Tips & Trade Secrets

I’m in two minds whether to share some of this stuff, and I’ve deliberated over it quite a bit, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it will be OK. Some of techniques and tips are quite invaluable and certainly helped me in my career and I hope they can help you. I just hope that you don’t nick any work from under my nose because of it!

What am I talking about? Well, it’s some of those tiptrade secrets that help you achieve results in difficult situations and especially when you are shooting by yourself. Some of them have been learned over time and some have been gleaned off a friend of mine who shoots a lot of stuff overseas in difficult situations. Another lone gunner. Some are just plain common sense.

So here goes. I’ve subdivided the tips into the various areas for some clarity.

Audio

Two radio mics and a special cable
You can record from 2 radio mic receivers mounted on the camera into one XLR input on the camera. I had a special cable made at Canford Audio which has two balanced 3.5mm jack plugs feeding into one balanced XLR. With a bit of careful gain balancing you can record the outputs from these two radio mic receivers. This is a great way of capturing either an interviewee and the translator/fixer on one channel and ambient on the camera mounted mic. Just make sure they don’t talk over each other. Alternatively, two actors and an assembled crowd. Just turn a receiver pack off to record just one person. Works really well despite the expert at Canford Audio insisting it wouldn’t. It helps to have both receivers the same make and model. [singlepic id=35 w=320 float=right]

I locate my first radio microphone receiver on the front of the lens hood with Velcro and the second receiver attached to the hand strap on the side. You can see the custom cable from Canford Audio here as well.

Camera mic
Choose a good camera mounted mic – Rode NTG1 is a good choice. I stick with the stock Z7 mic as it seems to be a good one. I’ve fitted a Rycote Mini Windjammer over the top and it seems to work just fine.

Lavalier on a magnet necklace
Take a look at this http://www.canford.co.uk/Products/53-636.aspx It’s a neat little gadget for hiding a radio mic under clothing. For interviewees that are wearing t-shirts and for a very quick placement of a mic, you can have a microphone fixed to this and the whole thing threaded onto a piece of cord. Just slip the whole lot over the subjects head, run the cable down the t-shirt and connect up to the transmitter. Just watch out for rubbing of the mic under the clothes.

Mic placement
I use radio mics for nearly all interviews and found that you need to get good at judging your subjects voice type and type of clothing they are wearing. Listen out for a big boomy voice (place the mic lower but facing upwards) or a powerful female voice (place the mic lower but upside down to avoid the ssss sound). This takes a bit of practice but you need to get good at it. Audio is more important than the picture! Try to keep the mic as central as possible so if the subject moves their head either way, you’ve got a good chance of getting the voice.

Auto gain
Sorry, I use auto gain on the Z7 all the time. I’ve spent a bit of time getting the outputs from the radio mic receivers about right, so this helps. Also the Z7 auto gain is very good and doesn’t seem to lift too much in the silent or low level gaps in the soundtrack.

Headphones
I use the Sennhesier PMX70 headphones http://www.sennheiser.co.uk/uk/icm.nsf/root/500504
They are light, stay on really well, have good isolation from outside sounds. I keep the radio mics on the right channel and the ambient on the left. Which brings me onto my next point.

Channels
Simple this. I record radio mic(s) on Channel 2 and leave the camera mic on Channel 1. This way, you know what’s what in the edit. Never deviate from this and you’re good to go.

Camera

Make/Model
Currently I’m using the Sony Z7 as my main camera and backed up by the A1 for awkward areas and to be fast and light. The Z7 isn’t up to standard for HD BBC broadcast. It’s also a bit iffy for SD BBC except if you can justify it. For example on a adventure programme or where you need to be discrete. Obs Docs for example.

Tape v Solid State
Call me ‘Old School’, but for the work I do, cheap £2.00 Mini DV tapes work just fine. You can carry hours of stock around in your pockets and I’ve never had a drop out on the Z7 or A1. They seem rock steady. Solid state sounds great, but on the move and over a long period of time and at £500 for a 16Gb SxS card, it all looks a tad expensive. There’s also the feeling that if you break a tape, at least you can get a specialist to try and repair it. With solid state, when it’s gone, it’s gone. All the way to Digital Heaven…

Weight
The Z7 is a bit on the heavy side. The way I hold the camera (see Grip below) means that all the weight is on my left arm. This makes long hand held takes a living hell. It improves over time, but I’d like a lighter camera. Using the A1 hand held is excellent and with my grip, you can keep it steady for a long time.

Format
There’s no doubt that HDV has it’s shortcomings. Whether it is the low data rate (25MBps) or the long GOP structure or the struggle to encode difficult images (moving water or grass). It’s still amazes me that the camera can record such stunning images onto a Mini DV tape. When you view the output via HDMI on a proper HD TV, there’s no denying that in bright light, the camera can produce stunning HD images. There is a trade off between portability and picture quality and as a cameraman I focus on getting the shots and worry less about ultimate picture quality, codecs and data rates.

Resolution
At the moment, I record everything in HDV and downconvert to SD when I ingest the footage. This produces some really nice images and the timeline in Final Cut is nice and zippy.

