News

19/11/2015

Posted by
Andy Richards


19/11/2015

Target Curtis Stone

Shooting for AJF Partnership's Target Curtis Stone project.

Curtis and Harry discuss their new range of cookware.
It was so convincing we went out and bought the whole set following the shoot! Really good stuff, check it out at the Target website below.



19/11/2015

Posted by
Andy Richards


19/11/2015

Oddball Movie RSPCA TVC

Shane Jacobson and "Oddball"

Produced by The Trace House for Roadshow Films.

Shot on ARRI Alexa, we had the pleasure of working with Shane and Ky, one of the dogs who plays "Oddball" in the movie.

The TVC promotes the RSPCA's Adopt-a-Pet, a great cause... and Deja Vu for DP Andy Richards who shot the previous Adopt-a-Pet TVC 5 years ago!



06/11/2015

Posted by
Andy Richards


06/11/2015

The Dressmaker

Shooting BTS and EPK for Universal / The Trace House

It's not every day you get to hang out with the guy that shot Predator...

We were in pretty good company shooting EPK and BTS last November for The Dressmaker. Great film, go see it if you haven't already.

From left: Jocelyn Moorhouse, Donald McAlpine, Kate Winslet, Judy Davis



11/09/2015

Posted by
Andy Richards


11/09/2015

Zinfra Cairns

Shooting on a tight schedule, against the elements

At short notice, we flew up to Cairns to document an emergency fix on some high-voltage, 22kva power transmission lines damaged in a storm.

Leaving the hotel at 4:15am, we arrived on-site at 5:30am and the rain started. Working quickly in between rain periods we managed to shoot this whole piece in half a day and get back to the airport for our 3:30pm flight home.

If the time and weather constraints weren't enough, we also had to shoot from cable car towers as to not disturb the world-heritage listed National Park. Oh and did I mention it was a rain forrest? Complete with eyeball sucking leeches (two of the workers experienced this) and other "bitey" things.



12/04/2015

Posted by
Andy Richards


12/04/2015

Childhood's End

EPK Interviews for SyFy's coming mini-series



16/10/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


16/10/2014

4K Ultra-Telephoto Cine-Servo from Canon announced

The world's longest focal length

Anyone want to buy me a $75,000 birthday present?



01/10/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


01/10/2014

Australian Alpine Epic

Teaser test for Bike Buller

Working with WeMOV, we put together this teaser for Bike Buller ahead of a shoot this spring.

Vision was supplied by Buller, concept and graphics by Lensman. We really look forward to developing this theme to see where we can take it.

Maybe take some UAV's and athletes up in the mountains to get after it!
Watch this space...



11/09/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


11/09/2014

New SONY PXW-FS7 announced today

All the best bits from the FS700 and F5 in one camera!

Pictures were 'leaked' some time ago of this camera, so we all knew it was coming.
Probably the most exciting thing is the E-mount powered zoom lens we saw at NAB earlier this year - available in November! Pricing on a Japanese website (see below) show's it won't break the bank either. Can't wait to put an order in...



03/09/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


03/09/2014

Selling Southbank

Staying mobile with V-lock powered HMI lighting

After a delayed start due to heavy fog, Melbourne turned on a beautiful spring day for presenter Annette Crockford to talk up everything the Crown Casino precinct has to offer. The VevaTV video for Salvo Property Group aims to increase investment in the area.

Lighting used was a single K5600 Joker Bug 200w HMI, with diffusion and reflectors. It should look great on the custom 5210 pixel-wide IMAX theatre!



26/08/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


26/08/2014

Springtime in the City

Shooting B-roll for an up-coming production

Melbourne has turned on some great weather, just in time to shoot some B-roll...
With sunscreen in hand, we shot Albert Park Lake, the Royal Botanical Gardens, Olympic Park and Southbank for VevaTV.



