Optical, file-based workflow is perfect match for production of leading reality shows.

Las Vegas – Reality TV shows such as “Survivor,” “Expedition Africa: Stanley & Livingstone,” “The Contender” and
“Wedding Day” all have very different premises, but they have one common thread: They are produced using Sony’s XDCAM® Professional Disc™ System. They are also all produced by Mark Burnett Productions.

The leading producer of reality TV programming has made XDCAM optical technology its preferred format for the majority of its programming.

“The system is our preferred format of choice as we’ve become an XDCAM house,” said Chris Campbell, Executive in Charge of Post for Mark Burnett Productions. “We’ve transitioned nearly all of our shows onto XDCAM, whether it’s XDCAM HD for OSurvivor,’ OThe Contender,’ OExpedition Africa: Stanley & Livingstone,’ or OWedding Day,’ or earlier versions of XDCAM for our standard-def shows.”

One of the reality genre’s ground-breaking shows, “Survivor” is currently airing its 18th installment (“Survivor: Tocantins – the Brazilian Highlands”) and the second consecutive season that the show has used the optical HD technology.

According to Campbell, the XDCAM PDW-700 camcorder has become the company’s camera of choice for each of its HD series.

“Survivor, for example, has always been an epic show,” Campbell said. “We shoot in exotic, remote locations all over the world. We’ve been able to acquire some beautiful footage ever since our first season, but, honestly I’ve never been more proud of the visual quality of our show as I am this season. It’s exceptional.”

Campbell noted the camcorder’s ability to shoot and record in progressive mode has also raised the shows’ level of image quality.


“When we transitioned to XDCAM HD, and we chose to shoot 30P, we found it’s the closest thing to film that I’ve ever worked with,” he said. “The richness of the color draws in the viewer, allowing them to feel as if they’re really at a tribal council or ringside on OContender.’ ”

The show’s production teams are also using the XDCAM HD PDW-HD1500 deck, which includes a Gigabit Ethernet data drive that can write any flash memory file format from any codec onto the optical disc media. Files can then be previewed using a web browser, transferred over IT networks and easily archived and accessed by multiple people simultaneously.

“It’s essentially a OSwiss Army Knife’ deck,” Campbell said. “We’re able to use it for all our SD and HD series, it’s affordable and it’s been a workhorse for us that we expect to be using for many years to come.”

The system’s Professional Disc media is providing reliability and durability in the field, as well as a long-term archiving option.

“We’ve chosen to create an HD master on the optical disc, so now we have a high-quality archive master that is going to give us longevity for the future,” he said. “The benefits of the XDCAM system have been tremendous: image quality, reliability, and affordability. I love the fact our shows look even more amazing now that we’ve chosen XDCAM HD as a
recording format.”

“Reality directors and DPs credit the XDCAM technology’s fast recording functions and in-camera features for helping to capture all those spontaneous must-see reality show moments,” said Wayne Zuchowski, XDCAM group marketing manager for Sony Electronics. “For them, the benefits are being able to quickly browse through tremendous amounts of footage that’s digitized and all ready to go to the editing suite. And on any type of program, time saved on location translates to money saved.”