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The recent BBC TV series Geldof In Africa had been in planning since 2003. Bob Geldof and Series Producer & Director John Maguire proposed the series to mark the 20th anniversary of Live Aid in 2005. The
program, shot throughout the sub Sahel over a period of five months was commissioned by the BBC through Ten Alps Brook Lapping. It followed a journey by Bob Geldof through some of the most troubled countries in Africa: Mali, Benin, Ghana, Democratic
Republic Congo, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. HD versus film Geldof and Maguire have previously done several projects together and have always used film. Maguire likes to shoot ‘off speed’ at 40 frames per second, believing it accentuates the grace, and elegance of movement that
African’s often demonstrate. Off speed shooting could previously only be achieved on film, but is now possible using the High Definition’ Panasonic Varispeed camera. So HD was chosen - which Maguire also felt opened up a number of new commercial
opportunities: HD television, HD DVD, which should be coming out soon, and HD theatre - on top of all that was needed for standard definition uses. “Even though not maximum HD resolution, we were seriously impressed with the camera and its high speed element of 60 frames per second. Also key was the opportunity offered by Canon lenses: unusually, cameraman on the
shoot, Chris Openshaw owns a combination of HJ11 cine style lens and an HJ 21 video style lens. The HJ11 because he needed it for drama work requiring the focus settings both sides and the markings for focus pullers; also he uses Steadicam and the
remote focus and iris controls work better with the cine style lens . He opted for the HJ 21 video style because he required the servo control and the doubler - which gave him the extra focal length. Ease of operation The Canon cine style is completely manual. That suited Chris’s film background - nothing too complicated. He tends to shoot in the manual mode, but appreciates the benefits of having a fully functional lens,
such as the HJ21x video style, with the flexibility of Digital Drive: he finds it very useful for memorizing the focal length. This is useful for checking focus whilst zoomed in and then quickly returning to a pre-determined focal length . "The
quality of the images on both lenses is unsurpassed, I was particularly impressed last year, when shooting off the coast of South Africa, with the HJ 11x. Its flare capability and the image sharpness -against very strong back light –
isincredible. We ended up shooting into the sun on many occasions and I was very impressed with the way it handled." Canon build them tough… Chris thinks that the build quality is extremely good, "We had a situation last January where I accidentallyfell off the back of a lorry whilst filming, which damaged the camera badly - unbelievably the lens was
absolutely fine and the back focus didn’t even need to be reset! During the 12-week shoot in Africa inevitably we had to deal with some very rough environments and dusty terrains whilst shooting and travelling by 4x4 vehicles. The lenses stood up to these
hostile environments and didn't require any internal maintenance apart from cleaning the external optics Back focus never drifted although it was continually checked.” …with no quality compromise "Matching of both lens in colorimetry was absolutely spot on - I couldn't see any discernible difference even in the rushes. We checked the back focus on a daily basis, putting charts up, and it was always
absolutely correct. Even on the HJ11x which is a very wide lens, edge definition is absolutely fantastic. To build a lens with that capability is a very difficult thing to do, and to have that sharpness at the widest end is
amazing". John Maguire comments: “Canon have made the lenses, I wish someone would now make a practical convex matt box and set of filters that deal with the superb width without having to carry 6”x6” around! …or if
this exists would someone please let me know!” ….and adds"The quality of the images never failed to surprise Chris or myself. as we viewed the shots on a small 6” high def monitor, it just looked fantastic, and the detail was amazing. In fact,
Chris and Idid a ‘rushes’ spot check in Soho when we returned from our first trip together, …we both stood there with our jaws dropped." A Book which accompanies the BBC series 'Geldof In Africa' is now available in all good bookstores. An accompanying DVD and CD soundtrack will be available from early November 2005 www.tenalps.com www.johnmaguire.com c.openshaw@btinternet.com
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