Chuck Pullen
Forum Replies Created
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I would second the JVC’s. I use the 250’s with firestores for isos. They produce a great live picture that gets recorded on a KiPro after going through a Panasonic 400. The Firestores can run for hours as opposed to P2 you need to stop down frequently to swap them.
Chuck
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Thanks Richard, I truly appreciate your response. I am balancing a situation where due to time constraints as well as staffing limitations, I will not be able to direct my upcoming concert as you have described, but I do have enough time to work a few preplanned shots during rehearsal. Since my time with the operators is limited, my plan was to create a series of movements for each camera and assign them a letter.
i.e. Bravo would be a left to right pan of the Orchestra
“Camera 1 give me a Bravo” or “Give me a Bravo of the strings”
We should have enough time during rehearsal to work that out, but I also like giving my operators more freedom and take their shots as I see fit.
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Richard, can you go a little more in depth about the shot sheets? I know in sports the operators get a rundown of the stories the producers want to follow as well as a “cheat sheet” with the players faces, numbers, and anything they should be looking for. How does this work in music, and how much information does each camera operator get, and how do they manage it? (a sheet of paper taped to the camera?)
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Hey Sam, I actually wanted to start a similar post as I am producing a live concert next week, and I am really stuck as to camera placement. The problem is that this is being shot in a “Theater in the round” type place, with a 20 foot by 20 foot stage in the center and the audience on all four sides. The room has no “front” and other than having to position the piano and other musicians slightly off to one side because the piano cannot go on top of a trap door, the sides of the room are identical.
I want to use one 24′ jib in one corner, one camera on a dolly track on the opposite side of the stage, one hard camera on a “Catwalk” box seating area above the seating area, and maybe one more hard camera off stage, as well as one handheld camera. No obviously I am going to be trampling all over the “180 degree” rule, so at this point my goal is just to reduce the instances of other cameras appearing as much as possible. It’s a small room, and being shot in HD so seeing the other cameras will be painfully obvious.
Any advice on this production we be greatly appreciated.
As for your situation Sam, I would say that COMMUNICATION IS KEY. Do whatever you can to get even the most basic of radio communication established with your crew. You need to go over framing in your meetings to make sure that one camera is never being waster be matching another’s shot. The other tip I have is to tell your handheld operators to pretend they are taking a picture, and that they should frame up a shot, hold for fifteen to thirty seconds, then switch. Other then that without communications, its always going to be hit or miss unless you go over all of the songs in advance and make sure everyone knows about solos and how the starts start and finish.
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We’re taking delievery of a Nexio next week, so please be sure to share if you find the answer, as this has been on my mind as well.
Chuck
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Check out mobilestudios.com Since you already have the equipment, try and find a local custom rack company to make you something similar to their racks customized to your unique specs. I just finished a flypack using based on their 400-AN design and it works great!
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Hi Richard, it seems that you are right about these artists using Acrylic paints, and since they are “finger painting” I am assuming it will go on thick. Backlighting may be out, and may have to stick to overheads as mentioned before.
If this wasn’t a one time shot, I really would have liked trying the “shadow box” idea you’re suggesting, but that would involve investing in about ten battery powered led lights and building custom frames since the canvases need to be moved. It would be great to start a new “phenomenon” in filming painters, but at this point with the lighting available and my budget I will be happy just getting them all lit well enough for HD!
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Just an FYI from a long time master control operator. If you can, try and follow Joey’s formula if your deck supports frame accurate print-to-tape. Don’t try and free roll it if you can’t. There’s nothing worse than a tape that starts at 1:00.03 or worse 00:59.00.28. Also what Mark said is also important. Don’t bother putting bars and tone on a tape unless they are directly related to the video/audio levels. If the operator sees bars and tone, they are going to set it up to it, and if your audio levels or balance doesn’t match that, they will most certainly curse you under their breath 🙂 With most ingest systems you can either cue to the first frame of video or manually enter the timecode. If they see your bars/tone at 58:30 they will probably assume you know what you are doing, and manually enter an in-point of 1:00:00.00 so your video sure better start then. And also, whatever you do, make sure the spot is exactly :30. If it’s :34 it will get rejected, and if its :30.15 they’ll just cut it off.
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Just throwing out a quick and dirty solution from my past. If you literally only need this thing a couple of times a year, I suggest using a synchronizing punch switcher (Markertek & B&H have them) and say a security camera style 4×1 box to monitor all of the sources on one screen. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s cheap and a great cuts only option for an IMAG.
Chuck
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Wow Dennis, I couldn’t have asked for a better answer! Thanks everyone for your insight I can’t wait to send a copy of your posts to the lighting people to see if we can pull this off. According to a couple of sites, Blue Man group uses Tempera paint in the drums which as Dennis mentioned mixing in some fluorescent paint and the proper backlighting should achieve the look I’m going for.
Chuck