Really, really, really isolated project, what would you take / suggest.

[Mark_Thorpe]

OK, theoretical situation. I'd like to know what you guys would take along for the field elements bearing in mind the isolation.

MISSION:
Head out for a long embed to a chain of small tropical islands lost in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean. As a sole field operative you will 'work' from a field base on the 'mother island' some 300 miles distant from the atolls you will be filming on. Filming stints will be for 2 months at a time returning to the mother island for a month in order to arrange shipping of the used HDD's and swap out / repair / replace gear as required, and all the million and one other jobs that need to be done with gear etc in the field. This work regime could change given the fluctuations in inter-island public transport that is sketchy at best. SO it could be that that boat that was supposed to be here last week will now be here next month!

RESOURCES:
A local population of fishermen and dependent families living on sand spits in the middle of nowhere. The lack of any serious deliveries etc mean a potential for no gasoline, or electricity. Given this scenario one still requires batteries for filming and a one tank generator and scuba gear for a large element of the feature that will require underwater cinematography.

REQUIREMENTS:
Battery Charging Generator Pumping for SCUBA Tanks Airtight and safe transportation for the gear. Transport will be in traditional Ocean going canoes captained by local islanders.

EVENTUALITIES:
Medical
Communications
Liaison
Emergencies

My Story:
I will keep this vague due to this being a public forum and no contracts or other have been signed or even drawn up at this time. I've spent the past five years poring over this particular project, wanting to get it put together, initially as a recreational scuba dive expedition but increasingly of late as a potential filming project. I used to live in a very unique location for seven years in the region of Micronesia. Making a living as an underwater camera operator I ran a small imaging concession and touted daily services to visiting divers. This allowed me to save up cash enough for a RED One and yada yada yada.

Thing is I have always been a shooter for hire, I'm pretty clued up on the logistics and getting things done kinda stuff but have never attacked the planning from a gear point of view as would be required for this. So the point of this thread is to ask those who may have been on long and isolated gigs to chip in with any items they find would be invaluable in such a scenario. For example, solar powered battery chargers. Do they exist and powerful enough to charge RED Bricks? That or a manual charger?? Any suggestions, observations and experiences greatly received. For arguments sake all visa requirements and planning on said front, film permits etc have been handled.

Cheers,
Mark.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

Try this link as a start for battery charging.
http://www.powerenz.com/store/

 

[Rob Gardner]

I'd make health and safety number one. Water purification, very good medical kit with real drugs, get some emt training if you need it, and go over this whole procedure with somebody that does expedition medical planning. All the batteries in the world aren't going to help you if you are injured or down with dysentery.

 

[Phil Holland]

I have done remote work, but never for a duration like that. I would personally explore solar solutions for power like what was recommended above, but a 50lb Honda EU2000i will charge up to four V-Mount batteries on about a gallon of gas. That's if you can actually get gasoline though or carry it in. It's best to test different chargers out there. I can shoot most of a day with two larger capacity 160WH batteries. Three if it goes long. Depends on the shoot.

Media is another concern. That same generator certainly powers and charges a laptop. You can use external drives to offload. Personally, without knowing exactly what needs to be shot, I would say have enough recording media to shoot for two to four days at a time. You might find yourself in a situation where you have two down days to recharge and offload gear and then have to go out for a bit away from main camp.

Pelican cases are the way to go in terms of traveling your gear safely over there.

I would also recommend a water resistant/floating bag like the Lowepro Dryzone if you are spending any time on the water in small craft. You can fit an Epic/Scarlet in there with a few lenses and batteries and don't have to worry as much if you tip the canoe/kayak. I have one and literally only use it for shoots like this. Highly recommended.

We used a satellite phone and a data uplink for a two week shoot in a forest way north once. I didn't acquire that gear but it was solar powered in 5 cases and used a small folding dish. It only powered the connecting laptop, dish, and phone though. Had some small battery thing. That certainly wasn't cheap. They make more compact satellite phones though and I'm sure that's more affordable these days.

Apart from that info, make sure you have a pocket knife with you at all times. I've shot is some strange places, but I've camped in stranger places and a good knife is something I view as a necessity at all times.

