WAYNE, N.J. — The 2013 MTV Video Music Awards was the first live, multicamera HDTV broadcast to use Ikegami HDK-97ARRI large-format CMOS cameras paired with digital cinema style Fujinon PL19-90 Cabrio Premier PL Mount zoom lenses.
MTV aired the VMAs live from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Aug. 25.
New Remote Productions, Inc, a business unit within Viacom, operates a fleet of remote production vehicles for use by Viacom Networks as well as third-party customers. Four production trucks were parked in and around the Barclays Center for live coverage of the Red Carpet, the VMA All Access live stream and the primetime event produced by Viacom’s Moonman Productions, directed by Hamish Hamilton.
MTV placed its equipment order directly with Ikegami, including eight HDK-97ARRI cameras and eight Fujinon PL 19-90 Cabrio lenses.
Danny Walters, project engineer for Viacom Media Networks, Music Group and Logo, Technical Operations and Remote division in Nashville, said that, as “big believers in the large-format imager philosophy for TV entertainment,” they began searching for the large-format sensor camera first. When Walters learned about the partnership between Ikegami and ARRI, he chose the Ikegami HDK-97ARRI for its ability to fuse the large-format imager with a traditional broadcast workflow.
“We’ve been very satisfied Fujinon users for a long time, and the fact that they had produced a lens that merges a broadcast- and ENG-friendly workflow with cine-style features and characteristics made it a natural choice for this application,” he said.
The PL 19-90 Cabrio (Model ZK4.7x19) features a detachable servo drive unit, and with a long focal range, the PL 19-90 covers a 31.5mm size sensor on a digital cinema style camera, with a T2.9 aperture range. Within Barclays Center, the cameras were situated on pedestals, jibs and Steadicams, as well as in traditional handheld applications. Technicians from Fujifilm’s Optical Devices Division and Ikegami were on-hand during the broadcast.
