The days of diesel generators are numbered. Apart from bans on driving certain diesel-powered vehicles, the use of diesel generators has already been restricted in German cities, as in Berlin and Cologne. Film and TV productions are facing the challenge of finding alternative energy solutions to power shoots at multiple locations.
One innovative solution is the hybrid battery generators that are already being successfully used in the construction industry. These mobile power banks store electrical energy in a large battery. “For us, film and TV production is Formula 1 racing”, says Tobias Naber, sales engineer at Polyma Energiesysteme. This German company, which has been developing and producing diesel-powered generators since1948, has now developed a mobile power bank.
In order to refine this new application, hybrid battery generators will be provided to production companies and distributors for field testing. One participant is the film equipment rental house Lichthaus Berlin, which had already in 2015 outfitted its entire fleet of generators with soot particle filters to meet the latest gas emission standards. Among the first productions to join Lichthaus Berlin in using this zero-emission battery solution is the series Good Times, Bad Times (Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten).
This popular drama series, produced by UFA Serial Drama in Babelsberg, is broadcast weekday evenings by RTL. Almost all the shoots take place in the Potsdam Babelsberg film studios, where the production maintains a complete outdoor set that features several different motifs. When characters have to leave their familiar haunts, real locations in Berlin are preferred, which in turn necessitates a reliable location power supply.
“Our generator is powerful enough to completely cover all the lighting as well as the base camp operations on set”, emphasizes Mike Zimmermann, Manager at Lichthaus Berlin. Thanks to this electric power package, which can output up to 176 kWh and 100 kW, the production can easily accommodate heavy power consumption over a long period of time.
The basic equipment is composed of a Li-Ion battery, intelligent battery and battery-life management, and a 12” Touch TFT display for monitoring battery power levels. Compared to a diesel generator, the mobile power bank has the advantage of operating noiselessly, running smoothly even at a one-hundred percent unbalanced load. The uneven charging of the three-phase network is no longer a challenge. Compared to a similar diesel generator operating at a lower load, the mobile power bank saves about fifty to seventy percent on running energy costs.
This zero-emission generator has a gross weight of 3,500 kg. It is mounted on a trailer that can be hitched to a car. The unit recharges in less than eight hours at a typ2 outlet, which is the European standard for e-mobility. Used with a bi- directional cable connected to a CEE125 A outlet, the unit recharges completely in only two hours. In addition to the power bank, the minivan all-in- one solution includes a range extender which can recharge the unit with either gas or fuel. „We’re delighted“, concludes Naber, „to contribute this energy solution to help achieve climate-neutral production.”
“The time for half-measures and climate denial is over. Unless we move quickly away from fossil fuels, we’re going to destroy the air we breathe, the water we drink, the health of our children, grandchildren and future generations. If we’re going to avoid the worst of the impacts, then we’ve just got to act boldly. And we must act immediately."
Robert Redford
Actor, Director, Producer, Environmentalist
"The media has a powerful role to play in the fight against climate change. Through films, television, and all media outlets, we must continue to deliver the message that solutions are out there and are happening now. We have to make it attractive for people to take action. Movies like Avatar, The Day After Tomorrow, and documentaries like Years of Living Dangerously, which I was proud to be a part of, have been very popular, reaching and inspiring millions of people. And I believe films in particular can really inspire and make people want to take action. It’s great to see some of my film-industry friends working with climate related organizations to push forward those messages."
„It‘s high time to reorganize film production in Germany in a ‚greener‘ and more sustainable way. So far, I am flabbergasted by how much our industry works in environmentally harmful ways.To this very day, it starts with until today one-sided print-outs of scripts, and then it continues with plastic bottles in production offices and lots of plastic waste with every catered meal, and it doesn‘t stop with the limousines that pull up to a red carpet.
For many years, people have sneered at me when I brought my own cup or I declined to eat cheap meat served on paper or plastic plates with plastic knives and forks. It would be great if the Green Shooting Card could change all that.“
Director (Ben X, Time of My Life)
„It’s absolutely great that filmmakers all over the world are trying to clean up their act, and are trying to film as sustainable as we possibly can. Still, I think we shouldn’t underestimate the incredible power of the moving image to also change the hearts and minds of people.
So, apart from trying to be more environmentally aware in our business, I think the big gain lies in how we might make everyone more environmentally aware. Yes, cinema can change the world.
I think filmmakers should start using the powerful weapon in our hands that is the camera.
Let’s not only try to do ‘less bad’. Let’s try to do right, and help drive the change that we all know needs to arrive.“
“We are living in a time in which we can’t afford to behave irresponsibly towards nature. The more important is it that film productions try to work as environmentally friendly as possible. A film team produces every day tons of garbage. I try to avoid using plastic cups on set, I bring my own cup, use ecofriendly cosmetics and avoid needless single rides.”
