Italian filmmaker Paolo Sodi was to about to shoot a documentary project like no other that he’d filmed before – a film following legendary Italian tenor, Andrea Bocelli, as the singer travelled from Rome to his hometown of Lajatico, Italy.

Bocelli's route would take him along the Via Franciagena – an ancient trail used by pilgrims travelling to Rome. Like those who had travelled the route hundreds of years before him, Bocelli would undertake the 200-mile journey on horseback, riding with family and friends while reminiscing about his career and journey through life.

“We travelled in an electric car ahead of Andrea. It was here we mounted a Sony Venice cinema camera to a big stabilised Panolite Scorpio Arm, then attaching this to the car and we were set – allowing us to film Andrea as smoothly as possible whilst tracking the journey.”

Although Andrea Bocelli has been riding horses since he was seven years old, riding for more than 320km was a real challenge, making ‘The Journey’ a unique experience for anyone involved.

“Part of the reason for using an electric car was to be as quiet as possible for filming, and so we didn't upset the horses at any stage, but also as Andrea relies so much on his sense of hearing” said Paolo. "What’s incredible is that he was able to sense things, despite not seeing them", recalls Toyah Buse, Paolo's Production Manager on The Journey.

"We were travelling through woodland and came to an opening as the sun shone. Andrea said, 'This is a fabulous place... It feels big, fresh and beautiful'. It was quite incredible."

The primary camera for the project was the car-mounted Sony Venice. 'In my opinion, it is the best cinema camera on the market. We actually considered using a second Sony Venice camera, but it would’ve been too difficult as we already had a specialist driver in the car, myself as director, a camera operator and a sound man…so the car was full. Having another Venice camera would require another crew, so instead we used a Sony FX9 as a secondary cinema camera – using this for tripod-mounted and sometimes shoulder-mounted shots. I chose the FX9 because of the 6K full-frame sensor and the electronic variable NDs. Features that as a filmmaker make my life easy!'

Paolo also used a Sony Alpha 7S III, giving him the confidence that he could use the camera without compromising on the quality of the image. 'I wanted the film to be as natural as possible. It was a documentary film, so couldn't ask Andrea to go back a few hundred metres to reshoot something. We needed to get the shots quickly and get the composition right the first time.’

The Alpha 7S III was specifically used to capture many of the detailed shots, mainly due to its compact size, weight and incredible performance in low light, alongside an FE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS lens. “We found that the 24-105mm was more than good enough for the shots we needed, and the zoom range gave us the flexibility to shoot quickly, which is important in a documentary.”

One scene in the film stood out to Paolo and was filmed on the Sony Alpha 7S III. “It was around sunrise or just before. We were in Tuscany, it was a foggy morning, and Andrea just came riding through on his horse as the sun was coming up. It looked incredible.”

Thanks to the Alpha’s performance in low light, Paolo didn't even fear pushing the ISO sensitivity to ISO 2500 in conditions such as the foggy Tuscan morning, and there were no problems with using the smaller Alpha camera alongside its Cinema line counterparts. In fact, the shared colour science and the S-log3 Picture Profile meant that the colourist working on ‘The Journey’ made the footage match up with ease. “I would speak to the colourists in the final stages of the edit and ask if there were any issues, and each time they would say that working and matching the footage from each camera was easy”, remembers Paolo.

Overall, the epic project required a team of 100 people, not to mention all of the incredible locations and musicians that Andrea performed with along the way. Even Pope Francis appears at ‘The Journey's’ start to bless Andrea as he sets off from Rome.

“I shot the scene with Pope Francis using the Sony Alpha 7S III as it is lightweight and portable, and I had to work quickly. It was a very powerful scene.”

The Journey had a cinema release in April 2023 and can now be seen on Paramount+ across Europe.