Filming Wicked Tuna

[Dean Sensui]

An interesting insight into how "Wicked Tuna" is filmed for National Geographic.

Of particular interest to me is that I'm using the same cameras (Sony EX1 and GoPros) and facing the same challenges, filming fishing action as a one-man band on a boat.

Behind the Scenes: Hooking Up | National Geographic Channel

[Phil Murray]

That was very interesting to watch! Thanks for sharing it.

Going with two cameras at once...well, that's way too much for me to do. I'm impressed!

[Woody Sanford]

Insightful for sure. That's a tough "One man band" gig.

[Bob Safay]

I think that is a young mans game. Very well done.

[Paul Cronin]

Thanks Dean that was fun to watch. Rare that any of us have the time to show how we grab the shots.

[Dean Sensui]

Here's a sample of what I typically do.

Wireless mics feed a 4-track recorder and the recorder sends back a reference mixdown back wirelessly to the camera. The reference mixdown ensures that I know the audio is coming through from all the mics and it's also used to sync the hundreds of clips to the 4-track recording.

Reciprocity, part 1

HGF303 Reciprocity, part 1 - YouTube

Beginner's Luck, part 2

HGF302 Beginner's Luck, part 2 - YouTube

[Panagiotis Raris]

very nice work! i have used two still cameras simultaneously, but that was with auto ISO and prefocused on a 'controlled' track environment, with (obviously) no audio recording on my part.

I have an upcoming doc that i will be shooting, again solo, with only 2 audio sources on one camera (all video cameras capable of audio recording, but only one viable solution for good audio input), using a total of 4 cameras, and was wondering if you might be able to provide some feedback.

[Dean Sensui]

Panagiotis... what sort of event are you planning to cover?

[Scott Malone]

Hello nice views. is there a chance you could explain how you do that 4 track recorder wireless mics. I am a newbie to using wireless mics and no nothing on how to at least use 2 mic feed, but what you describe sounds something that i could use. Is there any way you could give a step by step instruction on how to.. and what equipment is needed and how it connects or synchs to the camera?

thanks

Originally Posted by Dean Sensui

Here's a sample of what I typically do.

Wireless mics feed a 4-track recorder and the recorder sends back a reference mixdown back wirelessly to the camera. The reference mixdown ensures that I know the audio is coming through from all the mics and it's also used to sync the hundreds of clips to the 4-track recording.

Reciprocity, part 1
HGF303 Reciprocity, part 1 - YouTube

Beginner's Luck, part 2
HGF302 Beginner's Luck, part 2 - YouTube

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Nice. It was interesting watching you operate.

[Dean Sensui]

Originally Posted by Scott Malone

Hello nice views. is there a chance you could explain how you do that 4 track recorder wireless mics. I am a newbie to using wireless mics and no nothing on how to at least use 2 mic feed, but what you describe sounds something that i could use. Is there any way you could give a step by step instruction on how to.. and what equipment is needed and how it connects or synchs to the camera?

thanks

I have a pair of Audio Technica ATW-1800 systems. Each set has two mics and a single dual receiver. That provides me 4 channels of independent audio.

The mics feed an Edirol R44 that records each channel to an independent track.

The Edirol's headphone jack is fed to a 2.4 gHz wireless transmitter, and the other end of that is hanging off the back of the camera. That audio is fed to one of the camera's audio channels and that goes to my earphones so I can hear it all to make sure it's working.

The AT receivers, Edirol R44 and the wireless audio transmitter are powered with nano-phosphate battery packs that I built.

The audio fed to the camera is also used by PluralEyes to sync the video clips to the continuous audio track.