Apple TV+ continues to up the production level on the Long Way travel series from Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, and that’s partly down to the new tech that the team used to film the show.
The adventure franchise has come, like its namesake implies, a long way since the first season, Long Way Round, kicked things off on Sky in 2004. By 2007 when season 2, Long Way Down, was released on the BBC, the pair were running around with Nokia 6110 Navigators and camcorders.
This grainy, shaky camera quality arguably became part of the show’s reality style and made it feel more like a travel vlogging series on YouTube; think of the type of DIY home videos you find of motorcycles on long stretches of road in picturesque locations.
Since Apple TV+ picked up the show in 2020 and released Long Way Up, the series has certainly become a much more polished travel documentary filled with stunning drone footage and scenic panoramas. And after seeing a sneak preview of the first two episodes of Long Way Home, season 4 of the show, I’d say it’s stepped it up yet again.
That’s likely down to the fact that the production team had Apple behind them again, which meant that nothing was spared when it came to using the best tech to capture this new adventure. I recognized quite a bit of the gear in the early episodes, and after speaking with the team, I got a list of what was used to film one of the best Apple TV+ shows.
What gear was used to film Long Way Home?
Preparing for a big biking adventure that’ll take you across miles / kilometers of unknown roads in new countries is a big undertaking and has always been part of setting the tone of each season of the Long Way TV series, with the first episodes showing McGregor and Boorman in the lead up to their trip. It’s a lot of logistics, to-do lists, and running around, but it’s the reality of crossing so many borders while keeping to a schedule.
In the case of The Long Way Home, this preamble is all captured in the first episode, making quick work of the lengthy episodes that used to be taken up by this in previous seasons – hey, they’re pros now after all. It shows McGregor fixing up his 1974 Moto Guzzi Californian police bike, an 850 El Dorado, and Boorman bringing back to life a 1972 BMW R75/5 (although he had flirted with the idea of a 1978 Ducati 900 earlier on in the episode).
In the previous season, the pair had ridden electric bikes in South America and before that had ridden the BMW 1200 GS as well as its predecessor in the first season, so it’s exciting to see them mix up their bikes for customized classics instead of the latest high-powered adventure bikes.
They’ve also stepped up the cameras with one of the best vlogging cameras, the DJI Osmo Pocket 3. This is one of my favorite cameras for filming while traveling because of its small weight and size, making it a no-brainer when you need to conserve packing space. For the action shots, two of the best action cameras have been deployed: the DJI Osmo Action 4 along with the 'Adventure Combo' attachments (extra batteries, case, and selfie stick) and an Insta 360 (although I'm not clear on which exact model was used, it makes a lot of sense to have a similarly lightweight camera for fast-paced scenes).
Of course, the iPhone is the smartphone of choice here, and that's no real surprise considering it's one of the best phones you can buy. The iPhone 15 Pro Max can be seen in various shots throughout the first two episodes – there’s even a bit where the duo lose one of their phones at the start of the trip and have to pull apart furniture to retrieve it.
Less attention is paid to the more practical but no less important tech in the show. For those curious, the production team tells me that they used SENA's 50C motorcycle Communication and 4K Camera along with the SC-4B-01 4-button remote and 50S motorcycle Jog Dial headset. On the audio side, Ultimate Ear's Sound Ear Pros were used as their in-ear monitors for all comms.
What to expect from Long Way Home
Every year, the production team behind the Long Way franchise is always looking at what new tech has been released to make sure they're using the best of the best. It makes sense given the fast-paced nature of the industry. There's also the fact that some of their gear has broken in the past, too, making the idea of reusing certain tech almost impossible.
Of course, the above isn't a complete list of all the tech that was used to film Long Way Home. As you can imagine, there were plenty of other cameras, including drones, gimbals, tripods, microphones, and more used to make this production as slick as it looks. Indeed, McGregor and Boorman are always accompanied by a cameraman close behind them to capture the trip.
In fact, in a Long Way Down, Claudio von Planta, the cameraman, crashed while filming one of the episodes. No equipment looked to be damaged by the tumble, showing how resilient their gear was. The same can be said of the gear they used for Long Way Home, going by what the production said, especially considering that their drone still worked after being submerged.
"While in Finland, Ewan and Charley went fishing with a drone, capturing the moment," the production team shared with me. "At one point, Charley cast his line and accidentally snagged the drone, causing it to plunge into the water. The line stayed hooked, and he managed to reel in the drone. They noticed the lights were still on and, remarkably, it was still recording so, managed to capture the whole underwater adventure!"
We'll have to keep an eye out for that scene when the first four episodes of Long Way Home premiere on Apple TV+ this Friday, May 9. It's one of three new Apple TV+ shows we recommend streaming in May, making it ideal for a lighthearted watch if you like adventure TV shows.
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