One of the many Sony 4K camcorders on the set of 2015's 'Tomorrowland'.
We’ve written plenty of blogs about the technology and design work that goes into our BRAVIA televisions, but we’ve barely scratched the surface of just how involved we are in creating the films and shows that you watch on the TVs themselves.
Richard Lewis, Chief Engineer for Sony’s Digital Motion Picture Centre Europe (DMPCE), is a true expert when it comes to Sony’s involvement in film and broadcast. Having been at Sony since 1982, he’s been involved with every major film and broadcasting development from HD to 4K, and boasts an impressive knowledge of our lens to living room legacy.
“Sony’s got a hugely long history of making digital cinema-style cameras,” Richard begins. “The world’s first ever one was the F900, which was the world’s first 24p camcorder and was used in Star Wars: Episode II by George Lucas.” Since then, Richard has looked after our HD technology, and now takes care of the “higher technology type of products” that we introduce.
4K expertise
The most influential of these products has to be our 4K digital cinema projector, which re-shaped the cinema experience with levels of clarity, colour and detail that had never been possible before. "The first instance of 4K really was with the digital cinema projector, which must have been in 2006 when we introduced it. We did the first ever [European] test at the Odeon in Guildford, UK, installing four of our projectors. Those were the days when cinemas actually had projectionists, and they all noticed the difference in quality immediately.”
Since then, our 4K projector has become the industry standard in the UK, and 30% of all cinemas across the United States now have them installed. “There’s now about 18,000 Sony 4K projectors installed around the UK,” Richard tells us. “Other technologies have caught up, but the Sony 4K projector was the very first one by a long way. We created the first digital cinema camera - certainly the first 4K one - and we’re the first with digital cinema projection technology as well. We're always leading and innovating. It's what we do. It's what's built into our DNA.”
The Sony DMPCE at Pinewood Studios is an integral part of our lens to living room story.
A sizeable chunk of Richard’s work consists of running training workshops, held from the Sony DMPCE hub at the esteemed Pinewood Studios. This is where budding and professional videographers alike can get to grips with our professional 4K camcorders and soak up as much of the DMPCE team’s knowledge as time allows.
“We train people on the F65, F55, F5 and FS7. Many of the existing cameras that people are currently using aren’t suitable for 4K production, so they’re converting to [these] products. We help a lot of people to use our 4K products in the mainstream world for feature film, drama and TV production.”
Proof that the movie industry has finally realised the power that’s packed into our 4K cameras can be seen in recent Hollywood blockbusters such as Ex Machina, Lucy, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Tomorrowland - all of which were filmed using F55 and F65 cameras. “Tomorrowland was the world’s first 4K HDR [high dynamic range] release. They did a test of pretty much every camera on the market, including film cameras, and then they did a blind test of all the material, and they all agreed that the F65 was the best camera.”
Lens to living room legacy
It’s not just big-budget films that are using our cameras either. The hit Netflix show Marco Polo was filmed exclusively with F55 cameras, theatre shows such as Hamlet and Behind The Beautiful Forevers have been screened into cinemas across the UK in 4K quality, and football matches on the new BT Sport Ultra HD channel are being filmed using 12 Sony 4300 4K cameras.
With this in mind, we asked Richard what he thinks makes our cameras stand out from the rest of the competition. “For a start, [all our 4K cameras have] a real 4K image sensor, and we have the widest colour space of any camera that exists - it’s capturing a wider range of colours much closer to what the human eye can see. It’s really an ultra-high-quality image, but also with a great deal of reliability as well. With each new software build, the factory spends a huge amount of time - weeks and weeks - testing it to make sure that it doesn’t break.”
It’s also important to factor in that we’re also leaders in producing image sensors - the part of the camera that actually detects the image. “Every other camera manufacturer has a sensor made by someone else, but we actually make it ourselves, so the camera design team and the sensor design team can talk together to get the best out of both parts.”
Richard Lewis, chief engineer for Sony Digital Motion Picture Centre Europe.
Whether the team at DMPCE are busy putting the final post-production touches on a TV show or looking back at footage from a training session, you can guarantee that every second of it is played back using Sony TVs and monitors - the binding link in our lens to living room story. There are several different BRAVIA models dotted around their studio space at Pinewood, and their state-of-the-art colour-grading suite is fitted with a specialist 4K HDR monitor.
Our expertise in these fields comes from years of experience that simply can’t be matched. We’ve spent over half a century creating and innovating, and Richard Lewis will surely be leading the way for whatever comes next. “This is the professional side. It’s all about how you’re going to originate the material that you’re then going to see on your 4K TV.”
Take a look at Sony’s range of professional camcorders by clicking here, and then head here to take a look at the upcoming workshops taking place at Pinewood Studios.