If it's very, very remote I'd recommend always keeping 3 to 5 days worth of extra food and water if you ever go too far from main camp. I've been rained in on both Santa Cruz and the backside of Catalina due to storms and had to ration food for several days between a few people before the storm cleared.

 

[Johnny Friday]

Mark: Great to see you taking action on this....

....Solar won't due for all you need Mark. Charging batteries, running a laptop and transfering data to HDD's...Well, let me rephrase that--it would if you wanted to carry say five 130 watt panels and 6 or so 6volt batteries...and even then you would be on the edge...but now you have a truck load of gear weighing several hundred pounds and cost over six grand and then you have to get it to your location....so a honda EU1000 for $700 seems like best choice and a 50gal drum of fuel. I can run my base station in on the beach with my EU1000 and 1 gal of fuel effecientlly for the day doing downloads, transfers etc....the EU1000 eats nothing for fuel. Don't forget your Gas powered compressor...and 12' dome tent for you and your gear.

 

[Dominik Muench]

Mark: Great to see you taking action on this....

....Solar won't due for all you need Mark. Charging batteries, running a laptop and transfering data to HDD's...Well, let me rephrase that--it would if you wanted to carry say five 130 watt panels and 6 or so 6volt batteries...and even then you would be on the edge...but now you have a truck load of gear weighing several hundred pounds and cost over six grand and then you have to get it to your location....so a honda EU1000 for $700 seems like best choice and a 50gal drum of fuel. I can run my base station in on the beach with my EU1000 and 1 gal of fuel effecientlly for the day doing downloads, transfers etc....the EU1000 eats nothing for fuel. Don't forget your Gas powered compressor...and 12' dome tent for you and your gear.

Agreed, worked with these honda generators several times and they are absolutely amazing, rugged as hell, super reliable, dont need servicing and quite light too.

A small mobile wind generator might be an option too , they have a system that produces 1000w, as much as a small gasoline generator http://www.solarenergystore.com.au/index.php/500w-air-turbine-has-extremely-low-mass-mobile-kit.html. I wouldn't solely rely on one of those, but as a second option in addition to a generator.


I would also invest in a satellite telephone, there are mobile phone companies where you can hire one for expeditions so you wont have to buy one. for example: http://www.rentasatphone.com.au/ they also offer satellite internet & data uplinks as well.

A couple of cheap GPS trackers & an emergency beacon cant hurt either to put on gear or yourself. I saw some for 80$ a piece the other day with a battery life of around 100 days and fully water proof. Then give the link to a few people back home who can check on your status a couple of times a week through google maps or the tracking software.

Have you thought about maybe hiring a fishing barge or sailing boat? something a bit bigger than a canoe ? this could solve several logistic problems....a slightly larger boat can house the air compressor for the diving gear plus you could use the boat as a mobile station/ housing. you could live on the boat, have a small kitchen on there and a storage place to have gear close by, plus the mast of a sailing boat would allow you to mount several of these wind generators as well as an antenna for CB radio or satellite phone.

Btw. If you need a second/backup camera system....happy to come on a little shooting trip as long as there is scuba diving involved ^^

 

[neale-anderson]

Sent pm

 

[Meryem Ersoz]

This sounds like a fabulous experience. When my child is grown, I hope to do something completely remote like this.

When I was shooting in Bhutan for 3 weeks, (this was before RED), I used a tape-based workflow. I was traveling fast and to some pretty remote locations. This is far from the worst choice because it's cost-effective, portable, and a good archival medium....not future-proofed, however. But tape still has its charms for certain applications. Fast, cheap, and easy....

 

[Mark_Thorpe]

Thanks for all the great responses to this. Here is a rough outline below, I have removed all location names, lat's and longs from the map to keep this off the radar for the moment.

Red Circle:
1 - Base location, home to the capital of this island group. All amenities such as immigration, medical, fuel and food are sent out from this point. For MEDEVAC purposes there is a Missionary outfit that will fly out to the three green circled locations which do still have intact landing strips from the war. They are serviced respectively in the order in which they have been numbered, this is due to their proximity to the main island. Only the main islands of any 'size' appear on this map, in reality the region is littered with sand bars, sea mounts, atolls and islets that are but a mere couple of meters above sea level. Fishing industries, pollution and rising sea levels are some of the factors that are spurring me to find a way to get this done now, before it's too late.

