I’ve just spent the last 2 weeks intensely editing my footage shot on my 99-day journey around the world, shooting my passion project, Opening Our Eyes. I wanted to get a trailer ready for the PhotoCine Expo that I’ll be speaking at this weekend in Los Angeles. I knew that I couldn’t possibly go through all 2900 gigabytes of content (145 hours), let alone cull it down to a finished sample in two weeks time. So, I took a friend’s advice and decided to focus on only two of my ten subjects that I interviewed and shot b-roll on.
Even with going through only 20 percent of my footage has been a grueling and exhausting two weeks. But it’s also given me a much better sense of working with and analyzing the files that come out of the Canon 5D Mark II and 7D.
Some of my loves:
I love the picture quality
I absolutely love the picture quality
You can’t beat the picture quality
It’s true, the picture quality is stunning and worth putting up with SOME of the workarounds, depending on what type of job I’m working on. If I’m shooting a corporate event and I need to record longer than 12-minute intervals, which is the case when someone is giving a talk, then I would opt not to use a DSLR because of the limitations on the duration of a clip. And, regardless of the type of job I shoot, editing the files from these cameras is tedious because I need to transcode them into a file that will play well in Final Cut Pro.
Some of my hates:
12 minute clip duration – this really needs to change in the next generation of these hybrids in order to make it a more workable camera
Audio – Canon really needs to come up with a more professional solution for capturing good audio with the video on one card. I have used a JuidedLink pre-amp with a gain disabler on it but it’s still not as good as the audio I get when I capture it to a separate digital recorder – in my case the Samson H4N Zoom.
Having to transcode all the files into a codec like Apple Pro Res so that I can edit in FCP without stutters, stops and drop frames.
Stabilization is an issue but a solvable one thanks to rigs from Zacuto. And of course you can always use a tripod – and really should if the situation warrants.
I’m sure I’ll come to other conclusions as I dig deeper into my content and I’ll share my thoughts as I continue to immerse myself in the post production part of this film.
In the Field
Depending on how you are working in the field and what you are shooting, your workflow and the way you organize and manage your media will vary somewhat. If you have a crew and are shooting a scripted video, then you will probably have a computer and technician on site, downloading media as it is shot, backing it up and checking it for focus.
If you’re working solo or with just one other person, which is how I have been working for the past 3 ½ months on my project, Opening Our Eyes,
Gail at the Kopila Valley Primary School, Surkhet, Nepal
then you don’t have the manpower to work that way. I downloaded all my footage, audio and stills at the end of the day. I rarely had the time or even the battery power on my computer (electricity was scarce at times) to look at what I had shot but I did do spot checks occasionally.
Regardless of how you work in the field,
Children at the Kopila Valley Primary School
it is essential to create redundant backups of all your content. I backed everything up to two portable external hard drives, after downloading the media to my laptop via card readers. There’s a nice software application called ShotPut Pro that lets you make up to 3 copies to different drives at a time, which speeds things up quite a bit. For the most part, I had organized my media by destination and subject with each folder containing the contents of a card. Whenever I shot an interview, I put a fresh card in the camera so that the content was automatically sorted out from the b-roll. Some shooters I’ve talked to who are used to shooting tape, archive each tape or card by making a disk image (DMG) of each which can be mounted on the computer, emulating the original card.
Back in the Editing Suite
The first thing I did when I returned from my 99-day journey, was to make two backups of all my material. After my media was backed up, I started to organize it. Everything had already been separated as far as destination and subject, but I needed to separate the stills from the video and the interviews from the b-roll – if any cards contained both. I also needed to match up the interview video footage with the audio files that had been captured by a separate recording device.
After getting all my media organized and sorted by destination, subject and file type, I renamed the files and added any relevant metadata – copyright and creator info etc. This can be done in Adobe Bridge. You can also look at the video files in Bridge to preview before transcoding them. Another way to preview your video files is by using QuickTime player. Because the files coming out of these hybrid cameras are compressed H.264 files, they do not play smoothly in Final Cut Pro, so they need to be transcoded into a codec like Apple Pro Res, before editing them. This can be done in Apple Compressor which comes with the Final Cut Pro Suite or MPEG Streamclip which is a free application.
