Petrol bags protect audio gear while covering soccer championships in South Africa

To document South Africa and the Soccer World Championships for TV Station ZDF in Germany, Jurifilm needed a tight shooting package that was safe and easy to access. Petrol bags proved to be ideal.

The crew worked for seven days in different places and completely different environments in South Africa; Table Mountain and the wine area of Capetown, the small University city of Stellenbosch, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Kruger National Park. They had to move quickly and make sure the gear was always ready and in top condition.

The small team was either driving to or flying in and out of different locations every day with a small shooting package, including a DVW 970P camera, DigiBeta PA1, Sachtler tripod, lighting kit, field mixer, wireless and wired mics, K-Tek boom pole with zeppelin and slip on windshield. Petrol bags and pouches protected all of the gear.

The Eargonizer audio bag worked well for this kind of movement. It had enough space for a 302 Field Mixer, three-channel with external NP battery power, two Lectrosonic wireless microphones with a SR Dual Receiver and two Lectrosonic UHF transmitters, and an Electro-Voice RE-50B hand mic with a UH-400A transmitter.

The crew didn't have to change the working configuration for plane travel. Wherever they went, they were ready and didn't have to reconnect cables or receiver, regardless of weather conditions — which included rain, wind and blowing sand.

The footage the crew captured aired on Germany's ZDF Television, one of the biggest nationwide public broadcasters in Germany.