Green Circles:
2 - A large atoll with 46 islets, four inhabited. I have stayed out here previously for one month as an invited friend by one of the sons of the chief. I had made his acquaintance whilst working with him on a tourist resort on the main island. No fresh, running water, no electricity and a strict adherence to no western clothing by the chiefs. Spearfishing in a loincloth, a 24ft long wrapped deal that always came off when trying to catch fish, much to the delight of the onlookers!

3 - A single island with steep cliffs and small fringing reef that drops into the abyss. Interesting is the rite of passage for the young men of the island. Chop down a tree, swim or paddle it out to the open Ocean, attract a pelagic shark species, Tiger, Oceanic Whitetip or other, kill it, tie it to the log and bring it back for a feast! Few people continue this tradition, some do and this makes up one of the integral chapters of the deal.

4 - Gateway to the islands. This location is another atoll comprising 17 islands with four inhabited. Deep channels spread out over the area and by all accounts some amazing, if not adventurous diving. From here the rest of the islands lay before you clustered across an expanse of the Pacific Ocean that few have ever ventured, until now. Story elements from here are the celestial navigation training of the youngsters by the island elders. Ocean going canoes being their main form of inter-island transport. From here the islands beyond house, amongst others:

• An island overrun with water monitor lizards - Komodo II perhaps?
• A Love University! One island is famous for its maidens, maybe due to it being the only one where the elder ladies educate the young maidens into how best serve a husband both in the food and body sense! The mens gathering point is also a large building with a phallic masthead.
• Diving through a food chain. Reports from a highly respected traveler and photographer based for many years on an island some 800 miles from here suggest the diving on the island to the south west of green circle 4 is potentially as wild as one could ever hope. Descending through clouds of bait fish and predators of increasing size and reverence as one descends the depths.
• Deserted Islands - There are a number of what I call Ghost Islands, islands that have been deserted on warnings of Typhoons which can, and do go through these locations. I have personally sat through three terrifying episodes during seven years in this region. Not much consolation sitting the storm out tied to a coconut tree! At least it floats..

PLAN A:
Staging area would be Red Circle with main base locations being green circled locations. This is due to the potential for air medevac in the direst of cases. It also suggests access to gasoline for the generators required as suggested by the comments above. There will be people around for the duration of most of the filming so true isolation, whilst it will be a part of the production phase will not be the omnipresent aspect of the voyage.

Filming Stints:
Based for two months in points 2 of the green circled locations. Transport from location 1 is an overnight ferry that runs between the main island and the remaining islands. The frequency of this ferry whilst sketchy sees it arrive at the island, drop it's cargo of people and supplies and then do the rounds of the other islands returning to green circle 2 location some 6 to 8 weeks later for an overnight return to base location 1.

Access to green circle locations 3 will be via small aircraft chartered from the missionaries, the only real way to get out and back with any certainty. Filming stint at point 2 will be for one month and focusing on filming the shark warriors rite of passage.

Location 4 will be a filming stint for 4 months. The key elements here are the teachings of celestial navigation and the inter-island excursions via Ocean going canoes. The remaining locations, the atolls east of this point will be scheduled for filming once coordinated with the islanders on the spot.

PLAN B: Still working on it.....

Thoughts? I've had the rough screenplay written and rewritten a number of times. Am still tweaking that.

There is a central focus to this and a rather snazzy title. I'm hoping to be able to reveal that here sometime.

Cheers,
Mark.
PS - I do have a knife, a very big knife!

 

[Nick Gardner]

I second the boat idea. A decent sized sailboat (35-40') would house you, have large diesel and fresh water tanks, A generator, probably a water maker, and a host of other useful uses. It could also house a wind turbine, and a battery bank as well as solar. You can pack a lot of shit on a 40' boat. Plus it goes where you go.

Nick

 

[Steve Sherrick]

Mark, this is fascinating stuff. The adventurer in all of us is drooling with envy. Best of luck with this project.

 

[Mark_Thorpe]

Cheers Steve, have been staring at the maps and how to makeit work for three or so years now. The response by some people has been incredible. Lots of logistic options offered on site too so happy with that. Seems like a lot of the simpler elements are straightforward. It's also cool to have kept contacts good and intact since my past time there.

