What Is Fixed Rig Production?
Fixed rig production refers to a method of filming footage that has changed the way factual/reality television shows and documentaries can be made. The way fixed rig productions work is they utilize a large number of unobtrusive cameras, like say 100 cameras, and microphones set up in fixed positions throughout a room or building that offers a wide variety of vantage points. This helps to significantly reduce the number of camera crew needed to capture footage of subjects.
The subjects usually know where the cameras are, but without the presence of a camera crew, many people tend to behave more naturally which allows for more genuine (and candid) reactions to be captured on camera. In addition, fixed rig camera systems are able to capture and highlight the reactions of multiple people in a room all at the same time while most single-camera shoots are focused on just the person speaking.
Setting up a fixed rig camera system is a huge undertaking and may seem costly in equipment but it can be offset by the reduction in production crew needed. According to CTV’s Adam Berger, “When we’re up and running, there’s only a technical crew of four people – a camera operator, sound mixer, a vision engineer and a technical assistant – operating a 50-camera system with 20 radio mics and another 50 or 60 effects mics. If we were doing a golf event, we would have a crew of 100.”
The camera feeds are monitored by a small team in a control room, aka “the gallery,” where a gallery director decides which feeds to record. The feeds are then recorded to servers provided by the post-production house, with no transcoding required.
There is a lot more to fixed rig production that makes it a viable method for filmmakers and reality television productions to use. Learn more about how fixed rig filmmaking has transformed factual television here:
https://rts.org.uk/article/how-fixed-rig-has-transformed-factual
http://www.adapttvhistory.org.uk/assets/stories/fixed-rig/fixed-rig.html
If you are looking for camera systems to rent for use in a fixed rig production, check out our online Nevada Production Directory to find experienced Nevada production crew or drop by our office and pick up a free printed directory!
If you offer production and film-related services in Nevada and are not yet listed in our Production Directory, you can learn more about how to sign up for the NPD here.