I have also converted the footage to ProRes on ingest as well. This works really well also, but consumes a lot of hard disk space. The advantage of this is if I’m intend to grade the footage heavily, then the ProRes (HQ) codec stands a lot more colour correction than HDV or DV.

Thirdly, I’ve also ingested and edited entirely in HDV. This is a little sluggish, but works well but when you deliver the sequence in SD there seems to be a little lack of fluidity in the image when you view it on an interlacing monitor. It looks rather like progressive footage. I can’t explain why this is, but it’s not entirely unpleasant!

Build Quality
Got to love that Sony build quality. I’ve never had a failure with Sony kit. I’m not saying I won’t have, but so far, so good. I think it’s worth the investment to get good quality equipment especially if you are traveling overseas away from technical support.

Lens
At the moment, I’m using the standard lens, which isn’t that big a deal because it’s actually quite a good lens. It’s fairly wide and fairly long. An investment in the Sony wide angle lens is probably on the cards though. Sometimes I need a slightly wider shot.

Iris
The way I hold the camera means that my thumb is used to control the focus, the zoom as well as the iris. I prefer to use manual exposure and the ND filters rather than rely on auto exposure.

Exposure (Zebra) and Histogram
[singlepic id=41 w=320 h=240 float=right] One of the great things about this camera is the Histogram. I use this constantly to check my exposure. As a rough guide I set my Zebras to 100% and allow about 10-20% maximum of the image to burn out. I would consider this to be my brightest exposure. I would prefer none of the image to burn out, but sometimes to have to let parts of it do this to get the midtones of the histogram in the correct place. I then check the shape of the histogram to make sure that the blacks are not too crushed or the highlights too blown out. It’s an invaluable help.

Spirit Level
Another cool gadget is the spirit level. It’s a neat tool that I also use constantly even when handholding the camera.

Auto focus v Manual focus
One of the things I’ve found about this camera is the auto focus struggles in low light. I try and remember to use manual focus for interviews and auto focus for run and gun stuff. Try to keep the aperture about f5.6 when using auto focus and keep the subject towards the middle, this should help. I also use the expanded focus gadget when checking focus for interviews.

Peaking
I’ve found the peaking sometimes gives slightly false readings. In a recent interview I was sure the focus was OK by just checking the peaking, but when I looked at the footage in the edit suite, it was out of focus. Not by very much, but enough to be noticeable. I was rushing and I didn’t use the expanded focus, so it’s partly my fault. But it’s enough to make you worry sometimes!

Grip

Now, the big one for me. A friend of mine introduced me to a technique he developed to hold his Sony A1. He’s moved onto a V1 and I’m on the Z7, but we’ve adopted a similar handhold on these cameras to the A1. Basically, I use my left hand to support the weight and the main body of the camera and the right hand it used at the back of the camera (aided by a karabina) to support it there. It’s vital that the right hand is mostly face down and the left hand face up. This produces a steadicam effect and you can lift the camera up and down smoothly. Your bones in your right arm are not crossed over and therefore you can translate up and down without tilting the camera up and down. It takes a bit of practice and long takes can be painful, but it adds a level of fluidity which makes your camera work appear much smoother. Sometimes I have to jam my left elbow into my side on the long takes to add extra support! Ouch!! I use my left hand to control the focus, zoom and iris and my right hand for the start stop button.

Tripod

Weight v Stability. For the work I do, it makes a lot of sense to get a really light tripod and a good smooth head. I’m currently using a Velbon Sherpa Pro carbon fibre affair with a Manfrotto 701 HDV head. You could spend more on a Gitzo tripod, but we’re credit crunching at the moment. It’s a trade off of stability versus weight of course and at the moment, weight wins.

Power

I currently use these Hawkwoods DV Link batteries and attach on the back of it one of these power adapters. There’s a picture of how it attaches to the right here. They are 7200mAh batteries and give me about 4-5hrs of recording or 7hrs of playback on a single battery. The adapter allows me to attach a camera light and power it using a standard D-Tap connector. Obviously, the battery life suffers if I use the light a lot, but I can still shoot for about 2-3hr with the light on. So they are really good. One thing I can’t do is attach the compact flash gadget to the back of the camera. For that, I use a generic 970L standard 6600mAh battery for this.

Charging
The Z7 comes with a dual charger, so I just put both batteries on if required at the end of the day. Try and get into the habit of charging when power is available. Sometimes the power can go off for hours or days at a time when you are overseas, so make use of it whilst it’s there.

Light

There’s many divided opinions about lighting but I just try and keep it simple and use the best of available light when it’s er, available. I have a camera light as well. I use the IDX X3 LED light. It’s dimmable (very useful) and comes with a little set of barn doors and filter holders. You can change the colour temperature of the light by using the filters to match the ambient light.

One thing you need to look out for with a camera light, is a syndrome where you blast a lot of light at your subject and expose it correctly, but in actual fact all you have done is to kill the available light. This leaves your subject looking like they are caught in the headlights of a car in a dark environment. Try and balance the two light sources for a better overall look. This often has to be at the expense of picture grain. Because you may well need to crank up the gain to get the balance right.

