C100: Seton Testing Services, C100 Mark II

Eric Coughlin

Eric Coughlin

Veteran
This is a video I recently finished for a testing service company which I filmed in Herndon, PA, Atlanta, GA, Front Royal, VA, Trinity, FL, and Lehigh Acres, FL. C100 Mark II as A-camera, two C100 Mark I's for B and C-cameras for interviews.

I got a Hollywood Microdolly recently and used it a good bit on this shoot. Snaps together via spring cords and sets up in just two minutes (unlike a lot of dolly setups which take longer to setup), about as quickly as a slider, and is often smoother since I can use my nicer Vinten head on it instead of the cheaper Manfrotto 701 head on my slider. I'd like to get a Really Right Stuff head for my slider in the future since it's the only relatively light flat based head that's really good that I know of, but in the meantime. Also did some shots with the Kessler Pocket Jib Traveler mounted onto the dolly track.

Comments and constructive criticism welcome.


Behind the scenes photos:
Lehigh Acres, FL & Trinity, FL: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.729983617108237.1073741867.238103079629629&type=3
Herndon, PA: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.679699755469957.1073741864.238103079629629&type=3
Front Royal, VA: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.679697905470142.1073741863.238103079629629&type=3

Equipment Used:
Canon C100 Mark II, 2x Canon C100 Mark I
Sigma 18-35 f/1.8, Canon 24-105 f/4L, Nikon 80-200 f/2.8, Nikon 55mm f/2.8 AIS Macro, Nikon 105 f/2.5
Glidecam HD4000 w/Steadicam Merlin vest & arm
Cinevate Duzi w/701 head
Schoeps CMC641 (interviews)
Hollywood Microdolly 13 ft track
Kessler Pocket Jib Traveler
Vinten Vision Blue w/Gitzo legs, Benro tripod, Manfrotto tripod
Lowel Rifa EX88 1000W, Arri 650W Fresnel, Dedolight DLH4 150W, 2x Lowel Tota 750W, 2x Lowel Pro 250W, 6-in-1 reflector kit
 
Nice work man! I liked just about everything about it. Some of the interviewees are a bit uncomfortable looking but I shoot the same often, it can be tough to get them to relax and flow. My only constructive would be perhaps there is too much unmotivated camera movement? Personally, I like to let a beautifully lit and compsed lock off play a bit more. If you use too much movement/too many angles all of the time, they lose their impact. But if your client digs it, that's great. Very professionally done, good production values, editing, content.
 
Hi Eric,

This is really a fantastic job. Great sound and although there is a lot of camera movement it's really gentle and plays nicely from shot to shot. My only constructive feedback is I noticed a lot of red in 1 or 2 classroom shots early on, 33 seconds being one, but very slick piece.

A few questions if I may:
- Did you have the Schoeps CMC641 mic on a boom overhead for the interviews feeding directly into camera? (Sounds great!)
- How did you find matching the two C100s and how do you like the C100 Mark II? (Having DSLR'd for the last 4 years I am so close to investing in this camera...)
- Is it the Nikon 80-200mm AF-S (1998-2003 model) you have? I love my AIS lenses and have been tempted by the 80-200. Did you use it for the interviews?

Thanks in advance, and thanks for sharing your work and taking the time to detail equipment used.
 
Overall I like it. You have done well.

I also agree that slider/dolly movements work best when they are few rather than present in every shot. If the shot of interview is long then perhaps a slight movement can break the monotony. With the short attention spans of people these days, if there is no camera movement in a talking head, then people may just switch off. Camera movement keeps people get a feeling that "something is happening" or something is to be revealed. This is based on my observations of common people watching web content. So we need to also keep that in mind and shoot based on final viewer/destination of media. Don't put a gun on my head regarding this observation. It may or may not be true for your audience.
 
Thanks for the comments. I meant to reply to this awhile ago but I think I was busy or something. Better late than never!


James Fisher said:
A few questions if I may:
- Did you have the Schoeps CMC641 mic on a boom overhead for the interviews feeding directly into camera? (Sounds great!)
- How did you find matching the two C100s and how do you like the C100 Mark II? (Having DSLR'd for the last 4 years I am so close to investing in this camera...)
- Is it the Nikon 80-200mm AF-S (1998-2003 model) you have? I love my AIS lenses and have been tempted by the 80-200. Did you use it for the interviews?
Click to expand...
-Yes.
-Matching them was easy. Just a few tweaks in Colorista. C100 Mark II looks a little bit sharper to me.
-My Nikon 80-200 is the 1988-1992 version. For the interviews I used it for most or all of the front-on closeups.


indiawilds said:
If the shot of interview is long then perhaps a slight movement can break the monotony.
Click to expand...
I agree. I'm not sure if you were referring to this piece, though. In this piece, each time it cuts to an interview it only stays there for a few seconds, cutting between one or two camera angles of the interview. I think when you're spending so little time in the interviewee (just a few seconds), that having something like a slider move can be a bit distracting. For longer information, educational, etc., types of videos, where the person is speaking for more than a minute or so and there's little or no b-roll to accompanying what they're saying, then having camera movement for their interview can, as you say, create visual interest to break the monotony.

Then there's also hand-held for interviews, which can work on quick cutaways as well. I tend to think handheld for interviews is better suited when you're trying to elicit more drama and ruggedness from the interview, such as someone telling a gut-wrenching story.
 
Very nice, as far as the movement comments I thought is was good. Sure would not have more! Good color and of course many would say sound is more important than image and the background music was not overpowering.
 
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