One man doc's

Do the people walk around a lot as they trade, or is there a general area where the discussions take place? If there is a general area where the action happens, then just hide a boundary mic or two in that spot(s) and send the signal to a small recorder. You can sync it up later with whatever sound your camera picks up.
 
They can do but more often than not they stay within a small area around their stalls.

Problem I have is leaving 'expensive' equipment around and then having to concentrate on not only the film being recorded but also the sound stuff. its going to be very easy, not to mention tempting for somebody to pocket a mic or a recorder (Zoom H4) and then almost impossible to say who did it :(

I guess this is why there aren't that many people doing this sort of thing!

Indy.....
 
indigo said:
Sounds extremely interesting!

Basically the problem I have is...... sound.


Indy.....
Click to expand...


Do you have a shotgun mic on your camera?
I found a sample of one person's experiment with a sennheiser MKH450 on their DVX100. Sometimes, you can see the mic falls into the frame of the shot, but I believe this can be remedied by raising the mic further above the lens with an NRG 59111 trimount.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxsaUF74qjM
 
indigo said:
They can do but more often than not they stay within a small area around their stalls.

Problem I have is leaving 'expensive' equipment around and then having to concentrate on not only the film being recorded but also the sound stuff. its going to be very easy, not to mention tempting for somebody to pocket a mic or a recorder (Zoom H4) and then almost impossible to say who did it :(

I guess this is why there aren't that many people doing this sort of thing!

Indy.....
Click to expand...
Indy,

That's a tough situation. Would you consider putting your whole rig inside a good-sized cardboard box that is sealed? Cut a hole for the mic to stick out from a little bit, but have the recorder and cables and everything else concealed and protected in the container. In order to swipe your gear the thief would have to walk off with a big box which would be a lot more obvious. The thief also would not know what is in the box, which may make it less attractive, too. If the box sits on or near the counter no one will pay any attention to it and your recorder can be running the entire time. Just an idea.
http://www.parkfilms.com
 
we shoot a lot of ours with a single cam, but they are just short webisodes. We're hoboes living in a 1973 Winnebago on the streets of Los Angeles. Here's our site:
www.thehobosoul.com
We are pretty ghetto though. Just get a good shotgun mic (ME66) and audio should be good.
 
Ross McElwee (as previously mentioned) is the master. Ed Pincus' "Diaries" predated McElwee and helped to pioneer the one man band personal narrative in the U.S.

Nina Davenport (a McElwee protege) shot "Always a Bridesmaid" solo and did a great job.

On the festival circuit (not available on DVD yet), I love Doug Block's "51 Birch St.", John Mounier's "Beyond Eyruv" and Stevan Riley's "Blue Blood". I've spoken briefly with each of these filmmakers and they somehow make it work.

There are lots of people making great films as "one man bands" so don't let anyone tell you it can't be done. At the same time, for every solo filmmaker I've spoken to, there are probably 10 who tell me that they've tried it both ways and given the choice would take a sound guy every time.
 
Last edited:
AshG said:
Thanks, the trailer is actually raw footage, no grading, color correction, sound tweaks, nothing. It was actually done before the movie was finished. The doc currently is available thru a podcast, www.takingthewalk.com and will be showing at the AFI Film Festival in Dallas at the end of the month.


ash =o)
Click to expand...


I thought your trailer was great-And as much as they puzzled me musically back when they were kids-Hanson seems to have turned into a pretty reputable musical group-Im looking forward to your flic, well shot and edited!
 
You can actually see it free thru a podcast, search on iTunes, it is available in pieces with some new interviews they did to intro each segment. It was very well received at AFI this last weekend and should be on DVD pretty soon.



ash =o)
 
AshG said:
You can actually see it free thru a podcast, search on iTunes, it is available in pieces with some new interviews they did to intro each segment. It was very well received at AFI this last weekend and should be on DVD pretty soon.



ash =o)
Click to expand...
Ashley- can you elaborate a bit more on your whole workflow? Who helped you with what, how much time was spent editing, etc.? I'm also likely going to be a one man band in Tanzania next summer and would love tips from someone who's made it work.
 
