Planet Earth takes HDC-950 to the skies and HDV to the Antarctic

The BBC Natural History Unit is nearly two thirds of the way through its next landmark natural history epic – Planet Earth. This 11-hour series will be broadcast in 2006 with a parallel 90-minute cinema release. The entirety of Planet Earth is being shot in high definition: with the HDW-750P HDCAM camcorders (in an underwater housing) used for scenes shot beneath the ocean, and the HDC-950 specialising in aerial shots. Now there is a new element to their high definition kit: the HVR-Z1E HDV camcorder.

“We recently got the HVR-Z1E HDV camcorder and took it straight away to the Antarctic to shoot aerials of scenery and ice using naval support,” explains Alastair Fothergill, executive producer for the BBC Natural History Unit, who was also the series producer for Blue Planet and a former head of the NHU.

“We were based on the HMS Endurance, a nautical vehicle, which travels to the Antarctic every year to do scientific research and work for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. They took us on board and supported our idea to film the wildlife of the Antarctic peninsular. The HDV camcorder was used to do lots of ‘making of’ filming of us and the navy at work.”

The results have proved encouraging. “We were attracted by the small size of the camcorder: its handheld nature means that you can really capture activity. Getting ‘making of’ and ‘behind the scenes’ footage requires a camera that is highly portable. It was also very useful on this trip as a back up. Of course, the Antarctic is a very cold and remote place, and it was good to know it was there if anything happened with the cameras we were using for our aerial or land-based shots.”

Another advantage of HDV was the price; even on a big budget production, costs matter. “The HDV camcorder is very competitive for the quality you are getting,” says Fothergill. “The 16:9 format is also a factor in its favour, even if you use the camera on standard definition only. We are very pleased with it. We like the large viewfinder and ergonomically it is a very nice piece of kit. The picture quality is, of course, very good.”

Ocean depths

Many of the scenes for Planet Earth explore the world under the sea. Although the team currently use an HDW-750P for this, it looks like the HVR-Z1E will be a useful addition.

“We are very interested in using the HVR-Z1E for underwater work. In a few weeks we will have bought a new underwater camera housing about to come on the market. We hope that the real value of this camcorder in this situation will be its size,” he says. “With some of the work we do in the open oceans, we try to record an event that happens very quickly and it is crucial how quickly you can get into the water and start filming. If you have a big camera it’s a disturbance, like jumping into the sea with a big chunk of metal. The hope is that with this camera we can literally jump in and film.”

The camcorder is currently in use in Pakistan where aerial shots of K2 are being taken. Two helicopters are being used, the HDC-950 camera is in one and the HDV in the other. “We like to work our equipment hard and we’ve had no problems,” says Fothergill.