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Simon Paine

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Hi everyone,

I'm just recovering from a long and physicaly demanding gig this summer. here's a brief description. We were following 10 "voyageurs" as they recreated Alexander Mackenzies (first european to cross North America) journey by land across Western Canada (we went from Winnipeg, Manitoba to Bella Coola, British Columbia). The participants were wearing clothing and eating food authentic to the era and paddled most of the journey (except for long hiking sections) in a birch bark canoe. We tried to follow the route as accuratly as possible to the original one travelled by Mackenzie, and that meant we were in very isolated parts of the rockies. We could go 12 -13 days unssuported with only an occasional air drop of food when we would pass lakes big enough for a float plane to land. I was the sound supervisor and we had 3 cameras (2 Sony EX-1 + Sony 900) rolling most of the time.

For sound, I decided on going with 442 mixer and 3 - 411 receivers per bag system. With a boom using a MKH-60. We also ran a Zaxcomm stereo transmiter to camera, and a LM tx for IFB feed to director. The whole thing powered by a lithium Ion NP-1.  I also brought along my 744t and MKH-50 / MKH-30 to get some great MS stereo recordings.

The first two months of the journey we were on the water most of the day, and would cover there camps morning and night. The participants were all wired with Lectro MM400-C transmiters. When possible I would also swing my Loon 14 foot boom out over the canoe. That system worked well for the weeks on the water.

The third month, the route took us on land where Mackenzie climbed up and over the rockies to make his way down into the Bella Coola Valley. It was a 400 km hike that the crew would have to do also. I stayed with the same setup at first, but ended up dropping a few of the 411 receivers, not due to any performance reasons, but just because the participants were more spread out along the trail and weren't saying much anyways. I could easily cover it with a boom. This land part of the trip was by far the most grueling. We had pack horses and a small support crew to carry all our camping equipment, and they would stay approximatly 5 km's behind the crew during the day while we were filming. We would hike approx 25-30 km's a day not only carrying our gear, but also our food for the day, extra clothing, batteries and drinking water. Needless to say we were carrying a lot of weight. And this is where I found there was a real need for a new product.

I was wearing my harness for my sound equipment and on top of that, I would be wearing a backpack to carry all the extra stuff I needed. The combination of the 2 sets of straps on my shoulders proved to be quite uncomfortable and bulky. and I would spend a lot of the day trying to re arrange and move the straps so they would sit comfortably and not squeeze my neck. It would be great if there was an integrated harness / backpack system that would use a single harness. Make the back pack detacheble for the days you don't need it. Make the backpack waterproof and able to carry drinking water in a bladder system. I'm sure a company like Petrol or Porta Brace could easily make something like this. And it wouldn't just be for intense outings like this, but also just for running around town. I've worked enough reality gigs to know, that this would be a usefull item. Anyone know of such a product ? I've looked at all the usual sources, but nothing really came up.

For a backpack, I used this one over the summer and was pretty impressed with it, and I would highly recommend it to other sound folks. It has a nice waterproof bottom compartment where i would put sensitive gear and it also comes with a hydropack for carrying water: http://products.lowepro.com/product/DryZone-Rover,1936,18.htm

I'll try and post some pictures from the gig soon.

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Hi everyone,

I'm just recovering from a long and physicaly demanding gig this summer. here's a brief description.

Wow! That does sound like a rather demanding job ... I don't know how many of us could actually get through that kind of ordeal. I certainly know at my age someone would have had to bring a backpack to carry me around in. Do post some pictures when you get the time.

Get some rest.

-  Jeff Wexler

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Simon,

nice and tough gig.

could you rigged your petrol bag on a pack horse on long stretches? and do a wireless boom. my buddy did a gig in the Nevada desert, that had the same type of "talent/guides" walking for long stretches of rough terrain. and he setup his bag full of the same audio set up as you described, on one side of a mule or pack horse, and set levels and they were good to go.

thanks.

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Wow! That does sound like a rather demanding job ...

It was demanding to say the least, but it was also very rewarding. On occasions it was the worst gig of my life, other times it was the greatest. I'm sure in a year or so I'll only remember the great moments.....and I may foolishly accept to do another one !!!

Maybe a lumbar pack would work...

I had the same idea Sergio. However, I found 2 issues with them. Firstly the buckle that holds the strap together at the front would end up underneath my petrol Bag and would create more pressure and discomfort in that area. Also, I needed to carry more stuff then most lumbar packs could hold. Maybe I just didn't find the right kind.

I wouldn't even know how to start thinking about a job like this.

I'm sure if I had thought about this job.....I probably would have turned it down. LOL. Something to be said for just jumping in and going for it.

I'm impressed... Simon how old are you - truth please.

Thanks Rob. I'm 33 years young, but my feet feel like twice that right now !

I often forget how wild and rugged our country is!

I hear ya. I have a new respect for the original voyageurs who crossed the continent. not to mention the native people who were doing it all way before we showed up looking for cheap fur hats !

