I do love that the PD150 and XF305 are there, both cameras in part to blame for some of the horrible self shot that somehow makes it on screen these days. Only the other day on rip off Britain there were some horrendously over-exposed shots that simply shouldn't have passed the edit, but make it to broadcast.
I would add the DSR range of cameras to the list, some of the cheaper 4:3 16:9 capable chips that helped the transition to th3e 16:9 standard, in PSC at least.
I do love that the PD150 and XF305 are there, both cameras in part to blame for some of the horrible self shot that somehow makes it on screen these days. Only the other day on rip off Britain there were some horrendously over-exposed shots that simply shouldn't have passed the edit, but make it to broadcast.
That's daytime TV for you. You'd have thought Rip-Off Britain would have polished things up in their third (?) series, but clearly not.
I think it depends on the production company. Homes under the Hammer and Bargain Hunt all look decent, and Heir Hunters's stock shots of microfiche drawers being opened and closed are all excellent quality.
Speaking again about LED lighting, it is one thing that has proliferated into many areas - bid, for example, has all-LED lighting, and it has made their set much more flexible than before. The fact it is a revolution in all areas of lighting is what makes them so exciting and wonderful.
Surprised not to see anything sound related on that list. Radio mics and talkback should be there, I think.
Lapel mics maybe, but radio mics havent really done anything that lead mics couldn't do. They just make the job a bit easier and neater looking.
Radio mics are more expensive, more complicated and less reliable than cabled mics. They certainly have their uses, but they'll never replace cabled mics completely.
Just like cabled cameras.
However just as cordless cameras have revolutionised some areas of production, so has the radio mic.
Quite. I've worked on several events which almost the entire programme was filmed on radio cams, primarily positions / shots which would not be possible without the invention of reliable, mobile radio links. Yet on all these programmes, there was always at least one cabled camera available.
I'd certainly disagree with the bit about it being easier to set up a radio kit than it is to just cable something.
Can you imagine modern entertainment shows like Eurovision with cabled mics as they had in years gone by?
And talking of that, here's the fab stool-based dance routine from the BBC's "A Song for Europe" 1983 which won and went forward to Germany. By the final, they'd switched to radio mics, but look at how the performers had to cope with the cables in this reprise:
As for tech that changed television, well it's changing all the time really. Server technology (and cheap storage) has been the biggest change as far as I'm concerned. It's not that many years ago where in presentation there were two trolleys of transmission tapes: one for BBC One and one for BBC Two. You had one copy of each programme and they were transmitted live to the network from a VT Deck. If it head-clogged during transmission, the network would be in breakdown until it the tape was moved to a different machine. Programmes were not routinely transmitted from server until the DTA opened in the (very) late 90s (and even then a lot of programmes were still played off tape).
As for production, server based recording solutions like EVS revolutionised the way programmes were made. In the past when booking a studio you also had to book VT to record it (and if you wanted ISO recordings you had to add those to the booking too). Nowadays while you still might vision mix a live event as it happens, you can use servers to record every single camera in isolation and use what you've cut as a rough edit and tweak (or even completely recut) your recording in the edit. I think that's a bit of a shame personally as the art of directing a live event and getting the cut absolutely right while it's happening is so exciting and why I wanted to work in television in the first place. (But that's not to say I can see huge advantages in being able to tidy up the occasional mis-cut afterwards!!)
As for small camcorders like Sony PD-150, Z1, Z5 and Canon XF-305, I can see why they're on the list. They have certainly changed television production. While there are issues with training which can lead to poor results, if used well they're fine and work very well for programmes like Helicopter Heroes. The PD150 was the first camcorder the BBC used en-masse for Video Journalism. Later Sony cameras the BBC used like the Z1 were of a better picture quality, but the idea of VJs shooting and editing on their own rather than using a traditional crew has certainly changed the way news has been made in the last 15 years (regionally in particular). The Canon XF-305 was (I believe) the first HD camcorder that recorded at a suitable bitrate to be properly classified as HD according to BBC standards.
And talking of that, here's the fab stool-based dance routine from the BBC's "A Song for Europe" 1983 which won and went forward to Germany. By the final, they'd switched to radio mics, but look at how the performers had to cope with the cables in this reprise:
I love this kind of thing, having to cope with clunky technology. The dance routine for One Step Further by Bardo the previous year is particularly good, I love the intricate movements they have to do, most obviously right at the end where Sally Ann twirls around Stephen and Stephen has to hold her microphone under his armpit to stop getting tangled up.
I remember watching the Corrie thirtieth anniversay special in 1990 where Cliff Richard appeared on stage from one of his concerts and I was totally amazed that he was using a microphone without either a cable or even an aerial.
