Tiananmen Square remembered

Dan Chung · June 4th, 2009, 12:23 AM

My report on the 20th anniversary of the Tianamen Square massacre. All interviews bar one from the US was shot the 5dmkII with a radio mic and auto gain (my edirol recorder wasn't working at the time for sync sound)

Sorry its only in low res right now, HD will follow on Youtube later.

Tiananmen Square: briefly, anything seemed possible | World news | The Guardian

Dan

Josh Dahlberg · June 4th, 2009, 04:04 AM

Hi Dan,

Fantastic (and sobering) material. I guess you leave it 30p for the web?

Do you feel sometimes the DOF may be too tight in interview situations, giving backgrounds a kind of glazed look? I shoot a lot of head shots too and I almost wonder if it's worth closing the aperture down a little and giving the background more definition.

Josh

Wayne Avanson · June 4th, 2009, 04:56 AM

Hi Dan

Can you let us know when the hi def is available for download from Vimeo so I can have a look? Cheers

Avey

Yang Wen · June 4th, 2009, 07:40 AM

Dan: have you tried getting some interviews on the square?

Bob Thompson · June 4th, 2009, 08:45 AM

Nice job Dan, There were 150,000 people in Victoria Park, Hong Kong tonight remembering that day in June 1989

Peer Landa · June 4th, 2009, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan Chung

All interviews bar one from the US was shot the 5dmkII with a radio mic and auto gain

Dan, nice work -- I like the DOF during the interviews and especially the short snippet of the guard at Tiananmen Square towards the end.

However, the pumping noise-floor from the AGC during the interviews makes me cringe, and in the midst of it there are some VO commentary that are perfectly clean, (since I always use headphones, I certainly get it worse). As far as I could tell, next to the VO there was only one interview that had good sound, but that one didn't have the DOF (we could clearly see the books in the shelf behind him ;^)

Anyways, congratulation on a good job on an important event report.

-- peer

Soeren Mueller · June 4th, 2009, 02:16 PM

Dan, great work - as usual!

Care to share what lenses you used for most of the interview parts?

Marcus Marchesseault · June 4th, 2009, 02:45 PM

With control over the audio gain, this camera will be ready for almost anything.

I really liked this piece. I did not pay attention to the audio noise because the content is so good. A subtle thing I did notice was that the subtitles seemed to match the content of the speaking. Keeping the subtitles matched with the person's expressions really helps a different-language audience as it keeps the ideas in sync with the emotions. Great editing.

Dan Chung · June 4th, 2009, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peer Landa

Dan, nice work -- I like the DOF during the interviews and especially the short snippet of the guard at Tiananmen Square towards the end.

However, the pumping noise-floor from the AGC during the interviews makes me cringe, and in the midst of it there are some VO commentary that are perfectly clean, (since I always use headphones, I certainly get it worse). As far as I could tell, next to the VO there was only one interview that had good sound, but that one didn't have the DOF (we could clearly see the books in the shelf behind him ;^)

Anyways, congratulation on a good job on an important event report.

-- peer

Yes, sorry about that, won't happen again. I'll use the Beachtek DXA5D next time.

Soeren,
The lens for the interviews was a 85mm f1.4 Contax/Zeiss lens.

Dan Chung · June 4th, 2009, 05:58 PM

There is now a second video in the series here Video: Tiananmen: a night of despair | World news | guardian.co.uk

Yang Wen,
No interviews I'm afraid but here are my images from yesterday cut with archive footage from 20 year ago. Video: Tiananmen Square today | World news | guardian.co.uk This one was shot on a Panasonic LX-3.

Dan

Dan Chung · June 4th, 2009, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josh Dahlberg

Hi Dan,

Fantastic (and sobering) material. I guess you leave it 30p for the web?

Do you feel sometimes the DOF may be too tight in interview situations, giving backgrounds a kind of glazed look? I shoot a lot of head shots too and I almost wonder if it's worth closing the aperture down a little and giving the background more definition.

Josh

Yes its 30p, and yes I'd normally close down a bit more to around f4, it was just quite dark in most of the interviews and once I'd started in a certain look I didn't want to change it.

Dan

Bob Thompson · June 4th, 2009, 06:09 PM

Dan, When you have a chance could you outline your "post" workflow.

Thanks

Bob

William Chung · June 4th, 2009, 07:35 PM

Love your stuff as always Dan, Thanks for sharing with us.

