Prepping for Tanzaian Documentary

I have a brother in law that lives in Tanzania. He just left Los Angeles to go back to Tanzania. His family lives in a big city there I believe Dar. He even has his own PD-150 and he is a DJ/Audio Engineer. He might be glad to help you if you want me to contact him about this PM me. PEACE
 
When travelling wich model of tripod and head do you use? Or wich one would you recommand if weight and compactness was an issue?:dankk2:
 
I am very interested in this KATA back pack thing. Do you have more specifics like the model or model number?
 
Not wanting to intrude, but I've got a KATA bp-502 backpack that is flat out amazing. The shell is reasonably hard, the bag divides my gear up well and keeps it in place and the harness is really built to hike with. And the price isnt really that bad. I think I paid $250 or so. I'd be willing to pay twice that for what I got.
 
Batteries: which is easier, solar power or just getting enough big batteries and if needed, a taxi to the nearest town to recharge them (or send someone to do it for you, labour is cheap there)? Another idea would be rigging a standard off-the-shelf-even-in-Africa -type battery thingy for the wall power adaptor plate. With that you could get some juice into the cam if you just find any batteries in the local store.

Mic: if you work alone you get better sound and better wind protection if you have the mic in Rycote zeppelin & Windjammer and hold it in you left hand. Then you can point it the way you want, not the way camera is pointed. This requires you to shoot on auto, as you can not adjust anything except zoom while shooting. For many documentary situations it is fine.

Light: It is DARK inside the local huts. I shot stills once in Namibia and the exposures were like 1/8 and f2 inside the native huts, and the contrasts unmanageable: raw sunlight thru the cracks in the walls and ceiling. For this reason National Geographic photographers used to have 40 cases of gear when going to Africa... Consider a set of LED lights powered with camera batteries.
 
Hi,

I am going to Africa as well. I will be leaving in mid-June and will be living in Tanzania for two years. I am going as a Peace Corps Volunteer and will be doing the job of HIV/Aids education in the community. (I hope to make videos and show them as part of what I do.)

I am also a filmmaker and am going to be taking:

Audio-Technica 835b shotgun mic
mini-disk recorder
DVX100a
Macbook w/external hardrive
Mitsubishi Pocket Projector (not bought)
Pelican 1430 (not bought)

16mm Bolex
16mm Film

Solar Power (need help!)
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I am intending on sticking almost everything into the Pelican- and then placing that into a dinky bag so it doesn't look "nice".
I am going to try to secure it for the first 3 months in a locked place while I "train" and get used to the place.

I am worried about the safety of my things but I think if I am really carefull it should be alright. (also getting personal articles insurance.)
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THe power issue : I am wondering if any one could give me more details on how to do the solar power thing and what I need to get..

Also - I am not sure how to store my 16mm film so that it is at least a little bit protected from the heat and humitidy!

I would appreciate any other advice too.

Thank you,
alicia

marymeep@yahoo.com
 
Nik Manning said:
I have a brother in law that lives in Tanzania. He just left Los Angeles to go back to Tanzania. His family lives in a big city there I believe Dar. He even has his own PD-150 and he is a DJ/Audio Engineer. He might be glad to help you if you want me to contact him about this PM me. PEACE
Click to expand...
Oh man! That would be great. I'm very likely going to need someone to help with audio, and that would be perfect. I'll stay in touch, and as next summer approaches I'll let you know. Thanks again.
 
Five weeks ago we returned from a 2-week shoot in Kigoma in the south of Tanzania. Some advice:

1. You are going in the dry season, so beware of red dust crawling in everything you can imagine, from your hair to your battery charger. Make sure to take sufficient cleaning materials for your equipment.

2. If you want to drive anywhere in remote Tanzania: the roads are really bad (and I have seen some BAD roads before). One day we spent 4 hours driving a distance of 20 miles. So take your time to do things. Evereyone there does it.

3. If the region you are going to really is remote, keep in mind that there may not be any electric power at all there and that they're using generators for power. Don't forget to take 220V English power connectors and make sure your chargers can work with 220 Volts.

4. Take a small spare camera. If anything happens to your camera or if it gets waisted by dust, you will be happy you brought a second unit. Don't even think you will find anyone who can repair your HX-A1 over there. In most of the parts we were, people had never even seen a little digital still camera.

Tanzania is a beautiful but very poor country. I respect you for what you are going to do. There really is a LOT of work that needs to be done over there.

Best wishes

Ronny
 
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