe’s audiovisual market. Offering a full slate of technical and creative services, our portfolio includes everything from content production, to post production, to media and digital asset management, to the acquisition of sports TV rights, and the distribution and broadcast of television...

Submitted by Marc Andreu Valls

Published 14 November 2019

IBC 2019 A Whistle Stop Rundown

I’ve been to IBC once before, taking to the floor with Simon, Matt, Jon and the rest of the KitPlus team to assist with the filming of interviews. This was a lot of fun, but it was hard to find the time to look at the kit I wanted to see. This year with the demise of BVE and unable to make it to the Media Production Show I decided to fork out for a...

Submitted by Ben Sherriff

Published 03 November 2019

Creating A Signature Look With Lighting

As an LA-based DP, I view my role as a narrative storyteller. For me, cinematography is not just about getting some nice images – it’s about telling truths. I love being able to weave a story with imagery and capture something that’s real, whether through performance or visual symbolism. Lighting is one of my most important mechanisms for capturing...

Submitted by William Hellmuth

Published 03 November 2019

The Making of Zero

The Brothers Lynch explain how they created the sinister atmospheric world for their new sci-fi shortIn a post-apocalyptic world where humankind has emerged victorious in a war against artificial intelligent machines, a young girl dares to venture into the unknown. This is Zero, the new sci-fi short film from acclaimed British writer-director duo T...

Submitted by Keith and David Lynch

Published 10 September 2019