Peter Rummel
Forum Replies Created
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I would question why you would want a S35 camera such as the Canon C300 on a job like this. A 2/3″ ENG camera would have a lens that could easily shoot from the back of the room, especially with a doubler. Generally they’re f1.7, to boot. The advantages of the larger sensor don’t really come into play in a situation like this. My HDX900 has a new life now that I got an Atomos Shogun – solid state recording and it works as a fabulous studio finder. Perfect for a conference. A 400mm lens on a C300 might get you the reach you need, but it’s not a zoom so you can’t adjust the shot.
`Good comments on audio and a riser. I’ve used a Spider Pod, and they work really well. 2 if not 3 cameras would be nice. Even a GoPro at the back of the room or on a corner of the stage would add something.
And the inevitable powerpoint… I’m just going to assume there is one… If you can get away with a 2-shot (podium and screen) then you’re in luck. If you have to edit the slides in then there’s some complexity. And you can curse the fact that many powerpoint slides don’t convert to video very well.
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I would shoot in 4K (or, if you have access to a Red Dragon, 6K) and do the zoom in post. How much of a zoom do you require?
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Years and years ago, I was on a big remote shoot for an evening performance in the south part of town. The PBS station we worked for had a solid no-paying-for-food policy. We had everything set up and ready to go when we set out to get dinner.
We stopped at the first restaurant we came across, a small Japanese place a couple of miles up the road. A dozen of us trooped in and ordered. It must have been a shock to the kitchen, because when our dinner hour was up no food had been served. When we were finally served, ate, paid, and returned to the set we were almost 45 minutes late. It’s hard to believe this now, but this was in the days before cell phones. We returned to a frantic producer who had no idea why his entire crew had abandoned him.
So the station had a change of heart regarding food. The deal is they cover the meal, and the crew doesn’t leave the set. It only takes one person to be late returning from lunch to ruin the schedule. Provided meals is an industry standard for very good reasons – it’s efficient and eliminates unexpected delays in production.
I know some organizations take a dim view of buying meals for people. I think you need to explain that it’s not only a courtesy, and industry standard, but it’s important in making sure a tight schedule runs smoothly,. -
I’m interested in the F&V lights. Have you used yours yet? Any comments? How is the color rendition?
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It depends on what countries you’re going to. Not all are signatories to the carnet agreement. If memory serves, most Latin American countries don’t use carnets. On a shoot in Argentina years ago we had a letter from their tourism board, on letterhead, inviting us to shoot there. We talked our way through customs with that, although technically we should have been using a local company for short term import-export of the gear.
I’ve been doing European shoots for a company about once a year since 1999. The Producer there has tremendous experience in international travel. Last year was the first year they didn’t purchase a carnet. The producer reasoned they were expensive, a hassle, and MOST of the time the customs folks didn’t seem too thrilled to have to deal with them. He thinks that most of Europe is OK without a carnet.
And that’s the point – customs has a great deal of latitude in how they deal with you. Are they having a good day? Bad day? Maybe they’re busy and don’t want to deal with the carnet paperwork? Maybe they’ve just been given directions to crack down on TV crews? If I was producing, I’d have a carnet any time I was traveling to shoot in a signatory country. I just have a low tolerance for uncertainty.
As for getting back in to the US (if you don’t have a carnet), back in the day when I used to commonly have shoots in Canada I used a Certificate of Registration. This was a (free!) US customs form I filled out with all the gear info, then I had it stamped by US customs on my way out of the country. If there was any questions about the gear when returning I had paperwork showing that I hadn’t bought it overseas. On a quick google search I found this – https://forms.cbp.gov/pdf/CBP_Form_4455.pdf – which looks different than the old form but seems to do the same thing. I would suggest having a friendly chat with US customs to make sure this is the right form to use.
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Using a dimmer with practicals is quick, but I still get a hot spot – it’s just less bright. The spill from the top and bottom of the shade is reduced, too.
The trick I use in this situation is to wrap a small piece of black wrap half way around the bulb, on the side facing the camera. The light reflecting from the back side of the lampshade fills it with an even glow – no hot spot. -
An easy way to deal with the fluorescent green spike is to use an FL-B (or FL-D) filter on the lens, and then white balance normally. This really does a nice job in dealing with the problem. But if you have mixed light sources it doesn’t really work. And if you’re using lights yourself you have to use a plus-green filter on them.
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I’d like to just throw out a couple of thoughts here…
Does your state have a minimum wage law? Can you explain to an official why your this law does not apply to your assistant? Really?
Are you fully insured for an accident or injury on the job, and can explain to the injured/curious official/press/grieving widow why there is no worker’s comp insurance?
Now, I understand that a lot of people want to get “interns” to do their work for free. And it seems that it’s VERY common in our industry, because our work is so damn glamorous. But I think it’s taking advantage of people. You don’t claim to have an actual urge to teach – you have work that needs doing but don’t want to pay them. Is minimum wage really too much? I understand people wanting to get experience, and others wanting to call them “interns” and have them work for free, but if you’re getting value from them – and you wouldn’t want them on your shoot otherwise – they should be paid.
Real legal internships are offered by accredited schools, are regulated to prevent abuses, and, believe it or not, some are actually paid.
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The video cameras this lens was designed for has 3 CCD chips, while a DSLR has a single sensor. These chips on a video camera are all slightly different distances from the lens – so the lens focuses the colors at different planes. Using your video zoom on a DSLR would cause severe chromatic abberation. So the answer is no, you can’t use this lens with your DSLR.
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Shooting someone with a bright window as a background is always tough. Doing it with available light is just next to impossible. While I can conceive of some room configurations that might work for this, I wouldn’t rely on a room I had never seen to work out.
Light coming into the room, bouncing around on reflectors, and then illuminating your subject just isn’t going to be powerful enough. You’ll end up with a sillouette, or a totally blown out background. The traditional way to do this is to darken the background and then light your subject using daylight balanced sources. Gelling your background windows using a roll of ND (neutral density) gel is the most common way of darkening the background – this lets you use less light for your key, making it much more comfortable for your subject. HMIs are the lighting source of choice for these situations, because of their powerful output and daylight balance. Flos and LEDs can also be daylight balanced, but may not have enough pop to do the job.
A word about color balance – HMIs and other supposedly “daylight” balanced sources can be pretty close, but daylight itself can change color throughout the day, or when overcast, or when in shadow. Be prepared to adjust your sources accordingly.
A couple of ideas….
When I want to use the view outside a window as a background, instead of shooting it straight on I’ll shoot along the window with the 2 chairs facing each other next to the window. This way I’m using the window light as the key. This setup typically needs a little extra pop, so I’ll supplement it with a daylight balanced key on the window side.
And if you are shooting the window straight on, have you considered using a chroma key instead? Shooting the subject and background separately, you’ll be able to use an appropriate exposure for each.