Practicing for inclement weather

[William Demeritt]

Working the last 2 days in the crap weather LA seems to have discovered got me thinking: how do you practice for bad weather? We all do line dances, do practice group sessions, etc. However, how do you practice to make them as close to real shooting conditions when they decide to shoot in the rain, heavy wind, etc?

[RonBaldwin]

All you can do is maybe get some jackets altered to wear over your gear, and cut out foam in your cases for a flask or two or six of scotch to keep you warm. In wind you are boned no matter what without decent grips and/or gyros.

 

It's always tough to operate with all the layers on, or safety gear when working with guns or flatulent actors (or dp's since Charles is now of that ilk)!

[Robert Starling SOC]

We lost two camera ops to hypothermia yesterday on a shoot here in Las Vegas.

 

Mid 40's temps and 25-35 mph winds

 

Three hours out on a truss hanging over the Stratosphere Tower 900+ ft up.

 

Paramedics were called.

 

When I unloaded at 5:30a someone asked me if I was cold, referencing the cold weather gear I was wearing.

 

This winter I got a big down Mountain Hardware jacket two sizes too big to put over me and the vest.

 

Robert

 

* Just to be clear, no one died and both will be okay.

[Afton Grant]

Waah

[Osvaldo Silvera SOC]

For Rain, Always have your Arm covers, I keep those inside the soft padded arm bag, so I always have them nearby. Production should always have the rain cover for the camera, but then again, I have yet to see a rain cover for a camera that can fit over the two wireless audio hops hanging on the battery in the rear, and the mattebox without looking like a garbage bag!. I always bring clear bags if rain might rear it's head, and saran wrap for your monitor and lower portion of the sled.

Luckily when folks from out of town come to south Florida, they don't want to shoot in the rain, it's not the look they're looking for.

[William Demeritt]

Yea, I've definitely had to bust out the rain gear on a number of occasions. I have a heavy jacket with a hole in the right pocket for passing out my socket block.

 

I'm more curious to see if anyone bothers practicing for operating in that crappy weather, and if so, how? If the wind is really bad outside, maybe throw on the rig and go outside for some line dances in wind gusts? Put on all the rain gear and have a friend spray a sprinkler into the air? Just curious...

 

Robert, I hope the guys on your shoot are OK!

[Eric Fletcher S.O.C.]

For Rain, Always have your Arm covers

 

 

Unless you are using a PRO arm, which requires no rain protection. Much like the XCS Sled which only requires a small piece of clear tape over the LCD display to make it rain proof.

 

When it rains I only need to cover the Camera/MDR to make it rainproof

[William Demeritt]

Unless you are using a PRO arm, which requires no rain protection. Much like the XCS Sled which only requires a small piece of clear tape over the LCD display to make it rain proof.

 

When it rains I only need to cover the Camera/MDR to make it rainproof

 

So the PRO arm requires no rain covers? Why is that?

[Eric Fletcher S.O.C.]

Unless you are using a PRO arm, which requires no rain protection. Much like the XCS Sled which only requires a small piece of clear tape over the LCD display to make it rain proof.

 

When it rains I only need to cover the Camera/MDR to make it rainproof

 

So the PRO arm requires no rain covers? Why is that?

 

 

Because of it's design, The springs are in cartridges and use drawbars instead of extension springs and cables.