glad to see it

[ebe]

This brings a smile, the inclusion of Documetary in the list of topics. Some of us are not focusing completely on narratives this hopefully this will bring those people out of the wood works. I myself will be begin a month long project in ten days, so if anyone out there has tips, problems to aviod, or just stories of shooting this style, please drop a post.

Thanks
Ezekiel Brown

[Jay_Blanchard]

Hey someone finally listened to me! Thanks for putting my request in action Jared!

[Zoomforce]

gotta throw you a bone sometimes Jay

[Jay_Blanchard]

hey ebe--

tell us about your project! i have plenty of tips to pass on, varying on the type of doc you're making.

[ebe]

Ok, without being a windbag.
1. My background is film/video production.
2. For the past six years I have been primarly a performance poet (Def Poetry Jam-ish) based in Chicago and New Orleans
3. Myself along with a friend on putting on a tour (17 gigs to-date) along west coast.
4. The doc aspect will focus on artists and their relationships with their fathers; i.e. support-dissapproval-whatever. My partners father will see her perform for the first time ever on the last date of the tour (estranged father/dauther connection)
5. The shooting will take place in various coffee houses, bookstores, warehouses, in the car, libraries, and god knows where else.
Ok, now hit with things to think about.

[Jay_Blanchard]

sounds like a cool project. i'm really not very knowledge about slam poetry outside of the beats, the last poets & steven jesse bernstein.

based on the venues listed, unless you are going to have absolute control of the lighting scheme, i would probably not recommend shooting 24p. probably not what you want to hear, but 30p would be better in low light & will blend well if you decide on using a different camera. having a little backup 1-chip DV isn't a bad idea if you can do it (the sony trv33 is great), and you can get really experimental with it & not have to worry about risking the clean images on your main cam.

a good unidirectional mic is a must--the sennheiser me66 is a popular one, but even cheap shotguns from radio shack have sufficed for me in a jam. pretty much any external mic is better than an on-camera. and it goes without saying, but good headphones are a must--ALWAYS monitor your sound. and remember to get ROOM TONE at EVERY location!

an on-camera light is a good idea--see the lighting section on this page for links to some good ones. i've used the NRG Varilux and have been very happy with it.

i think monopods are highly underrated, and a good bogen with a detachable plate is a necessity, especially if you decide to shoot progressive.

when you don't have a video camera rolling, take stills and record audio. they're always good when you need to fill in important gaps you may have missed when you ran out of tape or got tired of filming.

that's all i can think of for now. do you have any particular concerns/aprehensions that you need assistance with?

[ebe]

thanks again. okay here are a few things.

1. will 24p not be the best even when using a light kit (750k 3 light set up)

2. got the shotgun mic

3. bringing sony mini diskman for add. audio/a canon powershot for stills

4. budget reasons limits me to only the dvx, I have a hi-8 for the asking but do not feel the drastic look would be appealing.

so, mainly numbers 1/2, I would like to hear what you have to say.

[Jay_Blanchard]

ebe---

if you plan on using a lighting setup, you should be fine shooting 24p. Just remember that if you plan on shooting the scenes where you don't have lighting control in 30p, there will be a visual difference. On the good side of that, it allows you to bring the Hi8 into the picture, because if you have two differing looks already, why not bring a third into it?

I would seriously consider having the Hi8 on hand. Even if you decide not to use anything you shoot, you're only wasting maybe 10 Hi8 tapes tops as a backup camera (what, fifty bucks tops?) and you'll be kicking yourself later if you missed a key shot for the film because the DVX's battery ran out, or the tape heads clogged or something. Trust me--always good to have backup video when you can.

minidisc is a great choice for audio, and it amazes me how underrated it is. my doc professor when i was undergrad recommended we use minidisc over DAT, and i've never regretted it. economical & fantastic sound quality--good choice.

what mic did you get?

[Steve Ogden]

Which mini-disc unit do you use? What size are the inputs?

[Jay_Blanchard]

I'm currently not using a mini-disc setup because the work I'm doing now doesn't require it, but in the past I've borrowed just simply, bottom-line Sony recorders with just a mini (1/8") input. If you go to B&H, you can get Dual XLR to Single Mini stereo adapters that work fine. Of course, the digital audio signal to the camera is great too, but the minidisc recorder gives you a bit more flexibility in terms of range and movement. When it comes to sound, it all comes down to the quality of the mic, of course.