Will post more soon. Here's something to drift off to. This is an aerial image of location Green Circle 4:

Cheers,
Mark.

 

[Meryem Ersoz]

I checked around with some of my friends who make their living doing very remote shooting, and they recommended this power solution:

www.powerenz.com

apparently they'll build custom solar rigs, including backpack rigs. This is apparently the secret sauce, for some of the most talented remote shooters whom I've met, anyway.

Batteries and power will be big challenges. This may help. A generator seems too risky - needs gas, may crap out, heavy.

REDVolts don't have much life to them, but the ease of charging and lower power draw could be huge advantages.

This currently gets my vote for most exciting thread on reduser. Thanks for letting us tag along.

 

[Johnny Friday]

I see no practical way of operating a computer, hard drives requiring 110v power and endless charging of batteries. Power requirements are far beyond just charging redvolts....and a system like this is not only expensive, but also relies of sun (not always there); batteries, charge controllers, power inverters---now talk about reliability or unreliability vs a gas generator? I have a large off the grid base camp with sun and wind power and it works beautifully when we have wind and sun. BUT, it's hugely expensive as an initial investment and not very portable with the amount of 12v. battery storage. That said, when i'm on islands in mexico my EU1000 and ten gallons of gas can last me two weeks....charging batteries, running my computer at night doing transfers, coloring and editing....Can't do that with a small solar station like powernenz....that is something that looks good for charging your batteries and maybe running your computer during the day...but battery storage is always the big problem. If Mark does plan to setup a big base camp and drop a bunch of $$$ then a solar/wind combination is great---but very expensive & heavy. I think the EU1000 weighs about 35lbs or 40lbs...gas is about 7lbs per gallon. why is a generator risky? I'd argue glass solar panels, and numerous electronics within a charge controller and inverter pose far more risk of going bad in a humid and wet environment.

 

[dino g]

not sure if this has been said...but, honda generators 2000 and 2000 companion can be linked together and then run off a single gas source that is 6.5 gallons, which last 72 hours on one tank..here is just one of many comapnies that make them...go to westmarine to buy in person, buy online and save...

i have used a similar system with exceptional results for years..

one other thing to note which is contrary to some of what has been said on this thread, the honda generators need to have their oil changed every 100 hours, 20 hours for the first change and then every 100 hours thereafter...it is very important if you want to have the generator last a long time.

http://hapcoinc.com/product/236?gclid=CIKZ4dSI9LECFYdFMgodJlQAvQ

 

[Meryem Ersoz]

Not going to argue with you, Johnny - moreover, I wasn't arguing against genies - or against anything for that matter....

but Mark mentioned months, not weeks, in terms of his power needs...and powerenz works with military applications, so they may have a little wisdom to share....stuff we don't know.

so I asked around, and these systems have been put to work at extreme altitudes....one was put to work on a Grand Canyon shoot, which is a very tough, watery environment....just passing it on, trying to offer possibilities. I know solar is far from efficient, but genies have their issues, too. Probably some combinations of systems is what is called for....lightweight backups to your systems is not a bad thing.

 

[Mark_Thorpe]

Hey Maryem,
Thanks for the vote on the thread, this deal has been in my mind for the past three or four years, always there just gnawing away at the imagination. It's that project that pops into mind whenever there's down time, a moment of rest, burning to be endeavored and goading you to find a way to do so.

Whilst I strongly prefer the idea of a completely sustainable and natural way to get the job done, a la Solar option, I think the best and sure fire route for reliability will be to go with the Genie's. At point Red Circle 1 I will have to meet with what is called the 'Council of Pilung' this is basically a traditional Council of Chiefs, of their legal representatives of the main island groups in the territory. At that time I have to suggest which islands I am planning on visiting and for how long. As is also tradition I must say what, if anything, I will be taking as a 'gift' to the paramount chief of each location. The option to donate the genie(s) at the end of the stints could be an ultimate sweetener. The humidity in the region is pretty high so the machine will eventually seize, I feel however that there will be much more benefit derived in the short term from the Genie than maybe confusion as to how to get power from the solar array once I leave the location.

