documentary with Hv20?

F

flean

Active member
does anyone know a feature length documentary shot with HV20 (or TV news shootig style) ?
 
GREAT!!!!:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

we are not alone anymore.:2vrolijk_08:

I am also starting one this month for a humanitarian cause with HV20.

I look forward to seeing your film and we should definitely keep in touch and inform each other about any issue we may find with HV20.

anyway, wishing you the best of everything with your great project.:beer:
 
Hi Barry,

One sound question with Canon HV20 for your doc.
I believe as far as lens you're suing a Letus Extreme 35mm adapter but also
what is the sound gear you're using for your doc ?
I have got mixed feelings about the sound with this camera...
 
we have two docs shot on the HV20 that are currently in post here at Sabi... a feature-length doc on a deaf/mute school in India called "Bridge Builders" and another feature-length behind the scenes doc called "Inside Heart of Now".
 
flean said:
but also what is the sound gear you're using for your doc ? I have got mixed feelings about the sound with this camera...
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Onboard sound is hideous -- doesn't matter what camera you're using. We'll have a shotgun mounted on a boom pole 8" away from the speaker's mouth, and for backup a lavaliere, running through a mixer.

You cannot ever, under any circumstances, with any camera, ever, ever record using the onboard microphone and expect to get decent results. Never ever ever do that.

(that's a lot of "nevers" and "evers", but even so, I wonder if it was enough?)

As for the recorded sound quality -- it's HDV. That's not very good. It's MPEG-1 Layer II compressed audio. Nothing you can do about that. Either go with an external recording device, or pipe in your audio through the mic jack. With an anticipated 100+ hours of footage, it just isn't worth it to record double-system sound -- no way am I gonna try to sort through and sync up 100+ hours of audio! HDV audio's lame, but for dialogue (which is all we're recording) it's passable. So we're recording in-camera.

The choice of the HV20 is not for quality, by the way. If you're concerned about quality you should be looking at a better camcorder. The HV20 was chosen because it's the smallest, cheapest 24P HD camcorder on the market, and we're going to be going to some impoverished places and getting into perhaps some dicey situations. If an HV20 gets dropped or stolen or confiscated, it's no big loss, I'll just get another one.
 
Hi Zak...Saw White Knuckles trailer and it seems very moving and well crafted.

I made a directorial debut (30 mns) film called FRAGILE which was part of the Official selection at The Short Film Corner , Cannes 2006. Fragile deals with a woman going thru a midlife crisis (although the characters in WK are older). For some reasons, theme about life crisis tend to move me a lot and yours WK did it too.

good luck with it and hope it 'll reach a lot of people.
 
Hi Barry,

Thank you for your great post...so I guess if I'm looking for an under 2k camera w/ 24p option and want to have a great quality picture for the price I should go for a DVX100B instead of HV20.

is there any advice about camera settings you recommend if I want to do a transfer into HD later on?

thanks
 
DVX isn't under 2k though, unless you're looking at a used one. You could buy three HV20's for the price of one DVX. The DVX is a far more professional camcorder but it's also only standard-def and only 4:3, so you really can't just compare them directly, you have to specify more of what you're looking for to see whether a DVX would be the right choice.
 
Sorry I meant for around $2000. I found one brand new DVX100B from an authorized reseller for about $2150.

I guess I am going to stay with DVX100B.

Although I have seen superb footage with HV20 w/ lens adapter I am still afraid that the camera settings, post and some other aspects would be too complicated for me compared to DVX 100B in a "run & shoot " hand held style with a quick easy way to work focus & iris & shutter settings...In some uncontrolled chaotic situations you don't necessarily have the time to stop to change the settings etc...

Focus as we all now is essential in HD.
I heard that it is actually hard to check the focus on the HV20 little LCD. It was a big issue for some shooters who were shooting hand held so they had to carry a monitor to make sure they were in focus...

for me it is not so much about the tech aspect (although it is very important) but more about the psychology aspect behind of the image final product and how it can affect the narrative... I saw some type of footage with HV20 which was exactly what I was looking for but I think I should get training before going to risk loosing my subject's time for a feature length doc with this camera...unless I find someone who train shooters with an HV20 in NY area...

I wanted HD to give the best chance for a great quality 35mm film transfer If a distributor needed to do one. (assuming my film gets picked up)

The other aspect why I chose this camera was that it's the smallest, cheapest 24P HD camcorder.

HVX would have been great but price is an issue.

I guess I am going to stick with DVX 100B and try to get what i need in post.

Thanks Barry
 
flean said:
I wanted HD to give the best chance for a great quality 35mm film transfer If a distributor needed to do one. (assuming my film gets picked up)
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Won't make any difference; if your film is good enough on its merits to get picked up by a distributor, the actual film transfer is the least of your worries. There's been several DVX movies distributed theatrically, several qualifying for Academy Award nominations. So don't even worry about that part.
 
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