In post, I logged everything extensively in a database in Premiere (I use FCP now). Things that I did not think I would use, I labeled with an "OL-" and then did not capture them in batch capture. I never went over 10 minute chunks and my log notes were very in depth. I then wrote a "script" or story flow and created a bin for each section of the story and sorted the appropriate clips into the appropriate bins. I assembled a couple "A" roll edits but then had a good friend and great editor come in and re-do it with fresh eyes. He was able to be creative and not mess with all the technical and workflow hassles.


ash =o)



PS I logged tapes all along as I went, I did not wait until I was shot out, the total post after I was done shooting was about 6 months
 
Ash,

Maybe I missed your reply, but what camera / mode did you shoot this with? Can't wait to see the finished product. I'll look for the podcasts!

I'm entering post on a doc about a local fire dept. Shot half with the DVX and half with an HD-110.

-Matt
 
Hey great thread!! I am about to film my own doc at the end of this month - all by myself... argh! I am on the road with my xha1 and tripod for 10 days filming an event... anybody have any tips? Sound? I figure camera mic and some wireless lavs?? Which ones do you think would be good, and how much? Also, am I going to need any good cheap portable lights? Any you guys can think of?

Also, do you guys find it a lot easier to get stuff done when you don't have a girlfriend? I am WAY behind on my research...:(
 
My doc was shot mainly on an XL1s but there are about 4 different cameras I used along the way. Some areas I could not get into with the XL1s and had to use a little 1CCD Sony PC-100.




ash =o)
 
doc to begin in the fall

doc to begin in the fall

i plan to begin my doc in the fall. hope to do a prelim shoot next month in atlanta.

my doc will be on post-katrina new orleans. am very excited, but also a bit nervous.

i still need some equip such as:

monopod
mic(s)
headphones

will be researching this summer to begin in the fall
 
AshG said:
In post, I logged everything extensively in a database in Premiere (I use FCP now). Things that I did not think I would use, I labeled with an "OL-" and then did not capture them in batch capture. I never went over 10 minute chunks and my log notes were very in depth. I then wrote a "script" or story flow and created a bin for each section of the story and sorted the appropriate clips into the appropriate bins. I assembled a couple "A" roll edits but then had a good friend and great editor come in and re-do it with fresh eyes. He was able to be creative and not mess with all the technical and workflow hassles.


ash =o)



PS I logged tapes all along as I went, I did not wait until I was shot out, the total post after I was done shooting was about 6 months
Click to expand...


Ash:

This is very helpful. I'm in the process of shooting a year-long doc project on a high school wrestling team. It's going to be semi-chronological, in that most of the story will be in order but shots from multiple days may be combined. So pretty much, tape 1 goes at the front :-) I'm two months in right now.

What I started doing is using your workflow as briefly described above. I'm using FCP so I batch captured the entire tape to my hard drive (with automatic start/stop detection) and then went back and labeled/logged the good shots as well as the so-so shots, and deleted the rest. I don't have my RAID hard drive system set up yet, so I plan to log the files, delete the actual media from my temporary location, and then batch recapture ALL of the media at the end of the project with everything already logged to the RAID system (to be purchased later).

Here are the fields I'm using for logging:
Description: Using this to describe the general activity or time period for the shot
Scene: Using this to describe the specifics of the particular shot
Shot/Take: Since this is a chronological documentary, using this for the date & time (05.02.07 - 6pm)
Angle: Trying to describe the angle shot if non-conventional (low, close-up, cutaway, moving, panning, etc)
Log Note: Other detail relating to the shot and where it may be used in the story

Now, you used the "OL-[clip name]" to label stuff that you didn't think you'd use, correct? How would you name the clips using the fields above? I was thinking of using the 'Shot/Take' and 'Scene' fields, to give a reference date and some specifics to the shot.

I was just looking for some feedback from you as I really like your work and described workflow. It seems to make sense on a long project.

Thanks for your help in advance.
 
You could label it any way, just be sure that every file has something in common. In my case, if I needed a phone call cutaway and I had used all that I had captured I could search "OL" and then "phone call" and it would bring up all clips with phone calls that were offline.

