TLC’s documentary series “Little People, Big World” is shooting its fourth season in HD with JVC’s ProHD GY-HD250 and GY-HD200 cameras.
Documenting the lives of the Roloffs everywhere — from their home on a 34-acre farm in Portland, OR, to vacations around the globe — the crew is constantly on the road with the cameras in tow.
“Little People, Big World” is shot primarily handheld, about 16 hours a day, five days a week. According to director of photography Tom Curran, the camera’s comparatively light weight “makes a substantial difference at the end of a 12-hour shift.”
According to Gay Rosenthal Productions (GRP) line producer Matthew Morgan, the ruggedness and versatility of the GY-HD250 and GY-HD200s have been extremely beneficial with the Roloffs, who are always on the go. The crew spends “a lot of time shooting on their knees to capture the Roloffs at eye level,” he explained. Given the conditions in which the show is shot, “it really helps to have cameras that are physically manageable,” he said.
Shooting both to tape and hard drive, Curran explained that taped footage is downconverted to SD for editing on the crew’s Avids. Doing so also provides Curran with hard drives as a backup in case of any tape dropouts. Curran also finds that the combination of a Fujinon wide-angle lens and Focus Enhancements FireStore drive “counterbalances the camera perfectly.”
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