12/06/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


12/06/2014

Serendipity Wins Again

Another Best Documentary award for our debut doco

Still on the film festival circuit, Serendipity has taken out Best Doco again, this time over the ditch in New Zealand. Sweet as.



20/05/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


20/05/2014

Pimp my Panasonic v2.0

An evolution of the previous AG-AF102 rig



11/05/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


11/05/2014

Royal Melbourne Shoot

Perfect weather at Australia's premiere golf course



06/05/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


06/05/2014

Fancy Glass

Canon Cine Primes put to the test

On a recent shoot we opted for some nice optics, Canon CN-E 14, 35 & 85mm lenses.
The 14mm has very little distortion and the 85mm is magical.

We also upgraded the monitor in a Steadicam to the Odyssey 7Q, giving us 200 frames-per-second RAW recording at 2K.

This video should be something special - stay tuned!



14/04/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


14/04/2014

Red Moon Rising

Steady hands, at 200mm

The eclipse this week was a good opportunity to practice hand-held photography. That's right, no tripod at 1/5 second!
Credit here to friend and former colleague, boss & mentor Andy Parsons - an accomplished photographer - who taught me to shoot like a sniper... "hold your breath and gently squeeze".



13/04/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


13/04/2014

Mike "Hucker" Clark: Snakes on a BMX

See the video on the Red Bull link below

Red Bull have posted a video and story on Mike "Hucker" Clark who took out the Milwaukee Hillside Dirt Jam that we were part of a few weeks back.

See just how close Hucker (and yours truly) came to getting a love bite from Australia's 2nd deadliest snake in the link below:



08/04/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


08/04/2014

NAB Show - Shotover

A peek inside the Shotover F1

What an amazing piece of engineering. While at the NAB show in Las Vegas, I was lucky enough to meet Brad Hurndell - General Manager and one of the brains behind the Shotover system.
The stabilisation is achieved by light (which has mass) running through loops of fibre-optic cable. The light is compared at each end 1,000 times a second and the deviation in the light's path allows the detection of movement.
The F1 can take a RED Epic (or ARRI Alexa) with premium glass. That's a Canon cine-zoom in this pic.
Currently there is only a single, Sydney-based Shotover in Australia - but that will change!



06/04/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


06/04/2014

Pagani Carbon Monster

...at the GoPro booth, NAB 2014

Not sure what this has to do with cameras, but it certainly turned heads. Well, not when the photo was taken, because everyone was watching the GoPro demo reel!
Santa, if you're reading this, you now know what I want for Christmas.



06/04/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


06/04/2014

Canon Cine-Servo 17-120mm

Does it cut the mustard?

Available in PL or EF mount, this piece of Canon glass has an impressive 7x zoom.
Unfortunately it doesn't have an impressive maximum aperture, nor is it constant.

Not sure we will be getting the cheque book out just yet at over $30,000 but it's definitely in the mix



06/04/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


06/04/2014

Look! ...Is it a dirt bike? ...is it a Movi?

...Is it a Steadicam?

This is what you get when FreeFly add some stabilisation and a camera to an electric dirt bike:
Another head-turner at the 2014 NAB Show



25/03/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


25/03/2014

Milwaukee Hillside Dirt Jam: Presented by Cam White

8:30pm Tuesday 27th May - Fuel TV

Check the link below to see the awesome teaser Allan Hardy made for the Dirt Jam - featuring aerials shot by Lensman & Pixel Pig.

This was such a great event with some of the best BMX guys in the world and some ridiculously big dirt jumps. We can't wait to see the show!

Tune in to Fuel TV to check out all the action and see Mike "Hucker" Clark do all kinds of crazy stuff - like catching tiger snakes (pic: Jorden Bethune)



21/03/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


21/03/2014

Fuel TV - UAV Shoot

Guess what we did on the weekend...?

On a property just outside Canberra, we shot something very, very cool for Fuel TV...
Teaser dropping this week - STAY TUNED!!



