Shooting a doc in Russia - PAL or NTSC?

B

bogatyr

Active member
I would like to get some advice from people from NTSC countries who shot in PAL countries.
I'm going to shoot a documentary in Russia this summer which I will end up editing and distributing in the US and possibly Europe. I'll be able to buy a camera in the $3000-4000 range and I might have a Russian videographer with his own camera (PAL) helping me out on some shoots and I might also end up using other people's footage.

So my question is - should I get a PAL or NTSC camera? I was thinking about a DVX100b but I know that even if you shoot 24p, you actually record 29.97(NTSC), so I don't want to have to mix PAL and NTSC footage in one sequence, especially for multicam shoots - it's just asking for trouble.

I'm also aware of the flicker problem when shooting NTSC in fluorescent light. Has anyone got good results with that?

I know that ZIU is both PAL and NTSC, but I'm very skeptical of HDV, seems like it requires a much bigger budget in post. I work in a post house and they shoot HDV but capture it as DV50 and that's like $5000 extra for a deck, capture card and a converter. And then, mixing HDV and DV in one timeline does not seem like a great idea, correct?

Any thoughts, suggestions or past experiences greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot.
 
Im from Alabama and currently live in Moscow studying. I've shot several documentary, narrative and live performance stuff here. I'm shooting on the DVX100(the original).

Firstly, all this stuff about flicker problems--I don't see it any different than stateside. if you shoot under flourescents, you'll be fine as long as you stay 1/120th or below.

I shoot everything NTSC because most of my footage is either distributed online or stateside only. Plus, anything newer than ancient in PAL countries will play NTSC just fine anyway. although mixing PAL and NTSC, might be a problem--but, I don't have any experience with that.

shoot 30p if you're going to be mixing 30p/60i footage. Unless, you specifically want that footage to stand out different from the rest(ex. interviews).

and HDV, well...you will just have to figure out how much money you're going to have to spend in order to use that workflow. I would love to go HD, but I have to wait until I can afford, not only the camera, but the rest of the workflow equipment as well. so just keep the big picture in mind: from pre to post.

hope that helps a little...Btw, I love it here in Russia! I'm sure you'll have a blast! But be careful shooting around military stuff. I was arrested and interrogated by the ФСБ a couple of weeks ago for shooting a skyline of the city--haha , ittle did I know i was standing a block away from a special-forces training ground. oops...:huh:
 
it does help, thanks man. Would love to see some of the stuff you shot.

I'm actually Russian myself but never shot anything back there. I assume you're a film student, is there an equivalent of Craigslist or Mandy to find people who could help you out on some shoots (for copy and credit and maybe some peanuts)?


Speaking of FSB, you might as well be shooting in a kindergarten and bumb into one of them...

cheers
 
actually, im just studying Russian language right now. But I work for a organiztion down here as well that does medical work around the moscow region as well as further east/remote areas. im cutting a big documentary right now that i shot in murmanks. ill post a link once it's done.

and sorry, i dont know of any resources similar to mandy craigslist over here. =(
 
holymexicobatman said:
actually, im just studying Russian language right now. But I work for a organiztion down here as well that does medical work around the moscow region as well as further east/remote areas. im cutting a big documentary right now that i shot in murmanks. ill post a link once it's done.

and sorry, i dont know of any resources similar to mandy craigslist over here. =(
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Did that organization happen to be Agape? My dad went with them two years ago and they happen to be in Murmansk just a few weeks (I think) ago. If so, you probably know a lot of people I got to know and who stayed here too. Dr. Bill, Maxime, Pjotr, Daron etc etc

I'm going to Siberia this year to film for my dad's organisation.
 
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If you shoot 25p, its fairly easy to convert to 24p in Final Cut Pro or the like, and vice versa. Shooting at 29.97 will lead to more troubles and a more difficult convert.

I used to shoot a lot with a Z1U. Even though I am in america, I always shot PAL and converted to 24p using Cinema Tools, and soundtrack for the audio pull.
 
Ferdi Willemse said:
Did that organization happen to be Agape? My dad went with them two years ago and they happen to be in Murmansk just a few weeks (I think) ago. If so, you probably know a lot of people I got to know and who stayed here too. Dr. Bill, Maxime, Pjotr, Daron etc etc

I'm going to Siberia this year to film for my dad's organisation.
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Yes actually! That's the one. :) Yeah, I know r. Bill, The Brinks, Alexi, and all those guys real well! When will you be coming this year? What organization does your dad run?
 
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zoostory said:
If you shoot 25p, its fairly easy to convert to 24p in Final Cut Pro or the like, and vice versa. Shooting at 29.97 will lead to more troubles and a more difficult convert.

I used to shoot a lot with a Z1U. Even though I am in america, I always shot PAL and converted to 24p using Cinema Tools, and soundtrack for the audio pull.
Click to expand...

Thanks for you reply. What kind of troubles do you mean? I've used Cinema Tools to remove the pulldown from some 29.97 footage and it worked fine. Didn't notice any problems.
 
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