FILMING IN THE FALKLANDS

Being blown over by the wind seems a novel concept until it actually happens to you. This was a first for me as I was unceremoniously dumped on my right shoulder, trying to protect a $200 000 camera and a bag full of primes.

We had winds gusting to 70 mph on Steeple Jason island while trying to film the fledging of Black browed albatross chicks. The only camera we had was a Phantom HD, and used this for 30p as well as the obvious high speed that the unit can produce.

LAKE OF STARS

I've been on Lake Malawi for ten days, filming the cichlids that have colonised the lake so efficiently. These little fish have developed very visual interactions with each other, both for territory defense as well as breeding activity.
They've adapted into every little niche beneath the surface, edging out other fish species and making Lake Malawi their own. I've been busy shooting mouth-brooding, and trying to capture the antics around the big sand spawning bowers.

THINKING QUICKLY

Getting into the swing of filming cheetah chasing down prey is kind of difficult. It takes practice, and even if you've done it before, you need to get back into the system. It doesn't help to get excited, you'll only screw up the shot, anticipation is crucial, and even when you get it right, keeping the animal in frame relies a lot on chance.

This is when I wish I'd had a Phantom...

ROLLING SHUTTER?

Take all you think you know about HD, and turn it into the trash. After being a firm stalwart of 3 chip prism blocks, I have to say that the picture on the Phantom HD system that we've had in the Serengeti is nothing short of jawdropping.

The ropey picture of the Photron and such units have always left me unimpressed with high speed digital cameras, but the Phantom is a whole new ballgame. Even shot at 30p, it makes the f900 look, well, pedestrian. The fact that it can ramp up to 1000fps, obviously with a fast lens and enough light just adds to the effect.

You can see things in the picture that you just don't see with the naked eye, no compromise. Granted the unit is very expensive, but at the heart is a relatively simple single cmos chip. So what's wrong with a rolling shutter? Who wants to shoot lightening anyway?

PREMIUM PROGRAMMING RETURNS

Its so nice to see channels investing in natural history again, after the advent of somewhat stable HD formats. With the march of 1080 comes a huge hunger for fresh new content, and ropey old film stock just doesn't cut it.

This has given many of us the opportunity to be involved in fully original, newly crafted stories and programs for commissioning channels and subsequent distribution deals, which means we get our hands on the best and latest gear to do a proper job for a change.

Long may it last.