Need a Consultant

housetwelve

housetwelve

Member
I was considering posting this in the jobs section, but I am open to any advice everyone is willing to provide.

I've been asked to complete a project that is way outside of my area of expertise. I shoot web-based promotional videos using a RED Scarlet, Canon 1DC and other DSLRs. I've been asked to shoot a 15 episode talk show for a client who is very insistent on using me for all of the projects he has lined up. If I didn't have a working relationship with this client, I would walk away from this project for sure.

I am interested in any advice people are willing to offer, but ideally I would like to find somebody who is experienced and willing to get on the phone or Skype and walk me through some of the specific questions I have as well as guide me through a situation I have very, very little experience with (paid, of course).

Thanks in advance.
Elizabeth
 
Is this going to be a multicamera talk show, and will there be an audience? Live or live to tape, or all post? I know the tech. side of multicamera live style, I can put you in touch with crew and directors that do sports and entertainment TV, can probably even find you trucks to rent. But way more details would need to be known if this is the type of production you need. These guys are all right in your backyard (as the saying goes).

All post changes things a lot and I may not be able to help you.
 
All post, yes! I'll be renting 4 cameras, and have some recommendations from my sound guy, but camera selection is one of the things I would like to discuss.

The plan is to shoot 3 episodes/day over 5 days with one contingency day and it will be shot at a local soundstage.
 
All post about the only thing I can suggest is get a timecode generator and jam sync all cameras. Make sure they are all in free run mode and all running the same timebase (drop frame or non-drop frame). None of the guys I know are going to have three or four cameras to bring, and none of them will have an intercom system.

I will mention that assuming all cameras have some sort of video out (hopefully sdi), I would strongly consider buying a cheap video switcher and doing a live cut too. If you get most of the live cut correct, you are way farther towards being finished with the job.
 
I would suggest hiring a UPM (unit production manager) with experience in your situation, and delegate to him/her.
 
I wish I tried harder to talk him out of hiring me.

But thanks, everybody, I think I have a better idea of what direction I need to go.
 
All the responses above re correct but they are also trying to presume "worst case scenario". In reality you can get away with 3-4 cameras (4th only if you have more then 2 people). Make sure the cameras record internally on some cheap medium in some acceptably small codec. Make sure you have live feed of what the 3 cameras are seeing (some kind of monitor) and you should be good to go. This REALLY isn't as complicated as it sounds - or rather, you can make it really easy or really difficult (i was on both ends of the spectrum).
 
The flypack style would be the easiest to me, with over 30 years of multicamera remotes it just makes sense to me. There are a lot of multicamera systems being pulled around in small trailers now too. A few people I know get to use them for many of the lesser sports shows, especially the stuff that is a stream only channel like ESPN 360. Those should be down in the $4000 per day rental area (plus crew), might be cheaper because a lot of these run on Newtek Tricasters which have been known to crash in the middle of a show rendering the production helpless for many minutes (or the entire production). Many of the upper tier trailers are using Ross Carbonite switchers and Newtek 3play recording/playback systems. The Carbonite is a traditional switcher, we have one in our studio and it's a power house for what it costs. These trailer systems are nrmally 4 camera shows, not sure if they can handle more cameras or not since I haven't worked in them personally yet. If you decide to go this way, I can get you in touch with a person to crew, contract the trailer, and direct or produce if you want. I'm purely tech. side but work with a guy that does "coordination" for remotes and produces or directs a lot of football and basketball.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is, are you going to be using teleprompters? That could complicate things a little more.
 
Had another thought, does this need to be where your client is located? I'm willing to bet you can get the studio at Time Warner Cable for a decent rate, it's all ready to go in HD, they produce a sports show out of that studio and I know people involved with that too. If this is an option, let me know and I'll dig up some phone numbers. Walking into a functional studio will be the easiest you can get.
 
My client splits time between NYC/LA/and the Rochester area. Given this, I just assumed he had his reasons for shooting locally. He's already done a lot of work to make that happen, but I think I will press the issue.
 
I know you could rent the TWC truck for a multicamera location shoot, but it will be like $8000 a day plus crew and you'd still need lighting which was offered for hire in an earlier post.
 
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