Crews

While the big productions are adding COVID compliance officers, using complex systems to limit people on set, and quarantining for weeks/months at a time, smaller productions simply don’t have the same options. So what do you do then?

First, a story about why. In 2014, Sarah Jones, a young camera assistant, was struck and killed by a train while working on the set of Midnight Rider. As a small production, they were able to get away with skimping on the safety procedures a larger production would’ve been beholden to. They likely saw the risk as small, but for their part in what the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) called an “entirely preventable” death, filmmakers faced criminal charges. The production company and individuals racked up $74,900 fines. Aside from the fines, the fact that they simply skipped standard safety procedures must weigh on those responsible. Sarah Jones’s death highlights the need to take camera crew safety concerns seriously—on movie sets and smaller projects alike.

Accidents do happen and some things are beyond your control, but at least when you’ve taken the precautions within your control, you can sleep well at night, knowing you’ve done your part.

In the COVID-era, the risks are not as obvious as filming on an active railroad and hoping the timing works out. But we have just as much responsibility to keep productions safe. You must see safety measures as necessities rather than luxuries. If you don’t have the funds or resources to keep workers safe, you don’t have a project.

Best COVID-era practices for small to mid-sized productions

Scale down the operation

Much of production has to happen in person, but reducing the number of people on set is doable. For example, Yuki Uemura has producers ask questions remotely either by phone or teleprompter. The latter is especially helpful because it gives the talent a person to look at. 

Despite major advancements in the quality of footage, we’ve spent years fighting the battle to convince people that they can’t simply point their iPhone at something and get the quality they want. Still, a client’s self-filmed interview can protect a lot of people. If a client goes this route, provide them with basic tips (film horizontally in a well-lit location, stabilize the camera on a surface at eye level, etc.) to ensure you get something you won’t mind putting your name on. Similarly, for b-roll, you can produce/direct remotely.

There’s a level of production that DIYers aren’t going to create with their cameras at home, but even primetime shows are scaling back production. Viewers understand and you can still deliver videos you feel proud of. Think of it as the acoustic version of your favorite song.

The cost/return analysis changes when the cost could be someone’s health.

Safety on set

For those who have to be on set, we can still cover the basics such as wearing face masks and gloves (except while being filmed), having plenty of hand sanitizer, taking scheduled hand-washing/equipment-sanitizing breaks, social distancing whenever possible, having individual catering boxes, etc. Most states, including Georgia, have compiled a list of best practices. Whenever possible, shooting outdoors while social distancing is an excellent option since the virus travels through air.

Equipment

It’s hard to beat a lav mic’s quality, but right now, switching to a boom is preferable. If you must use a lav mic, be sure to sanitize it well between use.

Much of the equipment that makes virtual production and/or social distancing easier on-set is in short supply at the moment. For example, we heard from Allen Rosen that a Black Magic piece “that will allow me to do Zoom, YouTube, or Facebook live from one of our field cameras” has been back-ordered for a month. He also reported that small, remotely-controlled webcams are hard to get right now. Apparently, gear that enhances distance filming is the toilet paper of our industry. 

Post-production

The fancy editing suites are nice, but you can do a lot on a laptop. The fact that post-production lends itself well to working from home is one of the biggest blessings of our industry during the COVID-19 era. If “The Last Dance” can shift from their fancy-pants editing facilities to at-home production, you probably can, too. 

We’ll likely be turning to post-production even more than usual to simulate crowd shots or otherwise solve problems creatively. 

Turn to animation

Some clients are opting out of in-person shoots altogether and going the animation route instead. While motion capture and creating new characters may be the glamorous side of animation, simple is good, too. Iconography, typography, and adding motion to stills are entry-level ways to bring words and images to life. I never would’ve thought seeing a Conan O’Brien monologue with typography animation alone would be more engaging than watching the man himself. 

Shawna Schultz, of Mass FX Media, said getting comfortable with your pen tool and clone tool in Photoshop can help you create the parallax effect in your editing software–another way to add visual interest to photos. 

You can likely get started with software you already have. Adobe Premiere, After Effects and Animate have helped drop the barriers to entry so you can delve into the basics without an overly-burdensome learning curve. 

