Think of it as a video assist that knows no geographic bounds. And it comes, appropriately enough, from a subsidiary of the 10-year-old Hollywood-based company Videorama! Industries, which is widely recognized as a stalwart in video assist playback on set or location. The new venture, LocationView, is introducing a system that deploys a highly mobile, secure satellite uplink, which beams real-time live interactive production or pre-pro content directly to the LocationView server in Atlanta. That feed can then be distributed instantly via a secure Internet connection to any computer desktop worldwide. The content stream is encrypted to protect sensitive info, and can be seen by authorized users in real time.
The implications of the technology are far reaching, literally. The LocationView system provides key executives and artisans with accessibility to work that is being shot on location or stage anywhere. Via an accompanying chat function and/or teleconference, people who can’t be at a shoot in person can still see what’s happening and provide feedback.
This live streaming video assist opens up collaboration, related R. Scott Lawrence who co-founded both Videorama! and LocationView with colleague Howard Van Emden. The technology, said Lawrence, who also serves as LocationView’s general manager, overcomes logistical barriers to make production more inclusive.
“In working with Videorama! and providing digital services on film and commercial sets over the years, we determined there was a need for an additional evolution of video assist,” shared Lawrence. “We wanted to take the collaboration that results from video assist and playback to the next level. We wanted to take that on-set and on-location video assist dynamic for production and make it work for people who couldn’t necessarily be there in person but needed to be involved.”
He noted that agency creatives and account people–and client staffers–can’t always be on a shoot. “But this way, they can log onto the set and answer questions when needed. They don’t necessarily need to spend a week at some distant location. If they need to, they can tend to other business from their offices while still being connected to what’s happening on the film set or on location. Similarly, editors can see a shoot in progress, offering their expertise if necessary during that stage of the project.
There are variations on this accessibility as well. For example, LocationView can archive at the client’s request. So if you’re overseas for example, and want to have a handle on what’s going on at a stateside shoot even though there is a considerable time difference, LocationView can implement an archive feature. This allows users to log on and check out selected scenes that have been archived. This way you can review scenes at a more convenient local time.
Furthermore, some users could have view-only authorization sans the chat and comment capabilities. This affords people the chance to keep tabs on a job without having to critique what’s being lensed.
Asked about the downside of facilitating so many collaborators that you wind up with too many cooks in the kitchen, Lawrence countered that ultimately efficiency will be increased. “On many sets,” he said, “the crew will shoot multiple versions of something in order to make sure that the client, an agency executive or someone else not present will accept at least one version. But this way [with LocationView], you don’t need to guess as to whether or not some big wig is pleased. He or she has communicated with you via the system that they’re satisfied and so you can move on.”
Lawrence added that the fear of being bogged down by the too-many-cooks syndrome will pass rather quickly as the technology is used more frequently in production–just as the same fear dissipated years ago with the stepped-up use of traditional video assist technology. “There were many objections when video assist first came out years ago,” he recalled. “There were also objections when the color video taps came into being; that faced a lot of resistance. But they all became rather ubiquitous tools rather quickly. The objections are now all water under the bridge.”
LocationView is rolling out the system now, after extensive, successful beta testing. Clients have used the technology–which is available on a rental package basis–not only for production but other purposes as well. For example, the real-time streaming feed facilitated a casting session in which some key decision-makers weren’t physically present. Yet they all could exchange observations, make requests and collaborate simultaneously via a chat window and/or a conference phone call, asking for additional bits of performance and the reading of additional lines from actors during the session.
John Locher heads business development and marketing for LocationView. For further info, log onto locationview.com.