Photo ® Maddalena Arosio
Darren Aronofsky, Director, Noah / Jury President, 65th Berlin International Film Festival
“When we did Noah we knew we were making a film about the first steward of the earth, so we wanted to be good stewards ourselves. There’s so much waste on film sets. Because of groups like Earth Angel, we were able to change that a little bit.”
"As a TV and film producer I try to incorporate environmental storylines into my projects as much as possible. But it’s just as important, if not more, to ‚go green‘ behind the scenes! Therefore, I help run the Producers Guild of America’s Green Initiative.
We provide resources such as a Best Practices and a Carbon Calculator to help producers green their productions. We also partnered with all the major studios to create www.greenproductionguide.com which is a free green vendor database with over 2,000 vendors offering sustainable production solutions worldwide!"
‚Green screens excepted, we will do everything in our power to be as innovative as we can in order to make our production as green as possible.‘
Photo: (c) herbXfilm Dieter Mayr
Lars Jessen
Director (Fraktus, Dorfpunks, Am Tag als Bobby Ewing starb)
‘It is somewhat embarrassing that green filming is only now becoming an issue in our industry because there have long since been many possibilities to shoot more efficiently.
Technical innovations such as energy efficient lighting are as much a part of this as the awareness of every crew member.’
I do work with a company in the States called Sungevity that leases solar panels to homes. They figured out how to move forward environmentally and how to make it economically successful.
So that’s my small but steadfast global contribution. I think everybody doing a little bit is all that’s made any difference, ever.‘
Producer, Director and Visual Effects Supervisor (2001: A Space Odysee, Blade Runner)
"Trumbull Studios in Massachusetts is dedicated to being green as much as possible, including the use of LED lighting, solar power, and solar laptops. This is not just because our location has limited amperage and no three-phase, we believe we have a responsibility to our community and our planet to be a clean industry.
We are planning for digital photography in 3D 4K at 120 frames per second from remote and inaccessible locations that will not have available power. Solar is the way to go."
Dieter Kosslick, Director Berlin International Film Festival
„The Berlinale is already actively addressing the sustainability subject since years. We appreciate it very much that a growing number of filmmakers, among them this year‘s jury presiden Darren Aranofsky, is following green guidelines on set.“
Benoit Delhomme
Director of Photography (A Most Wanted Man)
‘I never have been told precisely what the rules are for shooting a green movie, but we are trying to do it. This is something new for me. Sometimes people overlight scenes at night. I don’t. If I can see with my own eyes, then it is enough for the film. In that sense I am a green DoP.’
Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons who stars in the Berlinale Competition entry The Night Train To Lisbon is a fan of source segregated recycling. „Especially in Germany you have done a lot for that. You are examplary in the matter of waste separation.“
The Hollywood actor travelled around the world to promote the environmntal documentary feature film Trashed by Candida Brady which deals with the global garbage problem: „We buy it, we bury it, we burn it and then we ignore it“, says Brady. „With Jeremy Irons as our guide, we discover what happens to the billion or so tons of waste that goes unaccounted for each year.“
Since the world premiere at the International Cannes Film Festival in 2012 Trashed picked up various nominations and awards at international festivals.
One innovative solution is the hybrid battery generators that are already being successfully used in the construction industry. These mobile power banks store electrical energy in a large battery. “For us, film and TV production is Formula 1 racing”, says Tobias Naber, sales engineer at Polyma Energiesysteme. This German company, which has been developing and producing diesel-powered generators since1948, has now developed a mobile power bank.
This popular drama series, produced by UFA Serial Drama in Babelsberg, is broadcast weekday evenings by RTL. Almost all the shoots take place in the Potsdam Babelsberg film studios, where the production maintains a complete outdoor set that features several different motifs. When characters have to leave their familiar haunts, real locations in Berlin are preferred, which in turn necessitates a reliable location power supply.
The basic equipment is composed of a Li-Ion battery, intelligent battery and battery-life management, and a 12” Touch TFT display for monitoring battery power levels. Compared to a diesel generator, the mobile power bank has the advantage of operating noiselessly, running smoothly even at a one-hundred percent unbalanced load. The uneven charging of the three-phase network is no longer a challenge. Compared to a similar diesel generator operating at a lower load, the mobile power bank saves about fifty to seventy percent on running energy costs.
Robert Redford
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Hannes Jaenicke
Nic Balthazar
Nadeshda Brennicke, Actress
Darren Aronofsky, Director, Noah / Jury President, 65th Berlin International Film Festival
Tim Bevan
Thekla Reuten
Rachael Joy
Nikola Rakocevi
Nadja Schildknecht
Michael Bully Herbig
Lars Jessen
Helen Hunt
Douglas Trumbull
Dieter Kosslick, Director Berlin International Film Festival
Benoit Delhomme
Jeremy Irons