The Diamond Jubilee pageant www.gtc.org.uk www.gtc.org.uk The Diamond Jubilee pageant

Great pictures, shame the long distances and tricky travel the water to give unique shots as behind where the Queen’s boat about the commentary turned this into a long and exhausting the bridge rose in front of it and the would tie up (also with 86 lenses); A View from Much has been written in the media process. flotilla passed through close by. In and across the river opposite the end about the BBC’s treatment of the addition to this, a small standard- position, on Butlers Wharf Terrace. River Pageant and how it failed to All angles covered lens camera was placed on the steps This camera was equipped with a reach the public’s expectations in The camera rig started early on the jutting out from Shad Thames at 100:1 lens. The terms of commentary and information. Friday morning and we soon had water level for a ‘worm’s eye view’ Roaming around was a vox-popping But at the same time, great praise the local cable-connected cameras underneath the bridge. handheld operating on the bridge was heaped on the pictures offered up and running. The first three Meanwhile, two other standard- approach roads, while two more up throughout this very long were positioned high on the Tower lens cameras were placed on Tower handhelds were on board ships just transmission. Bridge towers, looking west, east Pier and St Katherine’s Pier, plus east of the bridge: TS Tenacious, a tall ship moored to the south, and HMS Hurworth, a minesweeper Bridge Four of the RF cameras had big 86 lenses, leading to extensive moored just astern of the Queen’s power supply issues and, since mains was not available at most of eventual position. the positions, much planning was involved in ensuring a plentiful The view we never saw! supply of batteries, resulting in complex charging arrangements Last, but far from least in terms of effort anyway, was a camera taken up to the top (87th floor) of the Shard, Our part of the operation, with and centrally down on the ‘bascules’ another wide-angle jib was set up in the brand new tallest building in The Diamond Jubilee celebrations saw many GTC facilities provided by a Visions truck (the bits of road that rise when the front of the Tower of London among Europe, which overlooks the whole of members out and about covering street parties, beacon and using SIS Live RF and comms bridge opens). These were all fitted the trees and the crowds. London and especially this part of the lighting ceremonies and multiple other events organised links, eventually involved 20 cameras with wide-angle lenses and mounted To top it all for the bridge coverage, Thames. Months of negotiation and to mark this historic milestone. There were many highlights, (a mixture of Philips LDK 6000s and on bazookas with offset bowls, and the Cammotion Vortex was in position a hundred emails had finally resulted including the concert at Buckingham Palace, Thanksgiving Service at Sony 1500s), dotted along the stretch placed in narrow walkways accessed in the middle of the road by the North in permission for a camera to be set St Paul’s, and procession of carriages through London but, from an OB point of the river from London Bridge in the through windows. The large vertical Tower providing spectacular rising up there. This is still a building site of view, the most challenging and unusual task was probably the coverage of west to the other side of Tower Bridge drop to the public areas called and falling shots through the bridge with all the safety issues that brings, the 1000-boat flotilla on the Thames. GTC sponsor companies ACS and Ikegami in the east. These positions had been for extensive safety bonding and supports. let alone the normal problems arising were involved at the very heart of things by providing the cameras on board the chosen by executive producer Claire much careful assembly of all the The RF cameras were stationed from working in such an elevated Royal Barge. Meanwhile, GTC member James Day’s contribution was supervising Popplewell and technical producer component pieces. further away: on the next bridge along position. This involved a huge effort the ‘finish line’ cameras at Tower Bridge, where an array of imaginatively placed Peter Taylor a couple of months earlier. Then we had two 86-lens cameras (London Bridge) high up on buildings from all involved – including walking cameras offered up great angles and shots of the passing flotilla, including the I took a walk-around recce with Peter at road level by the bascules looking spectacular moment when the bridge opened up – and who can forget the choir of on 3 May and we made a few west and east, plus a wide-angle jib valiant ‘drowned rats’ who sang with so much spirit while drenched to the skin! First, adjustments at that point but the final on the east corner of the South Tower, James explains just what was involved at the Tower Bridge end of this huge exercise. To top it all for the bridge coverage, the list was only arrived at about five days which would capture some amazing before the rig started. shots as the bridge opened – inches Cammotion Vortex was in position in the away from the lens – and also as the middle of the road by the North Tower A complicated tech spec flotilla passed by just yards below. providing spectacular rising and falling Due to the large distances involved Another great position was that and associated problems with getting of an ACS Smarthead remote camera shots through the bridge supports cables anywhere remote, seven of underneath the bascules, close to our 20 cameras would be on RF radio links. To add to these complications, four of the RF cameras had big 86 lenses, leading to extensive power supply issues. Mains MATTHEW GLADSTONE, CAMMOTION was not available at most of the positions, so much planning was involved in ensuring a plentiful supply of batteries, resulting in some pretty complex charging arrangements. The RF receiving point was on top of The Tower Hotel, next to where the scanner was parked. However, as the directional receive aerials could not pick up any local testing, everything had to be rigged in its final position before any fault-finding could take place. Again, A ‘Canaletto moment’ as the colourful rowing fleet passes under the bridge