You can choose to preview your video files first using Adobe Bridge or QuickTime player or another software tool, and then make a folder of “selects” and transcode just those files before importing them into FCP, or you can transcode everything and then import everything into Final Cut Pro.
After I organized my assets (stills, video and audio), I chose to transcode ALL my video files and import everything into Final Cut Pro. That way, not only could I preview everything smoothly, but I could also start adding information to the clips and organize them into bins within FCP. And with everything transcoded, I won’t have to leave FCP if I wanted to look at content that hadn’t been previously marked “selects”.
Getting to the Fun Part
Organizing, sorting, logging and transcoding is tedious work but it’s essential in order to be able to find things quickly when you need them, when you start laying down your storyline and want to keep focused. There’s nothing worse than having to break your train of thought while you’re editing and have to leave the program to find assets or prep them. Organizing is key – it’s not fun, but a necessary step in the process.
I will continue to slog through this initial process this week, in order to get through some of my content so that I can put together a sample for the PhotoCine News Expo that I’ve been asked to speak at this month. I have way too much material to go through everything, so I’ve decided to tackle the content from two of my subjects, which will make the task more manageable. It will also provide me with the reward of working on the “fun part” of editing by crafting a short story before moving on to daunting task of assembling the entire documentary. Check out this quick sample that I put together within 24 hours after getting off the plane. http://www.vimeo.com/14645594
Little by little things will come together and I’ll keep you posted as I go along.
I returned back to the United States a couple of days ago and before I even did my laundry, I sat down to edit a quick behind-the-scenes interview video clip of my daughter and I discussing the documentary we had just finished shooting, traveling around the world. I was motivated by a deadline where I needed to provide a video clip from the project, right away.
I was fortunate in that we had just shot interviews of each other talking about the making of the film, while the experiences were still fresh in our heads. So it was relatively easy for me to pull a couple of soundbites from the interviews, sync the audio which had been recorded separately and add relevant B-roll. Within less than 24 hours after stepping off the plane, I had a 5 minute behind-the-scenes short. Nothing fancy, mind you but in addition to providing an opportunity for the film to get awareness, it forced me to start thinking about the overall structure of the piece.
The hardest part of editing is getting started – figuring out how the story will be told. In my case, I’m facing the daunting task of looking through 3 months of material – interviews, B-roll, still images, and behind-the-scenes footage that I need to figure out how I will put it all together. There are a dozen different directions where I could take this film in the editing process. I could choose to make each subject’s story an independent video, with the full length documentary being comprised of them all. Or I could weave the stories together – structuring the piece more thematically. Or I could include the mother/daughter aspect in the film and add some interview footage of the two of us talking about the project.
Just in putting together this quick sample, I have forced my mind to start thinking about the next step – crafting the story. My next deadline is to make a trailer for this film that hasn’t even been edited yet. I will be speaking at the PhotoCineNews Expo in LA in a couple of weeks and I’m motivated by this opportunity to present the workings of this project to a live audience.
As it turns out, jumping right into it was the best thing to do. I overcame the inertia that’s always present, and started focusing on how I was going to tell the story of not only our subjects but the experience itself.
Today is my last day in Buenos Aires, the final leg on our 99-day journey, shooting our documentary Opening Our Eyes. This was not the first documentary that I have shot in video, but it was the first where I used HDSLR’s. Luckily, I was not new to shooting video, thinking in motion or ignorant about capturing good audio. If I had been, I would have been overwhelmed. But even with 11 years of video experience – I made my fair share of mistakes. I got the goods and then some – but I did screw up at times. I’m feeling generous and confident this morning so I’ll share some of my favorite screw up moments with you.
