Big Interview - Bradley Engineering (Pt 2)

Technology in the field of camera work is continuously changing and evolving at speed. What have been the big developments and breakthroughs during your career, and what do expect from the future?

After Betacam, the next breakthrough technology I remember was when CCDs replaced tubes in cameras and LCD technology was marching ahead. Then came HD; very difficult to deal with at first but now seems relatively easy as chip manufacturers make things smaller and more capable. Now solid state memory has replaced tape and so it goes on – next stop 4k?
I think it was Martin Mathewson who told me that television is a fashion industry. Any doubt that this was true has been allayed by years of experience. Recent years have given us 3D, now multi-rotor remote helicopters and soon 4k or whatever else captures the imagination for the immediate spotlight. In just a few years we have seen a 180 degree shift from demand driving technology to technology driving demand. This is now true in professional television as much as in consumer electronics.

Does Bradley have a philosophy or ethos when it comes to supplying and tailoring camera technology?

Our overall philosophy is to listen to our customers and try to produce what they are asking for. So many companies today are very inward looking and produce what they think customers will want then set about creating a demand for it. With big marketing budgets and big names this is possible but leaves plenty of gaps for small companies like us to fill. It also gives us plenty to react to – if you see what I mean here. We often modify or add features for individual customers; even to the point of building one-off units for some special purpose.
Another part of our ethos is longevity and upgradability. It seems to us to be a waste to have to throw away equipment because the new model has arrived. We design with future improvements in mind. For example, some CamBalls in use today were originally built before HD was invented. We upgraded them to HD, fitted newer motors, better electronics, etc, over their lifetime to keep them right up to date.

What advice would you give to independent film makers who want to achieve quality in their camera work, but are restricted by budget?

This is a difficult question, having never really been an independent film maker. That said, I have seen plenty of money wasted over the years. The one thing that wastes more money than anything else is bad or lack of planning.
Lack of planning can result in hiring crew and facilities and, because you have no real plan, you get them just doing anything. Much of their effort isn’t needed and would be far better spent on what is needed. It’s also demoralising for the crew who realise this very quickly and know that much of their effort will be wasted. They then tend not to put in the effort they could for you. This applies to anyone; cameramen, recordists, editors, assistants alike.
Bad planning can be equally wasteful. One example is not allowing enough time for or between locations when shooting. You end up not being able to shoot the last locations because time runs out. Either the program doesn’t have the footage it needs or further expense is incurred. Be realistic, and put the effort only into what is needed. So plan, plan and plan.

Can small-scale and larger productions, companies etc. co-exist and work side-by-side in such a competitive industry?

Larger companies tend to be the demand drivers whilst smaller and more agile companies, like us, tend to keep an eye on technology and dart into the gaps, either overlooked or not big enough for the larger companies to be interested. Sometimes we may even develop something really new as we see an application using the latest available technology, married to technology developed ourselves (for instance; our low latency, multi standard, HDSDI output.) This difference between large and small companies ensures there is room in the market for both, but both need to be far more dynamic and forward thinking than they needed to be just a few years ago. Gone are the days of a single product selling for years without upgrades or effort.
As an organisation we are growing steadily, although still small in company terms, with multiple CNC machines, production, development, servicing, special projects, offices and conference room. Our in-house capabilities encompass mechanical design and production, electronic design and production, software development and finally, producing the finished product. It’s developing these in-house skills that has kept us agile and fast to react. Proud to be still fully independent and proud to be able to stamp; ‘Made in the UK’ on our products. We've had many successes and many failures - the object is to make sure the successes outweigh the failures, by the largest margin possible. We don’t really like to use the term ‘failure’ – in the words of Thomas Edison, “I’ve not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways it won’t work.”

Read the full article in the online of Regional Film & Video here