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Sony’s Revolutionary Cinematic Live Set Up In HDR For The Sagrada Familia Celebrations

10x Sony’s VENICE 2, 7x ILME-FR7 and 3x ILME-FX6 cameras capture the audiovisual event in HDR as part of the proceedings for Pope Leo XIV’s visit to the cathedral in a 3Cat production.

Another milestone in cinematic capture for live production: around twenty cameras from Sony`s Cinema Line including the VENICE 2, ILME-FR7 and ILME-FX6, were selected to cover the event held at the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona on June 10th.

The production, led by 3Cat (TV3) - National Catalan Broadcaster - live and in HDR is part of Pope Leo XIV’s visit to the basilica on the centenary of the death of architect Antoni Gaudí, coinciding with the official inauguration of the Tower of Jesus Christ.

Deploying Sony’s Cinema Line equipment for a live, international HDR broadcast on this scale marks a significant achievement, establishing a new technical benchmark for events of this magnitude.

Putting creativity first
The unique architecture of the Sagrada Familia – with its variable natural lighting, hard-to-access spaces and the colossal scale of the site – placed exceptional demands on the team. But both the creative and production teams rose to the challenge of using cinema cameras to cover this event, a spectacle of light and sound that combines cinematic language and live broadcasting with an unprecedented result.

The deployment of ten Sony VENICE 2 units, seven Sony ILME-FR7s and three Sony ILME-FX6s with Fujinon Duvo lenses and Sony E-mount lenses follows a carefully planned and coordinated production. The VENICE 2 delivers the highest quality image for the main shots, with exceptional low light response during the night artistic show, where the light is the main protagonist. As remote-controlled cameras, the Sony ILME-FR7s allow for coverage of hard-to-reach angles without interfering with the proceedings. The compact and lightweight Sony ILME-FX6s provide the mobility required for the most dynamic shots. All three models share Sony’s colour science, ensuring total colour consistency in the final result and simplifying the live production workflow.

The tallest church in the world: a technical and symbolic chronicle of an unprecedented event
The event holds dual historical significance: on one hand, Pope Leo XIV’s visit to the Sagrada Familia, the first papal visit to Barcelona since Benedict XVI consecrated the basilica in 2010. On the other, the official inauguration of the Tower of Jesus Christ, the central tower of the basilica, which, at 172.5 meters, makes the Sagrada Familia the tallest church in the world. The date is no coincidence: 10 June 2026 marks exactly a century since the death of Antoni Gaudí.

Adding to this context, the live television production of the show was handled by 3Cat, Catalonia's national television channel, with Pauli Subira at the helm. His vision was clear: the artistic narrative of the show created by Igor Cortadellas required a different kind of photography and aesthetic than that of conventional broadcast.

The technical deployment of Sony Cinema Line equipment was combined with PhotoCine's OB3 mobile unit, integrated with the Sony XVS mixer and Sony PVM-X and BVM-HX reference monitors. The technical direction of the project was led by British broadcast consultant Hector Sole-Bradshaw Beltran, with a team from the 3Cat (TV3) Technical Department (IDT).

With this deployment, Sony consolidates its position as a professional audiovisual benchmark in Europe, marking a milestone with the first use of Cinema Line in an international HDR live broadcast. 

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