KitPlus | Articles

Lights, Camera, Makohead Action

With the movie Quantum of Solace due to hit the big screens in October, audiences around the world are already gearing up for another huge blockbuster from the James Bond stable. The movie, which began shooting at Pinewood studios in November 2007, will undoubtedly include the spectacular action sequences that are the hallmark of James Bond films....

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 December 2008

Getting the best out of your LCD

Getting the best out of your LCDs?Many people who use CRT picture monitors have found the introduction of LCD displays disappointing. Getting the best out of your LCD may not be as simple as it may seem. With a wide choice of vendors and models all proclaiming broadcast quality, it can be difficult to determine which product is most suitable for yo...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 November 2008

London to Capetown, by bike part 1

South Africans are known for being to the point, so when I was told that I had done the whole thing ‘Arse Backwards’ I wasn’t unduly upset, but I did feel a need to justify the way I had approached this project. I had just arrived in Cape Town and was rather pleased with myself, having just completed a year long journey through some of Africa’s mos...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 October 2008

tv-bay interviews Malcolm Robinson

How long have you been with Sony?Just over 4 yearsAnd where were you before?I originally trainedat Ravensbourne before moving to CNN where I worked on stories such as the Russian Coup. I then worked for Cine Video where amongst others covered the West Indies cricket tours. After working for Visions I contracted for 4 years before moving to Sony. Wh...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 August 2008

Dont Drink from the Mainstream.

Here’s the note pinned on the studio door of Undercurrents productions in South Wales. To do list for 20081) Make 10 new video series on topics ranging from Woodland skills to Technology reviews and from Political news to investigative documentaries. 2) Develop a desktop video player application based upon the open source software. 3) Launch an Int...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 August 2008

Calzaghe Fight with Input Media

Sports production company Input Media faced a series of technical, logistical and creative challenges when they were commissioned by fast rising broadcaster Setanta Sports to cover one of the biggest live Boxing events ever staged in the UK. The main fight during the 8-hour long broadcast was the world unification fight between WBO/IBF Super Middle...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 July 2008

CTV OB Truck

Responding to the growing demand for HD broadcasts and with a fleet of already overworked outside broadcast trucks, CTV Outside Broadcast’s newest addition to its fleet, OB 9, is a fully-equipped production facility with the latest in High Definition production, mixing and recording equipment. Targeted squarely at major entertainment and sporting e...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 July 2008

A hidden beauty

The lifestyle of the Wildlife cameraman (and woman) you’d have thought, and I was hoping, was all exotic locations and beautiful scenery. Except for me the reality was a murky, water filled quarry during a very cold winter and early spring of 2006- 07. But to come face to face with a real homegrown legend I was more than ready to take the plunge. T...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 July 2008

One man and his boat

It all started when I decided to build a boat in the garage. A fifteen-foot gaff rigged pocket cruiser to be precise. I bought the plans from a naval architect in Wiltshire and had the hull planks computer cut by a specialist boat builder in Kirkcaldy. Then I searched the Internet for a DVD about boat building for beginners but found nothing. So I...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 May 2008

The Reflecmedia Chromaflex portable chromakey system

The use of keying a foreground image over a background image to form a composite is an established and widely used technique in film and TV production. For most cameramen this will usually involve them in shooting a subject against a coloured background, typically green or blue. Sounds simple but reality can be far from it, anecdotes abound of nigh...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 May 2008

Hands on the EX-1

High Definition at 1920x1080 means 5 times more detail, resolution and sharpness than SD. With this in mind lens selection and focus become absolutely critical when out shooting in the field. I’m sure we’ve all at some point been on a shoot when our precise focus has been a little out but the lens is wide and we’re shooting DVCAM so can ‘get away w...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 April 2008

The Sony PMW-EX1 what can we expect?

We cannot ignore the fact that tapeless acquisition and workflow has become a ‘hot topic’ in recent months with programme makers recognising that like it or not, tapeless acquisition in HD is where television production is headed. Mitcorp have always been at the forefront of technology educating and supporting our customers with full workflow solut...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 March 2008