My Equipment List for Doco, and the ol' 16:9 v 4:3 question

B

Bunyip

Active member
Hi there,
I posted this is the doco section, however I know it's a low traffic area, so thought I'd repost here.

First, I'd like to say that I have spent many hours digging deep into this excellent forum in search of answers to my many questions. A whole bunch were answered at this stage, and so what you see posted here are those questions I couldn't find answers for, or, am still up in the air about [such as the often seen 16:9 v 4:3 debate].

PROJECT
So, I am going to be shooting a doco, which will feature mostly indoor interviews, however I will definitely be doing outdoor interviews as well. I will also be shooting indoor events in a large convention centre type environment with lots of people etc.
I suspect a lot of it will be a one man show. however I have read enough posts here to rethink this, and where possible, try to get someone else to help and operate camera or sound, depending on their skills. Won't always happen though. As I will be travelling by myself to the US for a lot of it. [I live in Australia]
There will certainly be a run and gun aspect to parts of the project.

I am going to shoot 25p, and would like to see it end up on film for entry in festivals etc. etc. so am wanting to shoot 16:9. more of this later.

BUDGET. You know, that thing which starts at one figure and then once you start shopping quickly doubles, and ultimately has no correlation to the final amount you actually drop for all this stuff! So, my budget is $10,000 Aussie. The gear we are talking about here is often about half as expensive again compared to the prices in the US. I am doing a trip to the States later in the year, and will probably use that as an opportunity to pick up certain items, such as a quality shotgun mike, zoom controller etc.


EQUIPMENT
1. CAMERA - My DVX102BE [That's the PAL version in Australia] arrives in a couple of days. [rubs hands together and grins]

2. The first and most obvious choice after the camera was Barry's book, which will arrive soon, and I can't wait to immerse myself in it.

3. EQUIPMENT BAG - Kata HB-207. tbanucci, another forum member, got me sold on the kata backpacks. He has the BP-502, however Aussie domestic airlines are a little stricter than the US, and we can't take that as carry on. The 207 looks plenty big to me though, and has a million pockets and looks tough as nails.

4. TRIPOD - Not ordered yet. I was going to get the Manfrotto/Bogen 503 head with the 755 sticks. However I am thinking I might fork over the little extra for the Miller DS10 and 1511 combo.
QUESTION - Is it worth the extra $200 for the carbon fibre sticks as compared to the alloy? The weight difference seems minimal.
Also, anyone out there reckon a monopod would be handy to have as well?

5. MICROPHONES - This is a tricky one. We don't have nearly the range of choice you have in the US or Europe here in Australia. And what is here is bloody epensive.
SHOTGUN - I have had the Sennheiser k6/ME66 combo reccomended by the store I'm getting the camera from, however I've read enough posts to think I can do better for similar bucks. Since I will be interviewing indoors and out, and after reading a post by The Yankee, I am thinking I'll wait until I get to the US, and get the AKG Blueline Series, with th SE300B preamp, and the CK93, and CK 98 caps. Then I'm covered for indoor and out.
WIRELESS LAV - Sennheiser EW112P-G2. Pretty much the only choice I can find here in my price range, other than cheaper ones. Is it worth getting the omni-directional mic as well, for a situation where perhaps I want to pick up other people's voices in an interview? [I suspect I know what the answer will be...]

6. ON CAMERA LIGHT - Thinking the vidLED system looks good. I like the fact it's dimmable, low heat and low power consumption.
http://www.vidled.com/ Anyone tried one of these out?
I know I will need more lighting for interviews, however that can be rented when i need it.

7. FILTERS - Any preference of brand here? I see Hoya and Tiffen mentioned a lot.
My store has a Canon set of 3 filters, UV, Polariser and FL for $230 Aussie. I am thinking Canon has gotta be making a pretty decent filter. I will probably wind up getting some ND filters as well at some stage, to help with DOF. This is just my starter pack.

MISC - The Varizoom PFZI zoom controller which also controls focus and iris.
Spare batteries - several of the DVXUser batts.

Now for the million dollar question which I'm sure will have some of you rolling your eyes.... Do I shoot 16:9 or 4:3 and then put bars in post?
I am very, very keen for my finished work to be in the wider format. I know doco's do appear in 4:3 etc etc, but 16:9 just does it for me. I don't want the anamorphic adaptor and all the associated problems that will cause for me. So, I am deciding to do it in camera.
Now, before you all start punching me and say "go read the other posts!!!!" - believe me, I have I have!!! And I was really hoping to find a definitive answer. But I always get to the end of the thread still undecided as there are good arguments for and against. And I totally understand the argument about lost resolution if you shoot squeezed. However, since I am shooting PAL, I am getting roughly twice the resolution I believe. So even though I lose res if I shoot 16:9, I'm still ahead than if I was doing it on an NTSC camera right? So, hopefully my finished, film projected image won't look like a mushy pile of mush.

Thanks for your perseverance in reading this far, and double thanks to anyone who has any practical feedback for me.

Cheers
 
hi,

I'll answer just to some issues:

4- depending on the situation, the tripod portability could be fundamental. especially if it's just you and nobody is gonna help you carrying stuff.
I wouldn't go for a monopod. In case i would consider the tiffen steady stick. But, again, that's another piece of equipment to include in the carriable items.

