NATIONAL ESTUARIES DAY satellite remote from
South Slough National Estuarine Research
Reserve in Charleston, OR (near Coos Bay).
Live from .......
Video crew: TBD ___________________
Satellite truck contact: TBD ___________________
Facilities Coordinator:
Bob Gubar, RMG Satellite Productions, 919-363-3630
Estuaries Day Live Event produced by Bill Lovin, Marine Grafics, 919-656-5166
You're going to Oregon, where you'll find possibly the most beautiful
coastline in America.
However, you're not going here. You show is in Charleston, Oregon on a
unique inland estuary area conveniently located right in town, not far from your
hotel. Here are some helpful hints:
Recommended hotel:
Captain John's Motel
541-888-4041
63360 Kingfisher Dr. PO Box 5005
Charleston, OR 97420
There are not many hotels in this community, make your reservations here early!!! REMEMBER the front desk at Capt. John's closes around nine. If you are going to be late CALL them and have them leave keys out for you. I almost ended up sleeping in the car because of this!
CONTACTS at South Slough:
Main Number
541-888-5558
Tom Gaskill tom.gaskill@dsl.state.or.us
Tom Gaskill (on-camera talent - site coordinator)
Crew calls: TBA
Video crew should arrive on the evening before the show and survey the site. Contact Tom Gaskill (South Slough NERR) for help. Truck and Crew should meet the morning of the show at Capt. John's Motel or a spot determined by Bob Gubar at RMG (sat coordinator). NO FOOD is immediately available at the show site but a mini-mart (Davey Jones Locker) is very close to the hotel and you may pick up supplies.
Directions to Charleston, OR
Charleston, Oregon is a tiny little tourist village near Coos Bay. There is no easy way to get there. Don't count on driving in and finding everything straightaway. Getting there from any interstate highway is a trek over beautiful but winding roads. Get a good map and ask directions if you even think you might be lost.
Make your base of operations Captain John's Motel. As you cross over a short bridge into Charleston (from Coos Bay) you will see Davey Jones Locker (the place to get everything - food, supplies, info). Turn right at Davy Jones and Capt. John's Motel is down a few blocks on the right. The actual show site is just back over the bridge toward Coos Bay immediately on the right. You will see a large pier structure. In front of the piers is a parking area where the truck will park.
Charleston - Coos Bay area
Charleston -- it is a very small town
 Davey Jones Locker -- you know you are there when you see this |
 Capt. John's Motel -- there are few other places to stay |
 |
 |
Rough coordinates:
N 43.20.18
W 124.19.11
The site is pretty much across the street
from Davey Jone's Locker. Note the sign below. It is just across a
small bridge from Davey Jone's Locker.
The shoot will take place on the pier and in the mud
(below). Bring mud boots.
Park the truck in the parking lot below. Make sure you leave room for the
crew and participants to get by on the parking lot side of the fence. Just
over the fence the footing is precarious.
Just meet Tom Gaskill at Captain John's or the Davey Jones as
arranged and follow him here. It is not far. 650-ft of cable should suffice here.
Backup Site (in case of severe weather)
This is Univ. of Washington research building just down the
street from main site. Truck would park on road by research center and
have good shot of sky (pix 01)...south is at center telephone poll.
Activities would be inside building (pic02). This is a last resort for
intensely bad weather. Available cable should suffice. Phones may be
available in the lab area and 20amp, 110v.
NOTES for CAMERA CREWS and SAT CREWS:
You will be working with non-professional talent. These are scientists, researchers, educators...help them out as much as you can. You are really the director/producer/camera crew on site.
These segments will be live, one-hour, one-camera shows. You will likely be handheld for most of that hour moving from station to station. You will ALWAYS be on. Work with your talent to determine places you can use a tripod. They will have plenty of volunteer help so you can have your sticks moved from place to place and waiting for you. It is okay to gently lift the camera on and off the sticks. Work with the volunteers who are helping pull cable for you. In most cases you will have a lot of cable stretched out. Remember, they are newbies probably never having been involved in television at any level.
Obviously work with the talent to look at your "path" and stretch out as much cable as possible so you're pulling as little as possible at any time. Help your talent with "blocking" (i.e.- moving from place to place, how to point things out by walking you over to them and not truly pointing, etc.)
Audio -- make this as simple as you can. We recommend you use a handheld wireless mic and work with your non-pro talent on how to use it. Depending on what equipment you have and the amount of "wind" you can certainly put a wireless lav on the main talent. I urge you not to use a boom unless you can really get it in there because this is streaming video (internet) and for good sound we really need "close-mic" when possible.
Obviously there is no place to change batteries in this one-hour block so make sure your cameras/equipment will run one-hour plus if it has to be battery powered. Try to have backup equipment if possible. We only have one shot with each of these sites.
If you can get a return sat feed please set up a monitor for the talent and have a volunteer grip carry it around (or at least to those special places when it will be of most use). Also the talent will have a "field producer" (also a non-pro) to help them. Provide them with an intercom if possible. We MAY be trying to feed questions via the truck to the talent at times. Do what you can to help facilitate communication.
In some locations crew might have to move from outside in sunshine to inside a lab or museum area. Do your best to deal with exposure. If you have to rotate a filter out, then that's what you've got to do. We will have to live with it. ALSO you may have to shoot some video monitors of perhaps an underwater camera or video microscope. We will try to do that from a set of sticks. If you do have to do that it is okay to include the talent pointing things out.
It is conceivable in some locations that the guys in the truck might be asked to playback a beta tape for some b-roll. Likely that would come from home base but you never know. Also there is the possibility that they might ask you to hook up an underwater camera or video microscope if the location is close enough to the truck and you have enough cable. Help them out if possible. If you can't, then the camera folks can shoot it directly off the screen.
Just be prepared for the wild and wacky. These are amazing natural sites filled with wonderful creatures and anything can happen. If a seal climbs up on the pier you may need to get a shot. If they find a rare life form you might have to shoot in on the video microscope. You may suddenly see a rare bird. If a sudden storm approaches be prepared with a protection for your equipment (and yourself). Unless there is a hurricane, typhoon or tsunami...we will shoot no matter how rainy it is. Always be aware of where you are and don't fall in the water (or sink up to your knees).
We really appreciate your help and support. You folks will ultimately be running the show from your location. We won't bother you unless a problem develops. We can pretty much guarantee you an exciting (and out of the ordinary) day.
THANK YOU!