What about the cost? 

The extras—from gloves and masks to individual catering and of course, new equipment—are going to mean some additional costs, but if the alternative is to halt everything or to wait indefinitely, those costs are justifiable. Clients may not be surprised by a line item for such precautions. 

The cost to the environment is painful, too. Just as sustainability on set was starting to get some traction, productions have shifted to single-use makeup, individual boxed lunches, disposable masks/gloves, and more. Sorry, Mother Earth. 

Bottom Line

The best practices from the CDC as well as those specifically for video production provide more of a compass. Use that compass as your guide and adjust. Video people are some of the most resourceful on the planet. While we haven’t faced a challenge quite like a global pandemic before, every single crew knows what it’s like to make adjustments on the fly. We are no strangers to curveballs. The show, as they say, must go on. 

What are the most creative ways you’ve found to get around COVID safety challenges?

Whether you need a crew following COVID-19-era best practices or you need to brush up on those practices yourself, Crew Connection is ready help.

In 1989, Jeff Widener captured the image of a lone man, shopping bag in hand, facing off with a tank in Tiananmen Square. The language describing Widener’s equipment is about as bulky as the gear itself. He used a “Nikon 400mm F5.6 EDIF internal focus lens with a Nikon teleconverter with a focal length of around 800mm” and “Fuji 100 ISO film.” Whew.

In order for the clip to see the light of day, photographer Jeff Widener pulled the film out of a damaged camera with pliers and hid it in his underwear. In addition to the technical challenges of getting it to the right places, the massive gear brought Widener unwanted attention from a censor-happy government.

He was far from the only person to capture important images during the time. What set his apart? If you’ve seen the clip before, your heart rate might pick up just with the memory.  The man strides in front of a long line of tanks. The tank stops. It turns to the right. The man turns with it, striding in front of its path. The tank turns again, this time to the left. The man again plants himself in front of it, arms at his side. His body language says, “I don’t have your guns. I don’t have your power. All I have are these bags and my body. But here they are. Here I am.”

The tank stops and incredibly, the anonymous man climbs on top. The confrontation continues in the same manner, with the tank operator popping his head out, gunshots going off in the background, and onlookers cheering and reacting. From a technical standpoint, the clip is unremarkable. It’s shaky at first and captured at a great distance with a less-than-ideal angle.

All you get is a grainy image of a lone man facing off against a tank and, by extension, the entire Chinese government. What captures the viewer? The story.

In another square, a quarter century later, tiny cameras gave documentary filmmakers boots-on-the-ground access to Egyptian revolutionaries under another oppressive regime. SD cards have long replaced celluloid and “developing” film requires just a few mouse clicks.

The Square was filmed with DSLRs like the Canon 5D, which made it through airport security because (as director Jehane Noujaim described) they “looked like photography cameras.” The deceivingly-small DSLRs granted the filmmakers near anonymity with their subjects, making it feel like the audience is “experiencing [the revolution] live.” While Noujaim credits modern equipment, she also said, “Just because you can film something—I mean, just because you have a pen doesn’t make you a writer.”

Still, she handed these cameras to amateurs, who often captured unsteady images as they ran or were otherwise engaged in the action unfolding around them. What gave these filmmakers their edge? The storytelling.

So what’s the most important tool, already?

Sorry, you can’t buy it online. The most important piece of equipment you can have is your storytelling. You can use it no matter what camera you have and even when you can’t capture any new images at all (as in this stunningly-edited Nike commercial we keep talking about).

The Square and Tank Man are different in more ways than they are alike. Equipment and the unique challenges of an era or situation will continue to change. Compelling storytelling is timeless.

Ready to tell your story?

Crew Connection connects video production crews with clients around the globe.

Sources

• The Square interview
• Daily Beast article
• Resource Magazine’s interview with Jeff Widener, Tank Man photographer.

