Augusto team delivers exceptional haka film for SkyCity’s All Blacks Experience

SkyCity’s new All Blacks Experience invites tourists to walk in the shoes of one of the world’s best rugby teams, from preparation in the locker room to walking out onto the field. One aspect visitors are bound to be stunned by is the face-to-face haka filmed by the talented masterminds at Augusto.

Now being projected onto a curved 14-metre wall, the haka was filmed using one single, stationary shot with 6k resolution at 50 frames per second.

Augusto creative strategist, Oliver Sealey, says filming the tradition was never going to be easy as the All Blacks will only ever perform during a game.

“The All Blacks have a rule that the haka can’t be performed outside of a Test match environment which meant we would need to film in front of a packed stadium while also being broadcast live to the world. Basically, we had one shot at it and we had to be invisible.”

After multiple camera tests and exploring combinations of camera type, the Augusto production team built a custom rig that was able to be set up and struck from the field in less than 30 seconds.

The final take, and last chance at filming the haka, occurred in Hamilton at the NZ vs Tonga match, the last game before the All Blacks headed to Japan for the Rugby World Cup.

Head of production and post production at Augusto, Simone Goulding, says she wasn’t sure who was more nervous, the All Blacks or the Augusto team.

“It all came together in the end. The clouds parted, Kieran Read hit his mark and we remembered to hit record. We had it in the can.” 

Partnering with Perceptual Engineering, the next 12 months consisted of post production where every frame was tweaked, sweetened and pored over. Simultaneously, Native Audio was composing an original soundscape to further intensify the performance.

The result is a truly immersive experience that even a non-rugby fan (are there any in NZ?) would enjoy.

Credits: 

Creative Development and Production:  Augusto 

Creative Director and Strategist: Oliver Sealy

Head of Production and Post Production: Simone Goulding

Director & Post-production Supervisor: John Baxter

Director of Photography: Matt Hunt

Grip: Bradley Willemse

Music and Sound Design: Native Audio

Client: Workshop e

New Zealand Rugby and Ngai Tahu Tourism

The post Augusto team delivers exceptional haka film for SkyCity’s All Blacks Experience appeared first on stoppress.co.nz.

stoppress.co.nz