SONY CAMERAS ILLUMINATE RUSSELL CROWE'S INDOOR GARDEN PARTY TOUR WITH CINEMATIC BRILLIANCE

Sony’s versatile Cinema Line, including the innovative ILME-FR7, played a starring role in capturing Russell Crowe’s eclectic tour, offering dynamic shots, impressive low-light performance, and unmatched flexibility. Director of Photography Joe Machart, alongside a skilled crew, leveraged the strengths of various Sony models, showcasing their commitment to exceptional image quality and reinforcing confidence in Sony’s Cinema Line for large-scale projects.

- Joe Machart

Russell Crowe’s Indoor Garden Party tour featured 17 shows around the east coast of Australia, as well as multiple shows in Malta, Italy and the Czech Republic. The venues ranged from small pubs and clubs to large theatres and festivals. These included iconic venues The Sydney Opera House and Australia Zoo and world-renowned events such as The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The entire tour was captured exclusively by and shot with Sony cameras.

Director of photography on the tour, Joe Machart, explained, “Russell wanted six or more cameras on every show, as well as the ability for us to record rehearsals, interviews and behind the scenes footage. Over the years my go-to camera kit has gone from the Sony HDR-FX1 to the NEX-FS100 to the PXW-FS5 to the ILMEFX6V. When Sony announced the ILME-FR7, I was very excited to see what possibilities it would unlock for the tour. Sony and their partner distributor, Lemac, kindly organised a demo of one of the first units in Australia.”

Before the tour began, Crowe tasked awardwinning DoP Jules O’Loughlin ACS ASC and Machart with organising the filming of two earlier concerts he was planning at The Hoey Moey in Coffs Harbour.

Machart added, “This venue provided a fantastic experience for live acts and Russell wanted to capture that in the footage. On our recce we discovered that our wide and mid shots at front of house would be obstructed by a low ceiling. The FR7 immediately came to mind as an elegant solution as there was a lighting bar over the mosh pit which we could under-sling this camera on. This gave us a clear angle of the stage and worked flawlessly.”