
Altered Images was commissioned to design, install and support a lightweight, energy-efficient 12-camera fixed rig for the new series Britain by Boat, created by independent production company Knickerbockerglory. The programmes reunite former newsreader, Michael Buerk, and political journalist, John Sergeant, after 30 years, as they take to the high seas exploring Britain's coastline by yacht. The series is currently airing on Channel 5.
The challenge for these two amateur sailors is to explore Britain's glorious coastline whilst taming the magnificent Bonaventure, a 50-foot traditional yacht. It's not a voyage for the faint-hearted, as John and Michael navigate labyrinthine sandbanks, treacherous tides and Europe's busiest shipping lanes. To buoy their spirits, they'll encounter the best of the British coast from crab-fishing in Falmouth, to racing dingies near Portsmouth, to joining the RNLI off the picturesque Cornish coast.
Altered Images faced many challenges and responsibilities with this project; the least of which was how to install cameras to be both stable and completely harmless to the £1m hand-built craft's structure and finish. The production team also tasked them with making the installed cameras very discreet so that the on-screen talent would forget they were being filmed. This resulted in a more natural engagement on screen for the production.
Altered Images specified eight IP67-rated cameras up on deck, with four Panasonic PTZ cameras below deck, all controlled and recorded in one of the aft cabins. Helping the cameras blend in below deck safely and without any screws, nails or sticky tape was an extra challenge, comments Tony Gill, Altered Images' managing director and unit manager at the time of filming. In the end, we decided to manufacture temporary replica upholstery that blended into the surroundings in order that we could fix the cameras to those, then we were able to swap back to the original furniture after the shoot.
Isolated audio was captured from eight sources, including radio mics, with a live stereo feed also recorded during the shoot. The cameras and audio were synchronised via time-of-day timecode, as were any shoulder-mounted cameras that were used on the boat or shore, removing the need for cables to make boarding and disembarking safe for both the talent and crew.
The whole rig used just 400 Watts in energy equivalent to just four tungsten light bulbs which meant that Altered Images could use an intelligent Lithium Ion battery rig and achieve up to 40 hours' recording time between charges. The rig's health was monitored from shore by the following safety boat, with a road-based support crew to enable the production to keep the onboard headcount within maritime allowances.
The task that we gave Altered Images was a complex one, since we needed them to rig a 50ft yacht with hot-head and waterproof static cameras, as well as a gallery suitable for small compact spaces and rocky seas, explains Fi Maclay, Knickerbockerglory's Production Manager on Britain By Boat. As always, Tony and the team from Altered were wonderful to work with no task was too small and we could rely on them even in the most difficult of circumstances.
This was a fantastic project to be involved in, which perfectly highlights how adaptable Altered Images is to its clients' creative challenges, adds Tony.
To watch the programme and find out about future episodes, please visit the Channel 5 website at www.channel5.com/show/britain-by-boat/.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
21/08/2026
A massive deployment of specialty cameras, graphics, and AR will showcase the na...
21/08/2026
The West Coast Conference unveiled its new 30-second public service announcement, the latest expression of the Conference's We Rise in the West brand iden...
21/08/2026
New look will serve as the foundation for ESPN's upcoming NFL season and Sup...
21/08/2026
ESPN will air the ninth annual MLB Little League Classic presented by New York Life on Sunday, August 23, at 7 p.m. ET from Historic Bowman Field in Williamspor...
21/08/2026
In an emotional acceptance speech in Canton, Grossman celebrated the pioneering ...
21/08/2026
Hardware-style timing shifts for software instruments
Following on from the release of Omniclock, Rapid Flow have launched a new sequencer plug-in that can ...
21/08/2026
Highly anticipated synthesizer ships in October 2026
Iceland-based Love Synthesizers have announced that their highly anticipated synthesizer is now availab...
21/08/2026
Masterpiece PBS The Forsytes has expanded its cast as its begins production in ...
