Steve Crow
Forum Replies Created
-
“I usually shoot at about 30fps and keep the shutter speed at 1/120.”
Okay so the rule you want to remember is that the shutter speed should be 2x the frame rate, so in your example you should set the shutter speed to 1/60.
Here’s my basic approach to getting a good overall exposure (I may bend those rules for artistic reasons from time to time but we’re talking overall basic exposure here) and I normally go for between 1 and 2 stops “underexposed” according to my camera’s exposure meter (there’s an old rule of thumb called “protect your highlights” that made a big impact on my thinking)
1. Set Shutter speed to 2x frame rate and keep it there – “set it and forget it”
2. Make a creative choice on F stop/aperture to get the depth of field I want
3. Neutral Density filter – I can reduce the overall exposure by up to 8 stops with the ND Fader Pro which gives me a lot of flexibility in
4. Exposure compensation dial
5. ISO, I try to keep this as low as I can but if I have to live with some noise in the frame so be it
6. Add or subtract lights in the scene – could also use a reflector or if the problem is too much light then look for ways to reduce the light in the environment
Shooting outdoors is often, for me, the hardest. I can’t tell you how many time I’ve struggled with blown out backgrounds because my desired shallow depth of field and ISO settings were allowing lots of light to hit the camera’s sensor – you are supposed to set up “silks” and other diffusing materials in those situations to try and cut down on the sun’s brightness but I don’t have those pieces of kit
Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com -
That Rode VideoMic isn’t going to be all that great for interviews – what it IS good for is giving you better in-camera sound and something that is easier to sync with. With that mic alone you’ll have to remain close to your subjects in order for the mic to pick up a relatively decent signal and that’s assuming you are conducting interviews in a quiet environment which I don’t think you can count on. Also, you won’t be able to monitor the sound quality while recording which is risky.
Search this forum for “dual audio” for a much preferred technique – great visuals with poor sound is not a good combination. Audio is a costly aspect of video production but makes a HUGE impact on the results.
Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com -
I wouldn’t be hesitant to use the F4 because the Canon has great low light performance and an awesome ISO range. That said, I always film on manual and so would not recommend auto ISO – you want to remain in complete control of the image. Sometimes I use auto functions just to see what the camera suggests and then I go back into Manual and adjust from there. Keeping shutter speed at 1/50 is the correct approach and actually it’s one less thing you have to worry about it – as the famous Ron Popeil infomercial said “Just set it and forget it!”
Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com -
Let me start off by saying I have NEVER filmed what you propose so these are all just ideas/notes, take what seems useful and disregard the rest! 🙂
I would take a different approach in order to make the odds of success much higher when you are challenged by essentially having to film everything yourself. Essentially I’d approach it as a music video/mini documentary….you are not trying to capture every second of every performance. Instead you might start off with an interview with the band shot in a nice location some days beforehand.
Then I would follow the band to the gig and film them loading in, doing audio checks, setting up gear, in the green room etc….this is all great B-roll to have. Get some interviews in too!
During the actual performance (and I would try to film more than one performance by the way) perhaps setting up the 1080p video camera on a tripod and getting a nice wide shot would be a good – the point is that you are going to walk away from that camera once it is rolling – so you will want to think about security and making sure the camera doesn’t get jostled or, worse, tipped over by an audience member.
Now I would use the DSLR to film all my beauty shots of the band performing …. maybe rent a slider if you can manage it. I suggest using a monopod so that you can more easily move around…maybe try even getting up on stage if possible. Remember wide, medium and closeups. Don’t forget to film the audience too!
After the show, do an interview with the band members, relaxing and talking about what they like best about performing – etc etc. They should still be pretty hyped up from their experience on stage.
Now in editing you have great material for a featurette – sound is going to be a whole other issue that will be very important and I suggest you spend a great deal of time figuring that out – for the performance you MIGHT be able to use the songs from their CD instead of the performance sound of them playing – I guess it depends upon how close the two are timing wise and if they improvise on stage, that won’t work well at all. See if you can get the venues sound guy to connect a digital audio recorder (yours) to their soundboard.
Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com -
Yep essentially what I do is I import the video clip with the audio captured by the camera into Final Cut, then in the timeline below I import the Zoom H4N audio. With the zoom track muted, I find a point in the camera audio where an “explosive” sound is made, like maybe the letter T, or the first word after a pause. I then place a marker at that point and mute the camera audio track.
Next I work on the Zoom H4N track by first unmuting it and then finding that same sound – often I will set a marker on that track too.
Now all I have to do is align the markers which will get me synced to within a couple frame. Finally I UNMUTE all the tracks so that I can hear them both played at the same time. When the audio is out of sync you will hear an echo – it’s usually pretty easy if you are zoomed all the way in to the Zoom audio track to know which way to move it in order to align the waveforms and get rid of that echo. Once the echo is gone, I unmute the Zoom audio track so that it is now the only one playing, I’m done!
Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com -
When using a dual audio setup you don’t necessarily have to slate your shots, I rarely do in fact. Today plugins like PluralEyes allow your NLE to sync the audio for you automatically, FCP X, I believe, has this functionality built in. Personally I sync the H4N quality audio manually during editing and it’s not that time consuming at all.
Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com -
Try these links and get back to us with specific questions:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Canon+T2i+low+light+test&aq=f&oq=Canon+T2i+low+light+test&aqs=chrome.0.57j0l3j62l2.8764&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#hl=en&tbo=d&sclient=psy-ab&q=Panasonic+GH2+hacked+low+light+test&oq=Panasonic+GH2+hacked+low+light+test&gs_l=serp.3…44321.55404.1.55804.23.22.1.0.0.4.244.2951.0j20j2.22.0.les%3B..0.0…1c.1.2.serp.aeTFSx3UoXo&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.41934586,d.aWc&fp=e1f9056ea2a790b0&biw=1461&bih=786
Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com -
I think you will be quite happy with that lens particularly given the budget issues which is just a fact of life. For interviews it should work out just great so I say go for it.
I believe that is a L series lens which is top of the line for Canon so it’s going to be beautiful to work with. I would ideally like to have a Tamron 24-70mm which can get down to the 2.8 f stop for even more beautiful shallow depth of field – however I’ve been thinking a lot recently that not having every lens actually forces me to be more creative in my framing and storytelling so limitations can actually be advantages if you use them to motivate you!
I just ordered this monopod today which would be fantastic for your trip too, if you can squeeze it into your budget:
Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com -
I’m going to take a different viewpoint and point out that exposing to the right of the histogram really risks blowing out your image and loosing data forever if you are not very careful. I’ve taken the opposite tact and let my images be a bit underexposed if anything. Details can be pulled out of shadows – and I would rather deal with fixing noise than having a white blown out areas of my video frame that cannot be recovered.
In video mode you are not dealing with a RAW format where so much can be fixed – that’s a luxury denied to us video shooters for the most part – so we have to be extra careful with making sure we have an image we can work with in post. When I was just starting out in the business I totally blew out important interview footage that couldn’t be recovered and I still cringe when I think about it today
Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com -
Hey Bill, cool clips, I like the way you used a slider to add motion to what would otherwise be a static, boring shot, very cool work!
Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com