your opinion on this outdoor interview footage

FlintMI

FlintMI

Well-known member
Straight DVX100 footage, not A or B, no adapters, filters, matteboxes or any of that stuff (would be nice though).

We used a white flexfill reflector for fill to help offset the sun as key, and used an SM57 mic overhead (shoulda used a bigger windscreen, 15MPH winds that day).

People have described in the past that broad 12noon daylight is tough to work with, and dark complexions even tougher. This was the very first outdoors interview I ever shot. I had low expectations that this would come out OK.

You be the judge.

http://www.flinthistory.com/uncommonsense/hirez.funkilinium.mov

1. What could we or should we have done different to help setup the shot?
 
DCERVENKA said:
In GT's interview.. is that the shadow from the boom mic on his head?
Click to expand...


yeah that is the first thing i noticed, thought maybe it was part of his dreads or bandana but then the boom sounds pretty logical.

Also the colors are a bit bland to me. maybe its the compression but nothing really "pops". Next time maybe, (this is just my opinion) have him take off his glasses so you can see the persons eyes. I interview a lot of professional athletes who have to wear their sunglasses because they're sponsored by oakley, spy, hoven, arnette, etc etc etc and i hate that... so if theyre cool enough i tell them to take them off.
 
Thanks for sharing this. I have a lot of outdoor and indoor interviews coming up and I always like to see what others are doing. I think you did a good job, barring the mic shadow and fill reflector in the sunglasses. Always so many little things to watch for. I was most impressed with the quality of your sound. I'm surprised that a SM57 worked for you, that's a dynamic mic that is usually used to mic instruments or vocals at very close range.

Marlene
 
Well, you asked . . .

1. A 24" x 36" China silk or polysilk to soften the sun would've been nice.
2. Your fill needs to be hotter. Even foamcore would've done the trick if close enough to your subject.
3. Could you have rotated your shot a little to avoid the white wall?

Daylight exteriors are tough. You chose the right angle to seat your subject--he's looking toward his key (the sun). I almost never shoot interviews in direct sunlight. I carry some 24" x 36" silks and two ScrimJim sets in my NBC Suburban. FlexFills are okay in a pinch, but they require an experienced grip to point correctly. A piece of foamcore held with a C-stand, close to your subject can reflect quite a lot of light if hit directly with the sun.

It's also good that you apparently had a fairly wide aperture. Since we don't have matte boxes for our cameras at work, I'll just throw my shutter up to reduce my light level to allow me to open my lens aperture all the way open to shallow up my depth-of-field.

If I can offer one more piece of advice: when setting up your shot, always think, "background, background, background!" Look for the most complementary, least distracting, within-your-exposure-range background you can find. Oh, and if it looks pretty too, that's great. Try to find some color in the distant background (flowers are always good), so that when you throw your background elements out of focus, they create a nice color image as well.

If you have a lot exterior interviews lined up, I would strongly advise you invest in the 42" x 42" ScrimJim set with an assortment of silks. They're portable, collapsable, and they really do the trick. If that's too much money, then just buy a 24" x 36" Chinasilk and polysilk. Just beware, they're a bit small to cover a head and shoulders shot sometimes.

Check out the Westcott ScrimJim here:

http://www.fjwestcott.com/products/sj/kits.htm

You can order this product from any major photo supply outlet. Again, they're highly recommended for location interviews. You might also want to invest in a short C-stand with a short arm and use that to hold like a 3' x 3' piece of foamcore for your fill. You could also buy one of those cool Matthews foamcore "spikes" (part no. 209494) made especially to hold foamcore. Get the "Cantrell" holder, NOT the "foamcore" holder. The "foamcore" holder needs to be taped to the foamcore to work--an extra hassle.

Check out the Matthews "Cantrell" spike-type holder here (the one on the left):

http://msegrip.com/mse.php?show=products&cat=285

Or buy some of these more common "platypus" clamps (Matthews calls it a "Quaker" clamp) to hold the foamcore as shown here:

http://msegrip.com/mse.php?show=product&cat=276&products_ID=24111

One more thing . . .

If you can find an area of open shade WITH a background that is also ALL in shade, shoot it there, and don't worry about the silks. Just make sure to white balance under that shade, since shade can go very cool in color temp. Also, NEVER shoot under the shade of a tree. If ANY speckles of light come through the leaves, it'll just end up looking WEIRD as hell. Video just can't handle the contrast range. And another thing . . . observe how the sun is tracking. Remember, in just the few minutes that your interview consumes, you could have major sun issues as the light changes angle. Good luck!
 
thanks!

thanks!

Thanks for that feedback, I love it when people include links to products and services! This is what this forum is all about.

As far as the sunglasses, w/no Scrim they would have been squinting like mad. The reflector did not really do a good job as the fill and we used the silver side but the sun was just too powerful. But at least you can see the opposite side of his face and its not crushed black or otherwise totally unusable.

On a TV set it is much brighter and the fill comes in better. Yes, the shadow is from the close-mic'd SM57. Need to get a shotgun. But I love my SM57's. In quiet, indoor shooting they work really good. Outdoors you gotta get 'em close.

We'll try foamcore next time, and are trying to make a Scrim. There is a great DIY guide for scrim/butterfly

http://www.jorenclark.com/whitepapers/scrim.html


Final note for you legal beagles. The cops tried to shut down this shoot 1/2 way into it (I have footage) but since I had gone to the police station to obtain a permit, to which the Sgt. said "none necessary" I was covered.

I just played it cool with the officer when he grilled me (at least waited until the shoot was on a break) and I was very nice and respectful (but furious inside). Even though were in a public park and totally within the law, I volunteered to cut the session short and said we'd be done in an hour, and asked "would that be OK?"

All this niceness shocked him, I think. He perhaps then realized that I might be with VH1 or MTV or something and complain about not being able to shoot and was not going to be able to defend his actions. As you know, most of the stuff shot in Flint Michigan is tied to Michael Moore (technically that shouldn't matter anyway).

It appears to me that the officer quickly realized he was a bit overzealous and as he looked around at the entourage, he was likely violating our civil rights. He paused and then said "ya know, go ahead and take all the time you want." and quickly left the scene.

Thanks for the valuable feedback!
 
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