Any one man crews out there?

jason.adams said:
Also wireless lav mics help.
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I know what you mean, but just figured I'd add that for interview situations, or where no significant movement is needed, I tend to use hard wired lavs. It's one less thing to worry about (making it slightly less stressful to shoot alone).
 
I'm a one man crew most of the time. We hire grips depending on the size of the job and complexity of the shoot.

Interviews are easy by yourself. Machines are also easy. I'm finishing a corporate video where I spent a day shooting testing machines and lab equipment (scanning electron microscopes, weather simulators, etc...). Since they're designed to do the same action 30,000 times a day, it's easy to get consistent coverage by yourself.

As far as carrying stuff--we load everything onto a three-shelf kitchen cart. They run about 100-120 bucks and hold cables, lights, tripods, monitor, light stands, battery charger, etc... I mounted a power strip to the side so I can just park it near an outlet, plug in the monitor and batter charger, and pull equipment off as I need it. The only drawback to is are the wheels--small and hard, but for most places it hasn't been an issue. It's made of hard plastic, but the stuff is damn near indestructable. Plus, it rolls perfectly into a van so it's easy to "cart" around.

Michael.
 
brianluce said:
Isn't it hard being responsible for audio and video?
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The trick is to separate things in time. That means, for me, extensive sound checks, extensive lighting, exposure, and focus checks before shooting. That way, most of the decisions/levels/exposures are handled before shooting, minimizing what one person has to do and pay attention to during the actual shot.

For a typical opera, I spend 2 days setting up sound and fine-tuning levels, 1 day (1 rehearsal) deciding and testing video settings, and 1-2 days (final dress rehearsals) doing ultimate tweaking on both. By the time I'm actually recording, I can focus on camerawork with only the smallest bit of attention making sure the audio rig is running, FCP is properly capturing (for both cameras), etc.

You have to develop the knack for guesstimating how conservatively to set everything...
 
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Lav, and a shotgun on a boom-stand. I use a wireless lav for walk-and-talks, and it works much better than a boom.
 
ullanta said:
For a typical opera, I spend 2 days setting up sound and fine-tuning levels, 1 day (1 rehearsal) deciding and testing video settings, and 1-2 days (final dress rehearsals) doing ultimate tweaking on both. By the time I'm actually recording, I can focus on camerawork with only the smallest bit of attention making sure the audio rig is running, FCP is properly capturing (for both cameras), etc.

You have to develop the knack for guesstimating how conservatively to set everything...
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I have a lot of respect for anyone that can pull it off, but just wonderin' wouldn't it be more cost effective to hire someone and not have to spend so many days on a shoot?
 
In my case... no.

As a one-man-band, with sporadic projects, it works best for me to use as little (paid) help as possible. Much of my work is seasonal, or sporadic; I don't shoot every day by a long shot; it works better to spread a project out over time and do everything (when possible) than to try and get it done faster by paying someone else. The structure of an opera also works well for this, given multiple days of rehearsals... but I'd also want anyone I was working with to see a few rehearsals... which means i'd have to pay them for that time as well. Further, it's a highly competitive market, with very high standards. I've found, sadly, very few people I can trust to do what I do... and one problem (one SECOND of lost footage or audio) could lose me a long-term client very easily - certainly it could ruin a project. I'd love to develop a long-term relationship with someone I can trust... but most of the work doesn't require or pay enough for more than one person, which makes such periods of collaboration sporadic, which tends to make committed partnership unlikely.

You know, there's a tough time in any business, where you have more work than one person can easily handle, but not enough yet to expand. I seem to be around there a lot of the time....
 
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The worst thing about a one man shoot is striking the set. (Audio, lights & camera)

Having at least one helper makes a world of difference. When you fly solo, it kinda sucks.
 
Especially when everyone else is off to a party... or when everyone else is gone but the house manager who glares at you and threatens you with hourly charges as you try to pack...
 
ullanta said:
Especially when everyone else is off to a party... or when everyone else is gone but the house manager who glares at you and threatens you with hourly charges as you try to pack...
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or when everyone prefers to stand in the middle of the set, which happens to already be a cramped room/closet, and hold an impromptu meeting about something totally different.
 
Yep. That's me. Not primary income yet but I'm working on it. I have a friend that helps but he really doesn't do any of the production work except music for my films. He has his own company. We have a DVX100 and an HV20 w/ 35 adapter between us. I do contract out though.
ullanta said:
Especially when everyone else is off to a party... or when everyone else is gone but the house manager who glares at you and threatens you with hourly charges as you try to pack...
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Or when the restaurant owners start to glare at you because it's getting to be lunch time and you're taking up space.

-Nate
 
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