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DVE: How many DV cameras have been lost/destroyed in shooting?
DC: We've lost just one. We were shooting a climbing episode during an electrical storm high in the Bugaboo Mountains in Canada when static electricity build-up zapped the viewfinder on our Sony PC-7. Basically, this build-up is a precursor to being struck by lightning. Fortunately, we were in full retreat mode and managed to rappel and downclimb before anyone was injured.

Fifteen hundred feet above the Virgin River in Zion National Park, Utah, cameraman Scott Simper leans out into space to capture miniDV camera footage for the "Life on a Big Wall" episode of Anyplace Wild. Photo by Jeff Scher

DVE: When the footage is complete, is it taken back to Post Office Editorial for editing? is the footage transferred via FedEx or some other means, or is the footage uploaded to the Internet from the more remote locations?
DC: All footage is taken back to Post Office Editorial for logging, editing. We've never had an edit deadline tight enough to warrant Fed-xing tapes, although we do it all the time on other projects. Never uploaded over internet.

DVE: What type of editing software is used to put the show together? Any compositing tools used? How about for the titles, any character generators?
DC: The shows are edited on on suite of Accom Spheres. We off-line on the VideoSphere and MicroSphere and on-line all the shows in our Stratasphere suite and lay off digitally to DigiBeta for delivery to PBS. Audio post production is done on Digidesign ProTools with DA-88 being the transfer medium. Compositing and effects are done in Adobe After Effects. Most 3D animations are done in NewTek's LightWave 3D. Titles are usually generated in Photoshop and After Effects.

DVE: Why did you go with the Accom Spheres?
DC: We use the Accom Spheres which run on the Macintosh platform, for several reasons, not the least of which real time all the time effects such as color correction, DVE etc. Also, working on the Mac allows easy integration with all of the other graphics tools as well as streaming tools and audio post production as well.

Anyplace Wild climbing cameraman Peter Pilafian keeps one hand on the rope and the other on his DV camera, as he shoots his way up the massive face of El Capitan in California’s Yosemite National Park.

DVE: How many Post Office Editorial artists work on Anyplace Wild?
DC: Our post production crew includes two full time episode editors, one online / supervising editor, two graphics / animations artist, one post production supervisor, and one assistant editor. We have one music composer, and sub-contract out for audio sweetening and mix.

DVE: How about logistics in working on an episode. Any special circumstances? Lost Passport? refusal of entry at the border?
DC: Where do we begin? Yes, lots of war stories in this department. A few examples... Attacked by killer bees in Belize jungle, the afformentioned electrical storm in Bugaboo Mountains, Canada., also a few logistically challenging caving episodes. Once held up at Mexican border due to customs and haggling over gear, also stuck in hut in New Zealand for five days, unable to climb mountain because of torrential rain storms. We've gotten lost heading back to camp after shooting canyoneering show in Arizona, ended up walking 4 or 5 miles with all gear in pitchblack and getting in about 6 hours late. Similar epic treks back to camp in rain, complete darkness on Scotland trekking show, in highlands.

DVE: This is like the Xtreme DV games. Who came up with the idea to shoot DV off the face of a cliff and all these other crazy places?
DC: It's always been the mission of the show to actually try and recreate the feel, excitement, beauty, thrill, fear, etc... of the trips we take. So the use of a DV camera was a natural extension of that philosophy. Although the show does use much Betacam footage, our philosophy as producers has always been to capitalize on the size and quality of DV compared to the higher quality but more cumbersome Betacam package whenever the situation warrants putting our camera and sound people in difficult positions.

Production Team Details
Series Producers/Directors David Berez & Darryl Czuchra
Producer Dave Getchell
Supervising Producer Sian Evans
Associate Producer Allison Carroll
Production Assistant Jessica Day
Director of Photography Scott Simper & Steve Phillips
Supervising Editor David Berez
Location Sound Darryl Czuchra, Jeff Kimball, Rob Sylvain
2nd Camera Peter Pilafian, David Berez, Steve Howe
Music Axel Ericson, Brian Gager
Audio Post-Production Digital Arts (Axel Ericson & Won Duk Lee)
On-Camera Talent Series Host John Viehman
Co-Hosts Annie Getchell, Arlene Burns, & John Harlin

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