WWII interview - dvx/sgpro

pfista

pfista

Well-known member
Here's a little snippet from an interview I shot of my granddad telling stories about his time during WWII. I have around 3 tapes of footage that I still need to edit

click here

Unfortunately I only have the shot above and then one a little wider. I didn't really have time to keep changing shots back and forth. But it gets the job done I guess... just maybe a little boring.
 
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Good lookin quality! Was that shot in letter box and then put in a 16:9 frame or did you do something like a 2.35:1 matte over the video?
 
Oh man...are you kiddin' me???

What a freekin' GORGEOUS frame. I could watch an hour of that.

I think the shot is fine - usually docs will cut away to other clips of the person of the event and then come back to the same CU or Mid shot.

Regardless - that's really nice stuff.
 
it does look very good! he's perfectly positioned for the rule of thirds :)

what lens and aperture where you at? and the scene file?
 
image and composition look great!
-would be curious to know your scene file settings as well.
 
Beautiful!
Repeating Patrick, what focal length and aperture?
And how did you change between your two shots?

What do you intend to do with the project?
Where did your grandfather serve and does he have photos?

Thanks for sharing,
Chuck
 
Scene File
Detail: +2
V Detail: +2
Detail Coring: +2
Master ped: -3
Gamma: Cinelike D
Matrix: Normal
24p

Lenses
Canon FD 35mm f3.5 + 50mm f1.4
The shot I posted is with the 50 @ f2.8 I think. I tried to keep the lens close to 5.6 but there just wasn't enough light. The dvx's lens was either open or close to being open. I remember shooting at a lower shutter speed though to compensate a little bit.

@groveChuck
My parents have been wanting to interview him for a while... just to have something on tape, so they asked me to film it. And one of our friends is a history major and he came and asked him questions / guided him as he was talking. My parents mentioned something about submitting it to the library of congress as well but I haven't looked into that yet. He served in the 94th division company i and was a staff sergeant. I'm pretty sure my grandmother has a picture of him in uniform... but I would have to ask her about it. As far as changing between shots... I started with the 35mm for about 30 minutes then when there was a good stopping place I switched to the 50mm. So I really will only have one cut in the whole interview unless I add photos / maps while he is talking. I would have liked to do many different shots but I didn't want to keep interrupting him so often... we just let him tell his piece.

Thanks for all the comments!
 
This wonderful and you are lucky to be able to record your grandfathers stories. Trust me these will be more important to you the older you get.

I suggest you consider doing a more complete body of work about your grandfather and the things he has seen in his life. This would be the greatest treasure you could give him and your family. It will also allow you to work on a project that has real meaning.

Most of us have no idea what that generation gave up and went through to provide us with the country and freedoms many take fore granted.

Nice job !

Lee
 
Hmmm... this confirms some of my concerns about changing shots/framing during questions when using an adaptor, but i'm still tempted to get one...

Do you have any issues with the SG Pro?
A friend has been looking at the SG Blade.

Hope you can do something with the project, whether for family or perhaps more.

Thanks for all the info!
Good luck!

Chuck
 
The only issues I have had with the sgpro is the spinning gg showing up in some shots. Usually with the high shutter or when my lenses are stopped down too much. Also lately it seems like my stuff could be sharper... focusing seems harder to get it dead on/ really sharp. I just haven't found the sweet spot yet I guess.
 
LeeLove said:
This wonderful and you are lucky to be able to record your grandfathers stories. Trust me these will be more important to you the older you get.
I suggest you consider doing a more complete body of work about your grandfather and the things he has seen in his life. This would be the greatest treasure you could give him and your family. It will also allow you to work on a project that has real meaning.
Most of us have no idea what that generation gave up and went through to provide us with the country and freedoms many take fore granted.
Nice job !
Lee
Click to expand...
Great Advice!.
Don't worry too much about swapping lenses. The images look fantastic.
Just get that oral history recorded. Once he is gone, you only have second hand memory. We can't walk in their shoes but we can learn a lot from their experiences and gain a better understanding of what is required to remain a free society-- IF it is recorded.
Just go for it!.
 
Very professional looking. I don't own a 35MM adapter but from what I've read it can be difficult to focus. I was scrolling through the video and noticed one frame where the hand seemed to be in better focus. Perhaps it was focused in a bit near.
1242590940.jpg
 
best clip i've seen on here for a while, it's just too deep to be second to anything else.. good luck man..
 
Yeah commalot looks like you're right. Also the lines on his shirt are more in focus than his face. I need to look into getting an external monitor. Thanks for all the comments everyone! I'm going to see if I can get some other content like maps / pictures and cut those in to show what he is talking about, and have some other visuals or animations to help explain etc.

Also, has anyone put up anything over two hours online for streaming / download? I wouldn't know where to start for compression... most of the stuff I've done is always under 6 minutes.
 
My max has been the Youtube max of 10:59.
Does your interview run 2 hours?
Maybe break it into chapters by topic or chronologically?

Do you have any shots like CUs of his eyes or hands, him looking out a window?
Can you get stock footage of WWII, any public domain footage, library?
Local VFW post (Veterans of Foreign Wars) see if they have pictures?

Good luck getting the supporting elements... do a little Ken Burns thing?
 
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