While travelling through Missoula, I decided that I was hungry and wanted a bite to eat. I parked and started walking toward what was supposed to be a sandwich shop (which I later found out closed down) and passed a camera store. Well, being me, I had to stop in and take a look. I ended up eyeing a couple inexpensive lenses to buy, and having talked to the owner a bit and seeing that the lenses themselves were of decent quality decided get my camera and bring it in for a few test pictures. The first lens, a M42 mount 50mm/1.8 worked quite well and was very inexpensive. The second lens, a nikon mount 28mm/2.8 was also quite inexpensive, but as it turns out, didn't work so well. You see... this was not a genuine nikon lens like I have used previously on my camera but rather some other random Japanese brand. Now, Nikon lenses are supposed to mount in only one orientation (or so I thought) but apparently I was able to mount this lens upside down on the adapter and get it to fit on the body (don't ask... it just worked). I ran through some tests, made sure everything was good, and then tried to remove the lens. It was stuck. FUCK. You see, by somehow mounting the lens upside down it was now jamming against some pins when I tried to rotate the lens out. Both myself and the owner tried working the lens for a good long while before finally giving up and calling the shop's repair guy for an appointment tomorrow in order to either a) do his magic and remove the lens or b) dismantle the lens in order to remove the lens. My $15 lens just turned into a $100 problem I think...
On the plus side I'm glad I brought along my old XTi body. On the other hand I totally forgot the remote trigger. Ya win some, ya lose some.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Unexpected Detour...
Sooo.... I was supposed to be just outside of Bozeman, MT tonight, preparing for a day or two in Yellowstone. Instead, I'm at a motel in Missoula, MT, about 3 hours from where I want to be. Why? Bad luck and really really bad luck. First bit of bad luck was the weather. Its supposed to thunderstorm tomorrow, and it already did that this afternoon, so Yellowstone might be out of the question for at least another day. Now... the really really bad luck is another wonderful example of how I make anything and any situation complicated.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
On The Road
Its hard to believe I'm already a week into this trip and I haven't posted once! This has been a very busy week, with many destinations and a boatload of material that I need to sort through. This jampacked week is courtesy of my great friend Liz who decided to join me till I reached Seattle. Being a far more prolific planner than I am she managed to map out a route that would maximize things done for her leg of the trip. It was a success.
Day 1 (Sunday):
Had a late start that day due to some last minutes interviews with my parents. Didn't leave Berkeley till after 3pm so I knew it was going to be a long day. Ended up having dinner in Redding at the Black Bear Diner. Food was classic Americana, for better or worse. I did however receive a comment about my "homeless guy" t-shirt (well... more like "hey, that guy's wearing a homeless guy t-shirt!"), which was funny because I had totally forgotten that I was even wearing it. We finally made it to Klamath Falls, OR around 11pm and stayed at the America's Best Value Inn (quaint and inexpensive, though right by the highway).
Day 2:
Left Klamath Falls early for the drive to Crater Lake. Holy crap Oregon is GREEN! Not in the "hey look at the shrubbery" kind of green but in the "look at the green forest, and the behind that the green hills, and in front of that the green fields" kind of green. With the combination of the green and the sunlight peeking through the clouds the only things keeping it from being a perfect “in touch with the wilderness” moment were 1) The awful, horrible road noise (Oregon doesn't seem to understand the concept of a smooth highway and instead decided to pave their highways with gravel or something) and 2) The neverending road construction (which would hopefully alleviate problem 1).
Crater Lake however was fantastic. Think of it as if you took a mountain and just scooped out the middle. Its very reminescent of Lake Tahoe (very deep, very blue) but only smaller and with steeper sides. We ended up taking a hike up to Scott Peak which overlooks the lake. Very few hikes actually land you at a location were you have a full 360ยบ view of everything, but here, the only higher than where we stood was a small fire lookout on a nearby peak. Yeah... it was cool. I ended up striking up a conversation with a family who was at the top with us and apparently they were from someplace north of Vancouver and the father gave enough “eh”s and “dontchaknow”s to make up for the entire Canadian population (or at least his family anyway...).
