GH3 Pioneer History Museum, Phoenix AZ

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dan.carter

Well-known member
Located in North Phoenix, you'll visit over 90 acres of an old 1800's town, with no cars or smog! You will find authentic buildings and historically accurate reproductions. See the Opera House where Lilly Langtry sang; look through a rifle port in the actual cabin that survived Arizona's bloodiest range war; laugh your way through a "melodrama"; or browse through an 1890's dress shop and much more!

All of this, plus a blacksmith shop, sheriff's office and jail, complete ranch complex, and costumed interpreters including cowboys, lawmen, and lovely Victorian ladies - await you at Pioneer Living History Village, Arizona's most authentic Old West town. [Quote: Museum Website] pioneeraz.org

Panasonic DMC-GH3
Lumix 12-35 f2.8 Lens
Gitzo GT2531LVL Tripod
Benro S2 Head
B+W Polarizer

 
Great location and the GH3 did a pretty good job there, regarding dynamic range.
If you want to take any advice, try not to pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) unless there is a reason for it.

PTZ is a bad habit invented by ENG guys and a lot of documentary filmers have piked it up.

Try to lock down your camera and have something moving in the frame (like the guy with the broom).
Or something moving in and out of the frame.
If you have camera movement, make it for a reason, like you pan, when following a person walking somewhere.

my ct2,

Frank
 
Postmaster said:
Great location and the GH3 did a pretty good job there, regarding dynamic range.
If you want to take any advice, try not to pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) unless there is a reason for it.

PTZ is a bad habit invented by ENG guys and a lot of documentary filmers have piked it up.

Try to lock down your camera and have something moving in the frame (like the guy with the broom).
Or something moving in and out of the frame.
If you have camera movement, make it for a reason, like you pan, when following a person walking somewhere.

my ct2,

Frank
Click to expand...

Many thanks for watching and commenting Frank. Was testing a new 12oz Benro S2 head. It worked so well, this video may suffer from camera movement bias.
 
Postmaster, your comments about PTZ were timely for me. Today I started to put together a video of mostly stills and some footage of a lake and the area around it. I've got a sound track (music and some bird song) and thought I'd use some Ken Burns technique to make the stills in the video "more interesting." There are almost no people in the stills, although there are some wild turkeys and deer. The video footage has some rowers in boats, some people running, and some people bicycling. However, most of the video project will be the stills.

So, my only reason to use the Ken Burns effect was to have some movement in what some might consider scenic shots, but others might consider ho-hum.

Thanks for making me question the goal of the project. (Self-doubt's always a good thing...)
 
nyvideo said:
Postmaster, your comments about PTZ were timely for me. Today I started to put together a video of mostly stills and some footage of a lake and the area around it. I've got a sound track (music and some bird song) and thought I'd use some Ken Burns technique to make the stills in the video "more interesting." There are almost no people in the stills, although there are some wild turkeys and deer. The video footage has some rowers in boats, some people running, and some people bicycling. However, most of the video project will be the stills.

So, my only reason to use the Ken Burns effect was to have some movement in what some might consider scenic shots, but others might consider ho-hum.

Thanks for making me question the goal of the project. (Self-doubt's always a good thing...)
Click to expand...

Nyvideo,

Please realize there are NO ironclad rules for your projects. I've often been criticized for lack of movement.

Since you can't please everyone, it's most important that you like your creations.

Watch a Ken Burns video and you'll see plenty of exciting movement where some might say there shouldn't be.
 
dan.carter said:
Was testing a new 12oz Benro S2 head. It worked so well, this video may suffer from camera movement bias.
Click to expand...

Dan, Enjoyed your Pioneer History Museum video. I look forward to watching your videos because not only are they always well done, but they also help me learn and improve my videos. I see you have switched from the Manfrotto 701 head to a Benro S2 head. I am interested in the S2 head because it is about a pound lighter, but the few reviews I found are negative. I would appreciate your thought on it. Thanks.
 
slickh said:
Dan, Enjoyed your Pioneer History Museum video. I look forward to watching your videos because not only are they always well done, but they also help me learn and improve my videos. I see you have switched from the Manfrotto 701 head to a Benro S2 head. I am interested in the S2 head because it is about a pound lighter, but the few reviews I found are negative. I would appreciate your thought on it. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I'm honored to hear you're finding value in some of my video projects. Thank you for the positive comments.

For several years, I've been looking for a light-weight video head capable of producing consistent, slow, smooth pans and tilts. Though I ordered the Benro S2 thinking it would be another disappointment, it has been a pleasant surprise. I own a Manfrotto 700RC2 with poor fluid pan effect and no fluid tilt. An expensive, beautifully built Gitzo G2180 with no fluid pan effect and good fluid tilt. And, as you know, the Manfrotto 701HDV with good fluid pan and tilt performance. Though the 701HDV is often criticized as having stiff default pan and tilt drag, it works well for me. In my opinion, at almost 1lb lighter, the Benro S2 is slightly stiffer, but produces pans and tilts on par with the 701HDV. The build and control placement of the S2 is also slightly better. The only negative of the S2 is a slightly flexible handle, which may benefit movement starts and stops. I usually cut my handle length by 3 or 4 inches, which on the S2 resulted in the stiffness I prefer.

Good shooting...
 
This is a cool place Dan! After watching, I took the grandkids and had a great time.

I also had a chance to use the Benro S2, and order one for my GH2.
 
I can't imagine anything more boring than shooting landscape and buildings (which look great Dan) with lock downs.
It would look like a slide show.
And that's all it would be to any viewer.
Sure it would be great if you could ask occasional strangers to move in and out of shots when you're shooting static locations, but how realistic is that?

Lock down shots work with dialogue and with scenes with motion...even landscapes with the subtlest of motion.
But the vast majority of Dans shots were of fixed objects and backgrounds.
What DP wouldn't bring some degrees of camera movement into dozens of static scenes?

I very much like to use a jib and dolly/slider for work like that but it's still movement...and certainly not arbitrary or gratuitous movement.
 
Good job on the video. I've lived within an hour of this location and never knew it was there. After watching this I'm definitely going to go up and take a tour. Thanks for sharing!
 
jobryant said:
Good job on the video. I've lived within an hour of this location and never knew it was there. After watching this I'm definitely going to go up and take a tour. Thanks for sharing!
Click to expand...

Thank you for watching and the encouraging comment jobryant. Like you, I'd driven by this place for 30 years before visiting, and was pleasantly surprised. Enjoy your visit.
 
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