This last Saturday we had the opportunity to be apart of the annual Second Chance Animal Rescue (SCAR) charity event, located at the Moon Dog Brewery in Preston.
This event was organised and spearheaded by the awesome team at Balloon Tree Productions (BTP) who have spent many years supporting the organisation.
Working alongside a crack team, including Ben and Rob who were responsible for ensuring the live stream kept running (it’s no easy task), we spent the day capturing interviews, running pre-produced clips and roaming around the courtyard where all the activities were going on. This included packing pet food for animals in need, pet ‘pawtraits’, colouring in for the kids, a merchandise store and a desk for taking donations.
VIDEO SETUP
My personal task for the day mainly revolved around being the roaming camera in the courtyard, walking around with producer-extraordinaire Chase from BTP and our host for the day Charlie, who did an excellent job engaging the crowd and conducting a bunch of fun interviews.
To pull this off, we used the Sony FX6 with a zoom lens on a shoulder rig, which was plugged into a Teradek transmitter feeding back to home base. These transmitters were supplied by Offshoot here in Melbourne and the whole team was shocked at how good they were. Being well over 30-50 meters away through a metal door, the connection was rock solid throughout the entire the day and we never had to worry about adjusting our positioning to work around the signal.
In comparison, I personally own an Accsoon wireless system we use for a lot of studio jobs. This system runs on a different frequency that’s more common with wifi and consumer devices. While it works really well for short range (plus the price to performance value is excellent)- we would’ve been hard pressed to get past the door without the signal breaking up!
The lesson? Good gear is worth the cost when it’s needed.
The Sony FX6 camera was also perfect for this kind of setup because of its Auto-ND function. This means it automatically adjusts the exposure as needed and I could roam around the courtyard area without needing to worry about it.
Having said that, it wasn’t perfect and at one point it took a group of people wearing black shirts as too dark and raised the exposure- causing their skin to become too bright. Still, in comparison to manually dialling this in all day, it was a worthwhile tradeoff. Thankfully it only slipped up once the whole day.
AUDIO SETUP
For the audio situation, we had a Rode wireless microphone system plugged directly into the camera. This then fed the whole audio signal back to home base through the Teradek. We used a microphone stick accessory to place our wireless transmitter underneath a windshield and have Charlie walk around with it.
In this respect, I’m constantly amazed at how good and cheap all this audio technology has gotten. Not too long ago this would’ve required a dedicated wireless microphone system (bulky mic and receivers) plus potentially an extra person to manage it- not anymore!
This setup mostly worked well throughout the day. However, there was one moment where the audio signal started buzzing. This was a little strange… While I initially thought it was the connection cable, a few power cycles of the Rode system seemed to fix the issue and it never returned. However, I’ll be keeping my eye on this to see if it ever comes back
This was a good reminder to keep my headphones on and monitor the audio consistently.
SUPPORT SETUP
Lastly for gear, what Saturday reminded me of is how important an ergonomic setup is for these kinds of shoots. These days, we’re not short of solutions for floating/handheld setups. You’ve got gimbals, EasyRigs (vests with a protruding arm), CineSaddles, shoulder mounts and just being an absolute cowboy and just holding the camera out in front of you (not recommended).
No matter what you choose, it should feel comfortable and sustainable for long periods of time.
For me, the shoulder rig was a mixed bag. I kept adjusting it throughout the day but struggled to find the right position where my body was comfortable. It was fine for shorter shots but especially for the longer shots, I felt it.
Funnily enough, the main problem here wasn’t weight- it’s the distribution of that weight. Old-style broadcast cameras are big and bulky compared to this small Sony camera but they benefit from being longer and having more even distribution of their weight. Therefore, you’re putting less pressure into your arms and body to prop up the camera continuously.
The solution here would be to add more counterweight at the back until it takes very little effort to have the camera stay level. However, I didn’t get the time to do this prior to Saturday due to being very unwell through that week.
RUNNING TIME
More importantly than gear is how a live production comes together and in that respect, Saturday was a true display of professionalism. With multiple hands on deck, including the aforementioned Chase, the day was planned down to the minute. Interviews were kept on track, we always knew how much time we had before the next block and in the end, we finished right on 5pm as Chase counted down the seconds to left of camera.
It was such a great feeling.
While my passion in filmmaking is taking the time to craft shots with light and colour, this kind of ENG-style (Electronic News Gathering) is also highly familiar to me. Growing up around broadcast and doing work experience at Channel 9, I know the hard work that goes into putting on a live broadcast. The saying ‘it takes a village’ is accurate as you need all the cogs to come together to make it work seamlessly.
Compared to traditional cinematography, broadcast deserves its own recognition in a different way. Because there’s no second takes on a live broadcast!
In that respect, I was so impressed at the lengths Balloon Tree went to, ensuring the day was run as professionally as possible. Plus if you’re a dog person, you wouldn’t have been disappointed by the selection of cute puppers on display.
WRAPPING UP
When Balloon Tree asked if we’d like to be apart of this event, I jumped at the chance. Having spent a lot of time working for them in my freelance days, I think the team Matt Smolen has built there is excellent. Everyone goes above and beyond to do the best on each job and it’s a real inspiration to what we’re trying to build at On Q in our own way.
Throughout the day we had so much fun while putting on this production that would’ve rivalled that of bigger teams. But don’t get me wrong, it’s not about idolising a smaller team. The key is having engaged people who all care about the cause.
From our host, to all the people in the crew- this wasn’t just another job. We were there to help the cause of SCAR, and that’s why everything felt so rewarding. Plus when you’re in the presence of a great team, nothing is ever a concern.
