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

La popular serie documental Original Fare of PBS Food regresa con un nuevo estilo tras el parón por la pandemia apoyándose en los objetivos zoom Varotal/i FF de 30-95mm de Cooke Optics.

Desde 2013, Original Fare ha sido un elemento básico en PBS Food, uno de los canales de streaming de la web del servicio de radiodifusión pública de Estados Unidos, además de ser distribuido internacionalmente por TVF a China, Tailandia, Nueva Zelanda, Bielorrusia y Europa del Este. Pero durante los dos últimos años, la pandemia ha hecho que este programa de producción internacional se suspenda.

Con el regreso de la producción internacional, 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.”

Pero Whelden se encontró con un problema: “Cuando empezamos a planificar, no conocía el Varotal, y los otros zooms de fotograma completo no me convencían. Ya había utilizado los Cooke -el Speed Panchro/is, el S4 y el miniS4-, así como muchos otros objetivos de otras empresas, pero los zooms de esas otras empresas… no tenían lo que yo necesitaba. Quería algo que funcionara de forma creativa y que fuera relativamente ligero y móvil”.

La empresa de alquiler de cámaras de Los Ángeles 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.”