Filming one of the world's most scenic rail routes in the depths of winter needed a planning operation that was second to none. Sohail Shah, MD of King of Sunshine Productions tells TVBEurope all about how it was done
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: December 19, 2024 Updated: December 23, 2024
Filming one of the world's most scenic rail routes in the depths of winter needed a planning operation that was second to none. Sohail Shah, MD of King of Sunshine Productions tells TVBEurope all about how it was done
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
There's something undeniably festive about the image of a plucky little passenger train wending its way through the picture-postcard perfection of an Alpine landscape, brightly lit carriages filled with excited travellers heading home or away for the holidays. So when the team at King of Sunshine Productions was asked to come up with some Christmas ideas for Channel 4, they saw the perfect opportunity to capture some magical footage for a forthcoming documentary about one of the most scenic rail journeys on the planet, Switzerland's delightful Bernina Express.
Sohail Shah, MD, King of Sunshine Productions Managing director Sohail Shah already knew assistant producer Beth White harboured an ambition to film the train, which makes a daily sightseeing trip between the Swiss city of Chur and Tirano, in the Italian region of Lombardy. It would, however, require a considerable planning effort. It seemed like the perfect time to dig down into the possibility, he says. Luckily, Beth's tenacity, the timing and the access opportunity all aligned.
The window was tight and the team hastily assembled. For such a big endeavour, our team wasn't especially massive, comments Shah, who, along with White, was joined by series producer/director, Ben Sheldon, Basilio Longo as producer/director, PM Andy Partington and Chloe Eckersley Bell as coordinator. Nat Bullen and Bill Bartlett were on location as DoP and sound respectively, with two local runners completing the line-up.
The British team flew out on November 18th for a six-day shoot, which managed to coincide with Switzerland's heaviest snowfall for a decade. The day we arrived, there was no snow, he says. The day after, the country was covered.
The majority of the documentary, named Alpine Train at Christmas, was filmed during a single four hour journey. Shah explains how the filming was managed, On that journey, we had one camera filmed by Ben, one camera filmed by Basilio and one crew camera, directed by me. We were split across various parts of the train to get as much coverage as we could. The train also had 4 GoPros placed on its exterior.
Further footage and non-sync content was captured on a second journey two days later, while the DoP crew were filming general views and externals for the wider documentary.
King of Sunshine's previous work includes the documentary series, The UK's National Parks, with Caroline Quentin. Shah considers the contrast between filming at home and in the Alps, during winter. The biggest differences were language, terrain and temperature. Whilst filming in the UK, we were always fine for conversation and interviews. Filming in two countries where several languages are spoken could have been problematic. However, we were prepared with an Italian PD and some crew with German skills.
The entire Bernina Railway is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, and passes through some incredible scenery. Its 55 tunnels and 196 bridges include the breathtaking Landwasser Viaduct and the Brusio spiral, an ingenious solution avoiding the need for a switchback junction. The environment, however, posed some unique problems. The landscapes were sometimes difficult to navigate with the extreme weather, but with the proper equipment and clothing, we managed to film what we needed. Plus the snow makes the show look beautiful and suitably Christmassy for the holidays.
The film was shot in HD with speed of edit a major consideration. It would have taken way longer to ingest in 4K than HD and our edit schedule was already ridiculously short, so for everyone involved, HD was better, says Shah.
Capturing the feel of one of rail's most romantic routes required a range of equipment. Tailoring the kit to the task, the team used Ronin4 and FX6 cameras as well as four GoPro devices (Hero10, 11 and 12). Drone footage was captured using an EJI Mavic3 Cine and Sennheiser's MKH50, MKH30, MKH40 and MKH8050 took care of audio requirements.
There was no particular requirement for specialist equipment, although it was essential to ensure all cameras and mics had extra protection from the freezing mountain temperatures, This also extended to the production team, added Shah. Many layers, hats and gloves! At its coldest, the temperature dropped to -22 degrees centigrade on a day when we were filming on a farm for one of the four vignettes featured within the show. No VFX was used for the footage, but map interludes during the documentary were designed and provided by freelance VFX and motion designer, Lynn Tidsey.
Throughout the shoot, the team was able to fall back on previous experiences. Shah recognised the need to take a realistic approach. With such a tight filming period, we utilised our planning skills to the nth degree. There wasn't much room for changes, but we also knew that we would have to roll with the punches with regards to filming with contribs for the vignettes and general views. The only non movable points in the schedule were the two train trips, so we had to be as prepared as possible for those, and plan exactly what we wanted at specific points. We had to film reactions, shots and chat about landmarks along the way, so it was a one chance thing with all three cameras.
