Zooming In: How Filmmakers are Going Remote
This week Becky Lima-Matthews explores the intricacies of remote filming, and how productions big and small have adapted so far.
In March 2020, the lights went out on production sets across the world as the coronavirus pandemic began to escalate. Pictures of the red hooded cloaks of the Handmaid’s Tale hanging up became an eerie symbol of an industry grinding to a halt.
But while bigger production companies have started up again, with new Covid-19 compliance and infrastructure — smaller companies, independent filmmakers, and agencies are adapting to remote filming.
The sight of broadcasters like the Channel4 news team broadcasting from their living rooms quickly became the norm. And suddenly ring lights were no longer reserved for YouTubers and TikTok darlings. From big companies to freelancers, and everyone in between — switching to remote filming has become a new normal.
So what does that look like? Remote filming can involve shooting with a skeleton crew with the rest of the production team connected via apps and collaborative tools like QTAKE for remote reviewing and sign off. When that isn’t in option, production teams have switched to interviewing contributors over Zoom or getting them to capture footage on their phones — like Domino’s recent TVC.
How is the creative industry adapting?
Production professionals and tech companies are no strangers to problem-solving. So it’s no surprise that some have created opportunities during 2020. In Hollywood, tech company Frame. i.o has just launched its new Camera to Cloud service which allows virtual live reviewing and editing and works with Red, Arri, and Sony cameras. Last April, a group of UK -based filmmakers including Yanina Barry from Good Films, and Alex Seery from Hijack Post, set up Remote Filming. It’s a system designed for multiple people to view real-time shoots from any location — without a Tinseltown pricetag.
As Yanina Barry told Televisual.com:
“Despite the huge variety of software at our disposal, we realised there was nothing that could allow you to see a camera feed directly and securely with only a standard Wi-Fi connection and no expensive hardware or crew. Now that the production industry is facing its biggest remote-working challenge yet, we wanted to share our solution.”
It’s not really that new.
Virtual Production is an increasingly big part of VFX productions — where live-action footage and 3D animation are combined and can be used to pre-visualize and lay out complex digital environments. This is a method that was used in Jon Favreau’s 2019 film The Lion King, and series one of the Disney + series The Mandalorian.
Of course, that’s the mega-budget end of the scale. So how do we adapt on the low budget end of remote filming? That’s a question Emma Bracegirdle, co-founder of charity film company The Saltways had to answer very quickly. The company only launched in January 2020, but they quickly adapted to remote filming starting with a Jeans for Gene’s campaign film with family-captured footage. Directing remotely is one of the big challenges for filmmakers, both technically and from a storytelling perspective.
For one remote shoot, Emma communicated with the camera operator and producer via WhatsApp — there was no way to link up for virtual collaboration, as she explains.
“We usually film documentary style, so we don’t always know what the story is going to be, so we’ll have an idea, but because we weren’t able to identify that on set, we had to try and identify it before over the phone with the contributors, and pick out the bits that were most compelling to manipulate it more, I guess.”
Just like any production, pre-production is key — and when making charity films with contributors using their smartphones, it’s even more important. As Emma explains, you have to take the time to coach them on how to get the kind of footage you want.
“We tend to have the initial chat to explain what it’s about, but try not to overwhelm them, so then we have another session going through the technical details of how to film stuff, then we ask them to send some test footage and we give feedback on that. And once we’re nearly there with the edit we send it to them. We make them feel special and reiterate how important what they’re doing is”.
Challenges of remote filming
Things go wrong on film sets all the time, and remote filming over Zoom or Teams is no exception, even when you plan and brief carefully — as one content producer knows all too well.
“It is really frustrating when, for example — you’ve briefed someone about light and background noise, and then they dial into the recording from their kitchen, with the light behind them and their family clanging about in the background!
Of course, this is easily addressed by making sure you allow for set up time before the recording starts and asking people to move things in their background. Last week I spent a fun half-hour watching a man haul a massive pot plant back and forth before sitting down to be recorded!”.
Don’t expect remote filming to fade away
Just like remote working, remote filming looks set to stay after the pandemic. Flying people all over the world for shoots is an expensive business, and frankly not great for the environment. And while Zoom shoots and smartphone footage can yield shaky results, technology and experience will smooth out those processes (almost) faster than you can shout “You’re on mute”.
