Nikon for a documentary?
- Thread starter finklefilms
- Start date
John Caballero
Veteran
Agreed.
bronxjragon
Well-known member
fail.
squig
Veteran
Well, I'm a professional dp and director with experience with most film gauges and video formats since 10 years and i made my first feature as a director on the d90. I'm very aware of its shortcomings but i'm also well aware of its advantages. Btw when i hold lectures i always tell people to never listen to teachers, ever. Seriously.
hehe
Don't listen to Matt, he's a noob. I have experience with VHS-C and betacord.
BMFM FILMS
Well-known member
Well, I'm a professional dp and director with experience with most film gauges and video formats since 10 years and i made my first feature as a director on the d90. I'm very aware of its shortcomings but i'm also well aware of its advantages. Btw when i hold lectures i always tell people to never listen to teachers, ever. Seriously.
When are we gonna get a whole spiff/thread on how it was shooting with the D90? I'm fumbling for questions, but did you use a wide assortment of lenses? How much budget freed up from it? Anything?
jamesmallonuk
Well-known member
has anyone got a good method to recording audio while shooting with a D90 on your own. I can easy set up interviews on a tripod and lavier mic etc but I need to get some half decent audio when I'm shooting, mainly voices clearly and some ambient. I have thought of various options from sticking a H2 zoom on the camera (no good as a shotgun mic for voices), to having a mixer round my waist and using an MKE400 wired up and stuck on the camera. neither is ideal. Anyone with a better way that won't make me look like robocop?
taubkin
Veteran
The 5D is a much better choice, since it doesn't overheat and can record 10 minute takes. In fact the doesn't overheat part is kind of important, since you can record 10 minute takes one after another...
But it's 30p... kind of lame for a 35mm transfer, or europe distribution...
Here's a link for a "doc" i shot using the D90 as a second camera for a Z1. Crazy combination, but what we had at the time...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dy_3foWmf4
But it's 30p... kind of lame for a 35mm transfer, or europe distribution...
Here's a link for a "doc" i shot using the D90 as a second camera for a Z1. Crazy combination, but what we had at the time...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dy_3foWmf4
jamesmallonuk
Well-known member
I appreciate your advice but I just am not happy with the look from the Canon 5D, the 30p is a killer for me. It would make my life easy though with the external mic, BUT I come back to the same question of audio. The auto gain on the 5D turns ambient into snow storms, its just horrible. So I'm back to the original question how to shot audio as a one man crew?
In addition I can live within the limits of 5 minute chunks, I am of a belief that documantraies arent just about shooting endless hours of footage, but planning shots and situations just like a movie, but the action is live!
I'm not sure what you're looking for regarding audio for documentaries but here are a few ways to handle capturing wild sound.
Wire each key talent with a lav plugged directly into a digital recorder, check your levels, kick it into record and drop the recorder into a secure pocket or clip/tape it secure to the talent. Leave the recorder running through the entire shoot - you never know when you'll pick up something useful.
Wedding videographers do this with the bride and groom then record the entire day in audio whether there's a camera running or not. It's easier than working with a wireless but similar approach. You can't monitor the sound so set the levels safely a bit lower than you'd like.
Capture b-roll sound like you capture b-roll footage. Deliberately record wild sound of the room tone, any machinery or equipment, any physical action that produces a sound, etc. You can always add a nice closeup sound sample into the mix to enhance the visual or as a transition effect. Just stop before wrapping a scene and record a few seconds of everything.
I carry a small Gorilla pod with a couple of mic adapters. Put it on the floor or table top just outside of the shot. I like sticking a Zoom H2 on 90 degree stereo right in front of the action.
The rule is that you can't capture live sound from too many sources.
Practice doing it until you can almost visualize the results of the mic placement, use a good set of phones to check and double check the placement and volume. Make sure you have new batteries every time you start and test to make sure you know how long a set of batteries will last.
I've said before... you need to do this no matter what you're shooting on. Hope it helps.
-a-
Wire each key talent with a lav plugged directly into a digital recorder, check your levels, kick it into record and drop the recorder into a secure pocket or clip/tape it secure to the talent. Leave the recorder running through the entire shoot - you never know when you'll pick up something useful.
Wedding videographers do this with the bride and groom then record the entire day in audio whether there's a camera running or not. It's easier than working with a wireless but similar approach. You can't monitor the sound so set the levels safely a bit lower than you'd like.
Capture b-roll sound like you capture b-roll footage. Deliberately record wild sound of the room tone, any machinery or equipment, any physical action that produces a sound, etc. You can always add a nice closeup sound sample into the mix to enhance the visual or as a transition effect. Just stop before wrapping a scene and record a few seconds of everything.
I carry a small Gorilla pod with a couple of mic adapters. Put it on the floor or table top just outside of the shot. I like sticking a Zoom H2 on 90 degree stereo right in front of the action.
The rule is that you can't capture live sound from too many sources.
Practice doing it until you can almost visualize the results of the mic placement, use a good set of phones to check and double check the placement and volume. Make sure you have new batteries every time you start and test to make sure you know how long a set of batteries will last.
I've said before... you need to do this no matter what you're shooting on. Hope it helps.
-a-
taubkin
Veteran
Well, in that case, know that you'll have not only 5 minute takes, but the overheating with is the worst drawback. I could live with 5 minute takes if I could shoot one after the other, but unfortunately, you can't. It's not about shooting hours of footage, I agree, but it's about loosing the shot...
Anyway, that's only my opinion, you certainly can get great results from the D90 in every type of environment, if you can live with the limitations...
one of my super 8 cameras has a boom on it, placing the shotgun mic two feet in front of the camera. this may have nothing to do with your question but it will most likely improve your interview sound quite a bit. the difference between for example six feet and four feet is many sweet decibels of s/n ratio, plus you can tilt the mic down a bit to cut some ambient noise at least for exteriors (interiors seem to have noise from every direction).
/matt
/matt
Zak Forsman
Major Contributor
new series of mini-docs by lance weiler and alex johnson shot on the D90.
http://www.babelgum.com/html/clip.php?clipId=3015272
http://www.babelgum.com/html/clip.php?clipId=3015272