Out of sync – this is so easy to do when you are capturing audio with another device. For interviews I had two external mics – one lav on the subject and a shotgun mic on a boom stand. Both were plugged into my Samson H4N Zoom. I learned the hard way that I should turn the digital recorder on and leave it on. I had to start and stop the camera because you can only record for 12 minutes at a time. When I stopped the digital recorder as well – I forgot to start it again a couple of times. Since audio is not memory intensive – just leave the digital recorder on. It eats up batteries but it’s better than not getting good audio.
Brought a compact tripod – big mistake. I brought a tripod that would fit in a suitcase so that I would only have one checked piece of luggage. I struggled with it the entire time. Not tall enough but most importantly wasn’t precise and/or fluid enough in its movements.
I got lazy and tried to handhold the camera. Even though I’ve been shooting video for over ten years, instinctively, coming from a still photography background, I tended to think of these cameras in that way and hand held it at times. I got away with it when I was shooting with a wide lens – but it just didn’t cut it with a focal lens of more than 70mm.
I attempted to do some pans and follow focus. Forget pans with these cameras because of the “jello effect” where vertical lines in the image go askew. Pans aren’t really good form anyway in video and take up too much screen time. I also tried to follow focus while filming, focusingon a person or object and then changing the focus to another point in the image. I was not successful because I wasn’t using the right lenses nor was I using a follow focus knob. To do this properly, you need to have a follow focus ring affixed to the lens and you need to use prime lenses that are meant for cinematography.
I made assumptions. I was a victim of myself – twice. Once when I hadn’t read the manual for the Zoom digital recorder thoroughly, and changed the batteries without turning off the unit. Some of my audio files got corrupted. I was lucky in that for those files I can use the camera audio because it will be dialed down and become background audio with a translated voiceover that will be recorded in post. Had I read the manual – I would have seen the warning. The second time, I was literally in a boat on the Amazon River in Peru and had a major meltdown thinking that my 5D was broken because it wasn’t working in manual mode – which is essential in video. Unbelievably, my Blackberry was getting a signal so I sent off an email to my partner alerting him to the problem and asked him to have Canon send a replacement to Buenos Aires – my next stop. I would have to use my 7D in the jungles of Peru and I was happy to have the backup. To make a long story short, my partner got on the phone with the Canon repair technician, and started relaying to me things to try via email and we finally discovered that the technician had changed some settings in the custom area – that I hadn’t thought to look in after getting the camera back. I assumed that the technician had set the camera back to factory defaults and I had only reset the settings back to as how I had the camera set up.
So there you have it – my screw-ups revealed. I’m sure there are more that I’m conveniently forgetting but perhaps I can spare you the pain by learning from my mistakes. Anyone care to chime in with some of their favorite “off” moments?
In a little more than a week, my 99-day journey trekking around the world with my daughter shooting a documentary, Opening Our Eyes will be over. Or will it? My work is really just beginning as I contemplate all we’ve done, people we’ve met and interviewed and how I will put this all together in an edited, finished film.
There are hundreds of ways I can edit this documentary and quite honestly, beginning the process and deciding the direction is always the most difficult. But there will be a moment when the light bulb goes off and the vision will be clear as to how to make sense of it all. Then it becomes easy as the story unfolds – as it should from my heart. It’s the story that can only be told by me and this case, me and my daughter.
My daughter and others have urged me to do a behind-the-scenes DVD
Gail at the Kopila Valley Primary School, Surkhet, Nepal
– she tells me “that’s what people want”, to know more about the making of the film – more about the people behind the film. As much as I agree with her and understand this interest on the part of the viewer, there is also a resistance to make myself part of the documentary. With that said, a separate “behind-the-scenes” chapter could be the solution – to provide more information, without inserting the two of us into the film itself.
One thought does keep popping into my head that motivates me to provide a commentary on the why’s and how’s of this journey and the making of this film. Too many times when I’ve visited museums, I’ve been taken aback by some of the things that I over hear docents talking about in relation to the paintings. They analyze and interpret what the artist meant by his choice of color, brush stroke and placement of objects within the art and how that related to what was going on in his life at that point in time. I often wonder how they know that or even how can they be so sure? Is it documented or is it really just someone’s interpretation that has become fact over the years?
