Pete Burns was one of the first cameramen to shoot with the new MPEG IMX camcorder.

Pippa Considine reports for Producer Magazine.

Hilton Park is a drama, which is set at night and shot entirely in the dark. It was a test for the writer and director Simon Broadley and for his lighting cameraman, Pete Burns. It was also a test for the MPEG IMX camcorder. It was a lovely camera," says Broadley. "It was very sensitive and we got some beautiful images."

Broadley has produced entertainment and lifestyle shows for 12 years, spending much of that time with LWT. He is now head of development for production company Hotbed Media, based in Birmingham.

Hilton Park, named after the motorway service station, is a black drama with a twist. "Two young people meet on a coach at night. We don't know where they've been or where they're going and things go horribly wrong," says Broadley. It was shot over the four days of the bank holiday weekend at the end of April this year.

Naturally things are slower and take longer at night," says Broadley. "Every shot has to be lit It was very time consuming and we had only six hours rather than a full day. But Pete Burns is a very experienced cameraman and created some beautiful lighting effects."

Although this was the first time that Burns had used the format, he had no problems getting started. "Switch positions are comparable to other camcorders," Burns explains. "This meant that I was up and running almost immediately. It's also a very lightweight camera and the large 16:9 viewfinder is impressive. Shooting at these low light levels wasn't a problem at all for the camera.

It seemed to be so much more sensitive than any of the other cameras I've recently used. I guess that's why Sony added a second filter wheel for the Neutral Density filters. A couple of the nights were quite cold but the camera seemed to run forever on one battery. So, it's excellent on battery consumption."

The equipment also had to put up with some adverse weather conditions. According to Broadley: It was Saturday night and we were supposed to be filming a sex scene in a field adjacent to the service station. We set up a gazebo in the middle of the field with all our equipment. Then we had a torrential downpour and high winds, which actually uprooted the gazebo. Our sex scene was coitus interruptus after three minutes."

Broadley spent six days in the edit at Aquila in Birmingham. The digital format proved a further advantage with various effects, including a take of a dog running across the motorway as trucks bear down on it.

Broadley is enthusiastic about MPEG IMX and the experience for everyone in shooting Hilton Park. And he is proud of the finished film, believing "it demonstrates the potential of MPEG IMX very vividly," But he isn't entirely sure that he would shoot another film with all the scenes at night.