Project Brief

The communication among the film crew which proved to be the crucial element for successful video production still relies on the same old walkie-talkie as 20 years ago. How can we empower on-set communication for film crew?

Project Timeline

Jan - Apr 2019
14 week project

behind the scenes of <Fight club>
Filmmaking is a miracle of collaboration.

- James McAvoy
problem

Current experience is disturbing

1. Information overload

To make sure they don’t miss important messages from public channels while keep in touch with the smaller department team.  People carry 2 or 3 walkie-talkies on different channels.

2. Message unconfirmed

To broadcast a message to the whole crew, some crew member need to repeat the message they hear several times to make sure everyone gets it.

3. Privacy needed

For private conversations, even when both people have walkie-talkie, they would still need to go around the set to meet each other and talk.
research
Solve the issues by
understanding people first
research report↗︎
Besides of general research, I was able to take a deep dive into the world of film production through interviews with working professionals and on-set observation.
insights
Efficient workflow requires communication on
different levels of privacy and transparency.
insight 01
Efficiency is the key of production
- Misalignments are solved and decisions are made
 during pre-production.
- Efficiency is key during production because everyday
 on set cost money and momentum.
insight 02
Hierarchy is the unspoken rule
- It is unprofessional for crew members to give advice to the  
 creative team(director, director of photography, etc) during
 shooting unless they asked first.
- Intervening with other departments’job is also unacceptable.
insight 03
Accurate transmission is priority
- All conversation are forced to be transparent because they
 happens in channels. It is difficult to send the right
 message to the right people.
- People wish they can just shout out to each other instead of
 trying to find the person through extra steps on walkie-talkie.
insight 04
Minimum communication is the best
- Overloading information create opposite effects
 on effective communication.
- It’s crucial to keep the balance between fully transparent
 and filtered information.
project mission
Design an on-set communication system that would
reduce misalignment and increase efficiency.
design solution - channels
Currently, on-set communication is based
on fixed two-way radio channels.
Now, introducing Node,
a new communication system based on dynamic channels.
design solution - physical product
The main device can be clipped on anywhere,
operations are done via voice control.
color palette
scenario
Scenario 01
Discuss Specific issue with specific
people to solve problems and make changes in time.
Scenario 02
Broadcast messages in a snap,
making sure everyone is on the same page.
Scenario 03
Send out broad request and find the right person to get things done efficiently.
design process
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