Technical questions for a shoot.

Chris Johnston

Chris Johnston

Veteran
I went to an audition where a few Ballet dancers were performing some routines for me so I could "previz" in my head how to shoot something I've never really shot before. In that process I came up with a few things that I didn't know for sure, and because of my shoot/edit schedual I really have very little time for testing. (mama don't play second fiddle to any camera on our weekends ;-) ....) So here's what I plan on doing with the equipment I have available and would ask for suggestions on anything I might be doing wrong.

The piece will be a very artsy thing including a lot of lens whacking. I will also be incorporating a lot of movement (following her around while she's dancing) I'm thinking of using the kit glass at 18mm 3.5 with oss in the "active" vs standard mode. Instead of steady cam (I don't currently have one but do have a Manfroto monopod?) I was thinking of mounting on sticks and then putting the sticks on a 3 legged cam dolly from the studio. (the entire thing will be shot on a flat, level hardwood dance floor. (much like a gym/basketball floor)

I want to acquire in 60 fps for a 24 fps output on the fs100, 24 fps on the dslr. So I can get some slo mo out of the fs100 on the shots when I want to, and just conform the rest that I don't want slo mo to 24.

So....
What's the best way to shot 60fps for a 24 timeline? Should I set it in the menu to rec at 60 fps or use the S n Q mode? (Is there a difference?)
What is the diff in oss "active" or "standard" the manual just says "steadyshot in a more heavy mode" or some other really non discript wording.
Anyone have any suggestions to better this? or see anything wrong with my logic/ process?

I have a lot of fast nikons and some decent a mount glass but thought the OSS on the kit would be right for this because of all the movement.
(not to mention, I won't be able to open up the nikons on anything much because focus would probably be all over the place...)
 
Can't comment on the camera - alien things to me - but if you have access to the dolly, then I'd definitely use it. Lovely flowing shots. For ballet - it can also look good if you can arrange some side lighting, from waist height or a little lower. It reveals form when limbs are extended out, and works especially well when rotation of the torso moves the arms or legs through the beams. Depending on the clothing - some darker colours can work really well. I'd assume that with the definition of the camera and the higher shutter speed it will look pretty good. In theatre where I work mostly - we never do ballet without side light - and LOTS of it. If you want arty stuff, then also consider maybe a single strong back light if you can rig such a thing - this reveals the form, but shrouds the facing side in darkness - silhouette-ish - but you get a touch of shoulder and top head light.
 
The standard removes mainly micro jitter (like from a car) - the active mode gives you a floating look, almost like a steadycam - perfect for what you plan.
But you need to practice a bit, to get a feel for it.
Don´t push the camera against your body, hold it like a full glass of water and try not to spill.

The auto focus can work surprisingly good in such a situation, but you need to give it some time to "lock in" - try to keep the dancer in the middle of the screen and it holds pretty fine.

If you have a dolly, that would give you a better looking shot, but probably less of, what people call artsy.

Just throw your 60p material in a timeline and conform it as 24p - done.

Good luck, Frank
 
I am doing something similar.....well, sort of similar. I am doing a promo for a local dance studio. I have finished production and am now in the post-production
phase. I shot some interviews with dancers with fast primes and then went to 2 different practice days for a couple hours at their studio, and then 2 different
actual performances on stage. I did a lot of things similar to what you are talking about. I used 'active' steady shot on a lot of things, and I have to say,
the kit lens is worth buying for this feature alone! If you are careful, you can really makes some nice moving stuff with it, with a touch of a smoothcam type
filter in post, it can pass as a steadicam shot almost. Also, you can grab a good wide, then push in to just the feet in a snap. I shot mostly in 1080 60p
in camera so that I could use the audio for nats. Then I conform it in Cinema Tools to 24p, drop it in a 24p timeline, and speed it up to 250%. Then, when I
want something in slow mo, I just speedchange that clip to 100%......instant 'Varicam' like speed ramping....have the dancer running across stage at normal speed,
she leaps into the air.....and time slows down. I did some S&Q shooting as well, just as a test to see if I could tell the difference between it and the 60P in
camera stuff. It may look a little better at S&Q, but if you think you might want audio, I'd shoot in 60P in camera. Anyways, I have to say, I think the FS-100
is the BEST camera currently available to shot dance stuff in the under 10k price range. You've got buttery slo mo, great in low light/theatre settings, great
OSS for following with the kit lens, fast primes for interviews, it really will give you some nice stuff. Once the FS700 comes out, it will overtake the FS100
as I bet the 240 stuff for dance will look just amazing. But I know I am very happy with the images I was able to get with the FS100 on this project.
 
frank and gabe-

very helpful posts.

thank you.

chris-

good luck to you.

be well.

rob
smalltalk productions
nyc
 
Thanks for the advise guys. Virtually everything I shoot is 30p for tv so I've had little experience shooting anything "artsy". This is just a fun, no pay thing, but I'm more nervous about this shoot than anything I've shot in quite a while. (no idea why...)
 
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