Prepping for Corporate Product Video

H

Heartfelt

Well-known member
I will be filming a video about a product/service that will include a range of shots from green-screen to outdoor interviews. I know that sunlight can be difficult but this still is a new area to me.

I am borrowing an HMC40 and while I can spend some cash, I need to not go crazy on accessories as we don't own the camera. The greatest question is about taming the outdoor shooting. I understand that people use filters to knock the brightness down. Can I get away with a single filter with this specific process in mind? If so, can someone please point me to an appropriate filter?

Thanks a mill
Rob

PS. just got the HMC book as well.
 
The HMC40/80 can have problems in very bright daylight where the lens stops down a great deal and this starts to degrade sharpness because of diffraction. Using a neutral density filter outside can help with this. If I were only going to buy one, it would probably be a 0.9 (three stops loss, or 1/8 transmission of light), since sunlight is pretty bright and you want to open the iris a significant amount. A two-stop (0.6) ND would probably also work; get both if you can afford it.

A circular polarizer might also be valuable; that both has a neutral density factor and can help control specular reflections from water and so forth, and make sky colors richer in outdoor shooting.

Since the HMC has a very small filter thread size (43mm) that is not used on many other cameras, for this purpose, I think it might be worth buying them in a larger size that fits one or more of the other camera lenses you use, then get a step-up ring to adapt that to the 43mm lens thread on the HMC40. I have pretty much standardized on 72mm filters myself since they can be made to fit most of my still and video lenses with an appropriate adapter.

I like B+W filters, but also have used Hoya HMC's (their multicoated series; avoid the cheaper ones) with no problems. I prefer to get filters with black rings to avoid reflections close to the lens, and brass is the best material for these (doesn't tend to seize up as much as aluminum). I can't give you specific links to what you need becaue I'm not sure what size you'll want to go for, but this should let you narrow it down pretty well.

- Greg
 
You can rent the filters you need from lensrenters.com for about 6 bucks per day. Also I would recommend a cheap pop reflector like this one

41yYk9AXfRL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/ePhoto-Photography-Accessories-Collapsible-Reflector/dp/B00315B2JO/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1306993584&sr=8-12

It can be a bounce/silk/flag whatever and its 20 bucks. Throw it away after the shoot if you want but I have had mine for a while and they are great. You just need a PA or sucker someone on-set to Hollywood the reflector if you are going to solo this gig.
 
I second what Jason Adams said. I myself purchased the same thing (make sure it's oval) a month ago and it's been great.
 
Thanks guys.

I do have a reflector. It is collapsible, round and a decent size. Am I understanding correctly
that you would be using the sun as a key light and the reflector to fill or would you plan to
filter with it or are your recommendations more general purpose and more oj the "be prepared
for anything" flavor?

I did some research on the filters. It seems I won't be able to buy filters knowing that I can
use them later. I still haven't decided on a DSLR yet and even if I do, it seems that the
different lenses available would possibly use different filters. Perhaps a $40-$60 purchase
now is just a necessity, as is.

So the recc's are have a reflector/filter with a stand or have a helper and get a .6 and .9 filter. Is that correct?
 
Another question for this project...

I am an audio guy first. The thought of shotgun mics for something other than concert recording bothers me a bit. It seems
that if using one outdoors for an industrial shoot, I would get way too much extraneous noise. My instinct is to grab a
couple of lapel mics (wired for cost) and use a mixer.

Any thoughts on this aspect? Can I be more confident than this with shotguns?
 
Need some more information about your outdoor shoots to suggest an audio strategy. Is this supposed to look naturalistic, with no visible microphones in the frame? Or is a "TV news" approach possible where the mics are actually seen? Do you want a very clean and intimate studio-like sound, or one that seems more open and natural? Do you have someone to hold a boom and/or run a mixer for you, or will you be handling both audio and video at the same time? Is wind noise likely to be a problem in your location? Are there other loud background noises to deal with, like from a nearby road or industrial operation? How many subjects need to be covered for audio at once, and how far apart are they? (If you're even thinking about wired lavs, I assume they must not be moving around too much.)

Sorry to make it a game of 20 Questions, but the best answer is not clear from just what you've said so far.

You might also want to post about this in the Audio forum down in the Filmmaking section of the board.

- Greg
 
I will take this part there. Thanks for the reminder for specificity. I will certianly spell it out.
Thanks!
Rob
 
I've got a nice shotgun mic Audio-Technica AT4073A but I find that I have to turn down the little dials to almost zero to get sound that's at the correct level. You may want to use some type of portable field mixer. And this is no cheapie mic either so not sure what's going on, sound is good though.
 
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