Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1505029
28 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Fall 2023 The Video Assist Operator's job involves setting up video villages, routing signals to other departments, recording camera and sound signals for playback, and more recently, streaming video and sound signals in sync to every director, producer, and crew member who needs to be able to see what is being shot. Most of the time, you're a one-person department on set, so there is no time to waste. You have to plan where you're going to land and hope you've picked the perfect spot for your director and producers to work. Hook it all up and go! Setting all this up typically is the first ten to fifteen minutes of the day. Doing all of this work typically requires three carts, each weighing approximately 200 lbs–500 lbs. First, the main cart is compact. It's equipped with a fully engineered computer system to run QTAKE, AJA routers to support four or more camera/video and sound inputs, A-D camera outputs, secondary village outputs, and all the cables; snakes; and other miscellaneous items necessary to get through the day. These setups are typically designed by the most skilled and OCD engineers in the business and are designed to make use of every nook and cranny of space. Often you feel like the pit crew at the Indy 500 or at the Grand Prix because you need to be able to plug in and reset at a moment's notice. Five minutes to move your all three carts or bang! You're dead! The second cart is the director's cart, better known as a "Village," and it is outfitted with three or four very expensive OLED monitors, an extra stand, and maybe even a robocup— if you're fancy. This is all in order to provide the director with the tools they need to see and hear what's happening on the set. Lastly, your third cart is for the producers so that they have a "Producers' Village" of their own. This allows their own creative visions to be in a separate world from what's going on in the director's world. The two should not mix. Therefore, hooking up and servicing all three to your carts is a little like being a video and sound octopus, spreading out in many directions at a time. And that's just with three carts; sometimes larger productions require additional carts. It can be physically overwhelming at times, especially when off-site, on location, or off road somewhere. Prior to the pandemic, video assist work was fairly standardized. The job revolved around taking in audio/video signals for the purpose of servicing the rest of the set. You'd play back footage as needed, mostly as reference material for Amber Maher running two QTAKE systems, totally eight camera inputs on Star Trek: Picard. Video assist carts on the set of Star Trek: Picard USS Titan Bridge, Season 2 and 3