Lots to see at BVPS 2019 in the Aviva Stadium

By Barbara Franzoni

The Broadcast Video Production Show (BVPS) took place in Aviva Stadium on 29th and 30th April and was attended by approximately 700 visitors over both days. BVPS is the only show of its kind in Ireland, catering to the film and video production community and showcasing the best and latest that is available in film and broadcast equipment. This year’s show boasted 30 exhibitors representing over 70 manufacturers including Canon, Sony, Blackmagic Design, Sennheiser, Rode, Zoom Audio, JVC, DataVideo, Samyang, Zeiss, IDX, Kenro, Tiffen, Easyrig, Steadicam, Kinoflow, Dedolight, Atomos, Manfrotto, Panasonic, Roland, and many more.

As well as the gear on display (with bargain show specials being snapped up by professionals and enthusiasts alike), the show ran two different seminar areas packed with informative speakers and workshops. For me, a highlight was the talk by award-winning Director of Photography (DoP), Jonathan Harrison about LED Lighting. As Jonathan said, “pixels don’t make great images, people and light do”. According to Jonathan, the soul of any camera is light and only quality light can give quality pictures, be they moving or still. Jonathan then proceeded to give a live lighting demonstration using different key lights, fills and backlights as well as honeycombs and grids to produce different moods and feelings because, as he says, light is highly emotional. DoPs can also manipulate their viewers focus by using lighting accents to take advantage of that part of human nature that attracts our attention to whatever is brightest, sharpest and moving (a hunting and survival mechanism that we all still have).

Another highlight was Glenn Lightbody’s talk about Blackmagic Raw and DaVinci Resolve (free-to-download editing software). It’s always been a Blackmagic goal to marry the Production and Post-Production phases of film-making and with Blackmagic Raw they’ve come closer than ever, even moving the de-bayering process of colouring raw images from post to the camera itself (URSA Mini Pro G2). He also showcased DaVinci Resolve which has grown from its colour grading niche into a Hollywood grade editing studio. Resolve16 features a new speedy ‘Cut Page” utilising linear editing. Approximately 8 out of 10 Hollywood movies now use DaVinci Resolve Studio in post-production, including the visually stunning current hit, Dumbo. For me, this was an eye-opener as the cost of creative software subscriptions is threatening to break me, hard to believe this stuff is free!

When it came to the latest technology on display, a few exhibits stood out including the NewTek Tri-Caster, which is a fully integrated production system (handling up to 44 inputs in 4k and utilising Adobe Premiere and After Effects for in-the-moment editing), Canon’s mouth-watering XF705 (4K of course, UHD, 1” CMOS sensor and utilising H.265 codec), Sony’s handheld Z280 (which Sony says is the world’s first 4K 3-chip camcorder), DPA’s barely visible headsets and tiny little subminiature lav mics (3mm and POSSIBLY the smallest out there), as well as the ever-popular exhibits by EasyRig and Kino Flow Diva Lite lighting.

I spoke with Colm Egan of D+P Multimedia in Terenure (www.camerakit.ie) who organises BVPS. Colm spoke about the NAB Show in LasVegas, a world-renowned event showcasing the very latest tech in the broadcast and film industries. As travel to Las Vegas isn’t in the reach of every aspiring film-maker or industry professional, Colm wanted to bring a flavour of this to Ireland, which is why BVPS is held after the NAB Show each year. Colm first organised BVPS fourteen years ago as a one-day event in Stillorgan Park Hotel with 40-50 people in attendance. It’s grown a lot since then and with the way the film and broadcast industry is flourishing, he envisages an even bigger and better event next year. Looking forward to BVPS 2020 already!

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