New Episode Posted...More to Come

[K. Forman]

Since you folks aren't doing this live, if you see something out of place- like the Host blocking the pretty girls- couldn't you just let him know he's in the way, and redo the take?

[Paolo Ciccone]

Originally Posted by Keith Forman

Since you folks aren't doing this live, if you see something out of place- like the Host blocking the pretty girls- couldn't you just let him know he's in the way, and redo the take?

We actually shoot "2nd Unit" "reality show" style. Also, since we pay for most of it, we get out guests for free and we have to follow their schedule. Sometimes, between lighting, sound check and other technical needs, we have barely the time to shoot the episode before the guest has to go. That's why we use 3 cameras, we take as much coverage as possible. Episode 6 was unusual as we decided to have a "wild" camera. As it turns out, because the way people react to somebody pointing the camera at them, the shoulder-mounted HD100 became the main camera, even though it was not meant to be.
It's been a lesson in learning how to do this kind of shots and we will keep in mind your observations for the next time.
Myself, I would just shoot the girls without Jonathan at all. There you go, next time we are gonna have a voiceover ;)

[K. Forman]

"Myself, I would just shoot the girls without Jonathan at all. There you go, next time we are gonna have a voiceover ;)"

I also thought Jonathon and his cup-o-coffee were really not necessary, but it is his show. I guess it's ok for him to pop on whenever he wants ;)

[Chris Forbes]

Originally Posted by Keith Forman

"Myself, I would just shoot the girls without Jonathan at all. There you go, next time we are gonna have a voiceover ;)"

I also thought Jonathon and his cup-o-coffee were really not necessary, but it is his show. I guess it's ok for him to pop on whenever he wants ;)

Visually that might have worked better. But I think Jonathan was there to keep Isabella on track, and believe me I've meet Isabella and, she needs a little prompting to stay on track. Also he helped to pull out the points that he thought needed to get covered.

[K. Forman]

I sort of noticed that she was a little vague at points.

[John Kang]

Originally Posted by Keith Forman

I sort of noticed that she was a little vague at points.

So what are you getting at? :)

Just saw the clip. I thought the camera shake distracted me, no matter what the ladies looked like.

I did like the lighting. Must have been George's influence.

Paolo, next idea for shooting freehand. How about an interview with some cameraman for a news stations? Those sholder engs are pretty steady, even on a run and gun style...Something I definately need to work at. My steady shots are the worst freehand.

[K. Forman]

Originally Posted by John Kang

So what are you getting at? :)

Paolo, next idea for shooting freehand. How about an interview with some cameraman for a news stations? Those sholder engs are pretty steady, even on a run and gun style...Something I definately need to work at. My steady shots are the worst freehand.

And my shoulder shot footage looks like the weather channel during a hurricane.

[Paolo Ciccone]

Originally Posted by John Kang

Paolo, next idea for shooting freehand. How about an interview with some cameraman for a news stations? Those sholder engs are pretty steady, even on a run and gun style

OK, there are a couple of considerations about this. Lots of run-and-gun people shoot with the lens zoomed out , this is considerably less shaky than when zooming in. The shaky part of the footage that you see is when I was zooming in to avoid being in the frame of the other cameras. ENG people also employ stabilazers. These are pretty expensive devices that use a gyroscope in order to keep the camera level. They work wonders but we didn't have them available. I apologize for the shake but, as you can see, we trimmed the episode at 18 minutes and if I had to remove the shaky part it would leave us without much. We learned a lesson and we will avoid this kind of issues in the future. After 1 hour of holding the camera on my shoulder my back was hurting quite a bit and that added more shake.
BTW, I just read and article about the inematographer for "Lady in the water", he uses a "Buddah bag", bascally a bean bag strapped to his chest. This is used to rest the elbows and stabilize the camera for shoulder mounted shots. Simple, ingenious and cheap. Gotta get one of those.

[Jeff Sayre]

Paolo:

Many of the new hit TV shows seem to go out of the way to make sure viewers see the camera movement thinking that it adds to the drama and makes the situation more "real." If it works for them, then it works for you!

I saw the shake and was not bothered by it at all. It added to the music-video style aspects of the production.

So, don't worry about. The technique of camera shake can be used effectively and on purpose.

[Paolo Ciccone]

Thank you Jeff.

Yes, that's how I saw it too, the cuts in the video are short enough to not be an issue, IMHO. But, of course, I like to hear the different points of view. The good thing about the cameraman and the editor is that I can remove the stuff that I don't like. If it's in the video then I thought it worked. That of course is subjective and what works for me can annoy you but such is any artistic choice :).

Thanks again.

[Jonathan Ames]

Boy, I leave for a couple of days and people are getting sticks and poking me off my own show!!! ;-) OK, off I go. No, wait, I decided to stay. Actually, we think,,,or hope, it's working out OK. I really was there only to prompt Isabella (thanks Chris), The rest of the time, I want Jaime and, when she's ready, Isabella in there. Jaime's doing a great job which was never planned; he just sort of fell into it. But that's because he's been in the business so long. There are just some things I see as a producer and a director that I want in there and other times I'm pinch-hitting, like with the makeup episode. Don't forget, we all have regular jobs that put food on the table.

[K. Forman]

We understand pinch hitting... blocking the pretty girls from the camera is a no-no though. Baaaaad Jonathan! Take your coffee and go to the corner ;)

[Jeff Sayre]

Speaking of camera shake and framing ... perhaps every time Jonathan is shown, the camera should be at a skewed angle like the technique the classic Batman TV shows used each time they showed the bad guys ;)

[Patricia Lamm]

I just get "Page Not Found" when trying to access this particular episode. The page that's being requested is:

http://www.2nd-unit.tv/archives/episode6.html

[Steven Gotz]

So did I - so I cheated. I looked at the source code for the page episode 5 is on then went to the correct directory and grabbed it from there.