Small Cameras. Big Productions: How Laughing Around Is Rethinking Content Production
Content creation is booming, and as the sector grows in multiple directions, it needs increasingly versatile studio and live performance spaces. London’s West End-based Laughing Around Studios is a podcast and live-production space with its own production company
Identifying a need for high quality, low-cost video
Laughing Around was founded by Nick Mills , who saw a need for high quality content production in an affordable, ready-to-go facility.
Nick had watched a string of promoters and artists trying to capture performances with ad-hoc setups, and, inevitably, lacklustre results. So he built Laughing Around to help new and established talent capture and distribute their performances in an authentic-feeling space, and without the sky-high costs of conventional facilities.
The building has three performance spaces, with a 300 person capacity venue, a 60 person room and a podcast and recording studio. Operated as a studio for hire, with full, pre-planning, multi-camera production and post production services included, it’s a one-stop shop for a growing diversity of clients. Notable customers include Jimmy Carr, Romesh Ranganathan, Shaun Ryder and brands like The New York Times.
Sony all the way
Ryan Dutch runs Laughing Around and Qays Nsanja looks after technology and production, which includes a suite of Sony FX3 cameras.
“We’ve been Sony through and through since inception. It’s not just about the image quality on its own; it’s about how the cameras fit into your workflow ”, says Ryan. Laughing Around had been using Sony FS7 cameras but recently upgraded to FX3s, noticing an increase in quality described by Ryan as “phenomenal”.
We’ve been Sony through and through since inception. It’s not just about the image quality on its own; it’s about how the cameras fit into your workflow.
Ryan Dutch
The FX3 provides large-camera type full-frame imaging in a surprisingly compact body. It has extremely high sensitivity and 15+ stops of dynamic range: ideal for small spaces and the flexibility of handheld operation. For fast turnaround projects, rapid set-up times are essential, and the FX3 has a touch-operated LCD monitor to set and track focus points.
Laughing Around’s spaces have a unique, intimate character which would be easily disrupted by the typical paraphernalia needed for live video recordings. With busy day and nighttime schedules of podcasts and live performances, Sony’s cameras stay out of the artists’ way while capturing high quality content even in extremely low light. The FX3’s precision autofocus keeps hold of rapidly moving bands and comedians on the stage). Consistent colour matching in multicam productions simplifies and speeds up post production. FX3 camera operators can choose from the vast array of Sony E mount lenses, including the precision G Master series. The combination of Sony lenses, the FX3’s full frame sensor and cinematic colour science allows the FX3 to punch above its weight, with deep, saturated colours and engaging depth of field effects.
New types of content; a new kind of production
Unlike traditional media, social media has an almost infinite capacity for new content. Traditional techniques with their associated high costs wouldn’t work for smaller content productions, but technology has moved on, and it’s now possible to run a busy content production venue in a way that’s affordable and gives professional results. Several factors converge to make this possible.
Cameras have been getting smaller, giving high-end results in a small, easy to handle package. Live production (and recorded production of live events) are now embracing the cinematic. For audiences, it is attractive and engaging. For producers, it gives depth and solidity right off the camera. The quality of the images allows for creativity in post production and the potential to “rescue” imperfect shots that might otherwise have been lost due to poor lighting or spontaneous, unexpected parts of a live performance.
The FX3s are easy to rig and are very useful in low light, especially for our multi-production venue
Qays Nsanja
Keeping control
Part of Laughing Around’s portfolio of services is live streaming events. The company handles planning, camera work and delivery. Sony’s Monitor and Control app helps to coordinate and streamline the operation, controlling multiple cameras and monitoring their output. The FX3’s modest size and low cost makes it ideal for sophisticated multi-cam productions, and the Monitor and Control app lets a single person run the shoot, keeping costs down for sophisticated multi-camera productions.
Sony’s hands-on support
Sony takes pride in the hands-on support it gives to customers. It works both ways: customers get the products they want, and Sony gets the best, most useful feedback from its clients.
We’ve been absolutely blown away with how incredibly supportive Sony’s been. Every time we meet up with Sony, we seem to find out about a new bit of technology, a new bit of equipment, or even a new process that makes our live so much easier
Nick Mills
The right camera in the right place
Laughing Around flips from podcasts to night-time live gigs and then back again. The cameras can’t get in the way. Ryan said, “We need to be able to shoot with great quality without it taking over the room; without it disrupting any live events or action in the room”.
The FX3 is built for exactly these conditions: full-frame quality in a body that weighs only 630g. You can mount it anywhere or handhold it for maximum mobility.
The future
Laughing Around is a thriving business and is now looking to expand, with more studio space, possibly a second site and the hope of helping more creators capture high quality content. With its strong and beneficial relationship with Sony, the company is excited about future ventures.