The next stop was in Eugene, OR, which was the first major Oregon city we drove through. It has a distinctly small college town feel to it (think Davis without the cows and more trees). It has the requisite cheap (and not so cheap) eateries, the hippy backpackers/hitchhikers, and a quiant downtown shopping district. We had dinner at Steelhead Brewery, where the beer was good and cheap and the food was adaquately good (only so much you can do with a burger or a burrito) before taking a walk around the block and landing at the Oregon Electric Station, a rather upscale restaurant in an old, well, electric station. A glass of port and and a sundae later (trust me, I won't be eating like this again for a LONG time) it was time to head back to the Express Inn, as the next morning was gonna be a early one.
Day 3
So day 3's start requires a bit of explanation. See, Liz is a runner. She claims she's not a “great” runner, but she can outrun me many times over, so she will reside in great runner status till things change on my part. Anyway, after finding the stopping point in Eugene, she had had HAD to go and run on Hayward Field's track. You see, there's this guy named Prefontaine. He was apparently a world class runner and ran for UO on this very track. So for her to run on the track it would be like a Yankees fan playing a game of pickup baseball at Yankee Stadium, or me taking laps around Silverstone or Laguna Seca, and the prospect of doing this made her giddy in a way I have rarely seen. Bingo, I have found my first happiness segment.
So with this in mind I awoke at 7am, put on some shorts and a tshirt (mind you, it was in the mid 50's outside), and drove the short distance to the track in order to film her glorious 3-miler on Hayward Field. The field itself was very nice, though having actually been on only a handful of other fields in my life my judgement could be off. When we got there it was almost empty save for a couple other runners and the ground crew doing some watering and maintainance. After a short stretch we were off, and 10 minutes 30 seconds later we had done our warmup mile (well, her warmup, my final).
Now... about filming runners. I went into it thinking it would be just like filming cars, only, well... slower. In certain respects thats very true. You're trying to film something that moves, and more importantly moves quickly enough to outpace you the photographer. Certain aspects of track based events however make this task easier and harder. By being on a track, there are multiple opportunites to film the same thing (except the start and finish of course). However, by being on the track and not having access to any mode of transport other than my own two feet, camera stabilization was definitely an issue. My ghetto-stickcam (using the stick from my Zoom H4N) didn't quite cut it, though it would have required a pretty large steadycam rig (even a cheap pvc/conduit one) to really compensate for the shake of a full run. But a combination of shaky stickcam and very high shutter speed (1/200 to 1/500) meant a very “Jason Bourne” style of shot, for better or worse.
Having had a morning run a bit of breakfast was in order, which ended up being at [name of cafe]. After that was a quick walking tour of Eugene before leaving for Salem. We managed to arrive in Salem in time for the final Capitol building tour, which took us to the top of the Oregon Capitol to right underneath where the “Oregeon Pioneer” statue stands. It gives a great view of Salem, though Salem is such a small capital compared to the likes of Sacramento. Taking the tour with us was a family from Alaska (with a grandmother who just wouldn't shut up) and a family from Vladivostok Russia. Apparently the guy was doing research at UO for particle physics (!!!) and had been residing in Oregon for 7 years. The Russian physicist... almost as common a stereotype as the Russian chemist. The tour itself was pretty informative, though photo opportunities were few and far between.
Leaving Salem, we headed for Portland. Now... I should mention that by this time it was kind of late, we hadn't eaten since lunch, and both of us were pretty hungry. Getting into Portland was a bit messy with all its construction, but we eventually made it to the motel (which by my standards was adaquate, but Liz thought otherwise) and the headed off for dinner at [name of place]. The lamb and polenta were fantastic, but man, I really shouldn't have ordered that savory yogurt drink... If you can imagine putting salt into a standard yogurt drink then you get what this would taste like. Yeah... not a good image is it? At least the Pub at the End of the Universe made up for that. It was really tucked away but had a neat vibe and good beer, not to mention outdoor seating. A good end to a very very long day.
More back logged updates to be continued....
