Frame Rate

In my previous post I mentioned that I recently had the opportunity to work as a consultant with a new client, teaching her the basics of the video production process. Training others in my profession is fairly new to me, and this was the first time I had done it in a formal setting. In retrospect I think everything went very well. Allow me to run down a few of the things I learned. The lessons gained might help you with similar projects, or with client relations in general.

1. BE PREPARED - Two days before my client was to arrive I sat down with a co-worker and we went over all the things we needed to cover in our two day session. Not only did we discuss the important topics, but we also discussed how we would apply the technical skills to the practicality of producing a video. This is a lot better than waiting until the client shows up and saying something like, “Um… let’s see… where would you like to start?”
2. PROVIDE AN OUTLINE - Much like a syllabus from Algebra 101, the outline will allow the client to know exactly what will be covered and will give him or her space to take notes when necessary.
3. KEEP THINGS FLUID - My client came in with certain expectations and a certain knowledge before we even got started. There may be things your client already understands. Give them the opportunity to tell you what they’re looking for. This may take you off topic a little, but don’t worry. Listen to their thoughts and questions. Address them if a simple answer is required. If more groundwork needs to be laid first, then gradually come back to your outline and lay the foundation.
4. ALLOW THE CONCEPTS TO SINK IN - This is where I made one of my mistakes. While discussing the topic “Depth of Field” I moved too quickly into the next subject before giving my client time to absorb the information. Plus, I had neglected to let her handle the camera herself. Don’t move too quickly. Give the client time to go over the material another time if need be. And definitely let him or her get their hands dirty by using the equipment.
5. DON’T JUST TELL, DEMONSTRATE - It’s one thing to listen to someone talk about working with cameras, lighting, or grip equipment. It’s another thing entirely to listen as you watch them work with that equipment. If you find yourself training someone in any skill, whether it be cinematography, drawing, painting, photography, sculpting, etc. show your client by demonstrating techniques yourself. This is where it may be helpful to have an assistant with you. My co-worker and I worked in tandem during our two-day training sessions - I would instruct while he demonstrated. I would instruct while he set up equipment for the next lesson. Or he would instruct while I sat in during a lighting demonstration.

When we concluded, I felt that the training was a success, but did feel that we fell short in certain areas. However, the main goal here is to give your client, student, etc. the information he/she needs to go out and start developing his/her own craft.

One of the things I’ve learned when shooting on-camera interviews is that you have to pay close attention to your background and how you frame up your shot. Otherwise the image may not look level.

In most interview situations, you aren’t going to arrange your shot where you are looking at the background straight on. This will make the image flat and uninteresting. You want to create depth by offsetting the camera slightly, allowing the background to recede into the frame.

However, if your background contains a lot of straight lines, like window blinds, door frames, window sills, or bookshelves, your image may look like it’s on a slant although your tripod head is perfectly level. This is simply an optical illusion caused by the placement of the camera in relation to the background. So what can be done about it? The first choice would be to select a location with a different background. However, I understand that this can’t always be done. Sometimes you have to use what you’ve been given. If you can’t change your location…

• Always make sure your subject is level first. Trying to compensate for the background by tilting the tripod head will usually make things worse, because then your subject will look slanted.
• Create more space between the subject and the background. Then zoom in to your subject. Open up your aperture as much as possible. This will throw the background out of focus and will blur the angles in the background.
• Frame out those unwanted straight lines as best as you can. If you can’t, try to find a plant, some books, anything to hide them.
• Try adjusting the angle of the camera in relation to the subject and the background. Creating a steeper angle will force the straight lines to recede more into the background.

As always, some trial and error will occur here as you explore different possibilities. Unfortunately, locations can’t be perfect 100% of the time, but sometimes a slight angle in the background is acceptable. The human eye can make the adjustment if the subject is level and framed appropriately.

This year’s Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival is rapidly approaching. If you’ve never had the opportunity to attend, I would highly encourage you to do so. The caliber of submissions gets higher every single year, and this year marks Sidewalk’s 10th anniversary (so you know there’s going to be some special stuff).

