After 24h Berlin and 24h Jerusalem, Berlin-based production company zero one 24 continues with 24h Bayern. Over 100 camera teams made a portrait of life in Bavaria over a 24 hour period, from the point of view of its inhabitants. 24h Bayern recounts more than 80 personal stories from one day and night, spread across the 70,000 square kilometres of the southern German state.
The Bayerische Rundfunk-commissioned production was produced by zero one 24 in co-operation with Munich production company megaherz. Following nine months of preparation and two days of filming, the production will air early June 2017 on the BR Fernsehen channel.
Without a transparent, end-to-end workflow – from filming through to post-production – and seamlessly interoperable technology, a project of this magnitude simply could not be tackled.
A total of 107 Sony XDCAM camcorders were used on the main filming day, 3 June 2016. These comprised 22x PDW-700s, 45x PXW-FS7s, 30x PXW-Z150s, five PXW-FS5s, and five PMW-F5s. Each team recorded its footage on SxS cards, SDXC, XQD, and Professional Discs with capacities of 64 or 128 GB.
Equipment was collected in the production centre, a large studio hall on the Bayerische Rundfunk premises in the Unterföhring district of Munich.
“With more than 100 filming teams there were very different levels of experience and knowledge when it came to operating the Sony cameras,” said Julian Steinemann, technical co-ordinator. “The cameras needed to have the same technical configuration to achieve a harmonious look for the final programme. On the other hand, the range had to be diverse enough in terms of ergonomics and technical options to encompass every possible filming situation – from small rooms, driving in cars, or outdoor landscapes.”
In order to create a consistent narrative style, the camera teams also had to capture the protagonists’ stories without a tripod and only using the available natural light. Only the impressions teams were allowed to work with tripods.