One other VERY important thing. Keep your project file backed up and on a different disk than your media. I have all project files on a mirrored RAID PLUS, I have a thumb drive that gets backed up daily as well.




ash =o)
 
I haven't made the jump to shooting and producing full, feature-length docus, but in my freelance work I've made a small living out of being a one-man on-camera reporter/producer/shooter/editor; mainly it's for newsy webisodes, but occasionally things skew towards the news magazine-style report. I figure it's due time I post some of the stuff I've actually worked on. All my location shoots are one-man-band affairs (except where noted...).

You can check them all out here:

http://www.benjaminchertoff.com.

NB, this one (about iPhone-induced insanity): http://benjaminchertoff.typepad.com/benjaminchertoff/2007/06/i-sanity-is-iph.html had full studio support for the studio segments;
Gear list --
Location, exterior: DVX100B, EV stick mic;
Location, interior: DVX100B, on-cam hypercardioids, 650K Arri fresnels;
Studio: 2 big-ass DVCPRO pannies w/ fujinon lenses, boom-mounted senn. MK 416, Tram lavs, big-ass lighting grid and technicians to make it all work together;
post on an Avid Adrenaline

this one: http://benjaminchertoff.typepad.com/benjaminchertoff/2007/06/mo-rocca-digs-f.html obviously wasn't me on-cam -- it was Mo;
Gear list -- DVX100B, EV stick mic, post on a macbook pro w/ FCP

This one: http://www.brightcove.com/title.jsp?title=933742930&channel=212469179 was by far the closest thing to a runaway hit I've ever made (3.6 million views and counting since June 1st).
Gear list:
DVX100B
Rode NTG2 on-camera light
Senn. MK46 handheld mic
Post on a MBP w/ FCP

And this one http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/automotive_news/4214707.html (from my days as editor of popularmechanics.com) was one of the -- no wait, the only -- shoot I've produced with a dedicated pro shooter.
Gear list: Canon XL-1, Rode NTG2 on-camera mic, EV handheld stick mic, post on a G5/FCP.

But this one: http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/science_news/4213543.html was all me, from reporting to posting.
Gear list: Sony PD-150, Rode NTG2 on-camera mic, sennheiser MK46 handheld (BTW, the BEST handheld money can buy IF you've got another mic running to capture atmosphere), wide-angle converter, daylight-corrected on-camera light, post on a G5 powerbook FCP.

I record all my VOs with an RE20 through a Mackie board, firewired into an MBP. Except when I don't use an RE20 and pull out a Shure large-capsule condensor. You can't beat the rich, powerful sound a condensor gets you.

And, keep in mind, they can be a little rough in parts -- total pre-prod-post-production time on these were <48 start to finish. Most in under 24 hours.

As a professional (hah! that still seems silly -- I'm so un-professional) broadband video producer (or preditor as they seem to call us now -- no complaints there), I've had the opportunity to use many high-end cameras, from the HDV200 to full-sized, on-the-shoulder ENG cams to Canons, Sonys, etc. I'm doing a lot of freelance work, and it was finally time to buy a camera for myself. The DVX100B was a no-brainer. Sure, I'd prefer a full-sized camera, but I'd also prefer the news van that comes with it. For real-world work, no other camera on the market has the same combination of high-quality glass, image sensors, light weight and real, physical buttons on the outside -- where they should be!!! -- than the DVX100B. Awesome camera. Until there's an industry standard (and reasonably affordable) HD workflow solution out there, I'm sticking with my lovely little MiniDV workhorse.

NOW... I've got this idea for a feature doc... but that's another post.

BTW, I was in a bind on a location shoot this week -- needed a decent on-cam shotgun; I'm very impressed with the AT897 or whatever that is... Not great on the presence, but it does cut through the clutter quite well.

Long winding post that probably doesn't help you at all... sorry.

Here's the problem with the Tascam: You can pump a timecode in, but you can't push one out. If you've got an external TCG, you're in business. Something to consider....
 
VeryNewMediaGuy,
Excellent and informative post... especially the listed gear used.

I'm off to Central and South America in a few weeks so will be 'living' the One Man Doc life for around 5 weeks!

I'm hoping to post some footage here when I get back..... Watch this space!!!

Indy.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top