I love the moral boost P2 gives to a set.

[DavidBeier]

I'm shooting a low budget film with my HVX200 and I gotta say I love how instant playback not only helps you dealing with continuity and thinking about editing but also how, on a low budget production, it can be such a moral boost.

Twice now I've had a bunch of tired, sunburned people busting their butts and starting to get cranky (both actors and crew). But when I invite my crew to look at that slow-mo car crash it took us hours to pull off or let my actor look at his rack focus hero shot, the way everyone glows and suddenly gets re-energized is amazing. Perhaps best of all, when my producer asks why is this scene taking so long to film or why do I have to get so many set-ups, I need only show him the footage we're taking in to put a smile on his face and let him see the goal we're working toward.

 

[Justyn]

David... very true statements there. I also think that it helps for continuity, for overall production design and just like you said, to get everyone amp'd and ready to continue. There's just no way to go back to tape after having this instant gratification. The other thing that's really hot, is to bring everyone over after the gear is packed up and have everyone watch a rough cut of the very thing we just got done shooting. That gets a load of wows.. and sure you can do that with tape, but who the hell wants to do that anymore... and what happens when you get a timecode break or a glitch.. and on tape, that's something that happens with such regularity it's sickening...


kudos on a great post.. A big TRUISM here

 

[FilmBoy77]

yea, i always hook up my monitor and play back the clips on the hvx after a shoot. a lot of non technical people/actors are always blown away and its so easy to find your takes. i'm glad i bought my camera. i never let it out of my sight.

 

[DavidBeier]

I also think that it helps for continuity

True dat. I lost track of the number of times someone asked, "do you think this will cut properly?" or "how did he do it in the last take?" and I could say, "well lets see."

It's hard to explain to people who havn't used it what a blessing solid state recording is. Yes there are problems. I need to make sure I have a laptop nearbye and prepped since I'm still using two 4 gig cards (I'm cheap, sue me), and I do have a mini-heart attack every time I hand off a card to the loader and watch it get reformatted (what if you pushed the wrong button and we've just lost half a day's work?). Still, there's just something so gratifying about the workflow.

I got scared yesterday however when someone left the laptop in a car in the sun. THANK GOD one of the PAs ran to me and said, "I think you wanna get the laptop out of there fast because it appears to be baking." I still shudder to think about what would have happened if the HD had crashed and we'd lost a full days's worth of stuff (factoring what we spent on the few paid crew members, insurance, catering, and location; it would have been almost $500 down the drain!).

and what happens when you get a timecode break or a glitch.. and on tape, that's something that happens with such regularity it's sickening...

Ah....I love not having to worry about timecode and capturing as well. I still occasionally shoot tape for event videography when there is no way I could find time to offload so it reminds me what a dirty whore tape can be. Christ I hate capturing...

 

[DC]

I'm shooting a low budget film with my HVX200 and I gotta say I love how instant playback not only helps you dealing with continuity and thinking about editing but also how, on a low budget production, it can be such a moral boost.

Twice now I've had a bunch of tired, sunburned people busting their butts and starting to get cranky (both actors and crew). But when I invite my crew to look at that slow-mo car crash it took us hours to pull off or let my actor look at his rack focus hero shot, the way everyone glows and suddenly gets re-energized is amazing. Perhaps best of all, when my producer asks why is this scene taking so long to film or why do I have to get so many set-ups, I need only show him the footage we're taking in to put a smile on his face and let him see the goal we're working toward.

David, absolutely! I've taken advantage of this many times. I've blown people away with instant results. I remember having one actress literally jump up and down screaming how good I made her look. She said it even looked better than any celluloid she has been photographed on. Truly, it was one of the highest compliments that I've ever received. And I often think back to that moment.