Lessons learned. Tip toeing into video production.

N

Networker

Well-known member
I volunteered to videotape my friend giving a speech on the use of Florida e-library for research. The venue is about a hundred miles away. On a dreary Saturday. Cynthia came with me to help.

I'm bringing two cameras, my C100 and XC10, and a Ninja Blade, Azden WR-PRO wireless system, extra mics, and cables, batteries, tools and stuff I think I might need. This is my first time out doing this "for real".

Get everything loaded in Cynthia's car and off we went.

The venue is a classroom in a rather big church complex. Windows on one side, but it's a gray overcast day so not much light coming in there. Overhead fluorescent lights. Not really bright, but I can deal with it. I didn't bring any lights since I don't own any small, portable ones. To the speakers right is a 50"+ flat screen TV. We expected an overhead projector, but apparently we'll be using the TV instead.

I have ten minutes to set up. Get the XC10 on my cheap tripod about 12 -15 feet from the speaker and to my right. C100 goes right in front of the speaker about 10 feet or so away. I get the lav clipped to her shirt and she puts the transmitter in her pocket. Sound checks out good. I check the XC10 again, frame the shot, start recording and touch the image of the speakers head on the touch screen. As long as she stays in the frame she will be in focus. Gotta love that XC10. Check frame rate, shutter and exposure. We're good to go.

Back to the C100, check focus, frame rate, shutter and exposure. Check the sound again. All is good.

Somebody comes in and turns on the TV. Holy Jehosaphat, that sumbitch is bright. I turn the camera to the screen, all I see is a white blob. I dial up the aperture. At f11 I can read the screen. Problem is that I need the aperture at f5.6 for the speaker alone. That is six stops away. And here comes the big black dude that is just about to introduce the speaker. We're rolling.

I can see Cynthia tilting the camera up. The guy is a good foot and a half taller than the speaker. I had zoomed back to about 40mm to get them both well inside the frame, but I'm happy to see that Cynthia actaully paid attention. This is her first time as a camera operator and her intoduction was a minute or so before we started. So far so good.

All I could do with the TV was to pan to it and zoom in so it filled the frame while I turned the wheel to f11. When she was done, I'd reverse. Each way took about a second or so. My idea was that I'd cover that second with B-roll.

It turned out to be many such pans. And every time her arm and the ruler she used as a pointer was completely black against the TV background. In spite of her being a red-head with a skin tone the Maybeline Online Catalog refers to as "Cadaverish White". But what can you do?

She talked for 43 minutes. And I got it all. Cameras off and start packing down. And a revelation came to me; I don't have all that much gear, but carrying it around like this is a pain. I need a bag that will hold all of it. Including my cheap tripod. My Manfrotto I'll carry in the shoulder bag it came with. After reading DVXuser and asking some questions a Cinebag CB25 will be ordered shortly.

My second lesson came as I was reviewing my footage in my editing system; the sound I had so carefully checked out had gaping holes in it. Every so often it just dropped out. All I had was some noise down in the -60db range. And the duration of these dropouts varied, form less than half a second to several seconds. Subsequent testing showed this to be a problem with my Azden wireless. I thought I'd already learned that I cannot afford to buy cheap tools. Apparently not. I will be ordering the Røde filmmaker kit next week too. As with the bag, reading here and talking to users made up my mind. Oh well, this time I will have to rely on the XC10 sound. It's not good, but it'll have to do.

Lastly, lights. I'm buying some battery powered LED lights. Probably a Yongnou YN216 dual color, and possibly also the YN600. I need to read up some more first. Maybe find somebody who has used them and can give first hand impressions.

All in all, an interesting experience. I think I will be asked to do more of these. Hopefully I'll be better prepared and have better - or more reliable - equipment when that happens.

Otto
 
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You know how they say 'make as many shorts as you can, before you tackle a feature'? Same here. Taking on little practice projects means you learn, and you keep doing it, and you learn more, and then one day you're ready for prime time, but you keep learning. It's much tougher to start off with the big imporant gig, when you don't have enough experience, like hitting a full speed run from a standing position... gotta get there gradually, crawl, walk, run, dash. But it sounds like you're learning, and that's the key! Best of luck!
 
Welcome to the biz! I enjoyed your storytelling / writing!

As to the audio issue, there was a saying when I came into the biz of: "Never go wireless unless you have to.". And were you monitoring the audio? Always monitor the audio with headphones or at least with earbuds.

