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BITS & PIECES www.postmagazine.com 6 POST MAR/APR 2021 TAYLOR SWIFT'S FOLKLORE SHOT WITH LIMITED CREW HUDSON, NY — Taylor Swift's Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions was released on the Disney+ platform at the end of November. Mixing both docu- mentary footage and in-studio performance, the 106-minute-long movie sees Swift perform all the tracks from her latest album at the secluded Long Pond Studio in upstate New York. The shoot was a challenge due to COVID-19 restrictions and the studio's intimate space, which limited the size of the crew that could be on-hand. East Coast camera systems specialist JitaCam suggested the use of Motion Impossible's Agito Trax modular dolly for the four-day shoot. "There were a couple of reasons why we thought the Agito would be perfect for this," recalls JitaCam owner, John Pry. "First off, it fits in some really tight spaces and we could build a 30-foot track with straight sections and curved portions right around the mixing desk." This would allow the camera to get very close to the performers. "Second, it's fully wireless, which means that you don't need an additional person wrangling cables in the room," Pry adds. "In fact, we were able to oper- ate it from outside the studio space for the whole shoot." Pry shot his scenes using the Agito Trax dolly with the additional Tower and six-inch riser. The system's ability to carry a 22kg payload on the Tower allowed JitaCam to mount an Arri Alexa Mini LF, carrying a heavyweight Angenieux Ultra Optimo 26-320mm lens, on a Arri SRH-3 stabilized head. In addition to its COVID compliance, the Agito also operates quietly — an important aspect given the stripped-back nature of the performances. "Generally, all the songs are very mellow. You don't have drums and guitar taking over the sound space, so we had to operate the Agito as noiselessly as we can," Pry recalls. "It's a powerful unit but it is capable of operating with exactly the sort of quiet operation that we needed to be as unobtrusive as pos- sible and just let Taylor and everyone else do their thing." For more on the latest "Cameras & Lenses", turn to our feature on page 22. PRONOLOGY UPDATES STREAMFILE CORE FOR REMOTE WORK NEW YORK CITY — Pronology (www.pronology.com) recently introduced its updated StreamFile Core cross-platform software application, which is de- signed for receiving IP video protocols and encoding them into editor-friendly formats, such as ProRes, DNx, XDCAM and others. The new version integrates both NewTek NDI and Haivison SRT support, providing increased IP and streaming capabilities. This version also allows for an unlimited number of re- cord channels based on hardware performance. StreamFile Core is helping facilitate the move towards remote production while helping the influx of production and technical staff working from home. It was built upon the same technology that powers Pronology's mRes encod- er and enables studios moving to an IP-based platform to use their existing nonlinear editing, graphics and digital system infrastructures as they transition to IP. StreamFile Core bridges the gap between IP-based video technology and legacy baseband recording workflows. The update adds support for several additional codecs, including the ability to record ProRes and DNx with both .mxf and .mov wrappers. Now, users work- ing from home, on location or anywhere, can take their NDI or SRT streams and turn them into edit-ready files for Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro and others editing systems. StreamFile Core also has the ability to work as a cloud-based model using Amazon Web Services (AWS). Licensing and support is available for both short- and long-term projects. A number of stability features have been added into the software that allow for automatic resolution scaling, frame-rate detection and correction. StreamFile Core can be purchased directly from the Pronology website (www. pronology.com). "StreamFile Core allows our customers to receive media in new ways, such as Zoom, Skype and IP streams, while still maintaining broadcast-quality stan- dards," explains Jonathan Aroesty, president of Pronology. "StreamFile Core is a cost-effective tool designed to run on MacOS or Windows 10 systems, with minimal setup, allowing companies of any size to optimize remote workflows." StreamFile Core is agnostic to frame rate and resolution. Its architecture provides a future-proof way to use evolving IP video standards without any hardware upgrades to existing systems.