Cammotion Vortex reaches up 22 Autumn 2012 ZERB vertically, high above Tower Bridge Autumn 2012 ZERB 23 The Diamond Jubilee pageant www.gtc.org.uk www.gtc.org.uk The Diamond Jubilee pageant

Stuart MacDonald directing, with Ian Trill vision-mixing

P

aul E llis , G etty I mages

On Board the

Spirit of Chartwell

I ndigo

The Spirit of Chartwell passes under the bascules, raised at 90 degrees for a Royal Salute Rigging the cameras high above the bascules of Tower Bridge,

etty I mages with all-important failsafe safety bonding, was quite an exercise! GTC sponsors ACS provided remote and stabilised camera systems for all the , G key events during the Diamond Jubilee weekend: the concert at Buckingham Palace, the Thanksgiving Service at St Paul’s, inside Westminster Hall help. We did what we could with the spectators on the day. There were and route cameras for the Procession. Here, Sam Heaphy of ACS explains Not everything worked. On OBs, it never facilities made available to us. more than 20 cameras on the boats. what was involved in the most sensitive part of their Jubilee involvement: Overall it was a technical triumph The technical planning sheet was providing continuous unobtrusive coverage on board the Royal Barge. does. The secret is to not show that on the though. This was the biggest OB for 217 pages long! screen. Next time, we will do it better! many a year: over 90 cameras in total, Not everything worked. On OBs, it BC Events is the production positions but this eventually doubled fed through eight scanners, spread never does. The secret is to not show entity within the BBC that to eight. Detailed planning and the over several miles either side of a river that on the screen. Next time, we will Bis normally responsible process of obtaining Buckingham up the last 20 or so floors with all down. My position on the North Tower in a very busy city among a million do it better! for producing coverage of state Palace approval for the installation the gear as the lifts stop at level 65 – looking west was immediately under occasions, national celebrations started with a series of meetings in only to be thwarted by the appalling the horizontal walkways high above, and commemorative services. The January on the Spirit of Chartwell (a weather on Pageant Day. Basically, which seemed to result in a waterfall relationship between BBC Events vessel loaned for the purpose). Remote cameras onboard the Spirit of Chartwell provided unobtrusive closeup the top of the Shard never emerged effect directed towards my head just and ACS has evolved over the past shots of the Royal Family throughout the four-hour flotilla pageant from the clouds. A great shame. The to add to the general misery created five years, with many national and An unobtrusive presence inherent limitations of lens size, as Ikegami UK have always provided a view is astounding and I will certainly by the constant rain. Luckily, the international broadcasts drawing on The principle aim of using multiple well as sensor and processing quality. friendly service with good technical be going up there when the public lifejacket our safety officer insisted I the company’s specialist expertise in remote cameras was obvious in Conversely, full-size cameras on support plus extra help whenever it’s viewing galleries eventually open. wear due to my proximity to a large providing high-end compact remote that the alternative was for two remotes would be far too bulky and, as needed. Since all the cameras were to drop into the Thames just about kept cameras. The Royal Wedding of Prince or three PSC cameramen to move a result, unacceptable. be of the same type we would have A very long, wet day me afloat! William and Kate Middleton in 2011 around on the top deck throughout ACS has a tradition going back the added bonus of there being no Pageant Day started for us at about Could we have done more to keep and the Papal Visit of 2010 (previously the Barge’s progression down the many years of purchasing compact issues with matching. 