Day 1 (Sunday):
Had a late start that day due to some last minutes interviews with my parents. Didn't leave Berkeley till after 3pm so I knew it was going to be a long day. Ended up having dinner in Redding at the Black Bear Diner. Food was classic Americana, for better or worse. I did however receive a comment about my "homeless guy" t-shirt (well... more like "hey, that guy's wearing a homeless guy t-shirt!"), which was funny because I had totally forgotten that I was even wearing it. We finally made it to Klamath Falls, OR around 11pm and stayed at the America's Best Value Inn (quaint and inexpensive, though right by the highway).
Day 2:
Left Klamath Falls early for the drive to Crater Lake. Holy crap Oregon is GREEN! Not in the "hey look at the shrubbery" kind of green but in the "look at the green forest, and the behind that the green hills, and in front of that the green fields" kind of green. With the combination of the green and the sunlight peeking through the clouds the only things keeping it from being a perfect “in touch with the wilderness” moment were 1) The awful, horrible road noise (Oregon doesn't seem to understand the concept of a smooth highway and instead decided to pave their highways with gravel or something) and 2) The neverending road construction (which would hopefully alleviate problem 1).
Crater Lake however was fantastic. Think of it as if you took a mountain and just scooped out the middle. Its very reminescent of Lake Tahoe (very deep, very blue) but only smaller and with steeper sides. We ended up taking a hike up to Scott Peak which overlooks the lake. Very few hikes actually land you at a location were you have a full 360ยบ view of everything, but here, the only higher than where we stood was a small fire lookout on a nearby peak. Yeah... it was cool. I ended up striking up a conversation with a family who was at the top with us and apparently they were from someplace north of Vancouver and the father gave enough “eh”s and “dontchaknow”s to make up for the entire Canadian population (or at least his family anyway...).
The next stop was in Eugene, OR, which was the first major Oregon city we drove through. It has a distinctly small college town feel to it (think Davis without the cows and more trees). It has the requisite cheap (and not so cheap) eateries, the hippy backpackers/hitchhikers, and a quiant downtown shopping district. We had dinner at Steelhead Brewery, where the beer was good and cheap and the food was adaquately good (only so much you can do with a burger or a burrito) before taking a walk around the block and landing at the Oregon Electric Station, a rather upscale restaurant in an old, well, electric station. A glass of port and and a sundae later (trust me, I won't be eating like this again for a LONG time) it was time to head back to the Express Inn, as the next morning was gonna be a early one.
Day 3
So day 3's start requires a bit of explanation. See, Liz is a runner. She claims she's not a “great” runner, but she can outrun me many times over, so she will reside in great runner status till things change on my part. Anyway, after finding the stopping point in Eugene, she had had HAD to go and run on Hayward Field's track. You see, there's this guy named Prefontaine. He was apparently a world class runner and ran for UO on this very track. So for her to run on the track it would be like a Yankees fan playing a game of pickup baseball at Yankee Stadium, or me taking laps around Silverstone or Laguna Seca, and the prospect of doing this made her giddy in a way I have rarely seen. Bingo, I have found my first happiness segment.
So with this in mind I awoke at 7am, put on some shorts and a tshirt (mind you, it was in the mid 50's outside), and drove the short distance to the track in order to film her glorious 3-miler on Hayward Field. The field itself was very nice, though having actually been on only a handful of other fields in my life my judgement could be off. When we got there it was almost empty save for a couple other runners and the ground crew doing some watering and maintainance. After a short stretch we were off, and 10 minutes 30 seconds later we had done our warmup mile (well, her warmup, my final).
Now... about filming runners. I went into it thinking it would be just like filming cars, only, well... slower. In certain respects thats very true. You're trying to film something that moves, and more importantly moves quickly enough to outpace you the photographer. Certain aspects of track based events however make this task easier and harder. By being on a track, there are multiple opportunites to film the same thing (except the start and finish of course). However, by being on the track and not having access to any mode of transport other than my own two feet, camera stabilization was definitely an issue. My ghetto-stickcam (using the stick from my Zoom H4N) didn't quite cut it, though it would have required a pretty large steadycam rig (even a cheap pvc/conduit one) to really compensate for the shake of a full run. But a combination of shaky stickcam and very high shutter speed (1/200 to 1/500) meant a very “Jason Bourne” style of shot, for better or worse.
