What was once a classified piece of military equipment has arrived in Dunedin as part of an ongoing campaign by internationally renowned television production company NHNZ to capture the natural world as it's never been seen before.
A strong production slate and an absolute commitment to remain at the cutting edge of documentary production has prompted NHNZ to spend up large on top end field gear - including a high definition (HD) Phantom Camera worth over $400,000.
NHNZ general manager John Crawford said the highly specialised camera shoots at 1,000 frames per second, and will enable the company’s film crews to capture “stunning and amazingly detailed” imagery in super slow motion.
“Footage shot on the Phantom camera is incredibly beautiful and is precisely the type of high end footage that is expected by audiences and broadcasters around the globe,” he said.
Weird Edens, a major six hour NHNZ co-production with NHK, Science Channel, Animal Planet and France 5 will be the first production to use the new camera. The series' director of photography Mike Single describes the Phantom is “an amalgam of technology and art that opens up a myriad of opportunities for filmmakers.”
NHNZ has also recently purchased a number of other new HD cameras including an additional Panasonic Varicam and two state of the art and highly versatile Iconix mini-cameras which can be used across a variety of conventional and underwater locations.
“Our camera-people are all very excited about having access to the latest equipment available and are looking forward to the ability this gives them to further enhance NHNZ's storytelling arsenal.
“The Phantom camera is a complex piece of equipment that opens up so many more opportunities for us to capture animal behaviour and events that happen so fast, we wouldn't normally see them. Now we can film those moments and share them with viewers.”
The camera arrived at NHNZ’s Dunedin headquarters this week.