Bags and Cases

Currently I use three types of bags. As a day bag I use the excellent Portabrace CS-DV4U and for overseas work where I need to lug the gear around on and off aircraft and be able to walk some distances, then I use a Tamrac Expedition 7 rucksack. I can fit the Z7 and the A1 in here along with most of the essential stuff and a book to read on the aircraft. When I need to put the camera in a secure environment then I use my Peli case. Notably the Peli 1560. As with all Peli cases, the build quality is amazing and you can be sure you’re equipment is well protected. In 2007 I took some camera equipment on a expedition from the UK to Sierra Leone, overland, and I strapped two Peli cases to the front of the roof rack on a car I was driving. Both cases did their job amazingly and all the equipment arrived safe and sound despite being subject to rain, dust and vibration for hour after hour of punishing road conditions.

Clothing

You may well wonder why clothing is important to a good shoot. Well, it is and for very good reason. Generally I choose to wear outdoor pursuit clothing. Mostly Craghopper stuff, but all the main brands are excellent (North Face, Berghaus, RAB etc.). This is because the clothing is designed for activity and keeps you cool and warm as appropriate. Filming can be very active and holding the camera makes you sweat, even when it’s cold outside!

Additionally, this sort of clothing has plenty of pockets, is good for movement and wears well. Also, in some countries, it’s appropriate to not look too much like a tourist. So, keep your arms and legs covered up, wear a hat and keep the colours of the clothes earthy. This way, you can blend and reduce the amount of attention you get and therefore you can get more candid shots.

I tend to have a system with my pockets. So I know where my radio mic gear is (top left breast pocket), my itinerary and passport (right side cargo pocket), wallet (left side hand pocket) etc etc. This way, you can reach for your batteries, tapes, paperwork etc and have it all to hand. You look more organised and you can tell straight away if something is missing.

Ritual

Filming can be a dynamic and exciting activity, but a little ritual in there can help you out. Here’s a few I’ve adopted:

Tape labeling
Always, always label your tapes (storage cards). You can be in the middle of an interview and feel that it’s not appropriate, but do it! This can save you from the disaster of taping over an already shot tape. Not good.

Charging
At the end of the day or whenever you can get power, stick your batteries on charge. Don’t forget to charge your radio mic batteries as well. Get into the habit of doing this even when they are partially exhausted. Modern camera batteries generally don’t suffer from memory problems.

Ingest
If you can, then find time in your schedule to digitise or backup your footage. I do this at the end of the day. But keep your camera ready to shoot as something may well kick off at any moment, so you need to be ready to shoot at any time.

Logging
This is a luxury, but if you can find some down time to log your footage whilst still on the shoot, then it will save time later in the edit. Even if you are editing yourself, it’s good to review your footage to check for mistakes and narrative. Whilst you’re overseas it’s better to go and re-shoot while you can. It’s a long way to go back for a bodged interview later on.

Sleep
When the opportunity presents itself, sleep or rest. It’s nice to socialise, but sometimes it’s better to take yourself off and rest. You need to be ahead of the game and sleep deprivation will affect you in many ways.

Packing your bags
You always will take more than you need. Try and pare back your luggage to the absolute minimum. Approach it as if you are in a survival situation. “What do I really need to get the job done”. Being a lone gunner means that YOU will end up carrying your bags around and if you injure yourself, then it can make it very hard to get around.

Approach

One of the things that will get you hired again and again is your approach to the job. The client may well have hired you because of your reputation as well as your skills. You need to mould yourself to the expectations of the situation you are shooting in as well as become flexible so that you don’t become irritating and a nuisance.

Direction
You also need to demonstrate some leadership. The people you may be filming expect some direction from you. So be bold and tell them what you need to get your shots. If you are working with amateurs, then you must absolutely jump in and give some direction, but be courteous as well as firm. There will be an expectation that you will do this, so don’t disappoint!

Narrative
Pay attention to the unfolding narrative. If you are shooting to a rough script, then keep referring to this and even try to expand on the shots you are expected to get. If you are following an event or expedition, then you need to think very clearly about the shots you need. Don’t forget that talk is cheap. So just filming a series of interview and comments will not do. You need all the cutaways (B-Roll) you can get. Think about how you or the editor will edit the footage. Who will provide the narrative (voiceover or the people you are shooting, or both?).

Pace & Interviews
Your pace needs to be slow enough the make certain you have your shots, but fast enough to keep up with the schedule. Take your time with the sit down interviews. Tell the interviewee the sorts of comments and sound bites you are looking for. Explain the process of filming and editing so they can appreciate your needs. You need to listen to what they have said as well as reviewing your battery status, focus and composition. This way you will know if you have the shots and dramatic comments.

Stay ahead
Staying ahead of the game is important if you’re following an event or expedition. You need to be first out of bed and last into bed. Always keep your camera ready to shoot and by your side. Oh and never ever forget the establishing shot!

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