As for the blown out tv image, been there. Not much you can do even if you had anticipated it in advance. If you had turned down the brightness on the tv until the camera could handle it, the image would likely have been too dark for the audience. The only solution is to have the presenter in a buttload of light so that the light levels are closer. A less than ideal solution is to leave the exposure set for the presenter, allow the tv to blow out, and later in the edit insert the graphics / video that the presenter was using.


As far as lights, I know that all the younger set are enamored with LED lights but sometimes an old school fresnel is better. And they are relatively cheap. A 1000 watt tungsten light can work from pretty far away. Those LED lights? Not so much. And a tungsten light will result in nice skin tone rendering. "bi-color" is cool and I know why people want it. But you can gel tungsten lights ( as was done for decades ). Right now on eBay there is an ARRI 650w fresnel with barn doors and bulb for $140.00. With a "make an offer" option. That light is a work horse. I've even used it outdoors in a pinch to get some light in the eyes of a subject. Built like a tank.


Mistakes and having things go wrong- it sucks. But you learn from the mistakes. Having to constantly adapt to different locations and different types of productions- that's part of what makes this such a great career. It is always something different and new. I regularly have 150 shoots a year and each one of them is different. Different subject matters, different Directors / Field Producers, all different types of cameras, a wide variety of locations, some boring stuff, some thrilling stuff.

I can tell you are already savvy for a newbie, despite some rookie errors. You are going to do well. The fact that you are looking to learn from your mistakes and looking to seek advice from others- that's excellent. Caring is half the battle.
 
For a 45 min speech id certainly use plug in lights. Also a fresnel with barn doors can spot the speaker without causing reflections on the telly/projector
Of course the 10min setup time was a major problem
Do you need AF on the wide shot? (Which I guess the xc10 was)

Personally I find jobs like this much more challenging than 'cool' videos shot at 1.4 of a hipster barista - and charge accordingly!
 
I often have the same problem re TV's for presentations I started a thread about hit here. http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?340502-advice-on-settings-for-shooting-conference

I did a conference last week and they used a projector. Rear projection but still not as bright as a TV.... Modern flat screens are effectively an array of lights (fluorescent or LED) you are looking at. The solution I have had is to make sure the speaker is equally brightly lit. The alternative is to use two cameras or get hold of the slides for the talk and cut them in.

As for sound. If you are using wireless NEW BATTERIES at the start of every presentation and test it all on site first. However if you can go wired it's best. Where ever possible use two microphones. This week I sued a radio mic AND a shotgun. The shotgun is just about useable if the wireless mic sound was not useable for any reason.


You can't normally set up and lock off the cameras for presentations. Some present stationary from the lectern. Others wander to the other side of the screen and talk from there. Some start in one place then wander to the other side for while. Some wander all the time. I have one speaker (a former university lecturer) who I have to remind to stay inside the room when talking.... He can wander from wall to all, all 4 walls, as some times he likes to all up the isles into the audience!

Basically it comes down to experience so you don't get surprised by the things that happen. Expect the unexpected... Last week we had half the room lights fail part way through a presentation. Then the Projector went intermittent. With experience you just "deal with it" without getting into a panic. (well not too much :-)

One thing that helps is talk to the people BEFORE the event as to what is happening and what the schedule is. I always do a running order normally a multi page word document . Also notes on anyone I am going to film. for me Linked in is useful (most people I film are on it) so I have a mugshot and a few notes on them. i.e. Name, position, company etc, IT helps to identify them when doing conferences, Also when I arrive i know who I am looking for. When you turn up with this sort of document it does help convince the building caretaker who has no idea who you are (and it's more than his job's worth to let you in) that you are meant to be there and let in early to set up or part on the staff car park etc.

ALWAYS get there early because
1 They don't know you are coming (even if you have 200 emails discussing it with "someone" involved the caretaker /their AV guy/ the administrator who will let you in etc doesn't know who you are)
2 The doors will be locked until 30 seconds before the event. (see item 1) So you need time find some one to let you in early to set up
3 There is no power available
4 You need to find out how to turn on/off what lights there are and or open close blinds or in one case adjust the noisy air-con above the speaker.
5 You need to move furniture (tables, chairs, artwork) to set up the tripod or unobstructed view of the speaker.
6 The address you have is the wrong one. Well it was correct until last night when they changed the venue to the other side of town.
7 Someone forgot to tell one of the speakers you were filming. Some people need to get clearance before they speak on camera. Getting there early gives you time to sort it.
8 You need time to discuss the fact they have changed ALL the things that were agreed in the running order and what they want you to do.
9 Find out where the toilets are and the nearest source for coffee/water food
10 find somewhere to park the car that is within 5 miles of the venue and costs less that 100 USD to park. Getting there early often means you can get in the limited staff car park.
11 gives you time to wait in traffic due to the road accident en route.


