Ahoy there Meridian!

Boxx Wireless on the set of Black Sails Season 1 & 2 The idea of wireless HD video is, to many Video Assist operators and camera crew, the Pot of gold at the end of the rainbow always, it seems, just out of reach.

During the grainy years of standard definition video assist, many wireless contenders entered the ring, only to be found wanting in either range or quality. Then finally, on the eve of the shift to HD video, the challenge of SD wireless had been met with the very effective Navtech system. Alas, Standard Definition video was already a thing of the past. The dream of wireless video for film sets made the transition the HD more easily than the initial hardware as before, many contenders and, as before, much disappointment. That is, until Boxx HD Wireless bundled the competition aside with the introduction of the Meridian System.

For the past two seasons of Black Sails, filmed on location around Cape Town and in the Cape Town Film Studios, I have been using the Boxx system as part of the Video Assist set-up. Most of the filming has been with two Alexa cameras, shooting between 3-6 scripted pages per day. The transmitters lived on the cameras permanently through storm sequences, on beach locations, inside humid and damp ships, on water, hand-held, stunt sequences and guess what? The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow !

Firstly there's no noticeable audio delay (on 6 page dialogue days, with walk & talk scenes and circular track dialogue scenes, this is gold!). The next thing I loved about the Boxx system is that the image received gradually becomes more pixelated as the transmitter moves out of range which allows one gauge, at a glance, whether the receivers are placed correctly or if some tweaking is required. Once the system is set up, I can focus on my work, as the signal is solid and doesn't break-up. In tight sets this is a pleasure for everyone as it means one less person having to be near the camera position. The Boxx also has a good working range. I was able to give the director a clean video picture of steadicam shots, which moved from a tavern set and into the set across the street with no picture loss, through walls, around extras etc.

The Boxx system is the most reliable wireless HD video system I've worked with. When considering a wireless system for your production, save yourself and the video assist person a world of pain by avoiding the cheap, so-called HD wireless systems, and get the real deal. I look forward to the next season of Black Sails knowing that the primary video source for playback is stable and reliable.

Pierre De Villiers

Video Assist Operator

Cape Town, South Africa

LINK:	http://boxx.tv/ahoy-there-meridian/...
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