Our worldwide video crews are topnotch. We know because we personally vet each one before adding them to our online database of international crews. Not only are they the cream of the crop in their trades, but according to our clients, they are also just plain delightful to work with. This month’s featured crew is Urban Samurai Creative and we interviewed Yuki Uemura, the company’s founder and principal. One of Uemura’s standout traits is that his business and marketing backgrounds complement his mad skills behind the camera.

We love working with Yuki Uemura for the same reasons our clients do. He is incredibly talented, genuinely gregarious, and a superbly hard worker who is always willing to go that extra mile. He also has tons of resources to make the best possible projects. Most importantly: Clients really love working with him.

Crew Connection: What’s your story?

Yuki Uemura: I wanted to do film in school but my parents wouldn’t pay for my education that way so I ended up with a business marketing degree. Interestingly enough, it’s served me well in my film pursuits as well (thanks, Mom and Dad!).

When I was about to graduate, I applied for a marketing internship but something got mixed up and I ended up in the creative department. I told my boss that even though I didn’t know anything about camera or audio, I could connect the creative side to the business side so they could get more sales. It was around 2007—just as the market was going downhill—so they were interested. My boss told me to learn the camera by the end of the day and the editing software they used (AVID) by the end of the week. So I reviewed the manual for the camera and shadowed the editor for the rest of the week. By the end of that time, my boss said I was basically in the same place as the other graduates. And with that, my career in the industry began.

I joined Hammertime (an MC Hammer reality show) as a PA but when the DP saw me doing camera stuff, he switched me to AC the very next day. From there, I went to grip, then to audio, and then to the camera. I spent four years traveling across the country (all 50 states!) and working in various jobs (like DP and audio supervisor) with NatGeo, Travel Channel, CBS, Oxygen, Anthony Bourdain, Katie Couric, and so many more.

My heart is in the San Francisco Bay area though, so in 2013, I started marketing, meeting people, and getting local jobs. Now I work with some of the major companies in the area—Facebook, Google, Apple, Intuit, etc.    

CC: What sets you apart?

YU: So this is where that business marketing degree comes in handy. I learned to talk to people on the business side as well as the broadcasting side of things and I learned to bring a story to life. My marketing experience gave me an understanding for branding that I take into all my jobs. Some DPs only care about how good the footage looks, but if your audience can’t connect with what they’re seeing, what does it matter how beautiful it is? I ask clients what they want to translate to the audience and then do my best to capture that in the filming, too.

In addition to branding, I focus on customer service. For example, I once showed up on a set in the San Francisco Bay area to work and within the first two hours, they said, “What are you doing tomorrow? Could you go to Utah for three days?”

I said yes. We wrapped at 10:00 that night and I went home, packed up, and left for the airport at 5:00 the next morning. I’ll do my best to do whatever a client needs.

As part of both branding and customer service, I focus on communicating with all my clients in advance to get as much info as possible. I believe that pre-production is a very important part of doing a job well. It helps us to understand the vision our client is going for so we can all be on the same page and achieve great video.

CC: What are you most proud of?

YU: Working as an audio supervisor on Anthony Bourdain’s show was a highlight because I watch the show all the time.

I’m also proud of the work we do with Intuit on short, cinematic documentaries on small business stories. They brought me in as DP, audio mixer, gaffer, and grip. We followed a music composer and a painter as a part of their #MorePower2You campaign. It’s been fun.

CC: What gear do you use most often?

YU: I shoot with the Sony FS7, Canon C300, Sony F5, F55, Black Magic as well as the old broadcast cameras like the Sony F900 and the 5D MK II. That last one is a dinosaur that some people still want to use because they like the style (and budget!).

CC: What are some of your favorite tools and why?

YU: I like to use a dana dolly because it creates a slow movement combined with a slow motion that is so popular right now. I think slow movements help bring the story to life rather than distracting like quick movements sometimes can. This slider allows very slow push-ins and sliding motions to get people into the scene. It creates a unique mood, which is especially nice for documentaries.

I feel audio is very important. If you can’t hear it, you can’t tell the story. I use a Sound Device 788t, Lectrosonic SMQV and 411s, Sanken COS 11 Lav, and Sanken CS3E boom. It may seem weird coming from a DP, but we make sure on every shoot that audio is pristine. Early in my career an Executive Producer told me, “When your camera work is screwed up, people say it’s artistic. When you can’t hear the audio, you don’t have a show.”