21/08/2026
The BBC has unveiled first-look pictures from The Witch Farm, a new ghost story and mystery set in the Welsh countryside, coming soon to BBC iPlayer and BBC One...
21/08/2026
The BBC and BritBox have revealed the first look of Edward Bluemel as Hercule Poirot in the forthcoming six-part series Hercule from Mammoth Screen and Agatha C...
21/08/2026
Our priority was making the best, most powerful, most meaningful story possible,...
21/08/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Avid will unveil how it is transforming production to help media organizations unite content, agentic workflows, and business insights at IBC2026 (RAI Amsterda...
21/08/2026
New routing, modular processing, orchestration and monitoring capabilities bridge dedicated hardware and software-based processing as part of the Dynamic Media ...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
When hundreds of thousands of people gather to hear a single voice, there is no room for compromise. Every word must be delivered clearly, every wireless transm...
21/08/2026
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, today announced a strategic partnership with ScorePlay, the AI-powered media infrastructure that spo...
21/08/2026
NUGEN Audio announces the launch of its new Post Plan and Producer Plan, two flexible subscription offerings designed to give audio professionals short term acc...
21/08/2026
Join the Screen Currency 2026 Ask Me Anything (AMA) Online 20 August 2026
(L-R): Adrian Coates, Grainne Brunsdon, Deirdre Brennan, Rachael Perkins
Got questio...
21/08/2026
** MEDIA ALERT **
VIZ Media Takes Over Anime NYC with BLEACH, BLACK TORCH, M...
21/08/2026
Tell us a little bit about your job I'm a Marketing Manager and work across a mix of clients and projects. No two days are ever quite the same, which defini...
21/08/2026
Beat The Lotto dives into the plot behind the 1980s National Lottery scandal
24 August 2026 at 9:35pm on RT One and RT Player
Beat The Lotto is the story o...
21/08/2026
The countdown to the most wonderful night of the year has officially begun!
Host Patrick Kielty is gearing up for another unforgettable Late Late Toy Show nig...
21/08/2026
Meet puppet duo Bellie and Whizz, who are about to explore all the big feelings ...
20/08/2026
From host-broadcaster and rightsholder support in June and July to MLS, NWSL, US...
20/08/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
20/08/2026
At IBC this year, Veritone (14.A56) is bringing two connected themes to the booth: architectural independence in enterprise AI, and the automation of the media ...
20/08/2026
Telestream and ScorePlay have announced a partnership combining Telestream's...
20/08/2026
The Grand Slam of Curling and Rock League have announced a three-year agreement with ESPN, bringing more than 300 hours of live curling coverage to U.S. audienc...
20/08/2026
Nielsen has announced a series of enhancements to its Big Data + Panel currency measurement methodology, taking effect August 31. The updates were developed in ...
20/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected by service provider Big Blue Marble (formerly ORS Group) to provide its Nimbra platform as the core media transport solution for a...
20/08/2026
The 2026 US Open will bring a series of free fan activations across New York City ahead of and during the tournament, which runs August 23-September 13.
We...
20/08/2026
Bridge Technologies will announce a transport stream (TS) playout feature for its VB330 and VB220 compressed monitoring probes at IBC2026 (Booth 1.A71).
The fe...
20/08/2026
ENCO will demonstrate solutions across captioning, translation, AI production tools, automation, and virtual production at IBC2026 (Stand 7.A34, Amsterdam RAI, ...
20/08/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will demonstrate camera robotics and mot...
20/08/2026
Chyron will demonstrate news workflow solutions at IBC2026 (Stand 7.A23), marking the company's 60th anniversary. Highlights include updates to PRIME HTML, ...
20/08/2026
Spectrum SportsNet LA, the exclusive television home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is now available to Spectrum customers in former Cox markets following the clos...
20/08/2026
swXtch.io will unveil expanded Global SRT Distribution and native multicast tran...
20/08/2026
Riedel Communications has announced that Transformation Church in the United States has deployed a communications system built around the Artist intercom ecosys...