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 ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it's given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what ...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First-Look Images from Villaflor, Santiago Mitre's New Film
Entertainment
12 June 2026
GlobalArgentina
Link copied to ...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Cross the Boundaries of the Real World into the Spirit Realm i...
12/06/2026
With John Daro, DI Colourist at Warner Bros. Water Tower Color Tuesday 23 June, 10am-1pm or 3-6pm
Restar Corporation
Tokyo
Register here
John Daro is the ...
12/06/2026
Meet The Grumpy Onion Ireland's newest online sensation, all he wants is to ...
12/06/2026
RT stays Up All Night with brand new daily 2026 FIFA World Cup Vodcast
Adding to the fun around 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament, RT has launched a brand new d...
12/06/2026
A fentanyl countermeasure that adapts to combat future black-market drugs Scripps Research scientists developed a vaccine that teaches the immune system to rapi...
11/06/2026
The immense size of the tourney and its Atlantic-spanning operation also disting...
11/06/2026
Nielsen has released a new soccer fandom consumer research report, The Fans Behind The Game: FIFA World Cup 2026 Edition, examining the soccer audience in the...
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.
