Australian Survivor does a very good job of making it feel as though the contestants are really in the middle of nowhere fending for themselves, so how does the production crew hide on set?
In short, they don’t. As it turns out, they’re a lot more visible to the cast than they are to the viewers at home.
Having appeared on two seasons of Australian Survivor, Abbey Holmes (Champions V Contenders, All Stars) knows how intricate — and intrusive — the whole production is.
In episode 100 of the So Dramatic! podcast, the two-time Australian Survivor competitor revealed that it’s “really quite confronting” how closely the cameras follow them around.
“You’re not allowed to have… a conversation off-camera,” the former contestant said. “Sometimes you think that you’re having a private conversation just with the girls or talking about something hilarious or embarrassing or whatnot, and then you just look up and there’ll be the little boom [mic] that the audio guys hold, and you’re like, ‘Oh, sh*t!'”
While the cameras are “very much in so your face”, Abbey confessed that “after the first few days” it’s as if the crew is “not even there”.
“You just become so used to it.”
Where Do The Producers Stay When Australian Survivor Is Filming?
When contestants say they’re in a secluded location on set, they aren’t lying.
“[Contestants] are still fair enough away from anything going on in civilisation,” Abbey confessed. In fact, the campsites are so remote that the producers aren’t even shacking up close by!
The 31-year-old also dished that contestants would “have to drive… about five, 10 minutes” to get to the producers should they need to talk to them.
Camera Locations Are Very Telling
In a game like Survivor, you need all the advantages you can get.
According to Abbey, this is why paying close attention to the production crew can set you on the right path during the competition.
“With Survivor you kind of pick up on little things,” she admitted. “Like, if there’s camera crews hanging out in a certain area or people whisk you off into different directions and camera crews run after you, you know that you… might be onto something.”
“What I love about the game of Survivor — what I absolutely love — is that it is so real and it’s very, very organic.”
Want even more goss? Listen to episode 100 of the So Dramatic! podcast with Megan Pustetto below!
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