Bill Davis
Forum Replies Created
-
What there IS is just fine.
What is MISSING is a bit of a problem.
For example.
I really enjoyed your opening. The crowd shots were interesting. But if I were to miss the first 10 seconds of the video I’d have NO context of any crowd as the rest of the video totally abandons crowd reaction in favor of the band. Watch great concert film and notice that they make the crowd a part of the experience. Your video largely fails to do any of that. Watching your video without the opening, I can’t tell if the band is playing in a dive bar, or a small auditorium. I also never saw how the CROWD was reacting to the band.
And some unanticipated switch problems also showed up. The singer starts, and the shot lingers on the guitarist for so that we have no idea who’s singing. Not a big deal. And it’s a defensible artistic choice if the singer would be surprising or somehow not what I expected. But he was EXACTLY what I expected. So the effect diminishes his “entrance” a bit by not allowing me to watch him get ready to sing and establish momentary curiosity as to what this particular dude will sound like.
The stage left wide shot of the band as “ducks in a row” shot was OK for one viewing, maybe 2. But I would have traded all the other cuts to that for the crowd stuff.
But the big no-no for me is that you showed me something VERY intersting- , the singers nearly spastic right leg “going to town” – but NEVER paid it off with a shot of the attached foot!!!
That’s a sin, dude.
First rule of great camera work: Gotta WATCH for the unusual and bring that stuff to your viewing public. They’ll LOVE you for it.
Overall nice job. But not world class.
-
If you have access to video editing, (e.g. Final Cut Pro) you can simply take any video clip with your sountrack, set it to play in reverse, then ramp the head and tail.
The resulting sound is EXACTLY what you’d expect from a tape deck transport.
YMMV.
-
It’s a VERY solid mic for what it does well.
It has very low self noise. It has a crisp and smooth frequency response. And great off-axis rejection for it’s class.
The 416 excels as an overhead boom mic when used by a knowledgeable boom operator – particularly outdoors where ceiling and/or wall reflections are less an issue than in an indoor setting. But that’s room size and sonic reflection dependent.
It’s generally too long to camera mount. It’s a poor interview choice, again unless it’s boom mounted because it’s handling noise characteristics are pretty mediocre.
In sum, it’s a solid, proven performer in the specific area where the designers intended it for use.
As a general purpose videographier, after I owned a solid dynamic interview mic. A few solid lav mics – both wired and wireless. And perhaps a quality PZM plate – something like this would be my next purchase.
And i’d move it solidly in front of the PZM if most of my actual work was recording dialog for movie making.
FWIW.
-
Bob’s got it exactly right.
This is short term corporate thinking and most of us who’ve been around for a while have seen it before.
Back in the early 1990s here in Phoenix, we used to have the corporate headquarters for Dial Soap. They bought a 20+ story building on Central Avenue. On one of the top floors they built a whole big, beautiful video studio. Top quality everything. They operated it for some months, then shut the whole thing down. For the next few years the thing sat vacant. Then they moved out to Scottsdale, and they literally THREW AWAY most of the big, expensive professional gear they had “invested” in for their fancy “in house” facility.
What companies didn’t get then, and STILL don’t get now, is that the equipment is always secondary to the people needed to run it. And people are EXPENSIVE. You have to pay the people every two weeks. Whether or not they’ve done anything productive for you in that time period.
After watching that, I’m NEVER worried about corporate clients taking their work “in house.” Because the economics of in-house video make no more sense today then they did back then.
It’s NOT “mission critical” spending for anyone other than a video producer. And anyone INSIDE a corporation who invests much in bringing work inside is really just training a few of their people to learn about production – without realizing that if those folks become GOOD – they immediately can LEAVE the company and earn more. Why? Because of the central reality that nobody ever talks about…
VIDEO PRODUCTION EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO DO REALLY WELL.
It requires painstaking attention to detail – while simultaneously keeping your eye on a BIG PICTURE. It requires dozens of “arts” such as writing, lighting, sound recording, and editing – that take a LONG time to learn to do competently. And if you do ANY of them incompetently – it drags down the work of everyone.
The other big truth is that in the corporate setting, video production can NEVER be anything other than an after-thought.
