New Zealand’s Next Top Model PDW-700 case study

Making New Zealand’s Next Top Model was a no brainer, and the camera choice was a no brainer too…

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John McDonald is Head of Sport and Production at TV3, a MediaWorks New Zealand free-to-air television channel.

But the energetic McDonald does not stay behind his Auckland desk as he executive produces New Zealand’s Next Top Model, a show that airs on TV3 from March 2009.

“Making New Zealand’s Next Top Model was a no brainer,” he says. “The American show has always rated strongly for us; it is such a proven brand.”

The show is based on a popular format first produced in the US. Over 1000 hopeful young New Zealand women appeared before an audition panel. That number was whittled down to 33 finalists before the first episode was shot in New Zealand’s South Island against a backdrop of stunning Queenstown scenery.

Tension quickly escalates as the 33 finalists are culled to down to 13, followed by further eliminations until the winner is revealed in the final episode of the series.

McDonald explains his approach. “Although it is a reality show, the reality component of it is carefully managed and staged to some degree. It is a show that is completely driven by interviews – it has no voice over narration except at the start of the very first episode. So it’s all done by the girls talking about what they are doing and how they feel.

“We have got to shoot those interviews really nicely. We do a combination of green screen interviews and real situational ones. They are quite carefully lit and carefully composed. We are not shooting on the fly and just grabbing stuff.”

The visual style was established at the beginning. “It is an expensive show, obviously it’s got to look good, there’s a certain quality of content in terms of the challenges, the photo shoots, the whole styling and make up.”

Quality images and an efficient workflow were a prerequisite as McDonald turned to a group of camera owner operators who recently committed to Sony PDW-700 HD422 cameras. It was an easy decision for McDonald.

“Although it’s an in-house TV3 production, the vast majority of people working on it are freelance. The New Zealand television industry is at a really good point because there are a whole lot of guys who’ve now been making television for 20 or 30 years and that experience is invaluable. They were always the guys I wanted to use – such capable guys, and those cameramen have now have bought Sony PDW-700’s”

One of those owner operators is cinematographer Murray Milne, who has been busy since he bought the camera and is enthusiastic about his experiences. “The camera gives us lovely pictures,” he says, “It handles the contrast very well.”

He describes the sensitivity as incredibly fast, and rates the camera at 800ASA. “The television people lit the studio to the level they would normally use – we told them it was too bright.”

The camera’s instant access thumbnail search gives the ability to quickly review shots providing useful benefits for continuity. “We love the file based recording. If we want to know what someone did, or where they were sitting we can skip back through the thumbnails and look at things again and not have to worry about trying to re-cue a tape,” he recalls.

For Milne himself the camera provides the ability to confirm his judgement on the spot. “I love looking back at the time lapses just to see if I chose the right interval.”

Milne and his colleagues have turned the detail setting down to soften the look, use HyperGamma set-ups for interiors. “In fast turnaround television you can’t guarantee it how will go through post-production so we found that we have got to deliver the best we can from the camera,” he notes.

The schedule calls for two main crews on each episode and on every fourth day they all work together in the studio as the contestants are eliminated.

“There are huge advantages for me having guys that have all got the same camera and can lock in the same settings to make sure that they all look the same,” says McDonald, contrasting this approach to using an OSB truck. “Effectively we have done an EFP shoot. Four field cameras are way cheaper for basically the same results. It’s worked pretty well for us, so the studio side of things on other productions could potentially change.”

This is not the only area where the Sony XDCAM HD produces efficiency gains for the production’s workflow. “We use proxy files, you can have everything clipped up. The whole process – keeping track of how much you’ve got, what you’ve got and all the different scenes is a lot better,” explains McDonald.

A team logs the material, transcribes the dialogue and ingests the footage overnight. Sony PDW-U1 XDCAM drive units and a Sony PDW-HD1500 XDCAM HD422 recording deck are employed to ingest all the material to a hired EditShare server. Multiple Avid editing stations shape the material from the server.

But there is still room for creativity and flexibility.

“For instance I was out last night doing city shots,” recounts McDonald. “There was a beautiful moon rising over Mission Bay and we got a whole bunch of shots. I ran in with my disc and chucked it in the machine.” The preview proxy files and non-linear file access meant that McDonald could instantly select the scenes he needed – including a time lapse of the moon – and skip the others. “They are being edited into the show this morning.”

According to McDonald the colour grading process also becomes simpler, thanks to the looks set up and replicated across cameras. Different camera looks are used for different types of shots. “For our shots of special guests we’ve got particular, kinder settings,” he says with a grin.

The material is mastered to familiar Sony HDCAM-SR tapes for transmission and a duplicate Sony XDCAM HD422 master disc.

“What I like about Sony XDCAM – especially since I am hiring things like Editshare – is when we get to the end of the production we know we have got everything we’ve shot on a couple of shelves in a room somewhere and that’s our archive.”

He is always thinking of the future; “It would be a real shame to come back in a couple of years and not have the best quality that we could afford.”