Feature Film Shooting Logistics

Equipment

Camera: Thailand has a huge range of equipment available. There are only a few exceptions to this. For example, as with most of Asia, it is an ARRI world here and Panavision equipment is hard to get. We can source it out of Hong Kong and actually get pretty good package deals, but the support is not here and when accessories or big days come around, we will have to mix with ARRI equipment. This can get complicated fast.

For our last few features we used a combination of Arri A and B cameras so that the B camera could also double up as the steadicam body. On our last two pictures, our A camera was an ARRI 535 and our B-camera was a moviecam compact.

Grip & Lighting: There's tons of good lighting equipment and crystal synch generators, etc in Thailand. Living Films can get some great day breaks on grip and lighting equipment, especially for longer term hires. It's hard to know exactly, but we may even be able to boast that we can get the best deal around. This is because we have hired the equipment on enough long form films to prove that the day break does indeed pay off in the end. However, it needs to be noted that film equipment in Thailand is not as cheap as one might imagine. The savings really come from the labor (a grip in Thailand is approx. $40/ day.) Most of the equipment itself is sourced overseas and charged tax when it enters Thailand. Nonetheless, we have relationships with all the houses and can and will get multiple bids from different equipment suppliers and bargain the very best deal possible for any given feature project.

Related links: Cranes , Local crew , Overtime , Rigging , Special effects , Underwater