Having had a morning run a bit of breakfast was in order, which ended up being at [name of cafe]. After that was a quick walking tour of Eugene before leaving for Salem. We managed to arrive in Salem in time for the final Capitol building tour, which took us to the top of the Oregon Capitol to right underneath where the “Oregeon Pioneer” statue stands. It gives a great view of Salem, though Salem is such a small capital compared to the likes of Sacramento. Taking the tour with us was a family from Alaska (with a grandmother who just wouldn't shut up) and a family from Vladivostok Russia. Apparently the guy was doing research at UO for particle physics (!!!) and had been residing in Oregon for 7 years. The Russian physicist... almost as common a stereotype as the Russian chemist. The tour itself was pretty informative, though photo opportunities were few and far between.
Leaving Salem, we headed for Portland. Now... I should mention that by this time it was kind of late, we hadn't eaten since lunch, and both of us were pretty hungry. Getting into Portland was a bit messy with all its construction, but we eventually made it to the motel (which by my standards was adaquate, but Liz thought otherwise) and the headed off for dinner at [name of place]. The lamb and polenta were fantastic, but man, I really shouldn't have ordered that savory yogurt drink... If you can imagine putting salt into a standard yogurt drink then you get what this would taste like. Yeah... not a good image is it? At least the Pub at the End of the Universe made up for that. It was really tucked away but had a neat vibe and good beer, not to mention outdoor seating. A good end to a very very long day.
More back logged updates to be continued....
Monday, July 26, 2010
Living the Unexpected
The last few months have taught me to embrace unpredictability. I am who I am because of equal parts planning and luck, and no amount of planning will take luck out of the equation. Also, the biggest events in my life are never random, but rather a culmination of everything which occurred before. Some other revelations large and small:
- There is no formula or plan for love. Some will find it by relentlessly searching, others will find it waiting for them, others still will stumble on it by accident. The only requirement is that you recognize it when it arrives and act accordingly, for there is rarely a second chance.
- Success only arrives through plenty of knowledge and plenty of failure. If you are not prepared to fail, you are not prepared to succeed.
- Always listen to advice, but never trust it. There is never a correct way, only a best way.
- There is no formula or plan for love. Some will find it by relentlessly searching, others will find it waiting for them, others still will stumble on it by accident. The only requirement is that you recognize it when it arrives and act accordingly, for there is rarely a second chance.
- Success only arrives through plenty of knowledge and plenty of failure. If you are not prepared to fail, you are not prepared to succeed.
- Always listen to advice, but never trust it. There is never a correct way, only a best way.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Maybe there is hope after all...
Long time no postie... ::sigh::
There's been a combination of a lot going on with very little going on, depending how you look at things. But this post won't be directly related to project per say, but rather about my take on Inception, and its place in the modern film landscape. Having thought about it for a night, I've come to a conclusion that 1) This film will have an impact that will be felt for a decade or more and 2) It is brilliant yet maddeningly infuriating, for pretty much the same reason.
Now, having heard about this film a LONG time ago, when all was known was the title, the genre, and the director, I was already pretty excited. Christopher Nolan can make some amazing films, and he's run the gamut from crazy indie-ish films like Memento to well... The Dark Knight. Inception was pegged as a dream project for him, and now I can see why. Could you imagine any other director (other than maybe Spielberg or Scorsese) calling up a producer and saying "hey, I want to make a confusing as hell movie about dreams, and I want to release it during the summer." Yeah... good luck with that. But it happened, and definitely is a great combination of the "big boom TDK" Nolan and the "huh wtf?" Nolan.
There will be no summary or review here, as that has been done on every other site. I'll just say I loved the film, and with the exception of one single scene, it was without exception amazing. That single scene however brings up quite a few things for me, the primary of which is at what point does homage turn to derivation? Most directors walk that line all the time, and while some succeed (Shaun of the Dead was one big homage to the romcom/buddycom/zombie genres), other manage to just cross that line thus step into the shadows of films they are paying homage to.
