I want great shots, not comfy shooting in public!

krestofre said:
My two cents is to film legally and get over it. Actually having a permit is a great confidence booster when shooting in public.
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Depends on what you're shooting. If you're just out for a day of testing the camera and are not intruding on the public in any way then I don't see why you would need to get a permit just to shoot the sunset or some birds at the park.

As for a scripted short with actors and a crew, then that is a different story.

Capt Quirk said:
What I hate the most, is the dumbass that obviously sees the camera, yet still walks right in front of it. Then, to put the frosting on the cake, said dumbass will then duck down 2 ", and make an apologetic face right into the camera. On days like that, I wish it was still legal to release rabid Pit Bulls in Public.
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If you've ever shot a wedding video before, then you already know that this kind of half-a**ed courtesy ruins nearly 10-15% of your shots. Steams me up to no end but there is really nothing you can do. After it happens the shot is ruined or needs to be edited around so you're out of luck.
 
I was shooting my 4 year old at a playground, and I was using my HVX with Redrock to do so. Got dsome amazing shots...but some jackass actually thought I was some pedophile or something because he demanded to know what I was doing shooting kids. I never in a million years would think someone could confuse me with a pedophile, but it goes to show you never know how what people may think.

I'm more concious of my presence on a shoot now. Here's the trick: if you are shooting in public where there are some people nearby (who aren't just passerbys), send an assistant (if you're shy) or go yourself and introduce yourself, say you're with ______ Production Company and you're shooting a commercial/documentary/film/news program. (Whatever more closely fits with what you're doing) Let them know how long you'll be, promise them they won't be recorded, and tell them that if they have any questions to try and ask while they aren't shooting. That's it! It puts everyone at ease, and they'll even tell other people who come onto the scene what's happening and sometimes even thwart a passerby from walking up and ruining your shot.

Permits in my book are a waste of time and money. Get one if you absolutely have to. The worst thing that could happen is a cop will some by and tell you to leave. That has never happened to me before. Ever. If a cop comes by, just wave at them with complete confidence and they'll usually just wave back. Cops don't enforce filming permits. I used to be a cop, so truste me on that one. They could care less.

But make sure you tell bystanders what's happening like I said above, just to be sure they won't tell a cop that you're a pedophile!
 
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One more tidbit to give yourself credibility. I own a grey/black/white card bout the size of a credit card that hangs around my neck, makes me look like I've got some sort of clearance pass or whatever.
 
Nektonic said:
If you've ever shot a wedding video before, then you already know that this kind of half-a**ed courtesy ruins nearly 10-15% of your shots. Steams me up to no end but there is really nothing you can do. After it happens the shot is ruined or needs to be edited around so you're out of luck.
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That is one of the reasons I don't like Weddings. The Couple are paying a butt load of money for this special occasion on tape, and it is usually their "special guests and reletives" that ruin it. Ultimately, it is you that gets the blame. "Couldn't you just shoot around them?". If I had a Tazer, I could have dropped them before they entered the frame, but since it was your Mother, I figured you would have frowned upon that...

The very first wedding I shot was my step son's, and I was doing a 2 camera shoot by myself, with my brand new XL1s and GL1. I had the XL on the tripod getting background footage, and took the GL out for close ups. I turned around, and the Brides 4 y.o. brother had grabbed a hold of the tripod, and was shaking the crap out of it. I so wanted to run up and punt that little Bastard over the fence!
 
Capt Quirk said:
That is one of the reasons I don't like Weddings. The Couple are paying a butt load of money for this special occasion on tape, and it is usually their "special guests and reletives" that ruin it. Ultimately, it is you that gets the blame. "Couldn't you just shoot around them?". If I had a Tazer, I could have dropped them before they entered the frame, but since it was your Mother, I figured you would have frowned upon that...

Bastard over the fence!
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Your love violence dont you Captain ?
 
Capt Quirk said:
What I hate the most, is the dumbass that obviously sees the camera, yet still walks right in front of it. Then, to put the frosting on the cake, said dumbass will then duck down 2 ", and make an apologetic face right into the camera. On days like that, I wish it was still legal to release rabid Pit Bulls in Public.
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I hate that sooo much.


There was this one time when we were shooting outside. In fact we were just prepping our 2 cameras, and it was clear we were, and some guy stops right near us and starts telling us how we're not allowed to film him. We replied with a smile and said 'we're not filming you, we're just getting our camera's set up'. But the guy seemed like he wanted to fight, saying things like 'cause if you were to film me, I would have the right to punch you in the face'. We kept assuring him that we didn't film him, and knew all the legal stuff and ignorant crap he was throwing at us, release forms, etc... but he just wouldn't let up. We just kept our cool and ignored him till he left.

A friend of mine said that when he works on big sets as a gaffer, and people come up to them curious about what they're shooting, he replies 'a mayonnaise commercial' and they say 'oh' and leave.
 
The HVX enables you to fold the LCD flat against the side of the camera. You can appear to be fiddling with the camera controls while actually shooting.
 
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