Tech Tips:
Traveling These Days
By By Bruce LundeenQualifying myself first might be good – I am a traveling cameraman, not to be confused with a lighting cameraman because much of what I do is without the luxury of a full light kit – what we call available darkness. I’ve been shooting documentaries and industrials around the world for the last ten years with Emotion Pictures in Braintree, using Rule equipment – shlepping along a 22 pound Betacam, audio gear, batteries, tapes, adapters, tripod and crew through more places than I can remember. Recently we’ve been shooting in South Africa, Mexico, Jordan, and the former Soviet Republic Azerbaijan. . Here are some notes and suggestions on traveling and production in these post-Sept 11th days.
We usually travel as a small crew – Prod/Dir, Camera, Audio and maybe an AP. One personal and one equipment case for each person works out about right, carrying on camera and a small audio kit.
Packing – First off, keep the kit small – I saved 15 pounds changing from Anton Bauer bricks to Aspens NP-Bs with approximately the same capacity – both batteries and chargers are lighter. Diversify! I always think -What would happen if I lost this bag – could I still shoot for three days until I was able to get a replacement? Splitting up stuff so that each bag has some tape stock, an audio cable, a wireless, some batteries – this goes a long way if you have a bag issue.
Security at airports – I’m sure most of you have traveled and understand the more drastic changes affecting us – those long lines in the morning as the time ticks away – worrying about making your flight and someone finally walks to your part of the line and says “Anyone on flight 215?” come on down! The risks we don’t realize until it’s too late are these – changes in bag handling and increased scrutiny in security checks. I don’t believe we’re safer if more people are yelling at us to take our tickets and ID -but it does take longer. Personnel will come up and tell you your carry-on is too big – be polite and carry-on.
EDITORS UPDATE: SEE Flying With Lithium
Carry-on- Carry on a full complement, – On the trip to Jordan we had the worst time we’ve ever had with security. Our carry-on audio kit – mixer, wirelesses, 9 volt batteries and shotgun mike and camera plate were all rejected as appropriate carry-on and sent as check-on, a 1/2 hour before the flight. I pleaded with them to let us have the Sennheiser, but they wouldn’t do it. The kit arrived in Jordan after we had finished our photography and returned to Boston. We were wise/lucky enough to have another wireless, audio cable, headset and batteries and Sachtler quick release camera plate packed in another bag. We borrowed the camera shotgun for not-as-good-but-better-than-nothing boom coverage. We proceeded to get the story instead of hunting down the equipment – not our best outcome for travel – but it did work.
These days I mount the better shotgun microphone on the camera for travel, mount and cable in a wireless, put two batteries in my Aspen battery holster and two tapes in the side pouch. If things are attached to the camera there’s less chance they will be flagged – they’re part of the camera. I have been asked to check all batteries – but still was able to get through the two in the camera. Remember to take them out once on board, as they will drain to nothing on a six hour flight. We’re checking the mixer now because Security people have regularly stopped the audio kit while letting the camera go through. Don’t carry many 9-volts with you on board – they’re easy to replace if a bag gets lost.
Check-in – Recent surprises have been Delta agents telling us there’s an embargo and we can’t check more than two bags a piece – so the lighting kit stayed in the car after I checked to make sure I had an omni, spare lamp, power cord and chimera in another case and one lighting stand in the tripod case. I now ask the producer who’s traveling with us to call ahead and make sure there is a way to check extra baggage on a trip. When I had someone from the office (not traveling with us) check on excess baggage allowances we were flagged by security and had full bag searches, check-on and carry-on, for each leg of the trip – let’s not do that again.
Getting on the plane – I used to travel with the camera case and a well-filled backpack, but I’ve since eliminated the backpack and now carry a small pack that fits in the side of the camera case so I just have one case. It’s less obtrusive this way.
Once you get through the Gate, there may still be agents in the tunnel waiting to tag baggage for additional check-on. If this is the case, be prepared for a discussion. My worst outcome has been when I was adamant and said that I HAD to bring this on the plane with me…now I ask if it would be OK if I could work with the cabin crew to see if it fits. Sometimes a last resort is removing the camera, checking the bag, and resting the camera on a blanket in the overhead. I am the most relaxed in my life after I’ve gotten all my gear on the plane and played a round of Yahtzee.
Everything is basically OK – We’ve had some horrific tragedies the last few months, my heart goes out to all who have been dealt losses I can hardly imagine. That said – I am still confident that air-travel is safe still safer than riding in a car, that most people are generally friendly and good-natured under the umbrella of national differences. Traveling in Jordan we met many people who only knew one English word – welcome. It was very obvious they wanted us to feel safe and well taken care of in an area that did make us think about our safety. I will make a suggestion though: don’t carry the tripod over your shoulder! All those black metallic looking tubes might look a little too military as you’re rounding a corner. And one last tip: never expect to get a steady shot while riding the local transportation – camel, elephant, water buffalo, bicycle cart – no amount of optimism will help in these approaches. I know – I’ve tried.
Editor’s note: We’ve had quite a few discussions about air travel recently with some of our clients who travel, and they echo many of Bruce’s thoughts. One thing we heard pretty consistently is that you definitely need to give yourself two to three hours to get through security. A couple of other things are worth mentioning. Wear clogs or slip-on shoes so you don’t waste precious time tying and untying laces after your footwear gets scanned. Pack your gear in such a way that you will be able to unpack and re-pack very quickly: the key here is to remember the organizational adage “Everything must have a home”. It goes without saying that you can’t carry on your Leatherman anymore, and that goes for your jeweler’s screwdrivers, also. When traveling abroad, it is highly recommended that you get a Carnet for the gear. Details can be found at www.atacarnet.com.
When you’re getting ready for a trip either domestic or abroad, please ask your rental agent for help in packaging your order to suit the circumstances.
