One Person Shoot - Technique

[Jonathan_P]

Some quick background: I just sold my business of 20 years to become a documentary filmmaker. For the past few months I've been furiously learning the ropes - talking to filmmakers, going to festivals, reading books, watching documentaries and playing around with my old TRV-900 (and soon a DVX or HVX). I want to work alone in order to be unobtrusive, and to avoid the cost and scheduling issues associated with even a small crew; so I really don't want to debate whether shooting by myself is wise. What I'm looking for is information on *how* to shoot single-handed.

I know it can be done because I've seen the results - Ross McElwee (Sherman's March), Nina Davenport (Always a Bridesmaid), Ed Pincus (Diaries), Alan Berliner (Nobody's Business), Steven Riley (Blue Blood), Jon Gunn (My Date with Drew), Jeffrey Ross (Patriot Act), and there are others I can't think of off the top of my head. All of these are very watchable; some are great. I've tried to glean what I can from watching these films and freezing the frame when you get a glimpse of the shooter in the mirror, and I've been recently searching through discussion lists and articles, but I can't find anything that goes into any depth, so I'm hoping that some of you out there have figured this out and are willing to share some of your secrets.

I'm particularly interested in the McElwee-like technique for shooting with one hand and holding a mic in the other without using any special braces or supports. Is anyone doing this with a DVX or HVX?

Thanks!!!

-JP





​

 

[SilverWolf]

I would get some type of support brace like a dv rig because that would keep you mobile in a lot of sitation. For audio I would try to get lavaliers if possible. I've done lots of events and one man crew interviews and these are things that help me

 

[Duct Tape Films]

If you're looking to do one man band run and gun shoots, you may want to get a couple decent shotguns. I say a couple, because invariably in a situation like that, one or the other may go down for one reason or another, or get something spilled on it, or bumped, dropped, etc., and audio being the most important between audio and picture*, you got to have a decent shotgun. And since it's just you, you may not time to figure out what exactly went wrong, thus two shotguns. Same applies to lavs - if you want to make sure you have two that are operational, best to carry four.

*most people will forgive crap looking images, especially in docs, but crap sounding audio and they're outta there.

If you have to do the one man band thing (I've done it, in some ways easier than working with a crew, but in just as many other ways harder), keep in mind that you will be better off getting up close and personal with your subject, that is unless they are lav miked, or unless the wider image is actually more important than the audio, example being an MOS shot (for "mit out sound" - or without sound - blame some German guy for that one - or could be "minus optical stripe", but "mit out sound" is more known). ALWAYS wear phones, at least over one ear (I usually only wear one ear, so I can hear what else is going on around me). If you're doing one man band, you're going to have to learn how to do the Marty Feldman - one eye on the audio meter, another on the framing in the LCD or eyepiece.

Also, I usually set my audio channels as CH1 - Hot, CH2 - Safe, meaning CH2 has a 6-9 more dB's of headroom, just in case there's a overload to the other channel, you can use the safe channel instead (oh, yeah don't think of the two channels as stereo - think of them as dual mono - they are the same, except one is recorded hotter than the other); this is especially beneficial on a run & gun, because you never know where or when a loud sound may come from. Another way to deal with this problem is a limiter, although the ones built into most prosumer cameras are generally crap.

Also, you're going to have to get the shotgun, and it's shadow, out of the frame, either by elevating it, or getting it over to the side. Keep in mind that LCD's on prosumer cameras may not show you "the whole picture" also known as overscan/underscan. Know your camera well enough that you know where the frame ACTUALLY ends, and if your mike is in the frame or not. You will need a shock mount to isolate your mike from shakes, either from being hand held, or camera mounted. You will also need what many people refer to as a "Dead Cat", kind of how it looks, a wind muff/windjammer, although you don't really need a full zepplin.

At least a couple omni (not cardioid - so that you CAN pick up other sounds/conversations) wired/wireless lavs are a must as well, especially if your subject is defined (I'm following this guy/gal all day, for example, or a sit down interview). Use the shotgun when you don't have the luxury of a defined subject (for example, an event unfolding before your eyes), and use the lavs whenever you can. You may want to consider using both if you're using a lav, as the shotgun can add the real room sound to your lav, which will not sound "natural" all alone by itself.

If you can afford it, I can't recommend using a decidated soundman enough, that extra focus it allows on things like say, focus & framing, as opposed to audio, is worth it's weight in gold. That said, if you CAN play the accordion with your feet, you can certainly do a one man band shoot and get good results. And while the notion of "fixing it in post" only goes so far, you certainly can use more audio material today that just ten years ago would have been strictly unsalvagable. However, you do NOT want to have to NEED to save your audio, trust me on this one. My advice for someone who's entering filmmaking, especially documentary filmmaking, learn audio inside and out. Get a recording engineer's book. Read the chapter in a filmmaking book about audio. Maybe even try watching or participating in an audio recording session, speech or music. It will be time extremely well spent.

