Trans Audio Video (TAV), an industry leader and one of the leading brands of cine-video-photo production products, and Sony Europe supported the creation of exclusive images during Vasco Rossi’s live concerts held in Milan from the 7th to the 20th of June and then in Bari from the 25th to the 30th of June. For the first time as many as 22 cameras were used, most of them with full-frame sensors, all part of the Sony Cinema Line to create a film about the iconic rock star during the live events at the San Siro stadium.

Cinematic broadcasting

It’s not a secret that live shows are now filmed with top-of-the-line cinema cameras with the goal to deliver cinematic experience to the non-compromised audience’s eye. The shoot of these shows is ultra-complicated since it demands multiple various model cameras and a perfect synchronization between them. At this special event in terms of the number of spectators, which exceeded 500,000, every detail of the setting was captured using a combination of Sony’s 4K 2/3” HDC-4300 cameras and a new HDC-5500V – ND Filter version, together with the Full Frame line starting with the FX-3 up to the VENICE and BURANO for the cinematic experience. We’ll focus on the Cinema Line full-frame cameras, to explore the synergy between them in order to shoot in this challenging environment.

Combination of Cinema Line cameras

Sony Cinema Line can be defined as a list of cameras that are intended for high-end cinematic experience (mega film projects or live shows),  Each Cinema Line camera has its own special characteristics and differentiation, to allow filmmakers to choose the most precise tools for a specific job/production/budget. Basically, the Cinema Line cameras are grouped and characterized by two parameters: Look, and Operability. As defined by Sony: “Look: The Cinema Line look is optimally designed to create luxurious film-like video expression, with color tones resembling those of film for skin textures and the like. Operability: Care has also been taken to make Cinema Line products easy to use, with movie shooting in mind. Careful attention has been paid to all areas including body design, durability, high functional extensibility, and battery life, so creators can produce impressive content for cinema film and movie production in comfort”.

On Rossi’s live concerts, a few Cinema Line models have been chosen as follows:

• A VENICE 2, the digital camera with full-frame sensor and internal X-OCN recording and 8K and 6K sensor range, was mounted on a dolly track and positioned together with the HDC-5500V at a considerable distance in front of the impressive stage.
• A brand new BURANO was positioned under the stage, used by Dop Emanuele Cerri, to film Vasco in close-up.
• Four ILME-FX6s, one ILME-FX3, and four PXW-FX9s were deployed for subjective shots, including one used on stage directly by director Pepsy Romanoff. An FX6 on TowerCam in front of the singer and one on an Air Lift Crane hanging from the Americana above the stage on a 60m cable enabled unique dynamic shots to provide the audience with a highly immersive visual experience.
• Three ILME-FR7 large format PTZ cameras controlled by the director via the RM-IP500 panel with SELP1635G optics were positioned on stage to capture footage of the band across drums, keyboards, wind instruments, and choir.

The hero of the show: BURANO

Director Pepsy Romanoff and cinematographer Emanuele Cerri describe the advantages of the Sony BURANO in the shooting of the show. Romanoff: “I tried to tell the story of Vasco in every little detail from the very close-up with the BURANO, from a distance of 4/5 m”. Cerri stated: “The vibrant colors and intense contrasts added emotion to the footage, doing justice to the energy of the concert. The perfect ergonomics and compact size of the camera were crucial for operating with fast movements in the limited space of the San Siro stage”. It seems that Cerri wasn’t troubled with the rolling shutter artifacts of the BURANO regarding the fast movements…

So there you go. An orchestra of Sony VENICE, BURANO, FR7 ($11,998 on Amazon) , FX6 ($8,876 on Amazon) , FX9, and FX3 ($4,298 on Amazon) to shoot an orchestra.