So to the OP. Take a deep breath. Help them to the extent they wish it. Charge what you feel fair. And be understanding when they come back after confronting the fact that there’s a WHOLE lot more to getting a good video program built than just pointing a camera at stuff.
FWIW.
-
Eric,
Look, just get the things you’ve really like to own when the company realizes they’re being incredibly stupid and eventually goes to sell everything off.
Because in about 18 months, the bosses will have changed their minds, realized that equipment doesn’t make video – trained people do. And also have come to the realization that trained people are *WAY* more EXPENSIVE to maintain than equipment.
Companies are VERY sensitive about labor costs – because unlike equipment you have to pay those costs, month after month, and as soon as the “ASSET” realizes it’s value, it’s GONE to start their own business.
Last time this all happened was back in the mid 1990s – this huge trend to invest capital into video production assets “in house” will mess things up for a year or so, then all the companies will be selling off the gear cheap.
(Last time here in Phoenix we had a major corporation that did the ENTIRE 23rd floor as a “video studio.” When they came to their senses 5 years later – they literally tossed everything they had purchased into DUMPSTERS.
Such is life.
-
Condoms are the same shape as most short and medium shotguns. They’re also stretchable enough to cover a small wireless bodypack or a similar receiver. I’ve even cut off the “resivoir tip” area and used it to protect LAV elements in heavy rains.
Additionally, they’re cheap – and available on location at virtually every drug store on the planet.
The thin latex membrane will attenuate signals somewhat – but NOT block all sound since the membrane will typically vibrate itself and pass along the sound adequately.
This is one area where purchasing the cheapest, crappy brands, in bulk, is ideal – especially for the look you get when you ask for them at the pharmacy counter.
Personally, I used to enjoy sending my teenage son in for replacements. And who knows, that silly little skill may some day save his life.
Is it a perfect solution? No. And you have to be careful – lubrication and/or talcum powdered versions will make a mess on any mic. Like anything you do with audio, I’d HIGHLY recommend you try it out in advance of your shoot.
But it’s a long tried and tested way to keep moisture out of long mic shaped things you need to keep dry – and in my book, practical utility trumps silly embarassments – or at least it should.
-
PLEASE DON”T NEGLECT THE SAFETY ASPECTS of using UV!
UV light can be extremely DISTRUCTIVE to eyesight.
Installing them in places like nightclubs where the service staff might be subject to them night after night can cause EXTREME health issues – even BLINDNESS.
So please, use UV sparingly.
Don’t just stick lights up… consult with qualified vision and/or medical professsionals prior to setting up and/or operating high-coverage UV sources.
This from someone who does a lot of volunteer work for reading services for the vision impaired.
Be careful.
FWIW.
-
RE: “They don’t call the writer of a play a play-writer, they call him or her a playwright, because the play isn’t written, its wrought. Forged. Beaten into a useful shape like red-hot black iron. That’s how I like to think of the script; as a tool or weapon made by hand, strong but with all the extraneous weight and bulk pared away and the working end honed to a razor edge.”
Dear Mark,
A – Bravo.
B- This is a superb example of why writers are writers and people who aren’t writers are not.
-
I’m also wondering why you feel the need to transmit and receive? Heck, with small CF recorders being so cheap and available, why not just rig the talent to a local small mono dictation recorder and tie off the recorder an/or the mic element in a condom or something similarly watertight?
That should be splash proof and also probably good for a short dunking.
The sound quality might not be pristine, but should be more than adequate if you’re stuck on a budget and can’t afford to use custom underwater housings everywhere.
The risk is that you lose the ability to monitor in real time. But that kind of system (+ IFB if you’re going to try to communicate to the talent what they need to repete/retake?) is going to cost you significant resources.
I’d start with a condom covered boom mic. And a simple wired lav again with “protection” and maybe that’s all you need.
YMMV.
-
Even if you decide to go “double system” and record your audio to a separate channel – make SURE you record a wild track on the 5dMkii’s card via it’s built in microphone. While it’s quality will be generally terrible, you CAN often use it – with or without other software – in order to make syncing your wild sound tracks to the double system tracks easier.
One of the truly great tools recently marketed to work with Final Cut Pro, for example, is Plural Eyes – which syncs soundtracks via their waveforms automatically. It can’t do it’s job if there’s not soundtrack – even if it’s a very poor one – available and locked to the visuals in order to provide the primary sound template.