The bottom line

Yuki Uemura is a class act and has the experience, customer loyalty, and awards to show for it. Click here to book Yuki Uemura for your next video production project.

Yuki Uemura, DP (and more):

Click to learn more about Yuki Uemura and Urban Samurai Creative.

About Crew Connection

Crew Connection puts a world of video service providers at your fingertips. In just a few clicks you can search, chat with, and book vetted crews local to your shoot—all on your own schedule. Rely on Crew Connection’s team of media experts to organize the crews and gear you need for multi-day and multi-location video projects anywhere in the world. Our crew coordinators are on call around the clock if you ever need live assistance. Visit CrewConnection.com, call us at 303-526-4900, or shoot us an email at info@crewconnection.com.

The struggle is real. Contract work often means gambling with each new client and gig. While you might get paid half upfront, you usually work without any guarantee—billing upon completion. That means a lot of uncertainty—especially for small video crews and owners/operators who rely on each project and its corresponding cash flow to pay bills, buy equipment, and stay in operation.

For their part, clients may have a net 90 invoicing policy, a small accounting department, or an unstable financial situation. Often, you’re the one at risk if any of those operations hit a snag. So you get a signed contract, do your best work, and hope your client follows through on their end of the deal.  

The good news is that there is an alternative: You don’t have to rely on a handshake and a roll of the dice.

Three ways Crew Connection brings payment security to contract work

Problem one: Many companies, especially the big ones, have 90-day payment terms, meaning you could wait an extra 60 days to have that cash in hand.

Solution one: Crew Connection guarantees payment for crews in 30 days regardless of the client’s terms.

Problem two: Onboarding paperwork slows down the process of working with new clients. Setting up contracts and payment terms takes valuable time and often, different companies have different expectations for how and when they want to receive invoices.

Solution two: Crews invoice the same way every time (which happens to be very easy, by the way) regardless of who the shoot is for. Crew Connection takes care of the paperwork.

Problem three: Unfortunately, small companies without internal legal teams often get paid last or not at all when there’s a dispute or a client hits financial troubles. Some clients never pay. Who wants to waste time and money pursuing payment for previous work when you have new work to get to?

Solution three: Crews receive money for the project regardless of whether or not Crew Connection ever does.

Crew Connection simplifies prospecting in a big way. It’s the crewing service that makes life easy for both clients and crews. Our crews tell us that one of the biggest perks of using Crew Connection is that they get more legitimate leads (read: leads that turn into projects that turn into cash). Here’s what that means for our crews:

1. High-quality leads come looking for you

Crew Connection alleviates some of our crews’ biggest prospecting issues. As a crew, every potential new client is inherently a gamble. You don’t start the project with the guarantee that they’ll pay on time—or at all. You don’t know if you’ll spend hours on their RFP only to have it go unseen. But Crew Connection guarantees Net 30, takes the grunt work out of submitting proposals, and provides user-friendly sorting options that mean you only get requests for jobs you are a good fit for.

2. Bids turn into projects

When clients get better fits, crews get better leads. Crew Connection’s searching and booking tool make it easy for clients to find the crews that are the right fit for their job. They also know they’re getting the best (that’s you!) so they feel more comfortable booking. One crew told us that they had a “100 percent success rate with leads actualizing.” You read that right—100 percent!

3. Get the best clients and projects without the hassle

One of the biggest challenges for crews and clients alike is communication. Our online database centralizes details and simplifies communications. You can view and manage every detail of a shoot from one central place—gear, budget, and communications included. It’s all simple and centralized, easy, and fast on Crew Connection.

Ready to book more projects? 

Become a crew or update your profile here.

About Crew Connection

Crew Connection puts a suite of marketing tools at your fingertips. Get your demo reels, stills, gear, awards, and more in front of the biggest clients all over the world—for free. At Crew Connection we pay video and post-production providers within 30 days of receiving your invoice so your work and your life are never interrupted. Need live assistance or want to add quality jobs to your pipeline? Our crew coordinators are on call around the clock. Sign Up on Crew Connection, call 303-526-4900, or email info@crewconnection.com.