26/02/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


26/02/2014

Location Scouting on the Great Ocean Road

Australia's famous 12 Apostles, or what's left of them!

Shooting a music video destined for CMC - the Country Music Channel - we thought an iconic Australian background was in order. So we hit the Great Ocean Road to find some big rocks to stand in front of! Such an amazing part of the world.



23/02/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


23/02/2014

LJ Music Video

Shooting Linton Jones for CMC

Sydney-based singer/songwriter Linton Jones is about to release his new single "Holding On".
To help promote his new album, LJ approached Lensman to produce a music video for the single, incorporating city and country locations. Stay tuned for the video, coming soon to Country Music Channel!



14/02/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


14/02/2014

Gentleman, start your engines...

V8 Supercars first test day for 2014 at Eastern Creek

Lensman & Pixel Pig, shooting for Swarm UAV are among the first crews ever to shoot UAV aerials for V8SC.

Working for an upcoming project from AME Management, we were lucky enough to have full access to Eastern Creek and captured some amazing aerial footage of the cars on their 2014 debut.

In this pic, Abe from Swarm UAV (L) and Jorden from Pixel Pig (R) are heading out to turn 2 to set up our first shots for the day. We look forward to more V8 action when the season kicks off!



30/01/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


30/01/2014

Lewiville video is LIVE

Transmoto just dropped our video on Lewi Woods

Lensman and Pixel Pig proudly present "Lewiville" - a Transmoto exclusive.



28/01/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


28/01/2014

Transmoto Online Exclusive

Transmoto Online secure exclusive to launch "Lewiville"

Lensman & Pixel Pig's first collaboration is about to drop, and Transmoto Online have secured the exclusive.
"Lewiville" shows off the incredibly talented Victorian rider Lewis Woods on his home track, ripping it up!
We had a great time working with Lewi and can't wait to see what he achieves in 2014 and beyond

picture: Jorden Bethune



23/01/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


23/01/2014

Pimp my FS-700

The slo-mo machine

The latest rig - Sony's FS-700, a work-in-progress.
Pictured here with the Metabones Speed Adapter, EF mount 300mm f2.8 lens, Small HD AC7, Alphatron EVF and a few other bits & pieces sourced by Tony from Insync Productions.

The camera has been upgraded to firmware 3.0 for 4K output and servo zoom. The Odyssey 7Q arrived last week - more upgrades coming soon!



18/01/2014

Posted by
Andy Richards


18/01/2014

First documentary is a WINNER!!!

Lensman's Andy Richards wins BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

The votes have been tallied and the Surfworld International Surf Film Festival is stoked to announce that SERENDIPITY has scooped the pool! SERENDIPITY has won the BEST FILM and BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY awards as voted by the festival audience. It has also won the coveted PETER TROY 'SPIRIT OF SURFING' Award which is presented each year to the film that best explores the spirit of surf travel and adventure. If you missed SERENDIPITY at the festival drop by the museum and grab a copy on DVD. This is one film that should be in your surf film collection!

Serendipity was a collaboration with Garth Stone from WeMOV and Simon Lamb from Black Lamb. It has also won BEST DOCUMENTARY in Brazil and an HONORABLE MENTION in Portugal. The film continues to impress audiences around the world, and on Qantas in-flight entertainment.



21/11/2013

Posted by
Andy Richards


21/11/2013

Critically Acclaimed Camera Work

High praise for Lensman's work on "Serendipity"

We're thrilled that our documentary received a four-star review at the London Surf Film Festival.

"The camerawork and flow of each scene is flawless"
-Arts London News

The film is to debut Australia wide at the TILT Festival, and the media launch party is on November 28 at One Six One in Melbourne.



21/10/2012

Posted by
Andy Richards


21/10/2012

Rise of the Machines

Motion control cameras

We really like this! If Lensman ever makes a beer commercial, we are using these robots - no question!