5- if the microphone is gonna be mounted on camera, you should be aware of the size of it cause you don't want it to show up in the frame (especially if you're using a wideangle). be also aware of the pickup pattern of the mic considering the situations you're goin to face (indoor in noisy environments you will want it with a narrow pickup pattern, but that will cut off voices coming from the side (i.e. interviewer).
For the outdoor shots, a wind screen would be highly recommmended. personally i got a cheap lightwave equalizer, snap-on, which is also easy to mount on the on cam mic.
an extra mic (of a proper kind) in the other input of the cam could be useful when u wanna pick up other voices (like yours or the interviewer).

MISC: hardly you will need more than 2 batteries of the big type. you'll be able to shoot several tapes with those, and also if you have more you'll probably need to use more chargers to have them all charged everyday.

In the situations you described i would find very useful a wideangle lens. framing already 2 people and pick the audio properly from a on cam mic, with the standard lens, it's not too easy. personally i have a 0.6x century optics which is not full zoom through but it worked great for me. this will improve the chance of viewing your mic at the top of the frame, if camera mounted.
I would swap the varizoom for a wideangle anyway.

if you're goin to go for 16:9, i would still shoot 4:3, put a sticker (or plain scotch) outlining the frame on the LCD display so you'll know which is the frame area, and in post you'll be able to adjust it accordingly to your taste.

I will donate my million dollar to the fund for DVX aspiring film makers.

:)Andrea
 
Hi,

Here's a few thoughts.

Baluardo's right about the camera mounted mic showing up in the frame if it sticks out too far. I've used 2 Audio Technica shotgun mics on my DVX (the AT897, and the AT-4073) and when I add my century .6x wideangle, both mics stick out far enough to be visible in the top left frame (once I didn't realize this until editing - I decided to crop to 16x9 in post and was able to get the mics out of the frame). By the way, the AT4073 is a great shotgun. I also stick it on a make shift boom pole or mic stand when doing interviews. Sometimes it's better than a lav, as long as I can get it close enough. By the way, the AT4073 gives a lot of gain and is quite directional, nice for outdoors.

Baluardo's also right about batteries and chargers. You may look in to the double or quad battery charges (they sell them here, as well as BH). Charge overnight, be ready in the morning.

Headphones. For whatever mic setup you end up using, you'll want to be monitoring to make sure you're getting what you want. These are especially important when using wireless mics, because interference and RF static may not really be apparent if you're just looking at the audio meters on the LCD or EVF. For convenience, you could get some cheap earbuds.

Also a good idea - make a system for storing/labeling your tapes (assuming you're using them). On a documentary, things can become hectic and it's easy to lose track of where something is. With so much footage, it's also helpful to write down a log at the end of the day (or on breaks) describing events and interviews. Always label your tapes.

You will want filters, perhaps 2 UV/protectors. In case one gets dirty and you don't have time to clean, you can swap it out fast. I don't have any recomendation for brand though. Just don't get the $10 variety.

Finally, I also agree with Baluardo - shoot 4x3, crop with your NLE. It gives you nice framing options in post.

Have fun!

-Jake
 
Hey Bunyip,
When you mask your LCD screen to make it 16x9, make sure you dont use black electrian tape. Why? Cause you will be blocking your audio meter beside some of the other important display functions....Always carry clean scotch tape as Baluardo suggest Uh, experience...;)
 
hello,

complete newbie here. have read most of the posts concerning the 16:9 question, very confused. can someone kindly summarize the advantages and drawbacks of anamorphic lens, squeeze, and other methods of getting widescreen picture? a used lens is only $350, and it would take care of lots of headache, would it not?

many thanks,
iglun.
 
iglun,
VERY shortly:
- an anamorphic lens would give you some more horizontal wide angle, and improved vertical resolution, if compared to squeeze or letterbox mode. But it has some issues with focusing (headaches may also worsen in this case). also it's always another lens: light loss, flares issues..
- shooting squeeze or letterbox is about the same quality (some ppl find slight differences though), but with squeeze the footage is '16:9 ready' while with letterbox is basically 4:3 (and you can easily process it to make it 16:9)
- shooting full frame and crop in post quality-wise is like the previous 2 methods, but it is a good method to adjust the framing when editing since you can move the frame up or down a little and crop the desired amount in front of the monitor. But you will have to consider, when shooting, that you will crop it afterwards (putting references on the lcd display).

Tons of detailed threads have been written on this topic though.

Andrea
 
ig, I'm no expert on it, but from what I gather there are a whole new bunch of headaches if you use the anamorphic lens , to quote another poster here "...you can't use auto focus and you can't focus by eye and you can't run and gun and suddenly like a film camera you have to worry about what your exposure settings are to get critical focus...".
I have gone through the same frustration as you, but have finally decided to not use the adapter, to shoot 4:3 and uprez later. As far as uprezing your 4:3 image to a good quality 16:9 image, check out the pinelake studios tutorial as to how he does it.
Here's the link
http://www.pinelakefilms.com/uprez.html

good luck!
 
For upres of a cropped 4:3 image to 16:9 instant HD is cheaper and faster than photozoom but with similar results. I have had plenty of good experiences with it now.
 
wow,

thanks to everyone for their input. some very strong points, too. will probably use photozoom, if i can figure it out. great advice, great links, great forum!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top