Getting ready for the unknown

By Nadine — December 10, 2009 | 0 comments

Natural disasters are the known unknowns.  We know food and water will be scarce to unavailable.  We know electricity and communications will be down, but for how long?  We know ground transport will be limited, but not impossible.  Relief workers who arrive first on the ground after a disaster have told me stories of having to hitch rides into the disaster zone.  Ultimately, the only thing we know is that we must be ready for anything.

Ten years in the field making documentaries has taught me to prepare for the worst, so naturally the first priority was to hire a really good team.   Probably the only reason I can sleep at night is because I’m going to face the unknown with four people who’ve shot in just about every situation imaginable.

I’ve worked with Tony Wannamaker filming out of planes and helicopters; racing full sail over open ocean and submerged 30 meters under water.  Our soundman, Paul Adlaf, is a technical wizard and can custom fabricate whatever we need.

This shoot poses serious problems in providing electricity for our power hungry video cameras, computers, modem, satellite phone and audio equipment. To provide a flexible back up solution to our Honda EU1000 generator, Paul created a modular power package.

It consists of two Gel Cell batteries, a 115/230 volt battery charger, 24Watt fold up solar panels, three DC/AC Inverters, and a slew of plug adapters.  This modular approach gives us the flexibility to charge up the batteries when power is available and run all the gear for days without it.

Stefan Randstrom, our second unit DOP, has shot in nearly every country we might go to, and survived some pretty hairy situations.  When his boat capsized in the Philippines he spent 18 hours treading water, before he and his team were rescued.  Second unit sound is Simon Paine.  I’ve never worked with Simon, but when I saw a photo of him standing in a rubber dinghy, moving alongside a canoe, and booming boat to boat – I figured he was our guy.

All five of us are on call to follow the Red Cross into a disaster zone, and that means we could go anywhere in the world.  We don’t know what kind of disaster we’ll film, but we know that when the call comes we’ll be on a plane in less than 12 hours.  Our mission is to stick with the Red Cross relief workers on the ground, and follow the action.  To do that we should travel light and move fast – but being ready for anything requires stuff.

Working in the aftermath of a disaster zone for 30 days, we’ll need to be self-sufficient.  The last thing we want to do is take from a country that’s just been hit by a disaster.  That means supplying our own food, water, electricity and communications.  We’ve packed MREs (meals ready to eat), water filters, generators, and satellite phones.  We have first aid kits; ready with splints, needles and compresses.  Malaria pills may be in our kit depending on where we go, and because the location is unknown we’ve all been shot up with a cocktail of vaccines. For most documentary shoots, we wouldn’t need to bring any of these items, but this isn’t a typical shoot.

In addition to the “survival gear”, we need the tools of the trade – the recording equipment.  In the age of High Definition, the gear necessary to make a broadcast quality documentary isn’t lightweight or easy to carry.  At the end of our shoot we expect to have about 300 hours of footage.  Reading Nico’s blog, I’m envious of his lone backpack.

We’ve got tripods, lights, booms, sound mixers, a case of lithium batteries, and the carefully chosen Sony XDCAM.

Given the unknown conditions, we needed a camera that could operate in all extremes – wet, dusty, hot and cold.  Two years ago when I was in Haiti, our tape camera failed.  Excessive desertification has turned parts of the island into a dustbowl, and after 10 days of filming the heads jammed.  With no heads to jam, the XDCAM should side step these types of problems.  The laser discs are also more durable than tape; some testimonials on the Internet go so far as to claim that the discs are indestructible.  Our 50GB stock probably couldn’t survive being rolled over by a 2-ton truck, but we can wade through floodwaters and not have to worry. Having two geared up, self-sufficient documentary crews equals a lot of baggage – not ideal when ground transport is scarce and moving quickly is a must.  To keep pace with what’s happening on the ground, we’ve packed everything in modules.  Depending on the situation we’ll be able to grab and go, and with any luck we’ll keep a base camp throughout the shoot.

I’m sure there’s some eventuality we haven’t considered.  Hopefully it’s something we can adapt for.  If you know an unknown we haven’t thought of, let us know in the comments below.

Tags: Documentary Featured Inside Disaster Logistics Nadine Pequeneza Natural Disasters