My daughter and I do plan to sit down this week and attempt to do on-camera interviews – while we are still in the moment and before we get back to our normal lives. Here’s where we need your help – tell us what you want to know. Maybe you’re curious about how we survived the dynamic of a mother/daughter team for three plus months. Maybe you want to know why we did this – or how we funded it. Or maybe the questions are even more basic – what did we like? – what was difficult?– any surprises? etc. etc. Perhaps you want to know more about the craft of shooting the doc– and how I went about that. And maybe you don’t really want to know anything at all and just want to know about the subjects of our film.
But please tell me what you’re curious about – as far as the behind-the-scenes making of this film. All questions are welcome – from the seemingly obvious to the more provocative.
I read somewhere that a recent episode of the TV show “House” was shot entirely with the Canon 5D Mark II. A dozen thoughts ran through my head – Who would have thought that a prime time TV show would be shot with a still camera? – Isn’t it amazing what technology has made possible? With a big production budget, why did they choose this camera? Did they back it up – just in case?
But the biggest thought that ran through my head was that this article oversimplifies the production process and leads you to believe that now just about anyone with a few thousand dollars can become a DP on a prime time TV show. In other words – when talking just about the camera, things get taken out of context.
What about the fact that they most likely had dozens of these hybrid cameras on set, with a crew of hundreds? Or that the sound guys were capturing the audio with tens of thousands of dollars worth of sophisticated equipment. And then of course there is the post-production aspect where the file from the camera gets tweaked, modified and enhanced by professional colorists.
I think many times still photographers overlook the fact that there is a lot more to a large scale production than just the shoot and the camera. And most of the time it goes way beyond the capabilities and role of the individual photographer who is used to working in a solo manner as opposed to collaboration.
Don’t get me wrong, there is a big part of me that absolutely loves my 5D and my 7D. It allows me to deliver a motion product with a stunning visual. But after shooting motion for 11 years, in addition to my 35 years shooting stills – I know that not only do I need to think differently when I shoot in motion but I also need to collaborate with others to be able to fulfill the needs of the production.
So when you hear that an entire movie was shot with the 5D – think beyond the camera.
These days video is a hot topic amongst still photographers and has been for over a year. But there’s nothing new about video so what’s the big deal?
For starters the camera manufacturers came out with the hybrids so as still photographers bought new “still cameras”, they also got a camera with video capabilities. At the same time, the publishing business is changing rapidly. Print is giving way to electronic delivery via iPhones, iPads, cell phones and the web. So you’ve got what you call a changing paradigm.
Is video a trend – no not in my mind. It’s just another medium to communicate in. When you have a message to deliver that needs motion and sound – video is the right choice. Does that mean still photography is dead. Absolutely not and neither is print.
Will still camera manufacturers lead the way in the next wave of “video cameras” with hi res images. My guess is no and that’s because traditional video camera manufacturers like Panasonic have already rolled out video cameras with large chips – and with good audio capture capabilities without work arounds like the hybrids.
Nobody can predict the future but I don’t think it takes a crystal ball to see that video isn’t just a hot topic for the moment or a trend, but has become a way that we get our news, our products pitched to us and our stories told.
I woke up at 4 AM this morning after only a few hours of sleep – my body going through some major jet lag after over 22 hours of flying from Sydney, Australia to New York City via Los Angeles. Yesterday, my full day back, was spent taking care of essentials – like getting my gear to Canon for a full check up and cleaning,
Gear for my first go round.
and a visit to the Apple Genius Bar because my new laptop seems to have a living organism living behind the monitor which shrinks and grows depending on the climate I’m in, and of course taking care of my own personal needs.
