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Talk Back Devices for a Biking Film
P.S: I had posted this on the Creative Community, but this seems to be the more appropriate forum for the same query. Since I could not xfer the forum, hence I am reposting here. My apologies for the same.
Hello,
I have just finished exec producing a biking film. My protagonists were 4 women riding, heavy duty bikes on a mountain journey.
The challenge I faced during shooting was , while shooting the riders, my team – dop/first ad/dir/shooting producer/action choreographer/etc infact no one could pass instructions to them, and they ofcourse could not interact back. Long duration shots were very important, since the landscape, sunlight, setting kept changing and all of it needed to be captured in certain way.
So is there any talk back devices which can take care of such shooting/action sequences?
Thanks,Anand
replied 8 months, 1 week ago 2 Members · 3 Replies
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3 Replies
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Hey Anand,
Remote instructions and communications in film production is not a new issue. But is all detirmined on how many people who have on location, and what your budget is?
Walkie Talkie with headset, although you may “share” the frequency with local construction companies or law enforcement…
If you have a mobile signal and enough data, you could run a WhatsApp group call. But in all instances, you will either have to hide the device on the “performers”, or use a megaphone.
There is no easy solution, except as to who must be on the call. And, who can be directed by a B-Crew or assistant director hiding in a ditch near the cyclists…
Atb
Mads -
Dear Mads,
Thank you for confirming, this is an existing issue.
It comes as a surprise to me though, considering my limited exposure to traveling action. I imagined considering the volume of such heavy duty and well co-ordinated action sequences in today’s age would have cracked a solution for the same.
Walkie Talkies are savior in many cases, not this though. Even if you manage to hide it, the actors cannot talk back and ofcourse there are range issues, channels being the least of the issue. Whatsapp Group, without network, isn’t a solution.
Much appreciate the exchange.
Thanks,
Anand
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Dear Anand,
Control on film set is difficult, at the most of times, even more so when you are at the mercy of mother nature.
Where soes the control start/stop – you want to give directions, but do you want people to question them back? Will you then need to have a feed from hidden cameras – just pushing for you to consider what is important, and where you’ll need to trust the performers and crew to bring it home on the day.
The more you want to do, the more bulky does it get. One way radio from you to cyclist is easy enough, and should be possible to conceal.
If each rider is carrying a concealed radio microphone, then that might be your return audio solution where the recordist give you an output from their mixer.
If you search for film intercom, sites like this comes up:
https://www.fullcompass.com/gearcast/intercoms-for-stage-and-production-buyers-guide
https://www.clearcom.com/Markets/Film-TV-Production
Keep in mind that this kit can be expensive to buy, and most film productions tend to hire them. The more complext, the more people you’ll need to fit, check and maintain (change batteries).
Hope that this helps you a tiny bit further.
Atb
Mads
fullcompass.com
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