C100: The Individual

F

Fists

Member
Hey guys,

I am currently starting a new short series on individuals that have a form of art leading the way they live. These are short portraits and I am looking to explore the field of documentary. Critique this piece, constructively of course, it will help me a lot as a filmmaker. Thank you in advance guys.

Technical stuff:
C100 with Canon 17-55 2.8, Zeiss zf.2 50 1.4 and 25mm 2.8
Shot internally avchd
 
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Good job! A cleaner sound would really make an impact though. Did you use an external mic at all or just the C100 handle-mics...?
 
Your composition is off for the interview. For the medium shot, with the rule of thirds he should be a bit more frame left. More importantly, you're look space (or lead room) is further off. For the medium shot he is looking frame left, into the edge of the frame (since he's already on the left side of the frame), when he should be looking frame right, into the empty space of the frame. It's jarring for him to be looking into the edge of the frame instead of the open part of the frame. This is even worse in the closeup. Position of the interviewer (where the interviewee looks) is just as important as position of the interviewee. The close up switches the side of the framing that he is on; when going from a medium to a closeup the side of the framing that the subject is on should remain the same. Also with the close up, you could probably tilt down a bit for that tight of a closeup, which would bring him closer to the rule of thirds and also avoid you cutting off his head at the top of the neck (unless if you were trying to imply beheading as a cultural reference ;)).

Rules like this can of course be broken, but only when one is aware of the rules and has a good purpose in breaking the rule, and I didn't see a good reason to do so in this case.
 
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I have to agree with Eric's critique. I really like the cinematography but the interview angles just feel off to my eye. That coupled with the bad sound really took away all the things that are really well done in this piece.
 
Thank you guys for the constructive criticism, it really is appreciated.Eric I must admit now once you pointed out the ''mistakes'' , it's all I can pay attention to now. But now at least I know what to look out for. As for the sound, well I used an ntg3 mounted on top of the camera, but it seems I wasn't able to filter the ventilation within the room and I was a few decibels off. All in all I am proud of this piece and for the next episode I know exactly what to look out for. Thanks again guys!
 
The problem with the sound is that the shotgun was mounted on the camera. You want it mounted on a boom pole really close (just out of the top frame) above the subject's mouth, pointing at the mouth (or pointing just in front of the mouth, where the mouth is projecting). You can use a light stand or some type of boom pole setup so you don't need to have an assistant holding the boom. If you have a lav mic it is recommended to use that as well, as shotguns, though they tend to be better sounding mics than lavs, are often reflective in indoor environments, so using a lav will give you both an option to choose from in post vs a shotgun, as well as a backup source of audio. In a reflective environment you could also consider a Small Diaphragm Condenser mic such as the Rode NT3 (not to be confused with the NTG3), but I've never used such types of mics so can't really add much more on the subject.

And if you use a lav, my recommendation is to keep it hidden from camera view. You may loose some slight quality by lowering it out of camera frame, or hiding it in the clothing (where you risk rubbing noise and a more smothered sound if you're not careful), but in my opinion a mic in the shot in a video is almost as bad as seeing a shotgun come into frame in a movie (which you hardly ever notice happen). Some disagree with this, though.
 
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Fists, you have every right to be proud and this is a perfect response from you.

With that attitude you will make pace very quickly get where you want to be. Have fun getting there mate!!
 
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