Conceived and presented by the climate activist and filmmaker Jack Harries, Seat at the Table is a 12-part YouTube series produced by Studio Silverback. Giving voice to people worldwide who stand to lose most to climate change, it incorporates segments filmed in many different countries, and yet was produced in the most sustainable manner possible. Cinematographer Josua St bler speaks here about why he chose the ALEXA Mini LF, what benefits large format brought, and how the complex, pandemic-hit production unfolded.
Could you describe how the project came about and how you got involved?
Back in early 2021, Jack Harries and Studio Silverback came up with the idea of a film that gives the people on the front lines of climate change a voice. The project was commissioned by YouTube and I was approached to be the director of photography. Originally the plan was to travel the globe for six months, finding these people and telling their stories, but then another wave of Covid-19 hit and the whole project had to be rethought. They came up with the idea of shooting for three months only in the UK and collaborating with local crews in 11 different countries to tell the international stories. It was my job to develop a visual style for the project and to brief the international crews on that visual style.
DP Josua St bler operating the ALEXA Mini LF handheld on the UK coast.
What led you to large format, and to the ALEXA Mini LF?
As a DP, around 70% of my work is commercials and 30% is documentaries, and for commercials I shoot on ALEXA exclusively when Im not shooting analog. I really like what the ALEXA does with colors; I know how to work with ALEXA and how to expose the sensor, so for me that choice was clear from the start.
For this project we wanted to have 4K and to be as close to the characters as Covid rules allowed, shooting handheld with wide-angle lenses for a sense of physical intimacy. This led us to large format and to the ALEXA Mini LF. Usually we used lenses between 24 mm and 35 mm, and the LF sensor looks really cool at those focal lengths because of the shallow depth field. When we shot huge landscapes, the LF sensor somehow made them even more epic.
How did you handle the international crews having different camera equipment?
Of course, not every local crew had the opportunity to source an ALEXA in their country. Quite early on I did a test with my colorist in Germany where we compared the ALEXA Mini LF to Canon and Sony large-format cameras, and we came up with a show LUT and a system to convert the Sony and Canon images into our color space. The final grade was done at another post house in Bristol, in the UK, but they were able to make use of the work I had done with my colorist to conform footage from all the cameras to match the look of our show LUT.
Presenter Jack Harries behind ALEXA Mini LF with mirror rig for socially-distanced eye contact interviews.
What else was in your brief to the international crews?
The most obvious and detailed thing was how to set up, frame, and light the interviews. Throughout the show, we interviewed people in front of a black backdrop, so it was important that the backdrop and lighting were the same for everyone, whether they were a scientist with 30 years of climate experience or a farmer who realized two years ago that his crop isn't growing anymore. I did detailed tests and was very specific in my briefing about light sources, distances, exposure, and contrast ratios.
For the overall look of the show, my briefing contained stuff like shooting B-roll in slow motion for a cinematic feel; always shooting wide open for shallow depth of field and to take advantage of the large-format sensor; using gimbals for certain types of shot, or long lenses and tripods for other kinds of shots. But I also encouraged the local filmmakers to come up with their own creative ideas, and I was really happy with what we got back. It was great to see how many talented filmmakers are working around the world, even in places like the Maldives and Cambodia, where there are no big film schools.
Setting up the black background for one of the interviews.
Did you go to as many different kinds of environment within the UK as you could?
Yes, we went everywhere from the Isles of Scilly in the far south to the Orkney Islands, which are almost the most northern tip of the UK. We had a really diverse experience of British landscapes, with some places that looked like the Caribbean to me, and others that were incredibly rough and wild, with harsh winds. Finally in November we ended up in Glasgow for COP26, the UN climate conference, where we shot our final two episodes.
The wildness of some of the locations was one of the reasons why I chose the ALEXA Mini LF, because I knew I could trust it. We were trying to travel carbon neutral, so we were always on different vehicles, like tiny sail boats in rough seas, with the camera bumping against everything. We shot in rainy forests in the middle of Scotland; we hiked up mountains chasing sunsets. On the Isle of Skye, we had to cross a river with the camera on my shoulder, so it was really tested, and it didn't let us down.
DP Josua St bler (left) and presenter Jack Harries at COP26 in Glasgow.
You did a lot of operating yourself, but what crew did you have?
I had a camera assistant, but he was also a production assistant. We were such a small crew that he had to help with other stuff. Focus wise, I was managing the camera on my own. He helped me with batteries and changing lenses, but in terms of the camera setup, I needed to be self-reliant. The ARRI Master Grips came in handy; I had a cforce motor on the lenses and I used the Master Grips to control focus and dial-in the iris. Thats also why I chose Canon EF lenses, because theyre quite small and I can carry two or three in my backpack.
It was easy t
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
Conceived and presented by the climate activist and filmmaker Jack Harries, Seat at the Table is a 12-part YouTube series produced by Studio Silverback. Giving voice to people worldwide who stand to lose most to climate change, it incorporates segments filmed in many different countries, and yet was produced in the most sustainable manner possible. Cinematographer Josua St bler speaks here about why he chose the ALEXA Mini LF, what benefits large format brought, and how the complex, pandemic-hit production unfolded.
