The studio is about 33 feet by 22 feet, with 14-foot walls and a 21-foot peaked ceiling. It contains plenty of sound-absorbing materials. There is also a large wide green screen behind the multi-grey backdrop seen in these photos. Not seen in the studio photos are areas for a worktable, desk, and a couple of small storage areas. Outside of the studio is another equipment storage room.
The studio is equipped with three Canon Cinema C200 4K cameras. One camera has a Canon 18-80 mm power servo zoom lens. A second has a Canon 70-200 mm power servo zoom lens. The third has a Canon L series 24-104 manual lens.
The studio’s fourth camera is a Canon XF-605, usually mounted on a small crane. The crane can provide an impressive variety of shots from very low angles to quite high vantage points, enhanced by the capability of remote zooming while panning, etc. The customized stand can be extended such that the crane base can be up to about 10 feet off the floor. This crane can also be mounted on a standard short tripod to allow ground-level shots and to allow it to be operated at the camera instead of at the counterweight arm. It’s a very versatile setup.
The Kessler 5-foot Cine-Slider with the Kessler 2nd Shooter automated drive system is the device the third Canon C200 camera is usually mounted on. This system can be programmed with several keyframes to move the camera back and forth with three-axis movements – horizontal, pan, and tilt. The studio also has a custom-built heavy-duty 6-foot-long manual slider that can accommodate one of the first two cameras. This slider can be used in place of a tripod to allow the operator to quickly move the camera horizontally for different angles on the subject.
Sometimes you need a very large light source to achieve a soft wrap-around lighting effect on the subject. This is a custom assembled instrument using four Lowel Tota fixtures equipped with 300-watt lamps. The studio has an inventory of about 20 lighting instruments to provide plenty of lighting options.