Rafa TV Documentary to Include Fantastic "Time Freeze" Technology

According to the European Poker Tour, today they are announcing an exciting new technology to be used in an upcoming documentary about Rafa Nadal playing poker to be distributed in 2014.

Players competing in the Eureka Prague Main Event will certainly have spotted a a poker table at the back of the room forming part of a TV set and ringed by an awesome-looking array of Canon cameras. Many will probably also have guessed that this has something to do with the forthcoming €100k charity poker tournament which Team PokerStars SportStar Rafa Nadal is competing in today along with Brazilian football legend Ronaldo, Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu and other sports stars.

You can follow the action from that event on the Twitter hashtag #RafaPrague.

What are the cameras for though? Arrayed in a tight semi-circle and all pointing directly at the poker table, they look as if they have been abandoned by dozens of poker paparazzi. In fact, the cameras are triggered electronically and form the key element for unique “time freeze” footage that will be shot during Rafa’s tournament. They will form part of a documentary made by Shine North/Princess Productions.

The technology was developed by British electronics engineer Peter Johnston to create the effect of a camera whizzing around a central figure, while the object of attention appears to be either completely static or moving in very slow motion. Such techniques were first used on the TV show “The Cube” and have since been used to create some absolutely stunning footage, including dancers who appear “frozen” in mid-air while a camera races around them on the show ‘Got to Dance.’ Many of the same staff are here in Prague.

A total of 80 cameras will be used in Prague with 80 frames shot each time – creating around 3.5 seconds of footage. Johnston said: “I think we are the only people who can create the slow-motion effect, where the cameras are triggered sequentially at about 100 milisecond intervals to create a slow-motion effect – and we’re constantly developing the technology still further to create more and more exciting effects.”