BTW I have two identical camera sets. Camera and microphones. Makes setting up faster and al the kit is interchangeable. Also helps with editing.

Good luck and it is fun as long as you don't panic and learn with the steep learning curve.
 
get the AV crew or the remote and turn down the brightness as much as you can get away with on the projector/TV,
without a spotlight on the speaker its nigh on impossible to expose for both but it does help a bit
 
I also did this kind of conference works.
So far Ive learned
for sound: ALWAYS monitor the sound with headphone! (I had once I didnt minitor the sound coz my cable is not long enuff and I put the recorder to the DJ mixing board, everything works fine in testing. But when in the event running the DJ did some dump thing. He uses one of the mixing channel to play hes own music from hes laptop, guess hes too bored waiting lol. And he didnt mute the output on my line out. ended up the event speaker sound is mixed with hes music. Luckly I had a backup shotgun from my main Camera)
for Camera: Exposure I pretty much had the same as you the room is too dark and the TV/projector is too bright and had no control over lightning. (My solution now is just get the slide from the client and edit the slide when it needed to be shown.)
 
To reiterate what some others have said, show up early. 10 minutes, that's crazy. For most of my career, I've had a rule of being on-site at least two-hours before I need to roll, depending on what I'm doing(some times it's way less, some times way more, but I have the experience to judge it based on the situation, too). Even for something as pedestrian as shooting ENG at a press conference, I'm going to be there at least 1 1/2 hrs early to load in, get a good spot, check audio, etc., etc. I hate being rushed and you never know what kind of "gotchas" you may run into, especially if you've never been in the venue, before. Trust me, when there's an issue or you're trying to figure something out, an hour can be gone in the blink of an eye.
 
Hi and thanks to all of you for commenting and offering valuable insight. It is much appreciated.

OldCorpse
Yeah, I'm shooting everything I can and practicing as much as possible. But I seriously doubt there will ever be any "prime time" video production for me. I am "small scale" and I'll probably stay there. But I still want to learn as much as I can.

JPNola
I had one earbud for monitoring sound, but apparently, that was not enough. Silly of me, really. I got some really good Sennheiser headphones, unfortunately, they were left at home. Another reason to get the bag with room for everything.

As for your comment of the "younger set enamored with LED..." I can only express my gratitude. I've not been referred to as younger in at least 25 years. And even then it was stretching things quite a bit :) I want LEDs simply because they will fit in my backpack.

And I thank you for your comments and compliments. They are sincerely appreciated.

Morgan_Moore,
Both of the lights I'm contemplating have external power connections in addition to the batteries. As for the 10-minute set-up, I had no say in the matter. This was a Toastmaster conference and they had rented a bunch of rooms. Each room had a speaker scheduled to start on the hour and speak for no more than 45 minutes. Then the speaker and the audience needed to get out so the next speaker and audience could enter.

You're right, I didn't need AF on the wide shot, but I didn't know that when we started.

jagraphics
I read your thread and it is exactly what happened to me. As for wireless, it was my only option at the time. What I should have done was to run my shotgun - which I had with me but didn't think about - to the other channel. I was only 10 feet away, it would probably have worked. The wireless did have fresh new batteries and I did test it successfully a few minutes prior to the start, but alas... Live and learn.

ph2003
I will bring my headset next time, and I will monitor it all the time. I really knew this, I just didn't do it. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

The exposure with the TV was a problem because the speaker tended to walk towards the TV. That put the screen in the frame and as soon as it did the waveform on the Ninja started shivering at the 100% line begging for mercy. It was ugly.

That TV really threw me for a loop. But we have recovered. If I had had any prior knowledge of it I might have come up with a better solution, but covering the pans with B-roll worked out OK.

Run&Gun,
We did show up early, about two hours early. But getting into the actual room was not possible. We headed out for lunch instead.

And finally, I should add a little background that I didn't mention above. First of all, this "job" was a volunteer thing. I wanted to film the speaker who is a friend of mine. The Toastmaster organization had nothing to do with it. No money was involved except my expenses in driving roughly 200 miles round trip and paying for my own and Cynthia's lunch at Chick-Fil-A. On the upside; I got to drive Cynthia's car which is a 2011 Camaro Convertible. I had a blast. Both ways.