07.30, with rerigging the cameras that the rain off our lenses? We were using covered in Zerb) were both examples Thames. However, this would have full broadcast cameras, either as ‘T’ could not be left out overnight for a lot of 86-type lenses for which there of the ACS SMARThead playing a been obtrusive and almost certainly style systems or, more recently, with Hiding the cameras security reasons, and finished around is no current solution. They need better significant part in the OB facilities. rejected by the Royal Press Office at the emphasis on the latest generation The Spirit of Chartwell was subjected 20.00 when a mostly soaking wet and lens hoods undoubtedly. If these were During the summer of 2011, ACS Buckingham Palace. of ‘brick’ or ‘box’ style cameras. These, to a very extensive ‘aesthetic’ tired crew had finished the derig and commercially available, they would was approached by BBC Events to Image quality considerations coupled with wide-angle or standard design makeover. This involved everything had been packed away. An be used. Gaffer tape and cardboard consider an exclusively remote camera for the live broadcast, and also for lenses (x22), and attached to a elaborate mouldings being hung excellent packed lunch from Pret a is not universally available on every Fact File proposal for the broadcast coverage archiving purposes, required the use SMARThead pan and tilt remote, offer over the prow of the ship, a royal Manger had kept us going but there street corner and would probably After 36 years of being employed by the BBC and SIS Live, James Day is on board the Royal Barge, the centre of full 2/3-inch HD cameras and a very compact full HD solution. dais and spectacular floral and plant had been few chances for any sort of have drooped into shot in the ensuing freelance and open to all offers of a tasteful kind! Music a speciality. of the Diamond Jubilee Pageant. The lenses. Minicams including ‘ball’ style arrangements. This brief description extended break between starting on monsoon anyway. Twenty miles away, Mobile: 07889 465164 initial plan was based on four camera systems were rejected because of their Ikegami cameras does not begin to do justice to the camera at 11.00 and the end. Many it hardly rained at all that day, so in a The choice was made to use the efforts or extent of the design team’s SIS Live cameras could not be left unattended way we were just unlucky. How much Ikegami HDL-51 multi-format camera, work! ACS worked closely with the www.sislive.tv as they were in public areas. time and expense should be spent on When the rain became really heavy, the on the grounds that this is the film production designer Joseph As anyone watching the event such unknowns? Using equipment See more about Cammotion Vortex at: smallest camera in its class to offer Bennett and the art director Dominic will know, the weather deteriorated provided by others means just that. www.cammotion.co.uk art director kindly moved around from one excellent image quality, fully featured Hyman to minimise the presence of dramatically during the afternoon You cannot carry around with you a +44(0)1628 477270 / 07973 673187 camera to the next wiping the lenses OCPs and a proven reliability record. the SMARTheads and their mounting and eventually the rain just poured selection of all the ‘extras’ that might Mark Capstick and Simon East of

