Newbie advice for first shoot!

mdslammer

mdslammer

Well-known member
Hi Guys,

I just got my HPX-170 a few days a go. I'm busy reading both the manual and
Barry's book. But if you don't mind answering another "newbie" question, I'd
be very grateful.

Here's the setup:
My friend's an illusionist that I work with. He's rented out a small "black box"
theater next week. He wants me to film his various illusions for a promo DVD.

The black box is reality small. Obviously with black walls, small stage with some
stage lighting.

What setup do you recommend? Should I shoot 1080i or 720p/pn? Any particular
scene setting? What about lights? Obviously, I can't illuminate the stage too much
without exposing certain elements he wouldn't want showing.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance for any help.

Best.

Mark Dalzell
 
I recommend shooting 1080/24PA, especially if you are using FCP. You should not be constrained by time limits on your P2 card(s), since you can cut after each illusion. This will give you the best resolution to work with, regardless of your final delivery mode. You should use plenty of light, just work with guy on what not to show/light.
 
Dick,

Thanks for the tips. I'll be using Premiere Pro CS3 or Avid to edit the footage.

I have two 16Gb P2 cards and a laptop to dump to as well.

Mark
 
If you're going to just DVD then 720 at 24pn should be enough(if you're looking for the film look.) Otherwise 30p. With 1080i you'll only have 32 minutes of total shoot time(unless you have a way to offload midshoot) but with 720 24pn you'll have around 80 minutes of total shoot time. You'll be delivering in an SD format anyways so that gives you a few options in post of editing the footage.

Just my two cents!
 
Hey, it'd help to read the responses next time. Essentially, I agree with Dick. And it's good you'll have a laptop to offload to, but I will note that it certainly is quite a bit nicer when you do not need to rush around to offload mid shoot. That adds alot of stress(if you're shooting solo) when you're trying to juggle it with the shoot.
 
dustdingo,

Thanks for the advice.

I'd like to try and shoot this at the camera's highest res. so I'm leaning towards
1080i/60 if I'm correct.

I'll have time in between illusions. They are approximately 4 min. long so it's not
that pressured to film contstantly. There are 8 illusions total so I can always dump
one card while setting up and filming the next trick.

Mark
 
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