 

[Jonathan_P]

I would get some type of support brace like a dv rig because that would keep you mobile in a lot of sitation. For audio I would try to get lavaliers if possible. I've done lots of events and one man crew interviews and these are things that help me

Thanks for the advice. I was hoping to avoid a support brace because it seems obtrusive, but if it's necessary for a steady shot I'll use it.

 

[Jonathan_P]

First let me thank you for an amazing response. Lots of great information here! I don't want to impose on you, so don't feel obligated, but if you get a chance, I have several follow-up questions (below).

...you may want to get a couple decent shotguns. I say a couple, because invariably in a situation like that, one or the other may go down for one reason or another, or get something spilled on it, or bumped, dropped, etc., and audio being the most important between audio and picture*, you got to have a decent shotgun...

Should I be thinking in terms of a shotgun for outdoors and a hypercardiod for indoors - can one back up the other in a pinch?

*most people will forgive crap looking images, especially in docs, but crap sounding audio and they're outta there.

I'm totally on board here - watching a film with crappy audio is just too much work for me.

ALWAYS wear phones, at least over one ear (I usually only wear one ear, so I can hear what else is going on around me). If you're doing one man band, you're going to have to learn how to do the Marty Feldman - one eye on the audio meter, another on the framing in the LCD or eyepiece.

Are ear buds o.k. or do you have to cover the whole ear? I'd like to be less obtrusive (with earbuds) if possible. Do you use the audio meter on the camera? If I'm in a situation where I can't use a lav and I'm pointing the camera in one direction but want audio from another direction, have you tried hand-holding the shotgun mic somehow?

Also, I usually set my audio channels as CH1 - Hot, CH2 - Safe, meaning CH2 has a 6-9 more dB's of headroom, just in case there's a overload to the other channel, you can use the safe channel instead ...because you never know where or when a loud sound may come from. Another way to deal with this problem is a limiter, although the ones built into most prosumer cameras are generally crap.

This is in fact a very likely scenario for me. Are there other advantages to using an external mixer besides a better limiter?

If you can afford it, I can't recommend using a decidated soundman enough, that extra focus it allows on things like say, focus & framing, as opposed to audio, is worth it's weight in gold.

Is it worth recruiting an inexperienced person onsite who has a basic understanding of how to ride levels, or am I better off just doing it myself?

That said, if you CAN play the accordion with your feet, you can certainly do a one man band shoot and get good results.

How did you know? I'm famous for my rendition of the Stinky Foot Polka!

...My advice for someone who's entering filmmaking, especially documentary filmmaking, learn audio inside and out. Get a recording engineer's book. Read the chapter in a filmmaking book about audio. Maybe even try watching or participating in an audio recording session, speech or music. It will be time extremely well spent.

Point taken. I've been through Holman's "Sound for Digital Video" once through and I feel like it's an excellent starting point.

Thanks again!!!

JP

 

[Alex DePew]

Lotsa batteries. And I would carry a stand and a reflector and a diffuser. That extra little bit for when you can set up will add a lot to your shot.

You also might want to get an onboard light for shooting at night if you plan on doing any of that.

Ithaca used to be my stomping grounds. I went to Cornell. How are things in that neck of the woods? I haven't been in years.

 

[MalcolmOng]

The problem with run and gun shooting is that one only has 2 hands

 

[Jonathan_P]

Lotsa batteries. And I would carry a stand and a reflector and a diffuser. That extra little bit for when you can set up will add a lot to your shot.

You also might want to get an onboard light for shooting at night if you plan on doing any of that.

Ithaca used to be my stomping grounds. I went to Cornell. How are things in that neck of the woods? I haven't been in years.

Good ideas, thanks. Ithaca is being taken over by big box stores, but it's still a great place to live. Great restaurants, no traffic and they're building new movie theaters with stadium seating, including one devoted to indie/art films! No complaints.

 

[Jonathan_P]

The problem with run and gun shooting is that one only has 2 hands

That's what I'm talking about. I'm particularly concerned about sound quality when on the run; I've seen shots of Ross McElwee balancing his camera (was film, now not sure what he's using for video now) on his right shoulder and holding a microphone in his left hand by his waist, all the while he's carrying on a conversation. I'd like to talk to someone who's pulled that off.

 

[greenheron]

Well, Mr. McElwee probably had to do it that way because the film camera made enough noise that he couldn't mount the mic to the camera. Go with a camera mic and a wireless that you can move from place to place. This will give you more choices in the edit. I have shot several documentaries by myself, not my choice, but never tried to do the interviewing as well. That takes a very special person to pull it off. I have seen it done, but usually the picture and sound quality suffers a great deal. If the subject matter is engaging enough, sometimes you don't really care that the frame is not composed well or if the sound isn't perfect.

