BBC recurre a las cámaras de Panasonic para rodar su nuevo documental ‘Snow Cats&Me’

The new documentary by Scottish filmmaker Gordon Buchana, broadcast on BBC Two, combines the Panasonic VariCam LT, EVA1 and Lumix S1 cameras.

The cameras of Panasonic were in charge of capturing the shocking images of the documentary Snow Cats & Me, a program made by Scottish wildlife filmmaker Gordon Buchana, produced by Johny Young y Ted Robles and broadcast on the British channel BBC Two.

The goal of the show was to follow the lives of a group of lynxes that were rescued, rehabilitated and released into the Russian forests. Reaching them is not an easy task since their natural habitat is in remote places and with extreme weather conditions.

The documentary, divided into two parts, was filmed in Russia by a small mobile film crew. Three sequences were carried out over a period of seven months to be able to tell the story of the lynxes in detail.

In the first session, the team used the camera Panasonic VariCam LT, with whom they had already worked on previous projects. Additionally, it was robust enough to withstand adverse weather conditions and was capable of capturing both the incredible wildlife and the visual synchronization of the presenters.

For the second and third sessions, the team spent many days in the forest, working in an unknown and risky scenario. This situation turned the first camera tripod into an obstacle and the team decided to switch to the Panasonic EVA1 of YOU Rental Bristol, a lighter and totally portable camera, but that maintains the characteristics in terms of film quality.

“My style is mainly manual and reactive,” describes Jonny Young, producer of the series. "When Gordon is interacting with the animals, I can get link shots from up to 10 to 15 meters away. EVA1 became our main ally after deciding that the LT, although it was a fantastic camera for the first session and gave us spectacular images, was too heavy to run and film at the same time"

The team needed a camera that could offer the same wide range of colors, and wide dynamic range and the settings Dual native ISO of the VariCam LT, but also compact and light enough to carry around the woods all day. EVA1 with the adaptable mounting kit, 5.7K Super 35mm image sensor, a Canon CN20 50-1000mm lens and tripod met the ideal characteristics for such circumstances.

In addition to the documentary toolkit, the team also used the camera Panasonic Lumix S1 for press and advertising photographs. "The S1 camera was more than sufficient for these photographs, but it was also a discovery; the video capabilities of this small camera pleasantly surprised us. We knew we were going to need to shoot lynxes running and jumping at high speed. Sometimes we only had one opportunity for a particular movement, so we needed as many cameras as possible aimed at the animal when it came into action. The S1 was an innovative option for us; it is a cheaper camera but suitable for shooting high-speed video. speed, while maintaining the style of the Panasonic camera line,” said Jonny.

It was very important to the filmmakers that the program open a deeper debate about the impact of captivity. “Captivity is always at the center of our programs,” explains Ted. "This series was motivated, in part, by our frustration with the erroneous and unfounded belief that captive animals cannot be returned to the wild. Two of the lynxes in this documentary had never been free until this experiment by Dr. Victor Lukarevskiy. However, they were finally released, which is a very good sign."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqOSy5qyJBk