High Speed Filming

Here is how this works in practice. We source high-speed cameras and the pro help they need through Malta Film Studios in Kalkara and local gear partners. Phantom-class systems running at extreme frame rates demand far more light than standard photography and create big data, so our team sets up the high-output lighting packages and on-set data workflows that keep a high-speed day moving.

Here is the short of it. Our operators are skilled on the island's flagship site — the water tanks at Malta Film Studios, among the largest in the world — which makes Malta unusually strong for the splash, impact and marine slow-motion shots high-speed work is prized for. We plan the precise timing a single high-speed take needs, since action at extreme frame rates is rarely repeatable, and we draw on the production roads around the studios for grip, lighting and crew. Malta's compactness lets a high-speed unit move between a tank setup and a heritage exterior in Valletta or Mdina within the same day.

Here is the breakdown. Malta's appeal for high-speed work rests on its facilities and its light. Malta Film Studios, founded in 1964, operates water tanks used on 'Gladiator', 'Troy', 'Captain Phillips' and 'World War Z' — a controlled aquatic environment that high-speed cinematography exploits to spectacular effect for splash and water-impact sequences. Above water, the island's clear Mediterranean light and roughly 300 days of sunshine supply the abundant lighting that extreme frame rates consume, and the honey-coloured limestone of Valletta and Mdina gives striking backdrops.

Here is what that looks like on the ground. The deep, English-speaking crew base built over a century of global shoots keeps tech planning fast. As an EU member, Malta makes gear movement straightforward — intra-EU kit needs no carnet — and a cash rebates of up to 40% on eligible expenditure, among the most competitive in the Mediterranean, supports the camera hire, lighting and data handling that high-speed filming needs.