The compact NEWTON stabilized head moving in front of the stage with tower integration
When Swedish television produces its most prestigious live shows, NEWTON enables a discreet telescopic rail cam in front of the stage, without obstructing the view
SWEDISH EUROVISION QUALIFICATIONS 2017 – 2021
By Ljud & Bildmedia and Dagsljus
Ljud & Bildmedia and Dagsljus are two Swedish rental houses for film/TV production that own NEWTON systems, which they both have supplied on remote rail dollies to the Melodifestivalen tour in recent years. In 2017, a NEWTON stabilized head was mounted on a Egripment G-Track system with a telescopic tower travelling along a 20 meter rail track between rows of seated audience. Since 2018 the same system has instead been placed just in front of the stage. Due to the telescopic tower and the discrete features of NEWTON, the camera can be lowered below the stage while not on air and still be discreet while on air. This gives the technical director access to a moving low angle SONY P1/Grass Valley LDX Compact camera with Canon HJ 14 lens, right in front of the performers, without disturbing the line of sight for other cameras nor the audience on site. Due to the integration between our NEWTON controller and the Egripment G-Track system, the NEWTON operator controls the rail with foot pedals and the telescopic tower with the NEWTON control panel. At these shows there is also a NEWTON stabilized remote head on cable cam, that you can see more about here.
This installation is so compact that it can be placed right in front of the stage and capture close shots without obstructing the view for the other cameras behind. We deliver really nice trucking shots and close ups every show and I don’t know of any other product that could have been used this way.
Daniel Kozica, NEWTON operator for NEP Sweden
Event
Melodifestivalen 2017 was the 57th edition of the annual Swedish music competition, selecting the entry of Sweden to the Eurovision Song Contest later in the year. These ambitious qualifications consist of a 6 live show tour around the country and take place in February – March every year. Organized and broadcast by the Swedish state television (SVT), these events on average have 3.3 million TV viewers, ranking these shows as the most watched programs on Swedish television. With a third of the Swedish population watching, these big budget productions are at the forefront of broadcast technology with a constant pursuit of more dynamical multi camera productions.
