Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1515068
greater need than ever to coordinate all of the on-set wireless. The storyline of two characters, Spencer Dutton, played by Brandon Sklenar, and Alexandra, played by Julia Schlaepfer, start their journey in Sub-Saharan Africa and eventually seek passage back to the US. This required a separate shooting unit to cover South Africa, Kenya, and Malta. Robert Sharman took this on and did an amazing job. He hired local crew who were truly excellent; Bertrand Roets, Boom Operator, Greg Albert, Utility Sound, and Kwanda Mkosi, Wiring Technician. There were days on safari in northeastern South Africa Reserves, as well as filming in Cape Town and Chale Point Kenya. Then they were off to Malta to film scenes set in Sicily. Some water tank work was also accomplished there. Unlike Montana, the cold was not so much an issue for Robert and his team, just wind, dust, ticks, and angry elephants. By mid-October, Montana was getting pretty cold and snowy. When we arrived in the old ghost town of Bannack for several days of filming, it was a very cold (-20ºF). We had several weeks of filming left on the schedule and we all knew we weren't going to make it in those conditions. Pretty quickly, production was eyeing the California mountains just southeast of the Grapevine. We had already scheduled a week of filming on the Queen Mary in the port of Long Beach, so this made sense. The week on the Queen Mary had its own challenges. The wireless environment at the Port of Long Beach is some of the worst I've experienced anywhere, and changing all the time as different ships maneuver around the port. We had a huge ballroom scene to film on the ship with a live band, several conversations on the dance floor ending in a fight scene. We had speakers for music playback, a thumper, and twenty-two earwigs for the band, singer, and several actors. Squeezing all the frequencies into what little spectrum was available was tricky as well. Turning down the gain on the antennas into negative territory, and keeping them close to the action made it all possible. Charles and Kelly did an amazing job booming that day as well. Finally, we were in the mountains north of Santa Clarita, CA, to complete the work we got snowed out from in Montana, only now it just wouldn't stop raining. You can't win for trying. But that's 1923, always diffcult but always rewarding. It could be done with green screens and stage builds, but keeping things as real as possible creates an authentic environment for the actors to work in and you can pretty much point the camera anywhere and find a great shot. Recording sound in those conditions may not be ideal but it has its rewards. I wouldn't have it any other way. Darren Mann as Jack in 1923. Photo by Emerson Miller/Paramount+ © 2022 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. 1923; Photo by Emerson Miller/Paramount+ © 2022 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved.