Urgent Help!! : Shooting Sports Events

[andybiz_2005]

Dear Formum Members,

I need very urgently some advice on shooting very specific sports for a full-day shoot 2moro. Here are the details :

Day time shoot

Using either a Sony HDR FX1E or Sony HVR-HC-1 for the shoot.
Shooting in 1080i high-definiiton unto miniDV tape

1st shoot : Indoor squash games
2nd shoot : Aquatics (can include swimming, diving, water polo, synchronised swimming)
3rd shoot : Gymnastics (can include floor routines, bars, ribbon rountines, etc)

Full-day shoot from 9:00am to 8:00pm.

2 cameraman (of which one is me) & two assistants (for each cameraman).
Will be using tripods for each cameraman

Since I am shooting sports for the 1st time, my main concern is how to compose the shots & angles in such a way that the shots come out looking good & professional, while complementing the other cameraman's angles.

Also for a high-speed sport like squash, how do I compose my camera angles? Should I focus more on shooting the two players in the court (medium to close-ups), or should I just plunk camera & tripod in the middle & behind the glass wall & take wide-angle shots of the court with players inside (not much camera pans or tilts)?

Also, for swimming, should I just shoot the highlights (shoot swimmers springing off the diving block & when they reach the other end of the pool), or follow the swimmers with my camera continuously from beginning to end of pool? Shots mostly will be hand-held with just my two hands to stabalise the camera.

Any ideas how to shoot gymnastics?

There will be a producer & director escorting & accompanying us during the shoot & they will also give instructions to us. But any extra suggestions & advice from my fellow forum members here will be very much appreciated.

Oh, 1 other very important thing, if you know of any websites where I can download movie samples of sports videos, that would be the best for me to view so I get an idea about good compositions & bad compositions of camera angles.

[pookie_old]

Good luck.

[evinsky]

Operating is a very complex skill that cannot be summed up in a single post. I would suggest staying up and watching ESPN all night. See what angles they shoot and try your best to learn from them.

[mikkowilson]

Andy,
I only just got your messages (I have to sleep sometimes too).. I hope you read before your shoot (if you don't, you should, breakfast is *the* time to read DVXuser)

Sports is very complicated, and Evinsky's sugestion of watching ESPN all night long is a good idea. See hwo others shoot sports. I'm not sure what's on google video, but that would be where I'd start a video search. Then again you need to sleep too - which i presume you are.

Unfortuanly you missed one key detail in yoru question: What is are you shootign for? highlists for local news, or full coverage of the even for national broadcast? or the web?

General sports sugestions.
Always have one camera wide.. notice how most sports have that wide shot form the center of the field/court to show the full situation. NOw it's a little different for the sports you highlited, but make sure you show the shole situation.

The other camera then needs to concentrate on closers shots to intercut.. don't go too close or you can quickly loose frame or miss somethign important - ALWAYS remember to keep yrou other eye looking PAST your camera at the stuff your lens can't see.

The ability to anticipate is key in sports.. if unsure sit a little wider with yrou frame untill you know what happens. You should always be able to ganruntee that what is about to happen will be in yrou frame.

That said, many of these are slower, much mor epredicatble sports. Gymnastics for example will give you chances for good closeups of the person's face just before they start and when they finish their routine - MCU to CU is good for this. Diving will give you the same.

Stick with the tripod where you can. With only 2 cameras you don't have much "safty" to cut to (if it's a continous format - if it's highlights your are safe)

Other than that normal framing rules apply, just remeber to keep the object of the sport (ball, puck, etc..) in cosideration when framing and be sure to leave room for that reaching bat/stick! Also remrbe to keep track of movement as the action-line (dont' break the line with sports! a ball that suggenly changes direction in mid air looks bad) and "leadroom" tend to change quickly, again anticipation will be the key.

Dont' try too mix it up or get too crazy.. watch any sports, the shots are very repetetive, you want to estabilish a rythem of familierity with the viewers so they know what to expect and dont' get causght off guard by the cameras ans miss some of the action (which is the exciting part after all.. not the shots)

With the sports that have music (gym, syncro-swim) listen to that music and shoot in complement to it. Be prepared to cut between cameras at natrual breaks and pauses in the music and action - or on the beat if you want to get snazzy and it's that 'type' of peice

Ask your director what s/he wants as you prapre to shoot. Listen to their shot/camera placement wishes. Chances are the first couple of shots will go belly up - be sure to have that wide cam - as you 'tune in' to the rythem of the sport, once you are tuned in it will be easy, just go with the flow. The faster you tune in the better.

I hope you have the FX1 for the closer shots - zoom control is tiny on the HC1 - sports after all beeing one of the places where zooms really are in place!

You will do fine, be sure to get a good breakfast (while [or after] reading DVXuser), make sure everythign else is working- assistants are good for this, use your noodle a little, your instincts more, relax, go with the flow, and most importantly of all; have fun. :) (oh yeah, be safe too)

- Mikko

[andybiz_2005]

I'm really amazed....after just a matter of hours I get such positive & encouraging feedback from you all. Thank you mikkowilson, evinsky & pookie for taking the time & effort on your part to provide good advice. Thanks mikkowilson, you're great!

Anyway, yeah, I did leave out a crucial question : what am I shooting for? Well, for the full-day shooting, only 2 minute's worth of our editted video will be shown to VIPs at a later date on the sports highlights. I'm not sure what medium (whether LCD projector, TV broadcast, live broadcast on huge panel TV, etc), but the VIPs are going to see the best 2 minuties worth of our videoshoot.

Yes, Mikko, it's true that since there're only 2 cameras, one should be for tele-shots & the other for wideangle-shots. Well, looks like I'll be needing a good sleep if I am to remain alert & anticipate all the time. Un4tunately, some years back, I unsubsribed to the sports channel of our satallite TV, so I may have to go home & watch CNN Sports, if it comes on when I get home. Since this is my 1st time shooting sports for a 2-minute highlight, I'll try & do my best with the shots & hopefully the production company editting our shots will find it pleasant to work with....& usable too....LOL :) & oh, I better remember to pack a pocket notebook in my pants pocket 2moro to scribble important notes on in case I miss out on any of the briefing.

I'll check this thread again 2moro morning b4 I leave for the shoot. Thank you all very much for your helpful contributions. Really appreciate it :)

Good night.

Andrew

[mikkowilson]

Aah.. highlights! you are in luck. (much less stress).

All the same rules for shooting still apply.. but here's one more tip for highlights shooting (the editors will love you): right AFTER a really good shot - something that you think shoudl make the highlights (and isnt' jsut the 50th guy diving). Drop either an index mark to the tape, or flash up and record 2 sec of bars, or hodl your hand in front of the lens to make it dark and roll a sec or 2 of tape (this is fastest) -. this will give your editors a visual clue of something good when they are shuttling through the tape looking for material.

- Mikko

[andybiz_2005]

Hi everyone,

As promised, I have prepared a summary report of the sports shooting last Friday.

First of, there were many variables that changed on the actual day of shooting. For eg. before we were told that we will be shooting in high-def, but it turned out that I used the Sony DSR-PD170P miniDV camcorder instead. Also, I mentioned that there will be 2 cameramen (including me) covering the location shoot.

I assummed that 2 cameramen will shoot the SAME location from different angles. It turned out that we were to split up, where I cover 1 location with my camera & he cover a 2nd location with his camera.

In the morning, I went to shoot womens' netball tournament. The other cameraman (using a Sony Betacam) went to shoot gymnastics. I positioned my camera & tripod a a few spots surrounding the netball court. Initially, I found it difficult to pan my camera to follow the action, but after some time, I got used to it. Initially, I tracked motion with my camera from the flip-out LCD screen, which was kinda small on the 170. I found it pretty hard to follow the action from just stooping low & viewing the tiny LCD screen. So, instead, I closed the flip-out screen & viewed the action from the EVF. I found that viewing from the EVF, it was easier for me to see the action clearly & I was able to anticipate where the ball was going next much easier. Also, it made it much easier to zoom in & out of the action by looking through the EVF. After some time, I was pretty good @ anticipating in which direction the ball will go next & compensated my pans accordingly. During the 4 minute breaks in between games, I hand mounted the camera & went in close to shoot the players resting, the coach advising them, etc.

Next, I went to the national Squash Center. Hall was squarish in shape with the squash court in the center of the hall & benches surrounding on all 4 sides. The walls of the court was made of tampered glass, so the action could be seen on all 4 sides. I shot front, side & back views & also took some view from the ball level through the glass walls. I also zoomed in close to the players when neccessary to give variety, but most of the time, the entire squash court was within the frame.

Last, I went to the shoot some track & field events in a stadium nearby. First was long jump. I took shots from the end of the sand pit with the anthelete far off in the distance. I set up the tripod very low to the ground so that the camera was only 1 feet off the ground. I also took other varied angles like panning the camera from right to left as the athelete sprints down the track into the pit. I also shot 3000meters, 100m sprint, hurdles, etc. I got to set the exposure right with two levels of ND filters because it was quite bright.

For me, the most challenging sport to shoot was netball, because the ball changed direction from left to right or right to left so quickly, I had to be absolutely alert all the time.

After using the Sony 170 for the first time, it was quite easy to familiarise myself with all the buttons, which were similar to the Pan 102AE, except that the Sony does not have a scene file dial like Panasonic. However, after adjusting the ideal settings, I can move a switch up to the lock position (autolock), so that none of the settings change accidently. What I found amazing about the Sony is how fast the record button is. Almost immediately after pressing the record button, it starts to record. However on the 102A, I've regretted not pressing the record button sooner, because it takes quite a while for the video to actually start recording to tape after the button has been pressed & as a result, some important scenes were not captured. The Sony didn't feel that sturdy in my hands compared to my DVX, perhaps because it's lighter. For the DVX, much prefer the placement of buttons on the right front side of the camera, where my thumb can access most of the functions easily.

Anyway, considering being my first sports shoot, the director/producer following me around & observing how I shot the video commented at the end of the day that I did a superb shooting job & the angles I took were very well thought out. And ofcourse it wouldn't have turned out so good if not for all your helpful advice here at www.dvxuser.com

I learnt to expect the unexpected & to adjust well as so many variables changed on that day. I just had to make the best of using 1 camera for each location shoot.

Andrew