The best way if you are going to be a one man band is to have a camera that will work well on auto and set up the sound on auto as well. If you have a semi professional camera that handles the auto settings that fairly well then you can concentrate on your subject.

 

[Duct Tape Films]

The best way if you are going to be a one man band is to have a camera that will work well on auto and set up the sound on auto as well. If you have a semi professional camera that handles the auto settings that fairly well then you can concentrate on your subject.

Yes, and well, no. The EASIEST way is to go auto, which can sometimes produce good results; however, it does pay dividends to do both audio and video manually, just as one would with more people aboard. Thing is with shooting manual, you have to, just as it used to be with film, know that a certain amount of your footage will be strictly unusable, due to framing, focusing, or circumstances beyond your control. That said, a nearly equal amount (in my experience) of auto footage will be unusable, due to auto gain pumping, jumpy auto focus, any number of things that would simply not have happened with manual.

I guess, either way you go, you will experience what is known is a shooting ratio (footage shot/good footage), and on a documentary this shooting ratio tends to be very high, even up to hundreds of hours shot for a feature length film. When you're doing it yourself, many times your shooting ratio is determined by how much scratch you've got for extra tape. Here's the thing - at least compared to film, tape is cheap. Carry way more than you think you will ever need. Don't reuse it. Use it. Let it keep rolling. Start it well before you start asking questions for the interview. Don't turn it off until you're sure you've exausted all possibilities of the shot (or you're exausted, which ever comes first), and then pause some more to make sure you've got a tail for the shot.

 

[WhiteWood]

If you're looking to do one man band run and gun shoots, you may want to get a couple decent shotguns. I say a couple, because invariably in a situation like that, one or the other may go down for one reason or another, or get something spilled on it, or bumped, dropped, etc., and audio being the most important between audio and picture*, you got to have a decent shotgun. And since it's just you, you may not time to figure out what exactly went wrong, thus two shotguns. Same applies to lavs - if you want to make sure you have two that are operational, best to carry four.

*most people will forgive crap looking images, especially in docs, but crap sounding audio and they're outta there.

If you have to do the one man band thing (I've done it, in some ways easier than working with a crew, but in just as many other ways harder), keep in mind that you will be better off getting up close and personal with your subject, that is unless they are lav miked, or unless the wider image is actually more important than the audio, example being an MOS shot (for "mit out sound" - or without sound - blame some German guy for that one - or could be "minus optical stripe", but "mit out sound" is more known). ALWAYS wear phones, at least over one ear (I usually only wear one ear, so I can hear what else is going on around me). If you're doing one man band, you're going to have to learn how to do the Marty Feldman - one eye on the audio meter, another on the framing in the LCD or eyepiece.

Also, I usually set my audio channels as CH1 - Hot, CH2 - Safe, meaning CH2 has a 6-9 more dB's of headroom, just in case there's a overload to the other channel, you can use the safe channel instead (oh, yeah don't think of the two channels as stereo - think of them as dual mono - they are the same, except one is recorded hotter than the other); this is especially beneficial on a run & gun, because you never know where or when a loud sound may come from. Another way to deal with this problem is a limiter, although the ones built into most prosumer cameras are generally crap.

Also, you're going to have to get the shotgun, and it's shadow, out of the frame, either by elevating it, or getting it over to the side. Keep in mind that LCD's on prosumer cameras may not show you "the whole picture" also known as overscan/underscan. Know your camera well enough that you know where the frame ACTUALLY ends, and if your mike is in the frame or not. You will need a shock mount to isolate your mike from shakes, either from being hand held, or camera mounted. You will also need what many people refer to as a "Dead Cat", kind of how it looks, a wind muff/windjammer, although you don't really need a full zepplin.

At least a couple omni (not cardioid - so that you CAN pick up other sounds/conversations) wired/wireless lavs are a must as well, especially if your subject is defined (I'm following this guy/gal all day, for example, or a sit down interview). Use the shotgun when you don't have the luxury of a defined subject (for example, an event unfolding before your eyes), and use the lavs whenever you can. You may want to consider using both if you're using a lav, as the shotgun can add the real room sound to your lav, which will not sound "natural" all alone by itself.

If you can afford it, I can't recommend using a decidated soundman enough, that extra focus it allows on things like say, focus & framing, as opposed to audio, is worth it's weight in gold. That said, if you CAN play the accordion with your feet, you can certainly do a one man band shoot and get good results. And while the notion of "fixing it in post" only goes so far, you certainly can use more audio material today that just ten years ago would have been strictly unsalvagable. However, you do NOT want to have to NEED to save your audio, trust me on this one. My advice for someone who's entering filmmaking, especially documentary filmmaking, learn audio inside and out. Get a recording engineer's book. Read the chapter in a filmmaking book about audio. Maybe even try watching or participating in an audio recording session, speech or music. It will be time extremely well spent.