As I lay awake in the pre-dawn hours, my mind was spinning with thoughts on what I had to get done before heading to South America on Saturday for the second leg of our documentary Opening Our Eyes. I have only 4 days to recuperate, rest up and gear up for the next leg. The bad part is, I’ve only got 4 days – the good part is, I have those 4 days, and can approach the second leg of this journey with the advantage of having a fresh experience in the field to draw from and make some changes in terms of gear I’m taking on the next leg. More importantly, because my turn around is short, I’m able to stay focused and remain in the mindset of the project.
So as I go over the gear that I brought on my first leg with lessons learned in my head and prepare for the next stint, I’ll share my thoughts with you:
• A good tripod is critical – if you don’t have a decent tripod for video, you can’t get fluid movement, so don’t even try. A locked down shot is better than a jerky shot in motion. I needed to travel light with all the flights that I faced, so I went for a carbon tripod with a fluid head that would fit in a suitcase to eliminate the need for another check on bag. So, for this next leg, I’m seriously thinking of taking my larger tripod because I don’t have as many flights where excess baggage charges could mount up.
• You can never have enough batteries when shooting with a DSLR workflow and by that I mean everything from the camera batteries (and buy lots of them if you can find them for the Canon 5D and 7D) to the expendables for the DT454 JuicedLink audio preamp, which takes 9 volts to the Samson H4N Zoom which takes AA’s. By the way, speaking of batteries, don’t make the mistake I made once by not powering the H4N Zoom off before changing the batteries. The manual mentions that by doing so, files can get corrupted. A couple of my audio files did get corrupted – the information was there, but it couldn’t be read.
• I’m leaving my over priced Nikon to Canon lens converter, along with my old Nikon glass at home – I never used them – never felt the need for what I was shooting.
• I want to get more attachments for my GoPro Hero Cam because there are so many ways to use this camera – it’s amazing and I’m having a ball thinking of all the possibilities in how I can use it. The Hero cam will always be part of my gear kit.
• Always check what audio cords you’ll be needing. I embarrassed to say that I carried around my wireless kit but couldn’t use it with the Zoom because I needed a mini to male XLR cord and didn’t have it.
• Take 10-20% more memory storage than you think you will need when you’re shooting video. Video is a memory glut. I had been warned by some people that the Lacie Rugged hard drives that I were taking with me, didn’t have a very good track record – but as I write this, my content backups from my Lacie Rugged drives ( over 2000 gigabytes (doubled) ) are transferring to my desktop OWC terabyte drives and seem to be fine so the Lacies did their job. However, they are bulky and I’m going to be getting a couple of 500 gig drives that are more compact. Any suggestions for compact firewire external drives?
• Wish I bought the follow focus with my Zacuto rig. It’s expensive but would have been a real added bonus for visually highlighting one of the beauties of these cameras – the depth of field range that they have.
• Also wish I had a portable dolly like the Indislider but just couldn’t fit it in this trip. As it was, there were some items that I didn’t need to take and will be leaving behind this next leg.
• Wish I brought more mini tools – screwdrivers, allan wrenches etc.
• My Blackberry Tour Verizon phone blew me away. Even when I was in the northern hill tribe villages of Thailand, staying in a bamboo hut without electricity and plumbing – I was able to get my email on my phone! I’m impressed Verizon – I really am. Finding electricity to charge my phone was another matter.
• I could not have survived the 30 flights circling around the world i if I didn’t have my iPod. Thanks Apple.
Feel free to comment and share your thoughts of what has or hasn’t worked for you in the field and you can save me from making potential mistakes as I take on my next leg of this Journey August 7th. We are first headed to the Amazon area of Peru and then down to Buenos Aires, Argentina – again two diverse areas in terms of culture and climate.
In my laziness and urge to get outside and make the most of my last two days in Sydney, Australia, I am cross posting a post that was on my Opening Our Eyes blog – so forgive me if you follow me there.
Yesterday, I uploaded this photo on my Facebook statusSir Richard Branson, Damien, Captain Paul Moulds at Oasis in Sydney, Australia. It got noticed as “celebrity” always does and one person remarked “hanging with the superstars”. I commented back saying that they were all “superstars”. Certainly, Captain Paul Moulds for the work that we devotes himself to with Oasis and reaching out to homeless youth in Australia and Sir Richard Branson for his generous support and making it possible.
