On September 5th, the third season of iQiyi’s hit variety show, “King of Comedy Stand-up Comedy Season” (hereafter “Comedy Stand-up 3”), officially wrapped up, earning both massive viewership and critical acclaim. As a flagship IP in iQiyi’s comedy lineup, the show’s success relies heavily on the seamless execution of its production crew.

We sat down with veteran cinematographers Zheng Nan, Gan Kefu, and Sun Lei—the creative forces behind some of China’s biggest variety shows—to discuss the art of communication on a fast-paced reality show set.

Part 1: Meeting the Demands of a Massive Crew

Q: Why did you choose the ALLCOMM communication system for Comedy Stand-up 3?

• Zheng Nan: Scale was the biggest factor. Our camera team regularly exceeds 30 people, and reality television requires an immense number of angles. Every single operator needs to receive real-time directors’ instructions without lag.
• Gan Kefu: For language-driven shows like stand-up comedy, high-quality audio isolation is everything. Stage monitors, audience laughter, and ambient noise constantly threaten to drown out production calls. ALLCOMM’s advanced noise reduction keeps communication perfectly crisp, even in loud environments.

Q: How do you manage and allocate equipment when coordinating such a large team?

• Zheng Nan: A standard reality show segment can easily demand a crew of 50 or 60 people, which overwhelms conventional intercom systems. With ALLCOMM, scaling up is effortless. Instead of deploying expensive and bulky main base stations, we just hand out extra headsets and tune them to the same channel.
• Sun Lei: We also segmented our team into dedicated sub-groups based on the specific artists or scenes they were tracking. Operators could collaborate internally within their group to capture highly specific footage without cluttering the main channel or distracting other departments.

Part 2: Hands-On Highlights from the Field

Q: In the thick of production, which features stood out the most?

• Zheng Nan: The active noise cancellation (ANC) is a game-changer. In the past, shooting music videos or concerts meant screaming into headsets because of the volume on stage. With ALLCOMM, ambient noise is completely blocked out, and call quality remains pristine.
• Sun Lei: The high user capacity is an incredible asset. When shooting commercial sets, it’s not just the camera crew that needs to talk—the floor director, lighting, art department, and production assistants all need lines. Previously, departments had to share headsets. ALLCOMM effortlessly hosts 50 to 60 users simultaneously without bottlenecking.
• Gan Kefu: The peer-to-peer architecture is another massive benefit. Traditional intercoms rely on a master/slave setup—if the master unit loses power or the director steps away, the whole system drops. Because every ALLCOMM headset functions as an independent master unit, the network remains fully operational even if individual crew members disconnect.

Part 3: Reliability, Range, and the Director’s “Third Eye”

Q: Compared to other wireless intercoms you’ve used, how does ALLCOMM stack up?

• Zheng Nan: The battery life is phenomenal. It easily powers through a 10-hour shoot on a single charge. We used to waste time swapping batteries every few hours; now, we don’t even think about it until wrap time.
• Gan Kefu: The signal penetration and overall range are superior. Our studio was packed with thick walls, heavy sets, and physical obstacles, but we didn’t experience a single dropout. Plus, its ability to support over 100 simultaneous users makes it one of the few systems capable of handling large-scale, stadium-level variety productions.

Q: Director Sun, as a commercial photography director transitioning to reality TV, how critical is a reliable communication system to your craft?

• Sun Lei: I view the communication system as my “third eye.” On a chaotic reality TV set, I am usually looking at the master monitor, which gives me a wide, panoramic view. It is almost impossible for me to catch every split-second detail on my own.By tracking the artists’ macro-movements, I can use the intercom to instantly direct specific camera operators to punch in on a tight close-up—like a sudden hand gesture or a subtle facial expression. The communication system acts as an invisible eye that uncovers the hidden details of the story, giving me real-time creative control.

Final Thoughts

A huge thank you to Zheng Nan, Gan Kefu, and Sun Lei for pulling back the curtain on their production process. Their work on Comedy Stand-up 3 proves that the right technology can bring absolute stability to a chaotic filming environment, setting a new benchmark for large-scale variety show logistics.

As Gan Kefu beautifully summarized: “We use sound to guide the camera, and we use the camera to follow the story.”