What camera lens should I get for this project of shooting animals close up?

[Brian Drysdale]

I used to record them outside at night, when there was less extraneous background sounds.

[Ryan Elder]

Okay thanks. Actually the client wants music over all the footage pretty much, so maybe a lot of the sound can be buried in the music to a degree therefore.

I know it's a freebie but I thought I would do it for my own experience, and maybe something of my own to put in my portfolio. We'll see how it turns out. Unless maybe I shouldn't be taking freebies...?

[Josh Bass]

I just mean make sure you're up to whatever it is they're expecting include the sound mix so you don't get yourself into troubles. I don't know how long the final product is supposed to be but you could spend eons messing with just the sound.

[Ryan Elder]

Yeah for sure, thanks :).

Next is some interviews with people standing in the forest talking about it. However, for interviews, what's a good lense choice for a wildlife documentary style, just for the MCU's of the people talking? I was thinking an 85mm but is that too compressed looking perhaps?

[Brian Drysdale]

A 85mm will be fine, as would a 50mm or other lenses, depending on how much background you want. This will depend on the location and personal taste.

This is an extremely basic question that wouldn't expect from someone proposing to direct a feature film.

[Paul R Johnson]

As you already have a zoom, which isn't quite long enough this is a very silly question. you're switching to primes? Why?

It's something you can't decide until you are there - as there could be a tree in your back and you need to use a wider lens and go closer, or go narrower and further away to alter what's in the background. Ryan - you know all this Brian is right here - we've gone back to ultra basics again. You really must develop the ability to think for yourself.

I assume you have the sound for a two shot in the forest covered? Short shotgun and furry cover, or will we be back to strange noises again?

PS This Youtube video sorts your sound effects for deer.

YouTube (Short URL)

[Ryan Elder]

Yeah you're right, I guess I'm just nervous about it, I will use the 85 most likely then. I could use the zoom for the entire thing, but is it bad to use two lenses for different shots in a production? What do you mean by 'two shot'?

Yeah I have a furry cover.

[Brian Drysdale]

A two shot usually refers to a shot that has the two participants in it, this can be any size, although commonly it's likely to to a mid shot or wider.

You can use two lenses, as long as they match in colour, contrast etc. That's why cine lenses usually come as a set.

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay cool. So in that video with the deer sound effects, are those just people doing the sounds with their voices?

[Brian Drysdale]

It's from a sound effects library, so unlikely to be someone doing the sounds. There are sound recordists who specialize in recording animal calls.

https://www.asoundeffect.com/african...fects-library/

Amazing! Bird Sounds From The Lyre Bird - David Attenborough - BBC Wildlife - YouTube

[Paul R Johnson]

The thing Ryan is that a perfect success, means you didn't know. Google Percy Edwards. For years animals, especially birds, in TV, radio and movie productions were him making them with his mouth. So many programmes had his impressions in them that they fooled the experts and he became a minor celebrity.

The important thing is that the sounds are realistic and supportive of the video. If you are making a world class documentary and fronting it with Sir David Attenborough, then having the lesser spotted deer in vision have the correct 'dialect' of grunt is perhaps more important than simply having a fallow deer's grunt from a pre-recorded track? Who would know in your production? I don't quite get why you don't just do it, and not mention these things. I get the impression you go to the producer and say "I can't get a lesser spotted deer grunt, so will it be OK to use a fallow deer?" and of course they will say no - being competent natural history experts. Show them a deer, any deer and have it make a noise.

I spent a week once creating the sound of a frog. An expert friend laughed his socks off. the huge noise I'd used on the huge frog was the sound a tiny little tree frog makes - he was the only one who noticed. everyone else heard what they expected to hear, and that's the real success - audiences not even noticing.

[Brian Drysdale]

Out of the world of wildlife documentary animal calls, sound effects are often not the real sound, but a composite of sounds or faked using various household objects and food.

[Ryan Elder]

Okay thanks. It's just the clients who want the video done, are animal experts it seems in their field and may not like it if it's not the real sounds, compared to the average person I thought, but I can try the library and see. Thanks :)

[Paul R Johnson]

Sadly, they're not expert at how difficult the job they've set is!

They've got a free/cut price job, so it's a bit of a cheek to expect something not remotely being paid for. I'd probably also be wondering how expert they are, because most wildlife 'experts' would know far more than they do about the issues surrounding wildlife video. Most 'experts' would be asking questions about this video - setting lists of what exactly is wanted, how long, time of day, what breeds, etc etc. the chances of going into the area on a Tuesday morning at 9.30am might mean you shoot nothing at all. What research have you done on the animals they want? Do they forage all day, at dawn, dusk, or night time. Is this season where they herd together, or will they be solitary older animals and groups of younger ones with females etc etc.

Do they always feed in the same place, so you could record real audio by hiding some mics? Could you even try some of the cheap wildlife recorders being sold? My sister has two in the wood next to her garden and every day gets some great shots of creatures!

[Ryan Elder]

Well they already have wildlife recorders out there, but they keep on being stolen they said, so I don't want that to happen to mine, if I were to get some. But I'm doing this as a freebie and don't want to buy anything that they don't give me the budget for.

As for studying the animals, they are supplying me with the information actually so far, so I'm going by that.

However, I am not satisfied with my lens so far, cause when I zoom in to 300mm the footage gets too soft perhaps. Not sure if they notice so far, but maybe there is a better DSLR that can fit on my camera that will be sharper at 300mm or more?