With Inception you really can't begin talking about its deeper aspects without bringing up Blade Runner as its "spiritual homage". In many ways Inception has far more in common with The Matrix than Blade Runner, but at its core Inception is a question, in the same vein that Blade Runner's greatest impact is "the Question". (Since I hate spoilers, I will make this as spoiler free as possible, for the 2 or so readers I have :P) Both films pose the question throughout the movie, both give hints for the answer to the question, and both films inevitably leave the answer up to the audience to figure out. However, while Blade Runner subtly hints at the question throughout the film, Inception starts with hints and ends with a giant Thor hammerdrop sized "HERE IS THE QUESTION, GO FIGURE OUT THE ANSWER" ending. This is quite possibly the only film that Ive seen which kept the audience in silence through 2.5 hours only to have a truly massive and synchronized "WTF" after the final scene. We get it Nolan, we get what you're after, we get that you like playing with the audience and dropping hints, and you know what, I'm more than happy to play along. I just felt insulted that at the end, the film goes to "Here's the question, just in case you missed it, and here's the ans- JUST KIDDING!!!". That kind of cheap trick works for the regular summer blockbuster, but with a film as well crafted and thought out as Inception, it just feels like someone was in it at the end for a cheap thrill.
Now, one could argue that the final scene in Blade Runner (at least the director's cut) pulls the same trick. I would disagree. The final scene is just another hint, which combined with the other hints of film gives the audience their own interpretation of the film. The final scene of inception adds nothing to the film except to bring out a gasp from the audience. Now... the scene just prior where ::minor spoiler:: he sees his children is absolutely fantastic and definitely fits as a capstone hint similar to the final scene of Blade Runner. Its amazing what an extra 20 seconds at that point can do to a film...
Even with this infuriating scene however (which I hope is corrected in the inevitable Director's Cut) The film is far and away one of the best films I've seen in recent memory. While its too early call it the 2000's Blade Runner (I think every decide needs its seminal scifi film), it definitely had the same impact on me as when I saw The Matrix for the first time, and its a rare film indeed that leaves you speechless when you walk out of the theatre (well... maybe it was that and it being 1:30am). Oh, and mark my words... zero-g fight scenes will be the next "it" thing for hollywood, especially if Ender's Game gets released soon. I'm not quite sure how those scenes were done, but my bet is that either they had a wireworks machine unlike anything else in the world OR they managed to rent some long stints in a very special greenscreen Vomet Comet.
There's been a combination of a lot going on with very little going on, depending how you look at things. But this post won't be directly related to project per say, but rather about my take on Inception, and its place in the modern film landscape. Having thought about it for a night, I've come to a conclusion that 1) This film will have an impact that will be felt for a decade or more and 2) It is brilliant yet maddeningly infuriating, for pretty much the same reason.
Now, having heard about this film a LONG time ago, when all was known was the title, the genre, and the director, I was already pretty excited. Christopher Nolan can make some amazing films, and he's run the gamut from crazy indie-ish films like Memento to well... The Dark Knight. Inception was pegged as a dream project for him, and now I can see why. Could you imagine any other director (other than maybe Spielberg or Scorsese) calling up a producer and saying "hey, I want to make a confusing as hell movie about dreams, and I want to release it during the summer." Yeah... good luck with that. But it happened, and definitely is a great combination of the "big boom TDK" Nolan and the "huh wtf?" Nolan.
There will be no summary or review here, as that has been done on every other site. I'll just say I loved the film, and with the exception of one single scene, it was without exception amazing. That single scene however brings up quite a few things for me, the primary of which is at what point does homage turn to derivation? Most directors walk that line all the time, and while some succeed (Shaun of the Dead was one big homage to the romcom/buddycom/zombie genres), other manage to just cross that line thus step into the shadows of films they are paying homage to.
