Help Shooting Wildlife (with a DVX, not a gun)

Olaf99

Olaf99

Active member
I'm heading out to film wildlife soon. Bald eagles are first on my list and I was wondering if I should increase my shutter speed. I typically shoot in 24Pa at 1/48th.

Any thoughts?
 
Yes you should increase your shutter speed. It will make your footage look a little weird (not in a bad way) and it will make your image sharper with less blur from the eagles moving and stuff.
 
Austinv said:
Yes you should increase your shutter speed. It will make your footage look a little weird (not in a bad way) and it will make your image sharper with less blur from the eagles moving and stuff.
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Great. Thanks for the reply. Could you recommended speed? I don't want to go too high and make it look crazy, if that's possible.

I will also be shooting in 60i in order to slow it down on a 24fps timeline in FCP. I assume 1/120th would be the proper shutter speed in that case. Yes?
 
Really its up to you. Im not a stickler on "rules". I would suggest going outside recording a few seconds of footage of cars or somthing, increasing the shutter speed every 10 seconds and then review it later and then decide. An example of a fast shutter would be in a lot of war movies a main one known for a fast shutter is Saving Private Ryan. If you watch the D-Day scene at the beggining you will notice that the soldiers movement is almost... robotic looking in a way. Hard to explain and its all personal preferences
 
I've heard Saving Private Ryan used fast shutter speeds. The only thing I noticed was that the mud and shrapnel wasn't as blurred.

I think your idea of changing the shutter speed several times during one shot is a good one. I'll definitely do that. Thanks again!
 
Think about many of the horror films nowadays...usually the kill scene is shot with a fast shutter speed. No blur, kind of jittery-looking footage. Good luck with your eagles-we had a Bald Eagle cruise at KY Lake a week ago and I wish I'd made it.
 
Yeah, the eagles didn't work out yesterday. I saw two ducks and that's it. The same park is holding their Bald Eagle watch this weekend. Perhaps they'll have better luck then. I have many places to go in IL though. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
 
pick up a circular (72mm)polorizing filter if u dont already have one. it will make ur skies rich and blue and not blown out....and it will also reduce the reflection of water and glass objects alot. Youtube how to use it if u dont already know. tiffen and B+W are good brands.
 
jambredz said:
pick up a circular (72mm)polorizing filter if u dont already have one. it will make ur skies rich and blue and not blown out....and it will also reduce the reflection of water and glass objects alot. Youtube how to use it if u dont already know. tiffen and B+W are good brands.
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Great advice. I used my Hoya Circular Polarizer. I like the dark blue skies and it also seems to cut haze pretty well too.
 
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