I also thought about a backpack idea. But The thought of trying this gig without my Versa flex harness was too daunting. I've spent 9 years getting to mold to my body (or maybe it's the other way around) it now fits like a glove. But maybe modifying a back pack to strap on to the d rings on the back of my harness might be worth investigating.

could you rigged your petrol bag on a pack horse on long stretches?

That would have been nice, but horses were kept well back from the "Voyageurs" and crew to try and keep the re-creation as authentic as possible.

The gig was tough for the crew, but my hat goes off to the 10 participants who lived the Voyageur lifestyle to the max. Eating pemican and wearing mocasins for 3 months isn't easy.

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During this trip I was also hired to do all the timelapse photography for the show.

For those interested, I've posted a demo reel of my timelapse photography, which is 99% stuff I shot on this trip.

But do yourself a favour and click on the "watch in high quality" option. I promise it will be worth the extra few seconds !

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Uhhh... WOW! What a story and that's some nice timelapse. Stud is the only word that comes to mind. Sound and pictures! Who needs those goofball camera guys? (just kidding...)

I just turned 44 and did a job simular to your's only not nearly as long or as epic, but one of the questions asked of me before getting the job was, "What kind of physical shape are you in?" I think this is a new red flag for me. Right up there with, "Oh, this will be fun!"

It was an adventure race in and around Puerto Rico. The demands on me weren't as exhausting as they made it out to be, but I did scale back on the gear I was going to bring out into the wet and wild places of PR. I did it all with the "mosquito kit." My MixPre, one Lectro 411 and a boom with either a Schoeps or 416 flying around and a M-Audio MicroTrack II for VO work. And then I had two dry bags and a sherpa (PA) to help carry the extra bits I needed to bring. The PA really helped out while swimming/walking down the Tanama river and through the jungle.

In the end I think you said you started to shed your heavy, less used gear, I jumped to that conclussion early. Maybe it's because I'm a bit older than you are and sussed out the real audio needs early in pre-pro. Otherwise, I would have brought out my heavy 442 kit.

One requirement the producers put on everyone was that you needed to bring your own water supply. Some way of carrying at least 44oz of water on you while working. I found a killer fanny pack style CamelBak. And a neet little shoulder slung backpack for my camera food and extra batteries that seemed to work out well. It slipped right into the dry bags when we needed to get wet.

I say do it while you're young. Jobs like that are great and you will only remember the best parts.

Again, my hat is off to you!

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Hi Simon,

I had a show a few years ago where we were doing week long adventures with a host and 4 cast members. Always in the backcountry of BC- up mountains, down rivers, the works!   We were carrying camping gear as well as our clothes and whatever safety gear we needed. (crampons, helmets, rope, etc)  If we weren't shooting, we had to be ready to at a moments notice -  when we weren't running to get ahead of the cast.

Over the course of 13 episodes I settled on something similar to what Jason suggested.  An 80 liter Arcteryx Naos waterproof  backpack -( a real backpack by one of the top manufacturers that is very light and truly waterproof - you can use it as a small raft if you have to as well:)  I put rings on it that are fixed to one of the strong points where the shoulder straps anchor.  I have a KATA bag with carabiners holding the body harness on. When I had to hike I'd pull the bag up high on my chest and biner it into position  (clip, clip you're done)  I DID keep the Kata harness on as well which was a little bunchy, but the KATA harness is much flatter than the Versa flex so it was fairly comfortable - And it was very nice, if we were stopping for a few minutes, to drop the 70 lb pack and still be wearing my gear harness (which was heavy enough with SD 442 , 4X lectro 411s, comtek, and 416 in full zeppelin in a metal holster).

The Naos has a pocket outside the drybag part for a hydration bag. And when it rains sideways and everyone gives up on filming, you can throw your gear inside and know that its going to be completely dry.

So that might be an option for you.  

The main question I have after a show like that is - would Sound Devices be kind enough to make a 442 with a waterproof face????

(I know sonosax makes a cool 4 channel sort of waterproof mixer with magnetic switches and sliders, but I like the metering on the 442 better- not to mention all the awesome i/o options)

The carting of stuff around with backpacks paled next to the ordeal of keeping everything dry.....

HTH

Cheers,

Brent C

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Hi Simon!

I do a bunch of other stuff, crew-wise, as I see you do. I'm trying to come up with a more streamlined of a audio harness/small backpack scenario myself. Still looking!

I've also recently been asked to do timelapse stuff when we travel to appropriate places where some of time critical sound isn't being recorded.

I looked at your You Tube timelapse demo reel. Very nice!

This might be a little off-topic for this group, but...

I've been using either a Canon 20D or 5D with a version of the Canon portable intervalometer controller. I did a job in Nepal earlier this year where I had a few chances to pull off a timelapse shot or two. Oftentimes, though, I'm so limited to how much gear I can bring, weight and space-wise. I'm off to Ethiopia this week where there may be some opportunities.

Question: How are you doing your camera moves? I haven't found any gear portable enough for my purposes yet and I haven't had too much luck with manual moves being smooth enough.

Any advice would be appreciated! I sent an email directly to you, but it's probably in your spam box.

Thanks!

Dave Wendlinger

San Francisco, CA

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