Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1541535
Winter 2026 – LOCAL695.COM 31 head and that never changed for the entire shoot. It was a great win and the hair helped as a wind cover as well. When we filmed the human actors on Pandora, they all wore oxygen masks with prop oxygen packs on their waists. There was a tube connecting to the mask so with Jim's blessing, we would thread a lav up through the tube and bring it out through the rubber shroud around the mask, it was seen on camera. However, the glass lens of the mask was going to be added in VFX later, so it was easy to paint out the lav too. The Zaxcom ZMT4 transmitters went into the oxygen packs which were hollowed out for our benefit and were just big enough to house the TX. I could also get Zaxnet reception through the pack, which was great as I had full gain control from my desk. This became a go-to as we had thirty lavs wired into oxygen masks for the duration. It was then easy to just plug a TX in and go. Katie Paterson was 2nd AS and she was in charge of managing this process, working with Prop Mask Head Richard Thurston. It was an ongoing upgrade to when we started in 2019; then we were using ZMT3's and a mixture of B6 and DPA 6061's. From 2022 on, we went to ZMT4's and all DPA 6061's. Funny to have a job last so long that technology upgrades with you on the way. A normal day: Cantar X3, Astral ARX16, two Lectrosonics DSQD receivers all linked via Dante to the playback rig running Pro Tools, Ableton Live on Focusrite Scarlett with Icon control surface and Akai Advance 25 controller" Stunt work Tony Johnson hard at work