I am a retired old Phart and I do this for fun only. After talking to Nedcam here I have solidified my policy of referring any shoot with a budget to real videographers. I don't need the money, they probably do. (No, I'm not rich in any way, but I have enough income to pay my bills, eat, and buy a new toy every few months or so. Although Puredrifting has made me start lusting after the 70-200mm f/2.8 IS. That sucker is $2k, so that will take more than a few months.)

Having said all that, I'm still wanting to learn everything I can. By summer - I think - I will be starting building my little boat. The intention is for that to become a multi-part YouTube series with some real production value. And I got a lot to learn before then. Lucky for me, I can do this all day every day :)

And I'm now scheduled to do it again in two weeks. With two important differences; the speech will be around 7 minutes long, and it's a venue I know very well - our normal room where we have our Toastmasters meeting every week.

So watch me screw up something different this time :)


Otto
 
Networker said:
Hi and thanks to all of you for commenting and offering valuable insight. It is much appreciated.

Yeah, I'm shooting everything I can and practicing as much as possible. But I seriously doubt there will ever be any "prime time" video production for me. I am "small scale" and I'll probably stay there. But I still want to learn as much as I can.
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Dream... aim high. Aim for the stars. You will of course fail and "only" get to the moon. OTOH you might just be lucky and actually get to the stars. :-)

Its all about preparation, opportunity and luck. With all the luck in the world if you don't recognise it or are not prepared it won't go anywhere.


1 Always run a back up sound channel. You would be surprised how good a shotgun can be. They are good for ambient room sound and applause etc. I have also used a lavaliere into a Tascam DR40 in the presenters pocket.

2 "The door was locked so we headed out for lunch" !?!? Find the key holder and get in and set up! This is why I have a document with all the contact details, shooting guide etc looks professional and I wave it around with the caretaker/ admin and they tend to open doors. However I make sure I do have information on the venue and contacts.

3 the headset should live with the camera. They don't need to be expensive. I got some folding sony ones.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/n10/Headphones-Sony-MDRZX310B-AE-MDRZX310-Foldable-Metallic-Black/B00I3LUWQA/ref=sr_1_1

4 "First of all, this "job" was a volunteer thing." This job has your name on it... It doesn't matter if you were paid or not. It's advertising what you can do.

Hopefully you learn't a lot on a job that was not crucial.
 
jagraphics said:
1 Always run a back up sound channel. You would be surprised how good a shotgun can be. They are good for ambient room sound and applause etc. I have also used a lavaliere into a Tascam DR40 in the presenters pocket.
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Yeah, this was just stupid of me. I have no excuse. All I can say is that it will not happen again. I got mics, I got stands, I got a Mix-Pre D and a Fostex FR-2LE, I got dead cats and I got blimps. But all of that doesn't help one bit when it is left at home in a closet. I had one shotgun with me, and I forgot about it. Next time I will use both wireless and the shotgun.

jagraphics said:
2 "The door was locked so we headed out for lunch" !?!? Find the key holder and get in and set up!
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The door wasn't locked, the room was occupied by the speaker scheduled in front of us.

jagraphics said:
4 "First of all, this "job" was a volunteer thing." This job has your name on it... It doesn't matter if you were paid or not. It's advertising what you can do.
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Yes, I do need to take this a bit more seriously. I've spent some time thinking about all this since we got home and I have come to some conclusions. I've got a lot of money invested in this hobby and I need to up my game quite a bit. I'll be working more seriously on that going forward.


Otto
 
1 I stand corrected on the locked door. In which case you should have been prepping your kit in the corridor or another room. The preceding speaker will *always* over run in a situation like that. Then the organiser will want a very fast turn around.

2 I have several different bags. From a day sack to wheeled Peli-case. They get used and packed depending on what I am doing. ALWAYS have spares with you from batteries to microphones. As you had a car for transport you have no excuse. For some events i do in central London the only sensible option is public transport. Then you do have to think about weight and number of things.

3 Yes you have to take it more seriously. Not just for you but the people you are doing it for. Take them seriously.
 
At f11 I can read the screen. Problem is that I need the aperture at f5.6 for the speaker alone. That is six stops away.
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Just for point of clarification, f/5.6 is not six stops away from f/11. It's two stops different. One stop down from f/5.6 is f/8. One more stop down is f/11.

That's still a huge brightness swing; it would take 4x as much light on your speaker to get them both equalized at f/11.
 
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