International broadcast services company Gearhouse Broadcast has selected Camera Corps to provide specialty equipment for the eighth season of ITV's autumn reality TV program “I'm a Celebrity…Get Me out of Here!”
Set in the high temperature and humidity of the Australian rainforest, the show requires a large number of miniature 16:9 cameras configured for day and night shooting as well as robotic heads and a newly developed high-efficiency multichannel control system. The control system allows each of the 75 cameras to be accessed from up to four operator control panels. Any panel can control the pan, tilt, zoom and focus functions of any of the remote cameras. Up to four CCU panels are also provided for engineering control.
According to Camera Corps Managing Director Laurie Frost, of the 75 cameras, 39 were infrared for night shots and some were Camera Corps’ own MiniZooms. Rigging began two weeks before the series went to air with cameras positioned around the camp and along a forest-ceiling walkway.
All of Camera Corps’ heads are designed to provide smooth acceleration, tracking and deceleration under joystick control, Frost said. That includes diagonal tracking with no vertical or horizontal stepping.
One unique setup for “Get Me out of Here!” involved special 180mm endoscope lenses, which were used inside the bull’s eye during the 2008 Olympics archery event. For the show, they were used to televise contestants' hands exploring inside boxes that they could not see inside
For more information, visit www.cameracorps.co.uk.
