The Crew Behind the Camera: Inside the Technical Pipeline for Ladies First
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Our Orchard Onset and Dailies teams were recently involved in the production of Ladies First, supporting the project from pre-production through to the final wrap. From agile on-set workflows to colour-managed dailies, the project showcased how close collaboration and technical expertise helped bring the film's creative vision to life. Expand our magazine spread to get the inside scoop!
Our Orchard Onset technicians spent nine weeks in London and surrounding areas followed by a stint in Ibiza at the end of the shoot. They went up against some demanding locations such as the sharp gradient of Hampstead Heath, underground nightclubs, a busy cemetery, London’s Financial Centre, and Broughton Castle. Supporting such a varied and fast-moving production required a technical setup that could adapt instantly to each environment without compromising performance. To meet that challenge, our team reimagined their workflow on the move.
Reflecting on the approach, our DIT Iain Thomson said, ‘To navigate these varied locations and support cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos BSC GSC and the camera team, we built a compact livegrade rig that flew a single Flanders XMP-310 as the main monitor (switching from full frame to dual or quad configurations), with a SmallHD Cine 13 as the Swiss Army Knife of scopes. This allowed me the full functionality of my job capabilities with a battery dependent flexibility thanks to the Ecoflow Delta.’
With the mobile rig providing the necessary agility on the ground, the rest of the pipeline was built around speed, security, and giving the creative team instant access to their footage. Iain added, "Our primary cameras were two Sony Venice 2s paired with Panavision Ultra Vista and T-Series anamorphic lenses. We also used a Sony FX3 for hard-to-get shots and a Phantom 4K for our ultra-high-speed moments."
A workflow this complex demands deep trust between the crew and the creative team - a dynamic built over years of collaboration and evolving together with technology. Cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos BSC GSC shared his experience working with Digital Orchard across this project, ‘I have worked with Digital Orchard for fourteen years now and I am always blown away by the creative and technical support. Ladies First was no exception, Callum Just is always a wealth of information and most of my early prep and testing is based on our discussions about what the current state of technology is and in what way can we create an effortless workflow for a film’.
This pipeline also gave the team the freedom to experiment creatively with the look - whether streaming graded rushes to a mobile screening van at dawn, or securing a rock-solid data foundation on set, the workflow was designed for absolute consistency. Zambarloukos continues, ‘I wanted to set up a mobile viewing facility that would allow me to watch graded rushes before call time every morning and hopefully pass any notes onto colourist Jo Barker. It all started with a great LUT that we created with DIT Iain Thomson, in collaboration with Rob and Laurent at Goldcrest, so from the offset there was total integration between set grading and our post colour.’
By unifying the technical demands of DIT, data management, video playback and high-fidelity dailies colour into one pipeline, our Digital Orchard team built a seamless workflow. The DIT team secured the day's work to multiple RAIDs, while also manning a mobile screening Luton setup which was used to review the previous day's rushes, courtesy of Lab Operator Dan Saffer and Colourist Jo Barker.
Alongside Data Manager Kat Newton, DIT Assistant Max Ward helped get picture running smoothly, working closely alongside the Video Operator Ria Brown, and Video Assistant Matt Cooper. Together, the team provided precise, high-fidelity 4K monitoring with versatile mobile viewing, to allow Haris and key crew members immediate access to their work throughout the day; in as close to a grading suite environment as possible, with live colour adjustments made by Iain in real-time.
By integrating DIT, Video, and Dailies into one pipeline, the Digital Orchard team delivered a reliable technical workflow that allowed filmmakers to focus on the creative process with confidence.
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