Pre-pro - " In my Shoes "

L

long_woods

Carbonite Member
I've decided I'm going to work on a documentary on homeless people, I've began to see a lot of them in Florida, most of them look like they've been on the street for a while.

I like to go with a sad story, tear jerker kind of movement when I can. I also figured talent wouldn't really be all that hard to lock down and get since the homeless would be more then willing to talk about their life & talk on camera for food and some change in their pockets.

As cruel as it sounds folks, its just life. I'm willing to make the leap to make a nicely done 22min long documentary on four homeless adults. I'm going to interview roughly 12 interviews but I'll only end up keeping the four of the best interviewee's.

I'll then interview some of the family members of the home-less if I can get some contact info, kind of try to explain how they landed where they are. If they end up with no family, no friends, no contact then I'll be forced to look for some local homeless shelter owners to be the other side of the story and I'll bring them in the studio to get the cut away interviews.

I'm going to be shooting with a HVX200 with a Letus Adapter & thats what I'll be bringing into the field too. I'm not sure if I am just going to Lav them up yet or just run a boom above their heads or do both and pick the best audio..

I will be shooting 24p for everything, I don't like the look of 60 or 30 so I figured I'll go 24 and I have a feeling many of you documentary guys will chime in an say go 60.

So tell me what you guys think of the story / I truly really don't even have a angle yet other then talking about being homeless, how they got their an what they plan to do.

I'm going to let the interviews dictate my angle which doesn't sound wise but I don't have a destination-date for this to be done. so I am in no rush to keep going until I get good interviews and at the rate I see the homeless in St. Pete, Florida I'll have no issue getting talent.
 
No disrespect to homeless people... but safety should be the first concern for me... especially with lots of expensive kit out on the street, you don't know might be watching you...
Secondly, although these people may give you permission to shoot with them, i would still tread very carefully when interviewing them, you don't want to unearth and sensitive subjects that may really upset or anger them, such as contacting their family... i would maybe stay away from asking about that!!
At the end of the day they are only human and wont appreciate being treated simply as 'subjects'....i know this is obvious stuff but just a reminder.

In terms of frame rate, i would stick with 24p for 97% of it... and then any b-roll stuff that you think may be nice in slow-mo, shoot in 60p and slow down to 24p... just for any 'Moving' moments...?

I would stay strictly boom for sound... you will have better control of the mic and wont have to worry about the person wearing the lav interfering with it (disturbing it etc etc)

These are just some of the points that spring to mind for me....
Keep you kit as simple and basic as you can, take great care in the locations that you shoot in! make sure you have more than just a camera Op and soundy and that other people know who you are shooting and where. Basic stuff but when you are working in potentially sketchy areas with people who don't have a lot going for them, you could become a target....

Good luck, hope i helped a little


Tom.
 
Thanks Pal,

I've been working a lot been shooting a lot of commercials lately so I hope once I get a slow time in production I'll then take a leap into the field to start getting some interviews.

I found a location four blocks from the Studio where there was a ton of homeless people lingering around. My #1 concern is only having one side to the story, I don't want just homeless people telling me their story, I'm trying to think of others who I could interview to make for more of a dramatic story / ending.
 
long_woods said:
Thanks Pal,

I've been working a lot been shooting a lot of commercials lately so I hope once I get a slow time in production I'll then take a leap into the field to start getting some interviews.

I found a location four blocks from the Studio where there was a ton of homeless people lingering around. My #1 concern is only having one side to the story, I don't want just homeless people telling me their story, I'm trying to think of others who I could interview to make for more of a dramatic story / ending.
Click to expand...

Maybe try speaking to people who work in hostels or charities that help homeless people... that will give you an outsiders perspective and will help you steer away from the potentially touchy subject of finding peoples families etc.... Maybe someone who used to be homeless but has got back on their feet and is helping other people now... quite a common kind of ending but it would be a good positive note to end on and its likely that they will be open when speaking to you as they would want to potentially help other people in a similar situation. Also maybe look into the local police etc.. they might be a good option when trying to find out more about what the situation is in the local area and some of their experiences with working with homeless people...

Hope that helps a bit

Tom.
 
I'd def wouldn't film alone of course just for safety issues and use a boom pole for audio as well as someone else mentioned.

It might be a good idea to set up interviews with everyone on the street first and then visit with them without a camera a few times to gain their trust and understanding. Most people hate cameras in front of them, so I can only imagine someone who's homeless would feel about someone documenting the fact they are living on the street and letting the whole world know as such. You'll obviously have to really convince them why you are doing this, how this may possibly help them and what you plan on shooting. It's a delicate situation for sure and don't be surprised if you encounter the odd person who will act negative towards you for this. I'm not a pessimist but I've done tons of man on the street interviews and people really feel the camera invades their privacy and circle of trust too.

Another thing to consider in terms of equipment is possibly using a DSLR camera (like a Canon 7D or T2i) with a 2.8 lens (or smaller) and getting a nice DOF out of it too. Of course, you'd need all the audio components on it too but a Canon with a Rode Videomic may do the trick if you are close enough to the subject. Would be flexible too in terms of being portable as well.

Good luck with this project though, it sounds interesting.
 
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I agree with Dale on the DSLR front too! Nice and portable, doesn't look like a big scary/expensive video camera, a good DOF and also it might be a bonus if the camera and sound aren't tethered together... if you needed to make a swift exit from anywhere you know...


Tom.
 
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