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

From ISDN to LiveU - an interview with Simon Haywood and...

“Why are people still using SNGs when there’s the reliability, mobility and flexibility of IP-bonding, and that’s without factoring in greater sustainability? It's always surprising to us that some people, when we discuss LiveU with them, still haven't recognised the truly disruptive nature of this technology and the benefits it brings. But that is...

Submitted by Joss Armitage

Published 09 August 2023

Calrec Craft Interview: Florian Brown, A1

Craft Interview: Florian Brown, A1 Summary: Last year, veteran A1 Florian Brown spent a full day at Florida-based Full Sail University talking to students about what it’s like to work as an A1 and the benefits of working in the broadcast audio. His talk covered many of the different freelance possibilities in audio, video, EVS, editing and...

Submitted by Alicia Root

Published 06 April 2023

Spotlight on Karl Mehring, Director of Professional Servi...

How has the role of Professional Services evolved in recent years?Installation of equipment has always been important and has primarily been in-person. While in-person is still a requirement for some products, we are increasingly seeing a move towards remote set-up and support. The pandemic accelerated this transition; we had to innovate and find a...

Submitted by Karl Mehring

Published 29 June 2022

Cloud integration: The only way is up

In 2017 we saw the introduction of SMPTE 2110 and since then, the transition to IP has emerged as a priority for broadcasters looking to streamline their operations, decrease their footprint and effectively integrate with an industry in a rapid state of flux. A 2020 survey by Devoncroft found that almost 20% of broadcasters had already deployed SMP...

Submitted by Francois Vaillant

Published 12 January 2022

Sennheiser MKE 400 hands on review and test

Looking to buy? Click here. Sennheiser have just released two products aimed at simplifying audio on the move, the MKE400 shotgun microphone and the XS Lav Mic, in this review we’re looking at the MKE400. If you scroll down there is a video review where you can hear the actual MKE 400 sound so worth a watch. The MKE400 is the second generation with...

Submitted by Simon Tillyer

Published 29 April 2021

REVIEW - Hollyland MARS 400S PRO Digital Wireless Transmi...

HOLLYLAND MARS 400S PRODigital Wireless Video Transmission SystemBuilt by Hollyland and costing around £600 the Mars 400S is an easy-to-use wireless video transmitter/receiver system – it will be right up the alley of anyone who, like me, considers an instruction manual to be nothing more than box padding. The body is made of metal as opposed to...

Submitted by Phil Vinter

Published 12 February 2021

AJA Video Systems - Ki Pro GO User Review with Spellbinde...

For most of us 2020 enforced a step change in the way we work and the kind of productions that our businesses have been delivering. Back in March as the pandemic struck, I took a leap of faith and invested in some switching and streaming kit, in the form of a Tricaster Mini, encoding and NDI kit and some extra cameras. Fast forward nine months and...

Submitted by Ben Sherriff

Published 22 December 2020

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

Connect A Broadcast-Quality Miniature Camera To Your Comp...

Upgrade any home working or live streaming setup with a broadcast-quality professional webcam. CV503-U3 benefits from a simple plug & play setup, with a single USB 3.0 cable connecting the camera to any computer. Thumbscrew locks on the camera’s USB connector reduces the risk of signal loss due to a loose connection. Any Mac, PC or Linux computer w...

Submitted by Spencer Doran

Published 28 September 2020

State of the Nation - The chances of anything coming from...

Among the autumn dramas the old-fashioned broadcasters have offered us this year was a new adaptation of the HG Wells classic The War of the Worlds. Writer Peter Harness stayed pretty faithful to the book, retaining its setting of leafy Surrey and focusing on the human stories. But any mention of The War of the Worlds inevitably brings up the CBS R...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs - new

Published 27 January 2020

The Networking Revolution

We all seek greater flexibility in everything we do. Whether it is another app for your phone, checking for a faster route on your sat-nav, or a changeable hotel booking, the more options we have, the better! Flexibility is fantastic. It offers us choices that we may never want or need, but at least we know that they are there on the off-chance tha...

Submitted by Neil Vann

Published 27 January 2020

Gearing up for The Americas with Simon Reeve

For several years, it has been my honour to collaborate as director of photography with Simon Reeve, the well-known British author, adventurer, and TV presenter. Our latest partnership, the popular BBC Two program “The Americas With Simon Reeve,” is our most ambitious project yet, tracing Simon’s journey from the top to the toe of two continents. S...

Submitted by Jonathan Joung

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