Documentary Film

[tevo]

In about 2 weeks, I will be filming my Grandfather, a WWII veteran, talking about his experiences in the war. This is being planned out as a legitimate production, and we will be recording from 3 different angles on DSLRS (2 Nikon D7000s, a Canon T4i, and as a backup a Canon T3i). I have never done any significant video work with a DSLR before, what should I know? Due to the space we are shooting in, we will be using 35mm / 28mm primes. I am aware of the 4gb cap on video recording, and we need to have a continuous recording of our subject talking. Can anyone offer any insight as to how we can deal with that?

 

[brunerww]

Hi tevo - sounds like a great project. Lost my grandfather in WWII, so I really resonate with this.

Sadly, all of the cameras you've chosen have a 12 minute (Canon) or 20 minute (Nikon) video clip length limit. You cannot get around these limits. Their viewfinders also go blank in video mode due to mirror lock up.

Only camcorders and mirrorless Panasonic GH1/GH2/GH3 cameras are able to shoot continuously without shutting down. They also have usable viewfinders while shooting video (no mirrors, so no mirror lock up ). I own all three of these cameras, and they are great for interchangeable lens, shallow depth of field video. The new generation (2012) GH3 is pretty expensive, and the old generation (2009) GH1 is crappy in low light, though. I recommend the 2010 model GH2, if you go the mirrorless route.

Here is the GH2 shooting an interview:

[video=vimeo;52278492]http://vimeo.com/52278492[/video]

You can pick up a body-only GH2 for $649 right now ($699 with the kit lens), get an inexpensive adapter and use it with your Nikon lenses, or...

...since you're in San Jose, you can drive up the Peninsula to San Carlos and rent either a GH2 or an interchangeable lens camcorder such as the Sony NEX-VG20 or VG30* from borrowlenses.com. Great folks there, I've rented cameras and lenses from them a couple of times.

Hope this is helpful, and good luck with your project!

Bill

*these cameras can also be adapted to Nikon lenses with an inexpensive adapter.

 

[Raian-san]

Since you'll have a few cameras recording at the same time, you can record 2 camera first, and wait 20-30 secs before the other cameras come in so when the 1st 2 cameras hit the 12 mins mark, you can switch to the other camera. I would imagine you would want to do some B-roll and extra shots to include into the film to tell the story. That's also a way for you to fill scene when the other camera run out. I really don't think any film is that interesting if you just leave the camera on one person talking, so just think of extra scene you can shoot to tie and add into the film.

 

[AgentDrex]

For my little video tests, I use my Canon 1000D (with no native video recording capability), eos_movrec and a computer to connect it to. Unfortunately I have no portable computer powerful enough to record all that information coming in. My home computer does but its a desktop so its a pain in the arse. Good luck with your documentary and I hope to see the result.

 

[runnah]

What were you going to do for sound?

In this case I assume you have footage you are going to place over the interview. If you had a single source audio recording you could have that be recording the whole time while you get establishing shots.

Does that makes sense?

1. Use audio recorder to get entire interview.
2. Use Video cameras to get as much as you can but don't have to worry about missing audio.
3. Cover blanks spots in video with b-roll footage.

 

[curtyoungblood]

I would suggest a more staggered start than the 20-30 seconds someone else mentioned. I'd say start the recording with one camera (or maybe 2), and wait 1 or 2 minutes at least before starting the next one. This way, you'll have plenty of time to change cards and get set up again before the 2nd one runs out of time. A dead spot is the absolute worst case scenario, it would be better to have more time w/ only one camera than time with no camera.

Audio is an important question, you're going to want to use some kind of external recorder, or at the very least an external microphone. How are you editing this?

The lenses you're talking about shooting with are not long enough or different enough. You will need to be able to get wide angle, medium length, and close up shots of your grandfather talking (close up mean like head and shoulders). If you're sticking a 35mm close enough to him to get head and shoulders, it is going to make him feel awkward and be in your other shots. There is a general rule in film making that you need to change a shot at least 30% to cut between shots w/out jarring the viewer, and you're going to have a hard time doing that w/ a 35 and 28.

also, a final piece of advice: TRIPOD. don't hand hold this.

 

[tevo]

What were you going to do for sound?

In this case I assume you have footage you are going to place over the interview. If you had a single source audio recording you could have that be recording the whole time while you get establishing shots.

Does that makes sense?

1. Use audio recorder to get entire interview.
2. Use Video cameras to get as much as you can but don't have to worry about missing audio.
3. Cover blanks spots in video with b-roll footage.

We're going to be recording with a zoom H4, this was basically our plan.

 

[tevo]

I would suggest a more staggered start than the 20-30 seconds someone else mentioned. I'd say start the recording with one camera (or maybe 2), and wait 1 or 2 minutes at least before starting the next one. This way, you'll have plenty of time to change cards and get set up again before the 2nd one runs out of time. A dead spot is the absolute worst case scenario, it would be better to have more time w/ only one camera than time with no camera.

Audio is an important question, you're going to want to use some kind of external recorder, or at the very least an external microphone. How are you editing this?

The lenses you're talking about shooting with are not long enough or different enough. You will need to be able to get wide angle, medium length, and close up shots of your grandfather talking (close up mean like head and shoulders). If you're sticking a 35mm close enough to him to get head and shoulders, it is going to make him feel awkward and be in your other shots. There is a general rule in film making that you need to change a shot at least 30% to cut between shots w/out jarring the viewer, and you're going to have a hard time doing that w/ a 35 and 28.

also, a final piece of advice: TRIPOD. don't hand hold this.

We tested our equipment yesterday, and we will likely be shooting with a 50mm as well. And we plan on using tripods, absolutely.