PBS Food’s ‘Original Fare’ Gets a New Look with the Cooke Varotal/i FF Zoom Lens

The popular documentary series Original Fare of PBS Food returns with a new style after the break due to the pandemic, relying on the Varotal/i FF 30-95mm zoom lenses from Cooke Optics.

Since 2013, Original Fare has been a staple on PBS Food, one of the United States Public Broadcasting Service's web streaming channels, as well as being distributed internationally by TVF to China, Thailand, New Zealand, Belarus and Eastern Europe. But for the past two years, the pandemic has put this international production program on hold.

With the return of international production, Kelly Cox, creator, executive producer, director and former host of the program, wanted to reinvent Original Fare for his return, trusting the director of photography for this challenge Sarah Whelden.

“It would be the same show with food from all over the world, but a different show in terms of how we would film it,” Whelden explains. "Kelly was looking for help redefining the creative vision...finding the balance between intentional planned shots and unplanned documentary freedom for the subjects. He wanted to move away from the aesthetic of the previous season, and an important part of it was for the show to not have a host on camera and instead let the subjects be who they are and speak for themselves."

For an international production, Whelden knew he needed two things: "As small a camera package as we could get due to travel and the ability to zoom. We didn't have the resources to manage a full still and zoom kit, so zoom would have to replace the still cameras."

Although not necessary for distribution, the retooled production would be shot in 4K. “I love the look of the ARRI Alexa and the Mini LF It was perfect," Whelden explained. "Filming in 4K made sense given the production standards we would face on other platforms. My only concern at the time was the lack of lens options in the full-frame space, especially zoom lenses.”

But Whelden ran into a problem: "When we started planning, I didn't know the Varotal, and the other full-frame zooms didn't convince me. I had already used the Cooke ones - the Speed ​​Panchro/is, the S4 and the miniS4 - as well as many other lenses from other companies, but the zooms from those other companies... didn't have what I needed. I wanted something that worked creatively and was relatively light and mobile."

The Los Angeles Camera Rental Company BECine came to Whelden's rescue. "They're wonderful, charming, and they knew I wasn't happy. They told me the Cooke Varotal zoom had just arrived. That's all I needed to hear. I put the Varotal 30-95 on the camera, put a person in front of the lens and it was perfect. The look was what I wanted and expected from Cooke, with the focal length range I needed and the size and weight of the Varotal is very manageable. I then created my own show LUTs in Los Angeles, which I refined it on the spot.”