Let’s be real, sometimes technology doesn’t work perfectly and you need to make the best out of a tricky situation. All too often I find myself on live broadcasts where I can barely hear the director and this has happened with all makes/models of com systems. It happens more often with cheaper com systems such as those wonderful Eartecs with the flip up mic. What happens is your fellow crew members aren’t aware of the need to always keep the com channel closed as this is just pumping tons of ambient noise into the party line. I’ve jibbed boxing events where the entire crew has their mics open and are chatting away thru the event, leaving me unable to hear the director at all! With higher end systems such as the older wired clear com boxes, you have all kinds of dip switches in the box to change settings. I’ve been stuck plenty of times with my volume on Ch A turned all the way up, barely able to hear the director with the cross talk from Ch B louder….no love from audio engineers to figure it out sometimes. You can’t be mad, sometimes there just isn’t enough time to fax every problem and you need to make the best of a difficult situation. Here’s my process! First, I explain the situation to the director and make sure they are fully aware there’s an issue which not much can be done about. Next, I try to be familiar with the director’s shot sequences to help get us on auto pilot. If I have tally support, that’s a huge help. If I can see program on live screens in the room, even better! If I get a program return feed, that’s icing on the cake as I can see how I interact with graphics and how the director is cutting with cameras. However, when you have shows where there’s a few things left to be “faxed” before go time, don’t expect your program return to work! This is where you need to make the production team look good, not find excuses for being mediocre. You need to be very aware of what shot sequences are happening, do conservative moves that you can segue in an out of, and have an eye on where the event is going as no one is telling you details on a headset. Live events are all about rolling with problems and technology not working perfectly. How you roll with problems and how good you can make a team look despite them is a great talent to have. We are working for a production team, we are a service to a production team, we always want to make the production team look good!
" Jimmy Jib" and "Jimmy Jib Rentals" in long distance shoots.
Heavy equipment such as “Jimmy Jib Rentals”, “Spider Pod Rentals”, “Sony FX9 Rentals NYC”, and others have very different transportation needs for long distance jobs. Depending on the jib, it’s easy to just drive a Jimmy Jib rig 8hrs if it’s a multi day project. However, getting “jib rentals nyc” over to the west coast is a much larger project. That’s where companies such as SOS Global come in. SOS is a logistics company with a niche in transporting production equipment. They can send a van to my home base in Jersey City, pick up a jib rig, get it in either one of their long hauler trucks or on a plane, and bring it to a venue this “jib op nyc” is working at. For smaller heavy items such as “spider pods nyc” or “spider pod rentals” in general, there’s a bunch of options. Locally around NYC, Uber Package is a fantastic way to shuffle some gear around. The rates are often a bit cheaper than if they were driving people around and it saves clients a higher delivery charge. If the spider pods have to go a longer distance, they can be sent via UPS or Fedex in a sturdy box. They are made of solid steel so they will transport just fine in the soft cases. Other equipment like “Sony FX9 Rentals NYC” can be shipped in pelican cases if a long distance is required or also shipped via SOS.