Nigel Davey
November 25th, 2016, 06:59 AM
This forum seems awfully quiet these days, so at the risk of posting a 'fluff' thread, I thought I'd start this one.
I'm assuming we all have a few little production secrets that allow us to get great shots on a shoe string or not by the normal conventions/equipment. So let's share a few of them here. I realise that once your genie is out of the bottle, every Tom,Dick and Harry videographer may start using it. But keep in mind few of us are competing in the same area/market and we're buried quite deep in a reasonably niche forum, so let's share a little and perhaps we'll gain more than we lose.
Here's a few of mine;
I use a cheap (US$150) Kamerar SD-1 slider to get great curved (advantage over sliders) crabbing/sliding shots. Thus I uses a bit of 2m x 1m smooth board that I perch on top of two standard DIY A-frames. I then offset/curve the wheels on the slider and use it as a dolly rather than a slider. What you'll get is shots like this between 23-33 secs in this video: Manor Farmhouse on Vimeo
For quick/run-of-the-mill interviews I've started using cheap ($50-150) Chinese Yongnuo soft panel lights(YN300 and YN900). The CRI colour index on them is pretty good and they are small and super easy to carry and quickly put up. I find them too harsh without diffuser, but since they have barn doors (many competitors don't) I clip scrim/spun onto those whereby these lights become very usable. Personally I've got x2 which operate at both Tungsten and daylight (but half capacity for each) and three at 100% daylight. I've found that's a good combo for most scenarios.
When I need to 'establish' a city in a video I always try and find the tallest building with public access and film from the top. Sometimes I'll have issues with security, so often I'll send a crew member ahead of me with the tripod and lenses, but no camera. I'll then have the camera in my bag further back in the queue. Most times we won't get busted since all the pro kit isn't in one bag and something like a DSLR doesn't appear pro. You'll see a couple of examples about 12 secs along in this video (I do realise the soft vignette is naff, I'm through that now!): JAPAN IN 30 SECS - www.ndavey.co.uk on Vimeo
So share away!
I'm assuming we all have a few little production secrets that allow us to get great shots on a shoe string or not by the normal conventions/equipment. So let's share a few of them here. I realise that once your genie is out of the bottle, every Tom,Dick and Harry videographer may start using it. But keep in mind few of us are competing in the same area/market and we're buried quite deep in a reasonably niche forum, so let's share a little and perhaps we'll gain more than we lose.
Here's a few of mine;
I use a cheap (US$150) Kamerar SD-1 slider to get great curved (advantage over sliders) crabbing/sliding shots. Thus I uses a bit of 2m x 1m smooth board that I perch on top of two standard DIY A-frames. I then offset/curve the wheels on the slider and use it as a dolly rather than a slider. What you'll get is shots like this between 23-33 secs in this video: Manor Farmhouse on Vimeo
For quick/run-of-the-mill interviews I've started using cheap ($50-150) Chinese Yongnuo soft panel lights(YN300 and YN900). The CRI colour index on them is pretty good and they are small and super easy to carry and quickly put up. I find them too harsh without diffuser, but since they have barn doors (many competitors don't) I clip scrim/spun onto those whereby these lights become very usable. Personally I've got x2 which operate at both Tungsten and daylight (but half capacity for each) and three at 100% daylight. I've found that's a good combo for most scenarios.
When I need to 'establish' a city in a video I always try and find the tallest building with public access and film from the top. Sometimes I'll have issues with security, so often I'll send a crew member ahead of me with the tripod and lenses, but no camera. I'll then have the camera in my bag further back in the queue. Most times we won't get busted since all the pro kit isn't in one bag and something like a DSLR doesn't appear pro. You'll see a couple of examples about 12 secs along in this video (I do realise the soft vignette is naff, I'm through that now!): JAPAN IN 30 SECS - www.ndavey.co.uk on Vimeo
So share away!