Crew Connection simplifies series shoots—both in the US and internationally. Here are two reasons to rely on Crew Connection to organize your multi-day and multi-location video projects:

1. Get the best crews without the hassle

Peace of mind can be hard to come by when you’re working with a new crew, especially when they’re far away. Book multiple shoots in multiple locations and the trouble only compounds. You want to be sure you hire someone who gets you and your vision. Crew Connection partners with only the best crews both in the US and internationally and connects you directly with highly-qualified video production crews. No matter how many shoots you’re booking and in how many locations, you know you’re getting the very best. Let Crew Connection turn crewing into one of the simplest parts of your job.

2. Improve communication

Crew Connection’s online database is more than an excellent searching and booking tool. It’s also a great way to centralize details and simplify communications. One of the biggest challenges of any intricate, multi-layered project is communication. With our database, you can view and manage every detail of a shoot from one central place—gear, budget, and communications included. Want to re-book a crew and find out what you paid for a similar job last time? It’s simple and centralized. Want to book 6 shoots in 6 locations in one sitting? It’s easy and fast on Crew Connection.

The best part is if you simply don’t have time to plan a detailed multi-day and multi-location video project, our staff is available 24/7 to do it for you. Connect with our team of crew coordinators anytime at 303-526-4900, or info@crewconnection.com.

The bottom line 

Video productions are rife with opportunities for things to go wrong. Save your time and brainpower for something other than crewing by letting us take care of organizing all your multi-day and multi-location video projects. You already have enough on your plate.

Whether you want to book exclusively online or need some support on the phone line, our crew coordinators are on call around the clock. Sign in to Crew Connection, call 303-526-4900, or email info@crewconnection.com.

Not sure if a crewing service is a good fit for you? Here are five things to look for when deciding whether to hire.

About Crew Connection

Crew Connection puts a world of video service providers at your fingertips. In just a few clicks you can search, chat with, and book vetted crews local to your shoot—all on your own schedule. Rely on Crew Connection’s team of media experts to organize the crews and gear you need for multi-day and multi-location video projects anywhere in the world. Our crew coordinators are on call around the clock if you ever need live assistance. Visit CrewConnection.com, call us at 303-526-4900, or shoot us an email at info@crewconnection.com.

As much as you might love spending hours searching for, vetting, negotiating with, and eventually maybe hiring a video production crew—sometimes it pays to let a crewing service do the work for you.

You may want to hire a crewing service when…

1. You’re filming on the other side of the world and you don’t know the difference between a burpee and a rupee.

2. You just remembered you need to present your production plan to the boss tomorrow and you haven’t even started. P.S. It’s midnight.

3. You don’t feel like getting dressed for the office so you’re letting the internet do the work. #thanksinternet 

4. Even the internet fails you and you need to phone a friend.

5. You already work hard. You just also know when to work smarter.

6. You’re filming in an unfamiliar location, don’t know any local video production crews, and have a Netflix marathon to get back to.

7. You’ve rolled the dice on unknown crews one too many times. You need to know the next one is the right one.

8. You need to get back to looking for your missing stapler.

9. You have a case of the Mondays.

10. You have a case of the Fridays. No. More. Braining.

The bottom line 

You already have enough on your plate. By connecting you directly with qualified video production crews, Crew Connection turns crewing into one of the simplest parts of your job. Whether you want to book exclusively online or need some support on the phone line, our crew coordinators are on call around the clock. Sign in to Crew Connection, call 303-526-4900, or email info@crewconnection.com.

About Crew Connection

Crew Connection puts a world of video service providers at your fingertips. In just a few clicks you can search, chat with, and book vetted crews local to your shoot—all on your own schedule. Rely on Crew Connection’s team of media experts to organize the crews and gear you need for multi-day and multi-location video projects anywhere in the world. Our crew coordinators are on call around the clock if you ever need live assistance. Visit CrewConnection.com, call us at 303-526-4900, or shoot us an email at info@crewconnection.com.