If you’re a big fan of CBS’ The Amazing Race like I am, then you’ve already seen the inventive camerawork of Emmy award-winning DP, Per Larsson. Larsson ─ whose credits include The Apprentice and Oprah’s Big Give ─ has been with The Amazing Race since the very beginning, recently finishing the 13th season.

He told me that he’s “the only DP/cameraman who’s done every day” of the show ─ an amazing 165 episodes, shot over eight years and all over the world ─ often in “very tough conditions.” As the DP responsible for the overall look of the show, Larsson says he oversees a huge crew of “11 camera operators and audio guys,” and explains that one of the biggest challenges he faces on the show is, “getting all those 11 operators to do exactly the same thing at 11 different locations. I have to teach and train them, and make them think about the show the same way, so that they do the same composition, the same lighting, and the same storytelling that can later be edited the same way.” He says that it’s so he can make sure to “give it all continuity and the same look. And that takes a long time to do. You need camera operators to stay with the show for a long time so they get to know the way we work very well.”

Keeping crews loyal to the show “is another part of the challenge,” he told me. “It’s such a tricky show to shoot; I need to keep the same people wherever possible to keep up the high quality every season. Luckily, all our current camera crews have been with us since season eight, which is great.”

 All 11 camera teams use the same camera package, “an IMX,” he says. “We rent all the IMXs from Wexler Video, and it’s similar to the Digibeta camera, but it has 60-minute tapes and four audio inputs to the camera. The 60-minute loads were a big plus for us. It’s also a bit more light-sensitive than the Digibeta, which is very important for us, as we’re often shooting in low light and at night in Africa or other remote locations. [And] we don’t have to carry so many tapes; we carry all our gear in a backpack.  Remember, it’s just us and the teams; there’s no assistance. We’re all alone wherever we’re shooting.

Larsson and his crews have access to two spare camera bodies, “but they’re never close to us. So if something goes wrong, we’re in a bit of trouble,” he told me. “We tell the camera crews to be careful with the gear and to treat it as if it’s their own.”
 Each race takes about a month to shoot, “but it’s a very demanding schedule,” he adds. “We’re working 24/7 ─ often in very remote, tough places ─ and you’re exhausted the whole time.” To check what he’s shot, Larsson plugs in the IMX to a MiniDV camera, “to view tapes through the monitor, just to make sure nothing’s wrong with the camera,” he adds. “All the footage is then edited at The Amazing Race offices back here in L.A.”     

CONTACTS:

Wexler
www.wexler.tv