I have been tentatively offered a 2 week stint working for a documentry film production crew. The documentry will commence filming April 16th and run through the end of the same month. The goal of the documentry is to film the beginnings of spring and nature in a remote area north of where I live. This particular filming will at some point be used as material in support of a cable TV documentry drawing from different film crews in Canada and the PNW region of the USA.

I was asked to join through one of the crew's friend of a friend type of deal as I know the area extremely well and have I have spent years exploring it. The crew needs a guide to help them through the area known for it's ruggedness and difficult terrain. It should be mentioned that this crew is well versed in outdoors filming and 2 of the 3 people have quite a bit of hiking experience behind them.

After being dropped off by bush plane and once a camp is established, my role as stated above is to guide the crew daily to and from different areas for their filming. Other then this, I would not have any other responsibilities other then keeping my own tent clean and organized as there will be one other camp person there at all times to cook meals etc.

At this time, I cannot go into a lot of details as there is a lot that still need to be worked out, however I can give you somewhat of hint and you may "discover" me on a TV documentry later this fall.

With all this being said....there is one major problem that may preclude me from participating. I re-injured my back a couple of weeks ago and it is currently slow to respond to treatment and rest. If I don't see any improvement in the next week to ten days, the crew has someone else lined up to take my place which of course I don't want to happen.

In any case and assuming my back responds and I am able to particpate, my question is: Has anyone else been involved in a wilderness film documentry production in a similar capacity? If so, any information...good or bad would be appreciated and will help in any decision making I have to do.

For your back:

Take a 12oz bottle of Green alcohol and a very liberal amount of Epsom salts in a bath with water as hot as you can stand it.

Soak (reading a book is recommended) until the water starts to feel cool,,,,then get out!

Do that twice a day (morning & evening),,,,you'll be amazed at how much better you feel within 3 days!!!

Thanks for the advice, however my back problems are a lot more complicated for your mentioned treatment. Last time this happened, it took a month before I was able to resume normal (no strenuous) activities....hopefully it will not be as long this time around.

As a matter of fact, I have been involved in the production of a documentary before but never in the wilderness so I can't help you there. But I still wish you a good and speedy recovery so you can join the team and have some fun!

Make sure that the crew has either hired a Medic or that someone is given the additional responsibility of providing first aid, including bringing the necessary equipment.

As far as the experience of your fellow crew members goes, read Chris Kavanaugh's account of his trip to the island on the ETS website.

People get hurt on film sets all the time, even small documentary crews, I call it job security...;^)

Have fun if you get to go, hope you're getting paid for your work.

John E

My question is do you take the alcohol topically or internally?

On a more serious note, even though the equipment is getting lighter it is still hard to have all that is needed at a shoot. Listen to what the director of photography needs and try to deliver. Remember while shooting some photographers will do things that under normal conditions they would not do, kind of like how a hunter will take chances to get his shot.

Oh and never carry the tripod.

Thanks for the advice, however I have great doctor who I am seeing on a regular basis when needed and she is very attuned to the problems with my back. Without going into my personal health details, rest and other forms of treatment is the best solution that has worked over the years....I'll leave it at that.

Thanks for the advice.

For first aid (assuming I go) there will be 2 of us with first aid qualifications. I still have 1st Responder certification and one other person has various civilian first aid certs.

As for the money, I will be taking vacation time from work so I will not be out any wages in that regard. As for being paid for this job, it will pay a bit more then my regular job does. Due to us not wanting for much financially, I will be donating half the money to a firefighters benevolent fund that we are deeply committed to. The other half of the money will be donated to a nature trust fund that we have supported financially and via volunteer work over the years.

It's good that you and your fellow crew member have first aid training, who's in charge of making sure that there's proper first aid supplies on hand? I'd wanna make sure I knew that before leaving. See Chris' account again for why.

Good on ya for donating the money, a noble gesture.

Not to be negative but what about insurance for you and the other crew members if something serious should happen?

John E

Without specifics it’s hard to speculate.

But here goes, video production is usually hard work-the gear is heavy and weather is always a concern. Prepared to be bored, production work is often hurry up and wait. Don’t say anything on camera you don’t want to be aired. Even then, editing can make you say the opposite of what you intended. Try to enjoy the process but keep your eyes open. Don’t be pressured into something that you wouldn’t ordinarily do just for the shot. Make sure that your compensation is timely, production companies can be slow pay-not all, but some. Check out the production company’s website and make sure there’re pros.

I don’t want to make you paranoid, but 26 years in the business has taken its toll. I've seen a lot. Try to have fun and be helpful. You may land other gigs. Best of luck. Be sure to report back, I'm sure we all would like to hear about the experience.

Not to be the voice of doom but...
The "friend of a friend type deal" and "They are very experienced and have done a lot of hiking" etc. where red flags to me. What do you really know about these people?

There are reports every month in which the victims friends or family state the victims are "very experienced" and yet trouble finds them. Experience doing a recreational activity (snowmobiling, hiking etc.) is not the same as life or death decision making in rugged, remote locations.

Two weeks can become an eternity if you re-injure yourself. You are being looked to as the guide. What if you become immobile? Can you rely on the film crew to build a fire and shelter if need be? They are going to be carrying lots of AV gear. How do they decide what emergency gear to bring also? Is it junk? Have they actually used and tested their survival gear before?

On the other hand...
My brother-in-law was a remote TV camera man for many years. He and every co-worker of his was cut from the same cloth ie: EDC a good knife, at least one Leatherman, multiple flashlights, first aid kits and practical experience in minor cuts to ER grade lacerations and fractures.

In other words, very self reliant types who tend to be well prepared. Can you say the same about this crew?

I would spend time getting more qualifications on the crew you are going to host and think about the nature of your current injury before you sign the contract. Oh, there is a contract right?