(Science journalist Mark Horstman, cameraman Peter Curtis and Landline reporter Fiona Breen in Antarctica - Photo: Landline)
While their colleagues were sweltering through the peak of summer, Tasmanian based Landline reporter Fiona Breen and cameraman Peter Curtis were working in extreme cold on assignment in Antarctica, producing a series of stories for a variety of platforms and programs.
By Fiona Breen
Our successful pitch to the Antarctic Division last year promised multiplatform coverage of science and life on Australia’s Antarctic Stations. Once we secured spots on the Airbus 319 flying to the icy continent, Science journalist Mark Horstman, cameraman Peter Curtis and I, who are all based in Tasmania, planned a full list of stories.
(Fiona Breen and Peter Curtis with the pilots of the Airbus - Photo: Landline)
We flew from Hobart to Wilkins Runway on January 31 and started shooting stories straight away, documenting the 12 hour journey by Airbus, Hercules and helicopter to Davis Station, the so-called ‘Riviera of the South’.
(Pete Curtis, Fiona Breen and Mark Horstman on the Wilkins Runway with the Airbus and Hercules in the background - Photo: Landline)
The weather was unusually picture perfect the whole journey down and, equally unusually, we made it to Davis without any delay. We'd sent ahead a wish list of story ideas to Station Leader Kirsten Le Mar and after our inductions into the workings of the kitchen and the station in general, we had our first of many logistics meeting.
(Grabbing a quick nap on the Hercules flight - Photo: Landline)
Incredible weather and a willing team at Davis allowed us to get to some amazing places, out on boats to islands off Davis Station, choppered onto glaciers and into the Vestfold Hills.
(The ABC team heading out in a boat to film at Bluff Island - Photo: Mark Horstman)
Probably the most difficult part of our journey was the clothing, at least three layers of it and huge moon boots which caused me to trip over and get a black eye three days into the trip.
(Pete Curtis filming on the ice - Photo: Fiona Breen)
The cold played havoc with fingers, particularly for Pete Curtis, who needed to take off his gloves regularly to operate the cameras. Pete took six different cameras - cameras that could capture footage from under water, on land and from the air (in choppers) - and that's not counting the cameras we used to take photos.
(Peter Curtis at work on Sorsdal Glacier - Photo: Fiona Breen)
Before leaving, we’d liaised with network planners to work out which stories we could produce for which platforms and programs – eg: 7pm News, News 24, online, social media and radio. This pre-planning was important and really useful particularly when working in an extreme environment.
(Pete Curtis on board a Basler aircraft - Photo: Fiona Breen)
Good weather and teamwork ensured everything went to plan and, even better, all of our visual stories were of top quality. We also managed to file for radio as well.
(Bluff Island - Photo: Landline)
What really hit home to me after this fabulous Antarctic assignment was how much content you need to feed the hungry beast that is the modern ABC. We need people with a variety of skills on the ground producing such content, not just journalists, but camera operators who are across new technology and understand how to produce social media videos as well as traditional television stories.
(Filming on Bluff Island - Photo: Landline)
The best pieces we produced had wonderful pictures but were also great stories. A highlight was this 360 video created when Pete set up the camera on a ‘penguin highway’. Pure gold! And it was a great team effort in camerawork, storytelling and editing that made it work. It’s best to watch with 3D goggles to get the whole experience.
(The team on Wilkins Runway - Photo: Landline)
Watch Fiona’s Landline story here.
More stories from the Tasmania news team here.
Click here to return to the Back Story home page and catch up on stories from the past four years on our archive page.