As always, Sidewalk will soon be airing promotional commercials to garner interest in the festival. What’s special about the promo this year is the fact that I had the opportunity to work on the shoot as Director of Photography. Filament Artists produced. The 30-second spot was filmed with Alabama talent and Alabama crew, right here in Birmingham. Hopefully it will further highlight the talented filmmakers and the growing film production market here in our community.

We shot the commercial with the Panasonic HVX-200 in DVCPro50 format at 24fps. To read more of my insights into this particular camera, check out two previous posts, “First Impressions” and “Some Considerations.” I won’t give away anything about the commercial’s concept. You will just have to wait until it airs. There’s a possibility that the spot will also screen before each film in each venue during the festival. But ultimately that’s a call left up to the good folks in the Sidewalk office. Until then, look for the commercial on WBRC Fox6  and Bright House cable.

I came across this juicy little website yesterday — FreshDV. If you work in DV, HDV, HD (anything video) either as a professional or a hobbyist, you will love this site. It has an RSS feed, so you can subscribe to their blog. They have tutorials on topics like calibrating a light meter, working with Adobe Production Studio, and how to find financing and distribution for your film projects. They also have reviews on the latest gear, videos from conferences like NAB, and a podcast. I’ve already started listening to one of their recent discussions on the Sony EX1. This is a great site with a wealth of information. If you’re in to video, you need to check it out.

Every DP (Director of Photography) needs a good camera package at his disposal, but assembling one usually takes a lot of time and a lot of money. For smaller production houses with less capital, getting the camera package together usually means getting it a la carte. Yesterday a friend of mine from Filament Artists turned me on to Zacuto - a one-stop-shop for camera package sales and rentals. They bundle some of your favorite prosumer gear (HD and SD) with specific accessories to fit your shooting needs. You can rent, purchase, or rent-to-own. A quick glance at their website will show you that these guys rent and sell some serious gear. And they recognize and cater to the various needs of the cinematographer.

I finally got a first-hand look at the Red One this past Tuesday night. Some guys from Dead Workers Party came down from Huntsville, bringing with them their latest aquisition - the Red camera. As of this writing, the camera is technically still in beta testing, but will soon go into full production. They guys from Dead Workers Party spoke briefly about the camera, technical specs, workflow, and issues they’ve encountered thus far.

The Red One represents the latest in digital video technology and an advancement in video resolution. The gap between film and video just got a lot smaller and already filmmakers are flocking to this camera because of its extreme versatility, and incredible image reproduction. The Red One has been the center of much hype over the past several months and industry professionals are lining up to get their hands on this thing. In fact, if you want to purchase one, the waiting list is now several months long.

The Red is basically a camera body, allowing users to build their own camera package, much like a film camera. It runs off of a computer hard drive, so it behaves in much the same way. You have to boot it up when you want to use it, and everything is stored in a 320GB hard drive (which stores about 2 hours worth of footage). You can also shoot to copmact flash cards, although each card only holds about 4 minutes. The great thing about the computer-based interface is that the camera will always be up to date with the latest technologies. It is constantly adapting. Users can download updates from Red, then program those updates into the camera. I think that it certainly adds plenty of shelf-life to the camera.

The resolution of the Red is incredible. It shoots at 4K and 2K (4K being the rough equivalent of 35mm film and 2K the rough equivalent of super 16mm) meaning the footage is incredibly deep, incredibly large, and incredibly awesome. You would have to “down convert” to get the footage into a 1080i or 1080p workspace. The Red shoots in a RAW format, and anyone who is a digital SLR user understands the advantages of shooting RAW images. Shooting in RAW gives you an uncompressed image, allowing almost infinite manual control over image manipulation, like color correction, hue, saturation, brightness, contrast, etc. The Red is rated at an ISO of around 320, so users should light their scenes accordingly.

There are some issues with Red Cine, the post-production software and there are concerns about the massive hard drive space needed to store all the footage (the editor from Dead Workers party said that he uses 4TB of hard drive and considers that “temporary storage”). However, the Red One is most definitely going to be THE camera for filmmakers, commercial directors, and other industry professionals.