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Technical details for the Ikegami HDL-51 Scanning system 1080 (50Hz) interlaced, 1080 (59.94Hz) interlaced 1080p (23.98Hz) progressive, 1080p (25Hz) progressive 720p (50Hz) progressive / 720p (59.94Hz) progressive Image sensor 2/3-inch 2.5M pixel CMOS sensor Effective picture H1920 × V1080 (1080i format) elements H1280 × V720 (720p format) Optical system 2/3-inch 3 CMOS, f1.4 Lens mount 2/3-inch bayonet (B4) (conforms to BTAS-1005B) Output signals HD SDI signal (BNC 2ch): SMPTE292M Video signal (1ch): Analog R,G,B / Y,Pb,Pr selectable Phase reference signal 1ch: 3 level sync 0.6Vp-p Sensitivity F8 at 2000 lux S/N –54dB (Y) Horizontal resolution 1000 TVL (1080i) Optical filter 3200K, 5600K, 5600K+1/8ND, 5600K+1/32ND Gain control 0dB, +6dB, +12dB, +18dB, +24dB, +30dB, selectable Operating temperature –10°C ~ +45°C (+14°F ~ +112°F) Operating humidity 30% ~ 90% (non-condensing) Power requirement DC12V ( 11 ~ 16V) Power consumption Approx. 20W Weight approx. 1.5kg ( 3.3lbs) Clothed and unclothed! The Ikegami HDL-51 in the showroom and in Dimensions W90 × H103 × D180mm position and wrapped up for the rain on board the Royal Barge hardware. Special stands were Ikegami OCP-200 panels. An fabricated that meant the minimum engineering touch-down matrix was The choice was made to use the Ikegami HDL-51 footprint while allowing for height and provided with outputs fed to a 17-inch multi-format camera, on the grounds that this is level adjustments. These were then OLED monitor and a Harris multi- the smallest camera in its class to offer excellent covered with a ‘velvet’ fabric to function video scope. A HS-AV450 image quality, fully featured OCPs and a proven blend sympathetically with the compact 16-channel HD mixer was reliability record surroundings and prevailing colours. used to select the cameras, with the During the planning it was decided mixer output feeding SiS Live-provided to use the ACS integrated fibre system. Link L1500 microwave transmitters. including testing and facilities In fact, the rain did not cause any A standard SMPTE 311 cable provides An integral multi-viewer built into checks. Fortunately, for that part the problems until the latter stages of the all the services for the camera and the mixer was fed to a 42-inch LCD weather was good. A brief rehearsal Pageant. When it did become really SMARThead: HD SDI transport, to provide a ‘pseudo’ stack and the was carried out on the day before heavy, the art director kindly moved genlock, OCP data, head data, GPI and director cut the cameras himself. Two the Pageant to allow the crew to around from one camera to the next 12 & 24 volt power are all available additional monitors were provided for familiarise themselves with the wiping the lenses. All the equipment on a single cable. The cabling was the mixer out/TX. equipment and the environment. Then remained reliable throughout the day, run in under an overhang in the The fly-away racks located on the Royal Barge travelled overnight save a few minor microwave breakups. superstructure above the main cabin the aft deck housed the fibre base on 2 June from the Royal Docks to This assignment was without doubt windows from the bow to the aft stations and SMPTE connections. Cadogan Pier in Chelsea which would an extremely interesting challenge area where the racks were located. Other components included the mixer be our departure point. and also a very memorable and A waterproof timber cover was processor, Evertz HD D/As and operator On Sunday 3 June, at 07.00, the extraordinary occasion. BBC Events made and dressed with red velvet preview matrixes. The latter was crew arrived at the pier. As forecast, and the associated production team drape to cover the racks which, controlled via serial data through the the weather was not ideal. There were delighted with the results: great because of space restrictions, had to ACS SMARThead desk, which allows had been heavy rain overnight and views of the Pageant in progress with be located outside. the operator to see the camera/head by early morning this had become a continuous intimate views of the selected on a single preview monitor. steady drizzle. It did improve slightly Royal Family’s reaction to what they Ops room A tally system was built using mixer by early afternoon but was set to were experiencing. That was the idea In addition, a fully-featured control GP outputs and then distributed to become worse. The early arrival and that was what was delivered. room was created. The only viable both GPI on the OCP-200s and tally- allowed us plenty of time to get space available was the crew mess boxes with camera idents for the everything powered up and checked. room which was situated to the aft of operators. Nevertheless, we still had a few minor the ship on the main deck level. This In addition, two stereo mics were dramas with the ship’s power, Fact File room accommodated an operational rigged on the upper deck on the port which had plagued us during the Aerial Camera Systems crew of five, consisting of director and starboard sides and these were fed rig; however, a solution was quickly www.acsmedia.com John Kirby and the two remote camera into an SQN mixer plus two discrete found by running in an additional +44(0)1483 426767 operators (Bruce Miller and ACS’ pre-amps. 16 amp feed. Gareth Davies, each controlling four The cameras and lenses were fitted Ikegami Cameras cameras), a vision engineer and links Rigging the Barge with rain covers but, of course, while www.ikegami.de/products/ engineer. The installation took place at this protects them, it does not stop broadcast/hdtv_camera Camera control was via eight the Royal Docks over three days, rain landing on the lens front element!

26 Autumn 2012 ZERB