Marc Burleigh
December 20th, 2011, 03:20 PM
Every time we get a video challenge, it's a tussle between our imagination (the film we'd like to make if we had all the actors/props/cameras/crew we wanted) and pragmatism (making do with what we have and can reasonably execute). This one, Persian Carpets, demanded a lot more of the latter.
Persian Carpets on Vimeo
For the first time I find myself living in a place where running around with a camera is not just a challenge, it can be downright perilous (as more than a couple of tourists naively clicking away in public places have been forced to reflect on, from behind bars).
I knew that was the case before moving to Tehran, so most of my gear (a greenscreen, a Sachtler tripod, lights, some mikes, etc.) were put into storage elsewhere and I now have only the most basic set-up (a Sony HDR-SR12, a Canon 7D, a lightweight tripod, minimal mikes).
But the toughest hurdle is being able to pull out even that little kit. In any public place, arrest was a possibility. Even in a private area, it's too risky to put just anybody in front of the lens (as an Iranian actress who was nearly flogged for participating in an Australian film shot here could attest).
So, when this DVC/UWOL challenge rolled around, and I succumbed to the definite itch to produce something, the big problem for me was to work out what I could safely record. Luckily, a media trip came up to get a closer look at the Persian carpet industry here. It was a bonus all round: I could do the Challenge, get a story out of it -- and I ended up buying a beautiful carpet.
So, my choice of topic was really no choice at all. I had official permission, and the weekend after this Challenge was launched I was on a three-day bus trip with my basic kit. The carpet making process was interesting -- seeing how painstaking and long the whole effort is to make one carpet. I used to think them very expensive, but when you realise the amount of labour that goes into them, well, they really are works of art.
For a moment, I thought about doing a wider piece about Iran generally but quickly had to admit that there was no safe way of getting enough material to show the diversity. I did end up with a bit of footage shot on a pocket compact camera of this year's Ashura festival (days of spectacular parades and self-flagellation in honour of Shiite figures who died a millennium ago). That, I put at the front of my video, as if it were a segment from the previous week's episode of "Voyages".
My hosting duties in front of the camera was with the 7D on a locked off tripod, and I used the EOS Utility on my MBP to get the focus and exposure right. I recorded just after sunset, when the mountains behind me were still visible but not too bright. A lavalier mike under the t-shirt and I had to knock it over within two takes before the light disappeared.
The production on the carpet-making process and interviews were shot using both the Sony handycam and the 7D. Even though I had a few spare batteries for both, I ended up running through them pretty quickly without many opportunities to recharge. There may even be one or two shots there from a Lumix compact camera when one or the other ran out of juice. Audio from the interviews was either a handheld mike out of shot or a Zoom H4n on top of the 7D.
Anyway, that's the nuts and bolts of what I came up with. Fewer options than before, but I hope the piece comes across OK anyway.
Persian Carpets on Vimeo
For the first time I find myself living in a place where running around with a camera is not just a challenge, it can be downright perilous (as more than a couple of tourists naively clicking away in public places have been forced to reflect on, from behind bars).
I knew that was the case before moving to Tehran, so most of my gear (a greenscreen, a Sachtler tripod, lights, some mikes, etc.) were put into storage elsewhere and I now have only the most basic set-up (a Sony HDR-SR12, a Canon 7D, a lightweight tripod, minimal mikes).
But the toughest hurdle is being able to pull out even that little kit. In any public place, arrest was a possibility. Even in a private area, it's too risky to put just anybody in front of the lens (as an Iranian actress who was nearly flogged for participating in an Australian film shot here could attest).
So, when this DVC/UWOL challenge rolled around, and I succumbed to the definite itch to produce something, the big problem for me was to work out what I could safely record. Luckily, a media trip came up to get a closer look at the Persian carpet industry here. It was a bonus all round: I could do the Challenge, get a story out of it -- and I ended up buying a beautiful carpet.
So, my choice of topic was really no choice at all. I had official permission, and the weekend after this Challenge was launched I was on a three-day bus trip with my basic kit. The carpet making process was interesting -- seeing how painstaking and long the whole effort is to make one carpet. I used to think them very expensive, but when you realise the amount of labour that goes into them, well, they really are works of art.
For a moment, I thought about doing a wider piece about Iran generally but quickly had to admit that there was no safe way of getting enough material to show the diversity. I did end up with a bit of footage shot on a pocket compact camera of this year's Ashura festival (days of spectacular parades and self-flagellation in honour of Shiite figures who died a millennium ago). That, I put at the front of my video, as if it were a segment from the previous week's episode of "Voyages".
My hosting duties in front of the camera was with the 7D on a locked off tripod, and I used the EOS Utility on my MBP to get the focus and exposure right. I recorded just after sunset, when the mountains behind me were still visible but not too bright. A lavalier mike under the t-shirt and I had to knock it over within two takes before the light disappeared.
The production on the carpet-making process and interviews were shot using both the Sony handycam and the 7D. Even though I had a few spare batteries for both, I ended up running through them pretty quickly without many opportunities to recharge. There may even be one or two shots there from a Lumix compact camera when one or the other ran out of juice. Audio from the interviews was either a handheld mike out of shot or a Zoom H4n on top of the 7D.
Anyway, that's the nuts and bolts of what I came up with. Fewer options than before, but I hope the piece comes across OK anyway.