Roll To Record has bought 64 Panasonic AW-HE50 hot head cameras and integrated them into what is claimed as the largest single gallery for a fixed-rig production to date for TwoFour’s Educating Yorkshire series. “It’s the biggest and most complex rig we’ve done,” said the facility provider’s commercial director Mick Bass. Educating Yorkshire is the follow-up to the TwoFour’s successful secondary-school based observational documentary Educating Essex (pictured) for Channel 4, and Roll To Record, which is part of NEP, tasked Camera Corps with writing bespoke software to marry the hot heads with Camera Corps’ Q-Balls control system. “This provides front-end control over the cameras in a way that operators love, including vision separate from the hot head and global balance, all accessible from a single panel without having to use a load of shift keys,” explained Bass. “The investment to support TwoFour has taken us a big leap forward in terms of technology.” The hot heads were controlled by two operators with multiple streams ingested into Evolutions’ on-location workflow facility Luther for 10 hours a day over seven weeks. Recording audio on fixed-rig production can also be a challenge with potentially as many as 40 to 60 characters (in this case pupils and teaching staff) to monitor and keep track of. Roll To Record supplied 22 radio microphones, plus 62 effects microphones recorded to digital multi-tracks. “These productions are so dependent on audio because the whole story could sink or swims on catching three or four words, so you need to have it all,” said Bass. Roll To Record’s previous fixed-rig productions for TwoFour include the BAFTA-winning Educating Essex and The Magaluf Weekender. Filming on Educating Yorkshire finished last month with transmission scheduled later this year. Adrian Pennington www.rolltorecord.co.ukwww.twofour.co.uk
