Where Does The Camera Crew Sleep On Deadliest Catch’s Northwestern? – Looper

Per an interview with Edgar Hansen published by Fox Seattle’s iWitness news team in 2008, Discovery’s camera crew sleeps throughout the vessel when they’re aboard filming for “Deadliest Catch.” 

“The camera guys we have on board, those guys sleep wherever,” Hansen says in the clip. “We’ve got two state rooms, we sleep two over there, four here,” he says while showing a set of staterooms with four bunks). “We’ve got a five man crew, so obviously we need one more bed!” Hansen goes on to explain that Discovery’s crewpeople tend to sleep wherever there’s room; in Sig’s wheelhouse (an unsurprising revelation, since Sig Hansen considers the show’s crew to be family), on benches, or on the floor. “These guys have to adjust and work around us,” said Hansen. “Fishing first, cameras come second. Sorry!”

The process of becoming a cameraperson or member of the “Deadliest Catch” sound crew is an odyssey in of itself. In a 2020 article for American Cinematographer, cinematographer David Reichert and “Deadliest Catch” executive producer Brian Lovett explained how they prepare for each season. It turns out that before each batch of Discovery crewpeople are assigned to their boats for the season, they gather in Dutch Harbor to learn the hows, whens, and whys of bringing “Deadliest Catch” to life. “It’s critical to give the operators a very detailed clinic, and get everyone in the room back on the same page. We want a consistent look across the series, and that is hard with six different crews,” Reichert said. Since he doesn’t see the crew’s footage until they dock, it’s easy to understand why he’s so thorough.