With Inception you really can't begin talking about its deeper aspects without bringing up Blade Runner as its "spiritual homage". In many ways Inception has far more in common with The Matrix than Blade Runner, but at its core Inception is a question, in the same vein that Blade Runner's greatest impact is "the Question". (Since I hate spoilers, I will make this as spoiler free as possible, for the 2 or so readers I have :P) Both films pose the question throughout the movie, both give hints for the answer to the question, and both films inevitably leave the answer up to the audience to figure out. However, while Blade Runner subtly hints at the question throughout the film, Inception starts with hints and ends with a giant Thor hammerdrop sized "HERE IS THE QUESTION, GO FIGURE OUT THE ANSWER" ending. This is quite possibly the only film that Ive seen which kept the audience in silence through 2.5 hours only to have a truly massive and synchronized "WTF" after the final scene. We get it Nolan, we get what you're after, we get that you like playing with the audience and dropping hints, and you know what, I'm more than happy to play along. I just felt insulted that at the end, the film goes to "Here's the question, just in case you missed it, and here's the ans- JUST KIDDING!!!". That kind of cheap trick works for the regular summer blockbuster, but with a film as well crafted and thought out as Inception, it just feels like someone was in it at the end for a cheap thrill.
Now, one could argue that the final scene in Blade Runner (at least the director's cut) pulls the same trick. I would disagree. The final scene is just another hint, which combined with the other hints of film gives the audience their own interpretation of the film. The final scene of inception adds nothing to the film except to bring out a gasp from the audience. Now... the scene just prior where ::minor spoiler:: he sees his children is absolutely fantastic and definitely fits as a capstone hint similar to the final scene of Blade Runner. Its amazing what an extra 20 seconds at that point can do to a film...
Even with this infuriating scene however (which I hope is corrected in the inevitable Director's Cut) The film is far and away one of the best films I've seen in recent memory. While its too early call it the 2000's Blade Runner (I think every decide needs its seminal scifi film), it definitely had the same impact on me as when I saw The Matrix for the first time, and its a rare film indeed that leaves you speechless when you walk out of the theatre (well... maybe it was that and it being 1:30am). Oh, and mark my words... zero-g fight scenes will be the next "it" thing for hollywood, especially if Ender's Game gets released soon. I'm not quite sure how those scenes were done, but my bet is that either they had a wireworks machine unlike anything else in the world OR they managed to rent some long stints in a very special greenscreen Vomet Comet.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
And it suddenly got very real...
The past week hasn't seen much development on this project. I've practiced a bit with shooting in low light environments with large crowds, coming to the conclusion that:
1) I need some compact way to stabilize the camera. A steadicam of any kind (even a merlin sized one) will be hard to fit and use in a crowd, so I need something even smaller, maybe just a pistol grip or some kind of 2 handed grip/follow focus.
2) MUST BUY A MICROPHONE. This was already on my list of to-dos, but now has been bumped up a couple notches because really, the on-camera sound is just unusable in anything but perfectly ideal conditions.
3) Manually focusing a Canon 50mm F1.8 II is annoying. I need a lens thats just as fast but with a much more accessible focus ring.
The getting real part however came this afternoon when I finally told a coworker a small detail of my plans. This was done in order to see who I need to talk to in order to either take an extended leave or finally begin the quitting process. Maybe this should have happened earlier, but I think now is a good time to finally start this process, as a best case scenario could have me rolling off by the end of July, which would just squeeze in to the end of my planned timeline. I fully expect that this word will get through the grapevine within a week or so, which should make for some interesting conversation with my coworkers. Who knows, maybe one of them will be willing to be interviewed...
1) I need some compact way to stabilize the camera. A steadicam of any kind (even a merlin sized one) will be hard to fit and use in a crowd, so I need something even smaller, maybe just a pistol grip or some kind of 2 handed grip/follow focus.
2) MUST BUY A MICROPHONE. This was already on my list of to-dos, but now has been bumped up a couple notches because really, the on-camera sound is just unusable in anything but perfectly ideal conditions.
3) Manually focusing a Canon 50mm F1.8 II is annoying. I need a lens thats just as fast but with a much more accessible focus ring.
The getting real part however came this afternoon when I finally told a coworker a small detail of my plans. This was done in order to see who I need to talk to in order to either take an extended leave or finally begin the quitting process. Maybe this should have happened earlier, but I think now is a good time to finally start this process, as a best case scenario could have me rolling off by the end of July, which would just squeeze in to the end of my planned timeline. I fully expect that this word will get through the grapevine within a week or so, which should make for some interesting conversation with my coworkers. Who knows, maybe one of them will be willing to be interviewed...
Saturday, June 5, 2010
First HD video test!