People that would write all of this to help another man..wow.​

 

[SilverWolf]

That's what makes this forum great. Check out some of MattinSTL's and Yankee's responses to some audio questions and you'll see true dvxuser is action

 

[Huy Vu]

Are ear buds o.k. or do you have to cover the whole ear? I'd like to be less obtrusive (with earbuds) if possible.

I don't really know of any ear buds that would cancel out the surrounding sounds well enough for you to actually monitor the audio. I used to try using iPod earphone (embarassingly enough) to monitor the sound and I discovered that I might as well not wear them at all because I can't tell which noise is coming from the camera and which is the live sound. Then I upgraded to an MDR-7506 and it makes a whole world of difference.

One more thing. If you decided to mount your microphone on the camera then use very short cable and secure them somehow so that they don't flop around and slam into the camera as you move. Before I got a boom pole I had a 20 ft. cable and I found out the hard way that those cable makes really LOUD noise everytime they bump.

 

[Duct Tape Films]

People that would write all of this to help another man..wow.​

If forums aren't here for helping others along, what are they here for? Proving your superior knowledge/exquisite taste/techincal expertise over some other guy/gal? I'd rather make movies personally. Everyone starts in this field/craft/art at the same level. I know for a FACT that if I hadn't had some kind people lending me a hand along the way, I would most certainly not be doing this now. Karma, just like using manual focus instead of auto, pays in dividends.

 

[SilverWolf]

I don't really know of any ear buds that would cancel out the surrounding sounds well enough for you to actually monitor the audio. I used to try using iPod earphone (embarassingly enough) to monitor the sound and I discovered that I might as well not wear them at all because I can't tell which noise is coming from the camera and which is the live sound. Then I upgraded to an MDR-7506 and it makes a whole world of difference.

One more thing. If you decided to mount your microphone on the camera then use very short cable and secure them somehow so that they don't flop around and slam into the camera as you move. Before I got a boom pole I had a 20 ft. cable and I found out the hard way that those cable makes really LOUD noise everytime they bump.

I think etymotics (sp?) makes some good in ear headphones but the problem is for the price you could have just bought some 7506's or HD280. If you are going to buy some regular consumer in ear headphones I wouldn't really bother

 

[japhy]

Thanks for GREAT info...real quick..you mentioned I should read up on some audio engineering etc... Can you recommend any books...given I need to learn lighting, production etc. as well....Is there an all inclusive book tailored to DVX?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[fevercity]

I think Greenhorn's correct in that Ross McElwee probably had to stay away from the motor-noise from the film camera. I know that waI've had some luck using s the case on some of "Sherman's March" at least. You can hear some of that when he's in his parents' basement talking to the camera (still in costume no less!).

You might consider a isolator shock mount for the shotgun and spending extra on a nice Sennheiser. You can 'push it out' until you see it in-frame and then back it out.

I do single-person shoots with a Sony ENG package. The camera actually has two hotshoe mounts and an on-board mount. Not that I'd ever need 3 shotguns but there's room! I've seen similar multi-mic set-ups on DVX / HVX cams. You can clamp a shockmount to the handle and another elsewhere. Just a thought.

Some would say that's overkill but you'll have the peace of mind that at least one shotgun mic will be getting good audio without being intrusive. Good luck on all fronts for your new direction!!!!

 

[Petrus]

If you want to hold the mic in your hand (prefereable, as you can point it away from the direction you are shooting, to the most important sound source) you will not be able to work any manual controls; focus, aperture etc. If the auto settings work well enough that's the way to go (I have done this with TRV900 & shotgun in zeppelin/windjammer, as there really in no way to attach that to the camera...) If you shoot most of the time in WA there are no focus problems, but exposure might vary unexpectedly.

If you want to use manual settings, you have to attach the mic (short shotgun) on camera. Better than the standard mic holder is a Mini-Rover handle. By using that the mic is better insulated from the camera noise and you can use slightly longer mic/wind protection combinations without the mic getting into the picture.

 

[Jonathan_P]

Well, Mr. McElwee probably had to do it that way because the film camera made enough noise that he couldn't mount the mic to the camera. Go with a camera mic and a wireless that you can move from place to place. This will give you more choices in the edit. I have shot several documentaries by myself, not my choice, but never tried to do the interviewing as well. That takes a very special person to pull it off. I have seen it done, but usually the picture and sound quality suffers a great deal. If the subject matter is engaging enough, sometimes you don't really care that the frame is not composed well or if the sound isn't perfect.

The best way if you are going to be a one man band is to have a camera that will work well on auto and set up the sound on auto as well. If you have a semi professional camera that handles the auto settings that fairly well then you can concentrate on your subject.

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond; not the answer I was hoping for, but exactly what I need to know.