Capturing live performances at the O2 with AGITO

2020 was a challenging year for the live performance industry, but two different gigs captured by camera mount specialists Cammotion at the O2 on AGITO bookend it superbly. They paint a fascinating picture of live life both before and during lockdown, as well as highlighting the versatility of the AGITO and how it helps performance’s capture the moment in different ways.

Agito Trax

The first took place at the end of October 2019 and saw the AGITO deployed at the last European date of Ariana Grande’s Sweetener World Tour. Mixed with behind-the-scenes footage, the resulting concert film Excuse Me, I Love You was released to Grande’s army of fans on Netflix in December 2020.

It’s a high energy experience, featuring the sort of multimedia AV experience that only the very biggest touring productions can muster. Capturing the scale of the spectacle demands wide shots to be interleaved with the close-ups of the performers, and that is where the AGITO came in.

“We used AGITO Trax for high wide-angle tracking shots right at the very, very top of the stadium,” explains Matthew Gladstone, owner and operator at Cammotion. “They’d built a scaffolding platform over the top two or three rows of seats, and we ran backwards and forwards on that for the whole show on around 15 metres of track.”

Gladstone had taken delivery of the AGITO Tower just before the gig and used a combination of that with a Sony Venice, prime lens, and Shotover G1 gimbal. A fibre backline was used to transmit the video to the on-site OB truck.

“It was a fairly simple job, but the pictures from that viewpoint looked stunning, especially when all the audience’s LED rings were lit up as part of the show,” says Gladstone. “The big advantage we had was that the AGITO is modular and we could take it apart and reassemble it on the tracks, as getting to that location right at the top of the O2 was difficult.”

During lockdown at the O2 couldn’t be more different, filming a socially distanced orchestra — Pete Tong, The Heritage Orchestra and Jules Buckley to be exact — in the AGITO’s Sports configuration for the Ibiza Classics O Come All Ye Ravers globally streamed event in December 2020.

This was filmed ‘in the round’ with Tong, Buckley, and the orchestra set up on the floor of the O2.

“What they wanted was the ability to have a continuous shot going all the way around the orchestra, but because they were all socially distanced it had a radius of 17 or 18 metres,” says Gladstone. “Track would have been way too expensive and restrictive so we used the AGITO in its wheeled configuration and just drove over the cable ramps when we had to.”

Shot wirelessly with the TOWER on an ARRI ALEXA Mini, the AGITO was chosen for its ability to circle the orchestra for the complete 90 minutes of the live stream, as well as maintain social distance while it was doing it.

“We were always on the move, circling and finding interesting shots  of the orchestra depending on what was happening with Jules Buckley and Pete Tong, the lasers, the lighting, and the singers,” says Gladstone. “We were able to drive at about 3 metres per second right on the end of the lens and could follow the action constantly providing a variety of unscripted shots for the whole 90 minute concert.”

Then, at the end of the gig, one of the other advantages of using the AGITO came to the fore — its ability to go anywhere and do pretty much anything.

“As the orchestra was packing up, we decided to drive round them and then out through the tunnel and towards the loading bay,” says Gladstone. “And that has been used in the end sequence for the on-demand version.”

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The Broadcastbridge

Vortex Achieves Film-like Shots on a Live Broadcast

On 1st July 2016, Cammotion’s Vortex provided stunning and subtle ‘film-like’ moving shots at the Battle of the Somme 100th Anniversary, adding to the poignancy of the live memorial event.

Vortex – what is essentially a 30 metre high telescoping camera mast – was positioned 400 metres back from the memorial on what turned out to be quite a gusty day. Vortex is a two-person operation. A cameraman operates the remote head to position the lens in 3-axes and a technician controls the tracking speed and positioning of the remote head in the vertical plane between ground level and 30 meters high.

The distance from the memorial was used to provide depth of field on the tight end of a 42x lens. By working closely together, the cameraman and technician were able to keep the foreground and framing static whilst the background appeared to be moving. It would be easy to mistake the moving fields behind the performers / artists to be a screen with moving pictures.

The results are poignant and spine-tingling. Live broadcast filmography doesn’t get much better than this!

London Fashion Week

Top Fashion House uses ROC Remote Head for fashion show to kick start London’s Fashion Week.  A ROC Column was built into the stage to hide the camera.  When the camera was required the Column was extended to the desired position. Other ROC systems were used in overhead positions. A Sony F55 camera with CA4000 fibre back and Cabrio 85×300 and Canon 17×120 Cine lenses were used.

Photos show the test fit during the set build with a Sony HDC P1 and HJ13 mounted on the head.

BVE 2016

Cammotion had a successful show at BVE 2016 in February. Our stand at the Excel Centre in London was extremely busy as Matt demonstrated the ROC system including the new ROC Slide. If you missed us, videos from BVE are now available (follow the links below).

The new ROC Slide, which enables smooth tracking motion from a very compact unit (cross section of 6cm x 4cm), was mounted on two telescopic ROC Columns. This configuration, used together with the ROC Remote Head, provides a unique camera tracking system and neat solution for small spaces.

 

ROC Slide

ROC Column

BVE 2016

Come and see Cammotion at BVE 23-25 FEBRUARY 2016 at the Excel London on stand Q10.

See the ROC head in action on the NEW slide and columns.

BBC Proms 2015

Cammotion’s ROC Remote Heads and Columns were used at the BBC Proms 2015 for on-stage cameras positioned in the orchestra.  The remote systems were assembled on a ROC Floor Stand providing a free-standing, compact and height adjustable camera.

IBC 2015 Amsterdam

Come and visit us at IBC 2015 Amsterdam in hall 9 stand 9B30ci.  Matt will be exhibiting the new ROC remote head and console on 11th – 15th September 2015.

Eric Clapton Live at the RAH

Three ROC Remote Heads were provided for the exclusive filming of Eric Clapton at the Royal Albert Hall in celebration of his 50 years at the top of the music business in May 2015. All three remote heads were rigged with Red Dragon cameras and prime lenses. Two on-stage cameras were placed on ROC Columns to give an adjustable lens height range from 80cm to 150cm thereby adding dynamic interest to the shots.