As a popular
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...
02/07/2026
Maxon Autograph: Introduction to working with Tables
Simon Ubsdell July 1, 2026
0 Comments
An overview of Autograph's ridiculously powerful tables...
02/07/2026
Boston Conservatory's Soir e Breaks Records to Fund Student Scholarships The event achieved 127 percent of its fundraising goal in an evening celebrating ...
02/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Med Tech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might thin...
01/07/2026
Broadcast Management Group (BMG) has announced the appointment of Kathy Samuels ...
01/07/2026
Shade has announced Custom Objects and Automations, a platform expansion releasing June 29, 2026, that adds database and workflow automation capabilities direct...
01/07/2026
FOR-A America has announced the addition of Jaz Wray and Fernando Cruz to its U.S. sales team. Both report to Ernie Leon, Senior VP and Head of Sales and Strate...
01/07/2026
NBC Sports will air all 15 MLB games nationally on Sunday, July 5, across NBC, P...
01/07/2026
Clear-Com has announced a wireless communications upgrade for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, deploying FreeSpeak II and FreeSpeak Icon systems across both prod...
01/07/2026
England's performance team will use Sony's STATSports APEX GPS tracking system to monitor player physical data in real time during FIFA World Cup 2026 m...
01/07/2026
Adder Technology has announced the appointment of Neil Hillier as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Hillier succeeds Adrian Dickens, who transiti...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. has announced a strategic transaction creating two separate companies. The Production and Playout business will continue as Bitcentral, now own...
01/07/2026
DAZN has announced results from DAZN48, its creator initiative for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Launched in April 2026, the program received thousands of applicatio...
01/07/2026
Sarah Rose, VP, global services, Daktronics (NASDAQ: DAKT), will be inducted into the Information Display and Entertainment Association (IDEA) Hall of Fame at t...
01/07/2026
Gravity Media and the World Economic Forum's production team provided broadc...
01/07/2026
Insight Productions has announced the launch of Insight Storm, a 53-foot mobile broadcast unit built for esports production. The truck is built around a Ross Vi...
01/07/2026
ESPN has announced several content initiatives marking America's 250th anniversary, as part of The Walt Disney Company's Disney Celebrates America pro...
01/07/2026
Eleven production kits, REMI workflows, and cloud distribution bring 40 World Cu...
01/07/2026
The conference also discussed the opportunities offered an industry that is endu...
01/07/2026
The Mountain West Conference has announced the launch of MW , a direct-to-consumer streaming platform powered by Kiswe. The platform will carry live Mountain We...
01/07/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
01/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
01/07/2026
Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals
Sweetwater and Andertons M...
01/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the ca...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Manfrotto Introduces UNCOVER, the new premium camera bag collection for modern h...
01/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Powers Houston Tamil Sangam Literacy Competition
Brie Clayton July 1, 2026
0 Comments
Volunteers use ATEM Mini Pro, Blackmagic Desig...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
PlayBox Technology has published State of Broadcast Infrastructure 2026, an in-depth industry research report examining the technologies, operational challenges...
01/07/2026
LONDON, UK, 1 JULY Jigsaw24 has appointed Alan Henry as Head of Sales for Media and Entertainment, reinforcing its continued investment in helping broadcaster...
01/07/2026
Content Vault, the patent-pending secure content distribution platform protecting high-value media from disclosures, theft and unauthorised access, today announ...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. a leading provider of enterprise software and digital media solutions for news, sports and entertainment broadcasters, as well as streaming pla...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Groundbreaking First Nations Screen Business Accelerator launched through nation...
01/07/2026
Chyron Launches the All-New Chyron Academy: A Reimagined, Hands-On Learning Expe...
01/07/2026
Amplium Captures Kawasaki Brave Thunders Game with Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersiv...
01/07/2026
Boris FX Optics Expands Plugin Support to Apple Photos, Capture One, and Affinit...
01/07/2026
UKTV has today announced the appointment of Matt Berry to the newly created role of General Manager - Marketing, effective 1 July.
Matt will take on this senio...
01/07/2026
Sky Zero Footprint Fund-backed TV campaign featuring Deborah Meaden challenges consumers to rethink everyday bathroom wasteWednesday 1 July 2026
Fussy asks Bri...
Filming one of the world's most scenic rail routes in the depths of winter needed a planning operation that was second to none. Sohail Shah, MD of King of Sunshine Productions tells TVBEurope all about how it was done
