THE WORLD'S LEADING SPECIALIST CAMERA COMPANY TEL +44(0)1483 426767

ACS began 2013 delivering aerials of the New Year Firework celebration at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and ended the year with the aerial unit supplying seven systems and crew for coverage of Dubai’s world record breaking Firework display to see in 2014.  Outside of the Olympics, this was our largest delivery of Cineflex systems for a single shoot!  Aside from this, over the course of the past twelve months, our aerial unit has been to some far reaching places as well as those a little closer to home.  Places visited include Brazil, Kenya, Norway, South Sudan, Russia, Ethiopia, Australia, Cancun, Istanbul, Abu Dhabi, Romania, Germany and France, not forgetting following the Moto GP series around the world.  Within the UK the aerial team delivered coverage of the World Triathlon Championships, The Grand National and the World Endurance Championships as well as shoots for television programmes and corporates.

Our largest project of the year was undertaken in Brazil providing aerial coverage of the Confederations Cup and there were other events where the team travelled long distances including filming from tracking vehicles in South Korea for the coverage of the World Rowing Championships and Camel Racing in Qatar.  The ACS EyeFlyer contributed to our aerial work, delivering shots from England’s victory in The Ashes in the UK, to the racing at Cheltenham and the Epsom Derby and followed F1 teams in Japan and Australia.

Our tracks department also had an eventful year, starting with ITV’s Dancing on Ice followed by the Six Nations, the Speed Skating Championships in Sochi and the yearly provision for athletics events around the country with the team re-visiting the Olympic Stadium for the London Anniversary Games.  Railcams were in high demand at the London Fashion Weeks and 2013 saw new systems provided for Burberry Menswear and Top Shop, along with the established provision for Burberry Womenswear.   The track team filmed  Muse at Horseguards Parade, supplied vertical tracks for the Chime for Change concert at Twickenham and were there for the last recording at BBC Television Centre.  Flown tracks were also used at a number of boxing matches around the country as well as a Royal Wedding in Abu Dhabi.  As they were busy developing, prepping and packing for next year’s large events the Autumn Internationals arrived with the crew delivering 100m 3D track for Sky Sports’ coverage of the games at Twickenham.  Finally, the year ended with the team delivering flown and vertical tracks for Sports Personality of the Year as well as 100m track for the South East Asian Games in Myanmar.

Whilst ACS tracks were keeping up with the year’s events our SMARTheads™ crew saw their fair share of high profile events in 2013 which involved a number of UK and international state occasions including Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation Service, Trooping the Colour, the Swedish Royal Wedding and the Coronation of King Willem Alexander of the Netherlands.  Thanks to extensive long term planning they were ready to deliver SMARTheads™ at St Paul’s Cathedral for Margaret Thatcher’s funeral and completed the year contributing to the BBC’s Carols from Kings along with coverage of the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services at Westminster Abbey.  Provision increased within the sporting world too, including jobs for the Ultimate Fighting Championships in Sweden and the UK and The British Open.  SMARTheads™ could also be found on BBC’s Springwatch, The Proms, The Voice, The Royal Variety Performance and concerts for Kings of Leon and Peter Gabriel to name a few.

In amongst all these highlights of 2013 ACS continued its annual coverage of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, Roland Garros, Queens Tournament, Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race, the London Marathon, Dubai World Cup,  as well as the Champions League Final and over 250 football matches for BBC, BT Sport, ITV Sport and Sky Sports.  The team also began a new provision of facilities for Channel 4 racing following the appointment of IMG World to produce the programme, with over 80 racing days covered throughout the year.  This culminated in the world famous Aintree Grand National where ACS supplied two tracking vehicles, Superloupe™, SMARTheads™, minicams, aerial coverage and the CAMCAT system making a significant contribution to the broadcast content of the event.

Looking forward, 2014 is already looking like an even busier year with a number of large international projects confirmed as well as the contracted delivery at home.  We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all our clients and suppliers for their support in 2013 and wish all a happy and prosperous 2014.