Cameras of 'Hell's Kitchen'

From a viewer's standpoint, Hell's Kitchen is all about the antics of chef/host Gordon Ramsey and the trials he puts his chef contestants through. Chef Ramsey summed up his style in a 2007 interview with Ireland's Sunday Tribune newspaper: "I maintain standards and I strive for perfection. That level of pressure is conveyed in a very bullish way, and that's what cooking is all about."

	Hell's Kitchen master control room

From a producer's standpoint, Hell's Kitchen is about capturing real people reacting to Ramsey's standards, and doing this invisibly so that the cameras don't affect the action.

"Our goal is to provide so much camera coverage from so many angles that we never have to stage anything—as other reality TV shows do to cover gaps in their stories," says Hell's Kitchen executive producer Kent Weed. "We want the viewer to not only see what's happening, but witness it from various points of view. In this way, they get to decide what the story is in all its complexity."

To accomplish this goal, Weed employs 69 Sony BRC-H700 robotic pan/tilt/zoom HD cameras. These are scattered around the Hell's Kitchen complex, with many hidden behind one-way glass to provide unnoticed surveillance. (Twenty-six of these units are IR-capable for night shots.) The BRC-H700s are bolstered by 10 handheld Sony XDCAMs, which are deployed as required (for example, during crowd scenes in the dining area). Microphones are located strategically around the Hell's Kitchen complex to provide quality audio no matter where the action is taking place.

	Chef Ramsay (right) gives the five remaining contestants a pep talk on Hell's Kitchen. Photo by Greg Gayne/FOX

All of the robotic camera feeds go into Hell's Kitchen's master control room, where up to 30 people are working at any given time. "We usually have 24 video feeds up at any one time, with four techs monitoring them and the audio feeds," says Weed. "We have such complete coverage that in theory we could live-switch the show rather than edit it for broadcast later."

Much of Hell's Kitchen's drama takes place in the kitchen, which is covered by hidden cameras. "A chef can be standing by a one-way mirror, losing it, and never be aware that there's a camera just inches away capturing his reactions," Weed notes. "Even though the contestants know the cameras are there, they soon forget them—and that is what allows them to express their true feelings for everyone to see."

The use of hidden cameras, coupled with the contestants becoming accustomed to the few camera people they see from time to time, is what enables Hell's Kitchen to deliver truly authentic reality television. "It doesn't take long for the viewers to see who the contestants actually are—not just when they blow up due to the pressure, but also when they break down," says Weed. "Love it or hate it, what you see on our show is the real, unvarnished truth."