Jimmy Doherty series shoots on HDCAM

BBC Two series Jimmy Doherty’s Farming Heroes was one of the surprise hits of last summer, taking viewers on a revealing and entertaining discovery of one of Britain's most diverse industries – farming.

From the highlands of Scotland, to Northern Ireland, Wales and across England, Doherty investigated high-tech agribusiness, organic farming and remote family farms on a search for those striking out in new and original ways to keep Britain at the forefront of agricultural innovation.

He was tracked all the way by a number of cameramen including Ben Wheeler capturing the glorious landscapes with a Sony HDCAM camcorder fitted with Canon HD lenses. He’s used the HDCAM several times before and appreciates that with addition of a Pro35 adaptor he can fit Zeiss super-speed prime lenses for a truer filmic look.

“I set it up with a fairly standard and pretty flat BBC setting in order to give the producers and colourist as much reign as possible in post,” explains Wheeler who used a combination of Schneider polarising filters and “ND grads” to help bring out the blue in the sky or greens in the fields.

Each hour long programme took about 18 days to shoot, including extensive travel and was mostly shot outdoors using available light.

“I find it very enjoyable to shoot like that,” says Wheeler. “You are dealing with a lot of contrast so you try to shoot at times when the sun is working for you, to get good backlight and to get a bit of shape into the environment. That’s another reason why it’s important to set the camera up quite flat, so it can deal with the contrast and not try to do too much in camera.”

Aerial shots by helicopter

Wheeler’s ground work was intercut with aerials shots from a helicopter-mounted HDCAM camcorder by Castle Air and an occasional HVR-Z1E professional HDV camcorder.

“With HD you can produce some really lovely close-ups so you really see detail in the crops, almost feel its texture,” he says. “You get a real sense of the landscape, you can see the fabric people are wearing and feel that what you are looking at is so much more enhanced.”

Wheeler is preparing to embark on a second series produced again by BBC Scotland, early next year, this time documenting Doherty’s exploration of farming techniques across the globe from Brazil and the US to India, South Africa and Australia. He’ll take the same camera body, hired from his regular supplier Cruet but knows he’ll get more than he bargained for.

“It’s not just a matter of setting up a tripod and filming with this show,” says Wheeler, who intersperses factual projects with sitcom shoots including Peep Show and Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show. “I’ve been called on to help herd sheep in the past. I don’t mind at all, it’s all part of the experience.”

8 December 2008