Documentary Pros out there?

F

finklefilms

Active member
Hi all.

I have an assignment for my degree to outline a proposal for a feature length doc. It would be a production the level of something you would see on the History Channel or Natioonal Geographic.

What I'm struggling with is the staffing outline and equipment required for this level of production. Basically I'm looking for help on an equipment list, and crew for this type of shoot. What type of camera would you recommend that is broadcast worthy?

I don't want to lose the intimacy of a smaller production, yet would like to step it up a little bit in terms of professionalism.

Basically the film would be a talking heads, historical piece. I know this is all pretty vague, but everyone on here is just amazing at getting a dialogue going on this sort of thing so I thought I'd field the question and your recommendations. Thanks!
 
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Sorry for being so vague in the above post. Let me try again.

What HD camera would you suggest to shoot this if give these options? :

1. Panasonic HVX200
2. Canon XH-A1
3. Sony Z5

Ultimately the plan would be to have the piece broadcast in HD on a network like the History Channel. PArdon any ignorance but is this possible with one of the above cameras?
 
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I would go for the HVX200 out of the three you listed. However, many networks have guidelines as to how much footage a production can have of certain grade cameras. The HVX and probably the others as well, would only account for less than half of the footage on a Discovery HD shoot. According to their guidelines, you would need to incorporate a larger immager camera for the majority of the shoot.

I am not sure about the specs of History Channel HD.

In reality, these guidelines are ignored in many cases. If the content is good and the story is good, they will even air SD footage uprezzed to HD.


Jason
 
I work on the post level a lot for doc shows of that size, so I can help you only so much. I believe we shoot the current series with a couple AJ-HDX900's, everything is shot on DVCPRO HD 1080i and it looks really good.

Do you want to know what you should shoot with/use or what a big production with money would shoot with? You'll get wo very different answers.
 
Okay, do you have any other questions I might be able to help you with?

We also shoot to tape, most old school executive producers are still weary of shooting to cards and like to physical tapes.
 
I shoot with a Sony FX-1.
That's usually all I need for a documentary.
I don't work with crews unless I'm working on somebody elses dollar. They just get in my way and scare the talent, who is usually not talent at all. A big crew and needless gear creates a deer in the headlights vibe I can't fix in post. I've found it best to skip that stuff and just document.
 
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