In September 2017, BBC Studioworks, a commercial subsidiary of the BBC, reopened its studio and postproduction facility at Television Centre, incorporating some of the most state-of- the-art technologies in the UK studio industry. The three studios as well as the facility’s edit suites have already played host to programming for a range of broadcasters and production companies.
In addition to a new fleet of 4K television cameras, screens and switchers, 22 Fujinon 4K HDR TV lenses were installed, enabling productions to be shot in both 4K and HDR.
Elom Bell, procurement manager at BBC Studioworks, said of the company’s decision to invest in new 4K lenses, “Television Centre needs to offer our clients the very latest technology, with full capability of hosting 4K and HDR productions. In the case of the lenses we provide, we need to ensure they last for many years to come. Fujinon delivered on time and spent a whole day on site, helping to test and configure all of the lenses”.
Marc Horner, marketing manager for Fujinon TV lenses at Fujifilm UK, adds “Fujinon UA box and ENG lenses are simply the best on the market in terms of resolution and HDR capability. Light entering the lens is the first step in any production and anything that is lost at this stage cannot be recovered. This is why we have ensured our lenses contain the best technology to ensure every last detail is captured, and the blacks stay as black as possible.”
Since opening in September, Strictly Come Dancing’s popular spinoff show, It Takes Two, and star-studded chat show, The Jonathan Ross Show, were some of the first productions to record at BBC Studioworks’ Television Centre facility.
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More