BBC's Super Volcano erupts on HDCAM

HDCAM camcorders were tested to their limit on a ground-breaking BBC drama about a volcano that could wipe out life on earth. The £3m factual drama for BBC Science used two HDW-750P HDCAM camcorders to film on location in Canada, Yellowstone in North America and the UK.

Super Volcano investigates a huge active underground volcano (a caldera), with a crater 50 miles wide, beneath Yellowstone National Park.

Scientists have calculated that the volcano, which erupts approximately every 600,000 years, is 40,000 years late on its next scheduled blow-out.

The bulk of the filming was shot in Yellowstone and the Pentagon in Washington over 23 days in the summer, using two cameras hired from Plus 8 in Vancouver. For shooting material in tight spaces, the crew used a T-Cam, which is an HD lens on a length of cable attached to the main body of the camera. The remainder of the shooting was done in London on a HDW-750P hired from Transmission (TX) Ltd, based at Pinewood Shepperton Television and Film Studios.

Ash-filled studios
The two-part drama was screened on BBC One during March. A companion documentary that explains the science involved will be shown on BBC Two immediately after each programme.

Ailsa Orr, Super Volcano’s producer, says the camera was pushed hard.

“We used it in an incredible range of ways, from filming in studios full of ash to shooting in Yellowstone Park, which must be the brightest place on earth. The experience was akin to giving birth – painful at the time, but the results make it all worthwhile! We achieved the look of a top-rated US show like 24, which is what we wanted. With hindsight, it was the right decision to use HD and I would use it again.”

Post production was done by St Anne’s and the visual effects by Lola, using a HDCAM deck. The programme will deliver on HD and be down converted to SD in the UK.