Did you say LX3 as in the compact?

Xavier Plagaro · June 5th, 2009, 12:39 AM

Dan, you are the 22th century journalist!!! ;-D

I am baffled that people cares about lenses, adapters or tripods when watching your video-news. I would like to learn your narrative/visual skills, I don't care if you were f2.8 or f4.0!!!

Keep your good work!!!

Josh Dahlberg · June 5th, 2009, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xavier Plagaro

I am baffled that people cares about lenses, adapters or tripods when watching your video-news.

Hi Xavier,

I know what you're saying... like millions of people, I often see Dan's work for the Gaurdian online - in that context content is everything, and the kind of journalism Dan does is very affecting. This particular piece is of great personal interest to me for a variety of reasons (as I know it will be for others), but it seems to me DVinfo is not the place to go there.

Quite aside from being a first rate journalist, Dan clearly loves his gear and the technical art behind capturing those great images... perhaps part of the reason stories like this one are so absorbing (and emotions are captured so well) is that beyond content, Dan gets his lenses, adapters and tripods just right.

June 4th, 2009, 12:23 AM	#1
Dan Chung Major Player Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Beijing Posts: 665	Tiananmen Square remembered - 5dmkII interviews My report on the 20th anniversary of the Tianamen Square massacre. All interviews bar one from the US was shot the 5dmkII with a radio mic and auto gain (my edirol recorder wasn't working at the time for sync sound) Sorry its only in low res right now, HD will follow on Youtube later. Tiananmen Square: briefly, anything seemed possible \| World news \| The Guardian Dan

June 4th, 2009, 04:04 AM	#2
Josh Dahlberg Major Player Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Wellington, New Zealand Posts: 513	Hi Dan, Fantastic (and sobering) material. I guess you leave it 30p for the web? Do you feel sometimes the DOF may be too tight in interview situations, giving backgrounds a kind of glazed look? I shoot a lot of head shots too and I almost wonder if it's worth closing the aperture down a little and giving the background more definition. Josh

June 4th, 2009, 04:56 AM	#3
Wayne Avanson Major Player Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Lancashire UK Posts: 496	Hi Dan Can you let us know when the hi def is available for download from Vimeo so I can have a look? Cheers Avey

June 4th, 2009, 07:40 AM	#4
Yang Wen Major Player Join Date: May 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 991	Dan: have you tried getting some interviews on the square?

June 4th, 2009, 08:45 AM	#5
Bob Thompson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 340	Nice job Dan, There were 150,000 people in Victoria Park, Hong Kong tonight remembering that day in June 1989

June 4th, 2009, 02:16 PM	#7
Soeren Mueller Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Düsseldorf, Germany / Denver, CO Posts: 137	Dan, great work - as usual! Care to share what lenses you used for most of the interview parts?

June 4th, 2009, 02:45 PM	#8
Marcus Marchesseault Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 1,961	With control over the audio gain, this camera will be ready for almost anything. I really liked this piece. I did not pay attention to the audio noise because the content is so good. A subtle thing I did notice was that the subtitles seemed to match the content of the speaking. Keeping the subtitles matched with the person's expressions really helps a different-language audience as it keeps the ideas in sync with the emotions. Great editing.

June 4th, 2009, 05:58 PM	#10
Dan Chung Major Player Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Beijing Posts: 665	There is now a second video in the series here Video: Tiananmen: a night of despair \| World news \| guardian.co.uk Yang Wen, No interviews I'm afraid but here are my images from yesterday cut with archive footage from 20 year ago. Video: Tiananmen Square today \| World news \| guardian.co.uk This one was shot on a Panasonic LX-3. Dan

June 4th, 2009, 06:09 PM	#12
Bob Thompson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 340	Dan, When you have a chance could you outline your "post" workflow. Thanks Bob

June 4th, 2009, 07:35 PM	#13
William Chung Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Duluth, GA Posts: 80	Love your stuff as always Dan, Thanks for sharing with us. Did you say LX3 as in the compact?

June 5th, 2009, 12:39 AM	#14
Xavier Plagaro Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Rome, Italy Posts: 90	Dan, you are the 22th century journalist!!! ;-D I am baffled that people cares about lenses, adapters or tripods when watching your video-news. I would like to learn your narrative/visual skills, I don't care if you were f2.8 or f4.0!!! Keep your good work!!!