This is Green Circle 2 location. One of the largest Atolls in the region, 46 islands, 4 inhabited. As mentioned the yellow small circle shows the island I had previously visited.

Length, North to South is around 40km, width at the widest point some 17km. Landing strip is located at the largest island in the north east of the formation.

Cheers,
Mark.

 

[Randall Brown]

Just to throw some thoughts in the mix. We are preparing for a year overland through africa and need to be completely self contained. And we have done some remote shoots as well, so here are some thoughts from research and experience.

1. Convert as many/ all of your devices to use DC directly, so you can avoid the loss from inverters. Get everything to 12v power, because even the best inverters lose 15+% in the conversion. The red brick charger can take a 12V input directly, have a cable made, same for laptop.
2. Solar is going to be rough, but you can get a ton of power out of the latest systems. The thin films "load" under heat and lose efficiency, vs. a traditional panel. Powerenz will set up a nice system. You will basically solar charge a battery (ies) and then charge from that source.
3. For drives, skip the big arrays and the desktop solutions. We did a month long remote project in haiti, and we brought 30 1TB seagate USB 3 portable bus powered drives. We offloaded to two bus powered drives at a time. Then created proxies (ProRes Proxy 720p) to a third, working drive for editorial (Caldigit RAID Mini set to raid 1). We then sent one of the originals back to "base" and the worked with the proxy files off the 3rd drive. When confirmed safe at "base" and copied to the SAN, we put the second drive back into the pool to be erased/ used again. But we never erased until we had to. And 30 of the drives packed down pretty small. This approach also allows a 1 plug approach for your editorial system. One plug and your computer, drives, monitor, all up and running. Assuming you are going with a MacBook Retina?
4. For SatCom, get a Delorme Inreach for simple tracking, messaging (can link to your ios or android device), and SOS, and go with an Iridium Satelite phone. I use the new extreme handset daily, and its never let me down. If you need data and have deep pockets, then you go BGAN from inmarsat. But whatever you do, dont get their phone (isatpro). If you want uber redundancy, you can get a PLB as well (no monthly fees for that one).
5. For Gen, get the honda EU2000i, its not a fulltime 2000 watt gen, its actually like 1600 watts, but that should cover you. The 1000 will be a little small, and you wont be able to effectively use the ECO mode to extend the life. In addition, get a tank "extenstion" kit, to be able to draw gas out of a larger jug if you dont want to change fuel that often. Also, learn how to change the oil and clean the air filter. If you use it everyday for hours on end, you will need to do both. They are not maintenance free, though you can run them hard and they just keep ticking.
6. For camera batteries, I wouldn't go with RedVolts. One the charger doesnt seem to take a DC input direct, and two they are just too small. Get a backpack and go with bricks. Fair larger power capacity and not actually that much larger when mounted on a backpack. And the charger is slimmer and takes DC direct.
7. If you are going to stay for a month, then you can really set-up camp. If thats the case, look into going with a lithium battery in your set-up. They are pricery, but you can discharge them down to 90% vs using only 50% of a traditional battery. We are working with the guys at smart battery on a 350ah system. If you want to calculate your actual power usage and such, you can use the worksheet here. http://www.solar-electric.com/elloevwo.html

I vote for a sailboat as well, then you can really get crazy! For fun, here is a rough sketch of our electrical system for the Van we are going to live and work out of for a year across africa. We have solar (2 types), alternator, and gas generator, and i am still worried a little about power. We've updated the batteries in the diagram below to a a total of 350 Ah of lithium power. Keep us posted! sounds cool!

 

[Mark_Thorpe]

Hey Randall,
Thanks for that very comprehensive and concise breakdown. A lot of food for thought there, I will be printing that out to go along with the other pointers I have to pore over extensively.

Where about in Africa are you headed? Sounds like an incredible trip. Have spent many great adventures around southern Africa and some not so good times around the Horn of Africa in a previous chapter of my life.

Cheers,
Mark.

 

[Randall Brown]

Hey Mark! We are headed starting in Morocco and going down the east coast and potentially up the west coast. It's absolutely nuts right now getting it all together. I am going to post another thread when we are about to set-off, its going to be an epic trip and a ton of field learnings on using Epics in rough environments, unsupported...

What troubles in the horn of africa?