But perhaps the biggest “superstar” is Damien, the young man in the middle who turned his life around from being on the streets with barely any hopes and dreams at all to having a job, a place to live and a bright future.
I was attending an event yesterday at Oasis where Branson was cutting the ribbon on the opening of a fitness center that his company Virgin had funded. But prior to the opening of the center, Branson and others listened to the stories of the “champions”, young people like Damien who against all odds, had redirected their lives to a better future. The stories were difficult to hear – stories about being abused – physically, sexually and emotionally. Stories about wanting to die and the attempts that they made on their lives because they felt unwanted and that they had no purpose.
I can’t even begin to really understand the horrors that these kids have faced in their young lives. I can’t even imagine how difficult it was for them to tell their stories, and yet they did so with grace, dignity and compassion for one another. They were there for each other and to show their gratitude to people like Paul Moulds and Richard Branson who make places like Oasis possible. One young man said – “without Oasis, I’d be dead”.
I will never forget that morning and it went far and beyond the thrill of meeting Sir Richard Branson and eating an egg sandwich that he had cooked on the grill. The most important thing I walked away from was being around a group of people with a like-minded purpose. A purpose of doing whatever they can to make a difference – a positive difference in the world. I could see, hear and feel the impact that Moulds and Branson had made in these young people’s lives. It was tangible and real – not just words on the pages of a foundation’s annual report.
As we wind up our time in Australia and head home for a few days break before heading down to South America, I am energized by something that Paul had mentioned during his interview. He was talking about an amazing documentary that was made about Oasis and the issues facing homeless youth in Australia. The documentary was two years in the making and gave an up close look into life on the street for these young people. Paul told me that after the documentary aired on Australian TV, the response and support that followed was astounding. It had made a real impact and prompted people into action – to help with donations or wanting to volunteer.
So I’m energized going forward that our little film will also create awareness and prompt others into action and what they can do to make a positive difference in the world. It’s a simple yet powerful thought and full of possibility – the power that’s within all of us to create change and make the world a better place for those that are less fortunate. The power of possibility – think about it.
After two solid months of intensive shooting a documentary – shooting both stills and video with two DSLR cameras, the Canon 5D Mark II and 7D, I can honestly say working with these hybrids is not easy. And it certainly isn’t fast, especially if you are working in a small crew as we are.
Yes, the visual is stunning but I can’t help but think how many moments I may have missed that I probably would have gotten if I had been shooting with a video camera. When shooting motion, I have a constant mantra running through my head and that is “shoot and move”. That’s because you need a lot of footage at the end of the day and you need to edit your film. I’m not talking about working with a neatly storyboarded script and a Hollywood crew. I’m talking about working lean and mean and in a somewhat discreet way that is in order when shooting a documentary.
That really hit me last night while shooting on the streets of Sydney, Australia. My subject that I’m focusing on here is Paul Moulds from Oasis, which is a youth support network dealing with homeless street kids. I needed to hit the streets at night and knew that I not only had to be sensitive to the situations that I’d be shooting but also alert to the dangers. I’m positioning myself with a lot of expensive gear in tough neighborhoods where drugs and violence rule.
If ever before I needed to shoot and move and act quickly and keep a third eye out for any lurking danger. No time to stress on the importance of the perfection of the visual. I needed to get in close to the action – make sure my audio was being captured sufficiently and get the story. So even though I can tell you that my visual will be beautiful and lacking “noise” in the blacks – I probably would have gotten better and more meaningful coverage with a video camera.
I’m sure there will be plenty of you who will argue that there are journalists embedded in war zones with these cameras. And of course there’s Vincent LaFloret’s brilliant cinematic night films. But for me, I think there are times when I could have reacted faster with a video camera. And so I think – what’s more important – the resolution or the story?
Journeys of a Hybrid 