Green Door Films was the first to introduce digital high-speed video as a direct source of slow-motion material for production. The Phantom has now superseded the use of 16mm, Super16 and 35mm high-speed film cameras. Our “capture services” are recognised, trusted and respected by the television and film industry. Our technicians have years of high-speed experience and can discuss with your Director and DoP the best way to achieve the required shot. We are unique in that we are not affiliated to any other company whether it is equipment rental, effects facility, Director or DoP.

The whole phenomenon of high-speed video is a recent one. It was not until the 1980s that the first high-speed video cameras appeared on the market. These recorded up to 200pps (pictures per second) on VHS tape. The equipment was cumbersome; the main electronics would be wheeled around on a cart with a separate camera connected by cable.

With successive developments in equipment, picture quality gradually improved until the high-speed digital video camera moved into the film studio, being offered by film camera rental facilities as a video assist. Rehearsals could now be recorded on video and the results played back instantly, allowing effects technicians to make fine adjustments to their equipment. Only when everything was looking right would the expensive-to-run high-speed film camera be used to obtain the quality result required by production companies.

Inevitably, the image quality from each new generation of digital high-speed camera has increased by leaps and bounds. The latest cameras are now used directly for slo-mo effects, largely doing away with 16mm, Super16 and 35mm high-speed film cameras and the huge cost of raw stock and film processing. Using instant replay via a laptop computer the Director can better evaluate what will or will not work and by fine tuning lighting and exposure the DoP and Director are able to explore and build upon an idea during the shoot. If a take does not work or look right the camera is ready to try again within seconds. 

Today, material from digital high-speed video cameras is regularly cut into normal, Super16 or 35mm film material, video, HD and when viewed on television, the slo-mo results are stunning. As digital high-speed video cameras evolve, we can expect to see continuous improvements in camera sensitivity and resolution.

The Phantom V5.1 is designed for capturing slow-motion footage and is not suitable for use as a substitute for normal speed film or video cameras.

Green Door Films was founded in the late 1980s as an independent company offering a wide range of high-speed film cameras to the rental market. These included the MotionScope B/W high-speed video, used as a video assist, NAC E10/EE, and Photo-Sonics 16mm, Super16 and 35mm high-speed cameras. These were used in the production of television commercials, music videos, documentaries and natural history programmes as well as for industrial and military applications.

With the exciting advances in digital high-speed video cameras, GreenDoorFilms helped pioneer the use of high-speed video for direct use within productions. The company now offers the Phantom V5.1 cameras which have widely taken over from film cameras in capturing high-speed images and are regularly used throughout the industry.

John Hadfield, a graduate of Leeds College of Technology and London Regent Street Polytechnic, joined the Royal Aircraft Establishment, near Bedford, as a photographer working firstly on the Wind Tunnel site and then on the Experimental Airfield. He took an interest in the use of 35mm Vinten high-speed film cameras for recording aircraft catapult and arrester wire trials.

His next appointment was with a defence company, Hunting Engineering Ltd, based near Ampthill in Bedfordshire, where he worked on many military projects. He was responsible for the high-speed film cameras within the company's photographic department, sending 16mm high-speed cameras out to ranges and test facilities all over the UK.

With his expertise in high-speed he then joined IIMC Ltd — based in Thame, Oxfordshire — as their Sales Manager for high-speed cameras and other photo-instrumentation products from both NAC Inc and Photo-Sonics Inc.

In 1989 John founded GreenDoorFilms

Tony Allen. Phantom high-speed cameraman/operator.

Tony Allen. A graduate of Berkshire School of Art, he joined the film and photography unit of Oxford University’s Department of Zoology. While there, he found time to make a number of independently funded programmes for both the BBC and Survival Anglia. In 1980 he set up his own production company, Green Films, and spent the next 20 years travelling the world filming wildlife for all the leading broadcasters.

His career in wildlife filming culminated in 2000 when he won an Emmy Award for his work on Bodysnatchers for National Geographic. The programme also went on to win the gold medal at the 2000 New York Documentary Film Festival.

It was during the making of this programme that Tony met up with John Hadfield at Green Door Films and learnt of his pioneering work with the Phantom V5.1. It was immediately clear to Tony that the future for high-speed filming was going to be digital. With this and other rapid changes taking place in digital video technology, Tony decided to form another company, Panache Productions, to produce programmes and interactive DVDs for the science and medical corporate sectors.  This has led to a close link between Green Door Films and Panache Productions. Tony’s time as a cameraman/operator is now divided between the two companies.