Beautiful images of Noma restaurant were created by Greg Brand using Pro Motion Hire’s cine motion equipment.

5 different videos were produced about this award winning restaurant using a Sony PMW-F3 camera, Arri/Zeiss Ultra Primes T1.9 16,24,32,50 and 85mm and a Kinomatik Movietube rig supplied by Pro Motion Hire in London.

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Greg Brand usually shoots on DSLR cameras which suit his shooting style and clients budgets but the best restaurant in the world required more superior equipment to really capture the essence of Noma.

The main challenge the crew faced on this shoot was the tight schedule they had in picking up the equipment from Pro Motion Hire and travel the following day to Copenhagen.  Greg Brand comments that “this meant spending the first part of the day consulting with their technician, Chris, in the Pro Motion London office, getting assistance on setting up the kit and testing it out.  Chris was more than happy to offer his technical knowledge, which meant we didn't need to struggle on set figuring out this new kit, which ultimately meant we had more time for filming.”  The crew was very used the DSLR production timescales whereby the set up is quite minimal.  The Sony F3 did take a fair amount of time to set up, which is understandable for this type of kit, but once set up, it only took a matter of seconds from shooting on the Kinomatik shoulder mount to shooting on legs.

The format of the Sony PMW-F3 was selected for a number of reasons.  Shooting the world’s best restaurant would be considered a daunting task for any filmmaker, so upgrading to the F3 from Pro Motion Hire seemed to be the best options.  Pro Motion does supply the kit with quite a few bells and whistles, which is great if you have the time and patience to work with it but as the shoot was abroad the kit was broken down into its most basic form and it was still found that the camera was suitable to shoot in any style, both interior and exterior.  The camera fitted the production well as the team were already used to tapeless workflows, shooting with a shoulder mounted system and being able to easily dump and review footage after the shoot was a great asset.  The CMOS super 35mm sensor gave amazing clarity of image and really allowed the team to capture the amazing colour and quality of the food that came out of Noma’s kitchen.  This was achieved without the need to have a large lighting set up that would not have been practical in the location.

The camera itself performed perfectly in all conditions on the shoot and it was very refreshing to be able to input audio directly into the camera, as opposed to running into an external audio recorder such as when working with a DSLR.  Having all the interview audio already synced into the F3 footage was a massive time saver and meant that more time was available to be spent on grading and pushing and pulling the cuts.  When adopting a work flow, as Brand was using some DSLR footage also, the decision was taken to work in an XDCAM EX progressive sequence to match the main F3 shots and found that all the DSLR cutaways worked in there as well, which ultimately saved huge amounts of time as all of the footage could be edited natively within premiere pro, with absolutely no need for converting footage or working with proxies.

Not only was the editing process smooth and efficient but how far the colour and contrast could be pushed exceeded expectations.  Even shots that were thought to be too blown out could sometimes be saved and that’s not something Brand was used to.  The client has been equally impressed and can’t wait for the final product to be delivered.  “For someone coming from a DSLR video setup, the Sony PMW-F3 is a beast to tame but all those things that made you fall in love with DSLR in the first place (DOF, Run and Gun) are all there, but accompanied by so much more.”

In conclusion Brand adds, “this is a camera for all productions, from Run and Gun promo clips in hard to reach places, to cinematic studio shots that take the breath away”.