We filmed in Norway, New Zealand, Chile and Antarctica. With temperatures dropping below -25 degrees centigrade and winds up to 120 Knots, the kit and team were tested to their limits. The main camera was the Sony XDCAM EX1 which in size, image quality and being tapeless makes it the ideal camera for the job. The Genus matte box  is ideally suited to working with the EX1 facilitating high quality filming with a physically small and light kit. Together with a Mac Book Pro and several hard disks, the rushes could be downloaded and backed up quickly with batteries being charged largely from solar panels.

Shooting this project was a once in-a-lifetime opportunity. It presented an enormous number of challenges, personal and professional. One week in Antarctica we endured consistent winds up to 120Knots blowing through the camp. There was a section of blue ice used to land aircraft downwind of the camp and the loose bits of ice the size of tennis balls on the runway were picked up in the winds and tore through camp. Being hit by those makes paint-balling an enjoyable experience by comparison! Tents were destroyed and people injured. I was out filming and in one gust of wind both myself and the camera, complete with tripod, went flying. Luckily no harm was done, so the Genus Matte Box is tough too! This wasn’t the only time the camera and matte box took a hammering in the conditions, but at no point was any damage done, which is impressive give the strain the materials must have been in at the temperatures.

The matte box  clips on perfectly to the front of the Ex1 and being light adds little to the weight or balance of the camera. The trays for the Century filters worked well and shooting in Chile for a couple of weeks before heading onto the ice gave me time to familiarise myself with the system before time came for me to have to do it with gloves on, and virtually blind as the camera was to spend all its time in a Portabrace Polar Jacket.

Once in Antarctica the camera lived outside the tent in a sledge bag or Peli case. Bringing it into the tent would cause condensation and that would rapidly impinge on filming time (condensation which then freezes is a nightmare to get out of cameras, lenses and the like). So the matte box  was to spend all its time outside at temperatures of -25 degree centigrade and below. These conditions didn’t faze it; the plastic didn’t become brittle or shatter and the trays remained smooth. As the winds picked up I did have to remove the flag as it soon became a good sale area which resulted unwanted vibrations of the camera.

After one trip on a skidoo for a few hours in a blizzard the camera (and cameraman!) had become complete blasted in snow and the Genus matte box  was caked in snow and ice (see picture). A bit of scraping with a glove and we were good to go – the advantage of working in Antarctica were it is actually incredibly dry is that the snow can be blown off and provided you don’t warm it up with your body heat, doesn’t really affect the equipment (even though it does get everywhere!).

The only problem which we encountered was with the rubber on the adapter bars (and all rubber in general on tripods, plates and mounts). Rubber when it is cold changes its properties and ends up having a finish similar to glass. Therefore, locking the camera off became harder and harder on the tripod as none of the rubber surfaces had any friction. Gaffer tape came to the rescue and did was special glue formulated to work below -30 degrees. However, since leaving Antarctica the rubber has not recovered fully and has less friction than normal.

Link to website and promo shots: www.roberthollingworth.co.uk

All images and copy are the property of Robert Hollingworth and are not be be copied or reproduced without permission.