Goin' to Madagascar...workflow please?

M

MikeDPLD

Active member
Can you guys help me with a workflow for a one-man-band doc project in the middle of a Madagascar rain forest? (Maybe for broadcast, definitely for internal use by a zoo.)

Leaving for trip on July 6.

Limited or NO AC for most of trip.
...and no laptop.

Shooting for 12 days with very high humidity.

Lots of rough backpacking, difficult environment.

Portability and speed very important.

What's best self-powered HDD option NOW?

Is OTG still the best data transfer option?

Maybe a 4-batt simultaneous charger with
lots of batteries pre-charged???

Chicken out and shoot HVX mini-DV?

Is this crazy?

Thanks for any and all suggestions...
 
Tape. And if you need HD, then tape with another company's camera.

Well, that's the summary, I think. There's another thread here about a trip some guys are doing along the west coast of the the Americas and want to shoot HD with the HVX. (They are actually better off than you, because power doesn't seem like it'll be much of an issue, as they are in 4x4s.) It just seems like the P2 workflow isn't suited to what you or they are trying to do. The cards are just too expensive to use like tape and the other storage options all require power or are expensive or are slow - or all three.

Since you're not away for a really long time, would one option be to rent a whole bunch of 8 GB cards and use them like tape? It seems like for the high humidity/rough environment bit, the P2 HVX would be great.
 
If you're shooting DV your issues are the same as any other camera.

HD, on the other hand....

Why no laptop? I have carried my laptop all over Africa, and have been able to keep it safe and working, even in jungles. The main issue here seems to be power. Perhaps you could look into solar chargers?

Will you have a "base camp" where you could keep a solar panel and a UPS charging a set of camera and laptop batteries? You could run an external harddrive off the UPS. The UPS would be heavy, but it might provide you with enough time to download your P2 cards.
 
You gotta work out how much you are actually thinking of shooting. Self powered firewire drives are the best option for size right now, but remember they are limited to 60gb (15 partitions of 4gb).. and if its continuos shooting a p2store is a better option as you can offload the cards as you go.
 
Presumably you will have access to vehicles. Have you considered an inverter to power drives/laptops etc? If it were my shoot, in a location like that, with water, humidity, rough terrain etc etc I would be too scared to risk going digital alone. Backup everything to DV tape as a minimum I would say. And I know Tape isnt perfect for those conditions, P2 is, but its not cost effective to use without HDD and HDD aren't totally reliable. If I didn't need HD, I'd go DV. In some cases safe really is better than sorry.
 
This may seem a bit crazy but if you have a budget, rent 12 P2 Stores, and use one a day, (3) 8gig cards, extra batteries for HVX and back up to dv tape.
 
I shot a doc in Madagascar back in 2000 with an XL-1, and I just got back from shooting with the HVX in New Zealand and Tahiti. I would recommend taking a laptop to manage footage if possible, and use mirrored sets of HDDs.

Electricity should not be taken for granted in Madgascar, nor should 12 volt from vehicles. I was actually riding in a Renault 4L that burst into flame. The driver jumped out without even shutting off the engine, popped the hood, dumped a bottle of water on the motor, got back in and kept driving. You might want to actually have an inverter connected to aligator clips so you can attach to a car battery if necessary. Bring many batteries at the very least. The HVX goes through batteries FAST when shooting P2.

Mada is rough travelling compared to most other third world places, so be prepared for all kinds of obsticles and difficulties, and don't count on any kind of infrastructure. It's safe in most areas (except the "zone rouge") but anything could happen there and there would be no recourse, so be careful with your gear. My camera was nearly destroyed by a torrential downpour that went right through the portabrace bag it was in. I'd take a Pelican case if possible.

My biggest piece of advice is that you bring SERIOUS bug repellant. My partner and I got so many flea and mosquito bites there that we nearly lost our minds. We had 100% deet, and it was only moderately effective. The good news is you'll only get bites if you're in a building, a vehicle, or outside, and then generally only during the day and at night.

Everything you shoot in Mada looks amazing, though, and the bugs don't show up on video. The light there is surreal.

Have a great shoot. I can recommend a great Englishg speaking Malagasy guide with production experience if you need.

If you want to see our doc, shot in Antsirabe, it's at www.thebigrace.net
 
Thanks for all the advice, folks.

I think I'll try to bring lots of batteries and do a full mini-DV shoot...
...and selected extra takes for purely p2 reasons.

bugspray and batteries for sure !
 
Little engineers...

if those kids were in the U.S. they would probably be in front of a tv with a playstation or at dvxuser.com :~)

Great job on your doc. was it for a tv station or are you working on that ?
 
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