18/10/2012

Posted by
Andy Richards


18/10/2012

Balloon Flight

Early morning Fly-over of Melbourne CBD

What better way to test a new J-series 22x Lens than a balloon flight? The early morning light produced some stunning colours.

The first of three shoots with Global Ballooning saw us float past the city and the MCG, landing on runway 35R at Moorabbin Airport.

Next was a flight in the Yarra Valley incorporating Rochford Winery, then the final shoot was with the talent.

Kiff, Dave and the crew at Global Ballooning offer a fantastic experience - if you've never been before, give it a go!



08/10/2012

Posted by
Andy Richards


08/10/2012

Pimp my Panasonic AG-AF102

Testing a 22x Broadcast Lens for the WeMOV camera

We Make Online Videos - aka "WeMOV" - have a large format camera (Micro 4/3") which until now has meant using still photo lenses to achieve the 'bokeh' or depth-of-field that their clients expect to see. The problem with stills lenses is they are not designed for shooting video, so there are compromises.

Lensman's Andy Richards has developed a solution which ticks all the boxes, mating a Broadcast 2/3" J series lens with 22x optical zoom to the light-weight Panasonic camera.

After successful tests today, WeMOV will purchase the lens and Andy will build the system up to include lens power, start/stop control and EVF - watch this space...



13/09/2012

Posted by
Andy Richards


13/09/2012

Private tram for a celebrity chef

Our own private tram for the day, route 112 Brunswick St

Shooting Discover Your Own Backyard - City of Yarra, with celebrity chef Adrian Richardson.
We had our own private tram - novelty factor set to maximum - we took turns in the driver's seat and gave the bell a ding-a-ling-ling or two.

Brunswick Street shoppers were confused when the doors wouldn't open. "Sorry, private tram - you'll have to get your own".

Adrian was great talent and the crew look forward to a reunion dinner at his restaurant "La Luna" in the near future.



26/06/2012

Posted by
Andy Richards


26/06/2012

Pimp my Sony EX3

Taking Sony's XDcamEX3 to the next level



10/04/2012

Posted by
Andy Richards


10/04/2012

Lock it in, Eddie

Lensman shoots Eddie McGuire for City of Hume

Eddie McGuire is one of those rare TV folk who just "nail it" - every take. Even when speaking ad-lib, sans autocue. He even had a quick kick of the footy with some local kids (in his suit, of course) before heading off to his next appointment.

Not having worked with Eddie before, we were suitably impressed and glad to get the job done so efficiently. Thanks Eddie!



18/03/2011

Posted by
Andy Richards


18/03/2011

Location scouting in Colombo

Day 1, shooting "Serendipity" in Sri Lanka

Sometimes, it pays to help without asking anything in return. Lensman's Andy Richards got a call from a friend-of-a-friend - the brief: "This guy is directing a documentary and wants to put together a kit to shoot overseas, can you help?"

So, about a week after buying the kit, Andy received a call asking if he was available for the shoot - IN THE MALDIVES!

So Lensman's first job was booked in - shooting a surfing documentary, "Serendipity", on location in Sri Lanka and The Maldives.



09/12/2009

Posted by
Andy Richards


09/12/2009

Tyler Mini Gyro Mount

Bringing the Mini Gyro to Melbourne

One of the things that caught Andy Richards' eye at SPMTE in Sydney was the Tyler Mini Gyro mount.

"I really liked it straight away and had to find a job to use it on" Andy said.

Andy hired the gyro, but the added cost of shipping the unit to Melbourne would make it just a little too expensive for some budgets. The solution: Andy negotiated with Greg Read from Tyler Mounts Australia to keep the unit in Melbourne, providing a pick-up/drop-off service for Melbourne crews - and training, if required.

Once he got a taste for gyro-stabilised aerials, Andy began training on the FLIR Ultramedia system (same as Ch7's chopper) - which was later upgraded to HD using a Sony F950.