Eight hour BBC1 drama The Chase shot in HDCAM

The decision to shoot on HDCAM needs little explanation

One of the hardest challenges for Rollem Productions, producer of new eight hour BBC1 drama The Chase, is to fend off comparisons with the family classic All Creatures Great and Small. Like the memorable James Herriot series, The Chase is set in a fictional Yorkshire village and centres around a family run veterinary practice. "We want to move on and create a fresh and contemporary look and feel," says line producer Amanda Wilkie. "The vet element is secondary to stories about the relationships between the characters."

In contrast, the decision to shoot on HDCAM needs little explanation. "The BBC didn't push us towards it, but they were very pleased," Wilkie reports. "Working to a tight budget and schedule, we knew we could make a saving by choosing tape over film, but it was imperative to retain the filmic look - we knew we could achieve this with HD provided it's in the right hands. Everyone was nervous about the costs of shooting and post producing HD, so we opted to shoot HD and post SD (at nearby Leeds-based Yorkshire TV) to achieve the best of both worlds within budget."

Further impetus to the decision was given by John Rhodes, a DoP with several HD features (Sixteen Years of Alcohol, The Purifiers, Feedback) and HD dramas (Rockface, Only Fools and Horses) under his belt. "John came to us confident in the supply and service we offer," says Provision business manager Adrian Bleasdale. "He'd used the HDW-750P and knew his way around it." Two HDW-750Ps (sold to Provision by Sony Specialist Dealer Top-Teks) were supplied with the standard cine-style kit, including two HD lenses (Canon HJ21 x8 and HJ11 x 4.7), a range of Neutral Density and ProMist filters and a Sony colour viewfinder, which Rhodes says is "essential".

"HD reacts slightly differently to light"

Rhodes main task was to establish a look for what is hoped will be the first run of a returning series. "The aim was not to make it soapy or studio bound but to keep the lighting natural, through windows for interiors where possible." Rhodes set both HDW-750Ps with his personal card. "Cameras fresh out of the box like these have their detail wound so high I like to remove a bit of the edge," he explains. "I wouldn't do that for a feature where you need the detail in projection, but for TV it's good to soften the sharpness a touch. "I'm not a great believer in doing things in-camera that you can't do in the grade very easily," Rhodes adds. "You can end up fiddling the matrixes of the menu so much that it becomes harder to change in the grade if you need to."

For the natural look of The Chase, Rhodes shot much as he would a straightforward film drama, altering the lighting rig a little, as required. "HD reacts slightly differently to light so, dependent on the scene, I'll change lighting ratios compared to film," he says.

His main concern was balancing interiors with exteriors while keeping an eye on over-exposure. "You can over expose a huge amount on film and still retain the detail. You don't get that latitude with HD so you have to make allowances for it by setting the camera for the right dynamic contrast and checking the zebra (a viewfinder function which indicates areas of the image which are overexposed)."

Commissioned by the BBC's Polly Hill, produced by Hugh Warren and directed by Jamie Payne, Jennifer Perrott, Susan Tully and Juliet May, The Chase is created and co-written by Rollem's Kay Mellor.