And here it is, the first (well, actually second, but the first day anyway) video test for the 7D! Shooting this made me realize just how badly I need some sort of follow focus. Trying to accurately focus with a tiny focus ring on 50mm is definitely not going to work when the real shooting starts.
When doubt... just do it!
Well... not quite. I've so far been just talking about this project, and too much talk is well... boring. However, today was the first day of ACTION! Granted... said action took place in my friend's family room, and was just a crash course in how to light a set, but I felt like this was a huge benefit for me having someone who know's what the hell they're doing just showing me the basics. A few of the (many) lessons learned:
It may be simple, but it sure as hell isn't easy
Lighting is tricky. Its easy enough to deal with when you've got a flash (or 2) and need to take a picture, but its a whole different can of worms when you have to light for film and video. I pretty much have the best case scenario short of a 5DMKII with a f/1.2 lens, but even with a simple setup, a pretty fast lens, and a still subject there's quite a few things you need to take into consideration, be it the ambient light sources, the color and texture of the background, the color and texture of the subject's clothing, effect you are trying to achieve with the light, etc. This is the art of filmmaking well before one exposure is ever taken.
Do it now, so you don't fumble with it later
A lot of stuff I saw and picked up were just really simple things, like how to correctly set up a c-stand and how to correctly wire and string up some lights. Nothing was complex, and the art at that point was pretty minimal, but just those basic tasks make you realize how in a pressure situation they could get needlessly complex.
Sell your content correctly
I don't mean literally selling for money, but rather looking at the potential audience and maybe, just maybe, paying a little lip service in order get those all important views. There may be some great takes later with some neat people that just don't show up right when edited, and sadly those takes may have to go in favor of something with a little more audience holding power.
Goals are great, but flexibility is better
Going into a project without a goal is stupid, but going into a project with only a goal is not very intelligent as well. I'm not sure how much veering off I will be doing with this, but I know that I will need to be able to actively update my goals as the project goes on.
Give yourself WAAAAY more time than you think you'll need, cuz in the end you'll need it
No brainer here.
People like attention. Give it to them.
One of the things I got out of talking with Vanessa, who's the documentary buff of the group, is that in the end, people really do enjoy taking about themselves, even if they don't seem to be that way when you initially point the camera. All you have to do is give time, a little encouragement, and more importantly a little freedom for the subject to express themselves however they wish and sooner or later they'll do or say something interesting.
It may be simple, but it sure as hell isn't easy
Lighting is tricky. Its easy enough to deal with when you've got a flash (or 2) and need to take a picture, but its a whole different can of worms when you have to light for film and video. I pretty much have the best case scenario short of a 5DMKII with a f/1.2 lens, but even with a simple setup, a pretty fast lens, and a still subject there's quite a few things you need to take into consideration, be it the ambient light sources, the color and texture of the background, the color and texture of the subject's clothing, effect you are trying to achieve with the light, etc. This is the art of filmmaking well before one exposure is ever taken.
Do it now, so you don't fumble with it later
A lot of stuff I saw and picked up were just really simple things, like how to correctly set up a c-stand and how to correctly wire and string up some lights. Nothing was complex, and the art at that point was pretty minimal, but just those basic tasks make you realize how in a pressure situation they could get needlessly complex.
Sell your content correctly
I don't mean literally selling for money, but rather looking at the potential audience and maybe, just maybe, paying a little lip service in order get those all important views. There may be some great takes later with some neat people that just don't show up right when edited, and sadly those takes may have to go in favor of something with a little more audience holding power.
Goals are great, but flexibility is better
Going into a project without a goal is stupid, but going into a project with only a goal is not very intelligent as well. I'm not sure how much veering off I will be doing with this, but I know that I will need to be able to actively update my goals as the project goes on.
Give yourself WAAAAY more time than you think you'll need, cuz in the end you'll need it
No brainer here.
People like attention. Give it to them.
One of the things I got out of talking with Vanessa, who's the documentary buff of the group, is that in the end, people really do enjoy taking about themselves, even if they don't seem to be that way when you initially point the camera. All you have to do is give time, a little encouragement, and more importantly a little freedom for the subject to express themselves however they wish and sooner or later they'll do or say something interesting.
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