introducing myself and a few questions

[Anonymous]

Hello
I am a high school student and I’ve been in video production for 4 years now.
Our class works with adobe premier pro 2.0
And just about last year I’ve thought about making a documentary and in my video production class
we dont really learn much about documentaries or anything.
so I dont really know what I should have in my camera bag.
and I dont have a camera just yet and I’ve been saving up for that.
Do you know what kind of camera is reliable and of a good price?

I can’t remember any of my other questions.
I think I will ask later.
thanks.

[Anonymous]

Our school just got a lot of equipment for the art department. I was able to put a wish list together and it was approved.

In addition to our Canon GL2 and XL2, we got 2 Sony HVR-A1Us. These are some great HD cameras, not too much more expensive than the GL2.

Also, two Manfrotto tripods and dollys, along with with a boom mike and pole and two wireless XLR mikes.

Two greenscreens and 2 Lowel lights. See if you can get the school to lend some extra funding for more equipment.

You can do a doc basically with just a camcorder, but to get better results, use more equipment. Always go for the dramatic shots.

[Anonymous]

Here is Videomaker’s knowledge base for documentaries. Your camera will have to be suited for your needs. Are you going to do a lot of indoor shooting? If you will be using external mics, consider XLR camera inputs. Things that are a must: manual focus, manual iris, and the ability to control audio levels. Get the best tripod you can afford- can’t stress this enough.

http://www.videomaker.com/search/?cx=016301996033947342722%3A-xsmlwign8w&q=documentary&cof=FORID%3A11#1170

Keith Breazeal
http://www.kbvp.com (a fun site)

[Anonymous]

Not sure if this will help or not but my next camera choice will be a Cannon gl1 or gl2. I have seen both for anywhere from $700 to $2000 depending on where you shop and what packages you want with it. Different packages offer more or less stuff depending on what you end up with.

Although I have yet to use a GL2 its younger bother I know is a real work horse for low end filmmakers like us. You can use them for anything from Action to Weddings and get good results. It stands to reason a newer version would be as good if not better.

For mics I suggest one of tow options for starting out. The first is a good boom or shotgun mic. If you work alone then the mic on the camera will work for shots where you need to hold the camera but for interview type stuff I’d use a tripod and have the shotgun mic on a boom(these can be homemade really easily) or use a hand held mic. This can be corded or wireless. Add color filters for lighting adjustments in color and there you are. A quick and dirty film set up that will work for alot of things.

Everyone has their own way of doing things and I am sure you could ask 10 people on here and they would all agree on very little. No one way is better or worse normally depending on the money you want to throw at it. The more money the better the set up. But to start with a good camera and mic will do ya.

[Anonymous]

the cameras that i’m familiar with is the Sony HDR-FX7 3CMOS HDV 1080i Camcorder
since we use that in class regulary.
but i wish it had more features.

[Anonymous]

____asdfghjkl Wrote:

Do you know what kind of camera is reliable and of a good price?
thanks.

The Sony FX7 is reliable and has a good price tag, in my opinion. But, finding a friend or family member to borrow gear from is awesome. I used my parents camcorder in high school.

What’s your budget?

-andrew

[Anonymous]

chicoab3 Wrote:

…and has a good price tag, in my opinion.
-andrew

I can’t find one for under $3000. They are great camera’s but for the price I still say a GL2 is just as good and can be bought at about 1/3 the price. Still if you can afford that go for it. You will get many years of great video with it and it does have a few things the GL2 does not.

You could try a used one if you can fine one. Try ebay maybe. I have bought a lot on there and am usually pleased and most offer a refund if it is not as good as you hoped. Make sure you check feedback before bidding.

[SpencerStewart]

All the tips here are pretty solid, and I would like to add a little of my own.

For a documentary, your very minimum should include a camera and a tripod, as well as some sort of external mike.

Your school’s camera isn’t bad at all, it has many features, but:
For a camera, I can also recommend the GL2. I’ve used it and the GL2 is great. It has manual audio controls, as well as a hot shoe, where you can place an XLR adapter (for your external mike). The GL2 also has a 1/8 mike input, for a lower quality microphone. It also features manual exposure controls, so you can set up a nice depth of field for interviews, or any other dramatic shots.

For a mike, a lav mike is the typical mike for documentaries, but, in my opinion, a boom mike would be a better investment. With a boom mike, you can get about the same quality audio from interviews, as also use your boom mike for other scenes as well, where a lav. mike wouldn’t suffice. With a lav. mike, however, you don’t need another person holding up the boom.

Here’s another tip. For the interviews, zoom in. A wideshot distorts people’s faces, while a telephoto gives a much more pleasant image.
If your school has lights, use the 3-point lighting technique as well.

Hope some of this helps, and good luck with your documentary.

Spencer Stewart

[Anonymous]

On my links page, you will find several sites that provide learning resources. My goal was to help videographers reduce search times. Time is Money! Videomaker is included and has very good articles in it’s data base. http://www.kbvp.com

[Anonymous]

i have a pretty big budget.
my parentals are giving me up to $2,000 and i already have some money saved up from work.

i was also trying to find a camera that has a "night shot mode"
since i also want to shoot at night a lot.

[Anonymous]

thanks for the info.
i have a lot of experience with interviews since i do a lot of sports features at school.

[Ryan3078]

i was also trying to find a camera that has a "night shot mode"
since i also want to shoot at night a lot.

Again, the Sony HVR-A1U has a nightshot mode that uses infrared to shot in complete darkness

[Anonymous]

____asdfghjkl Wrote:

we dont really learn much about documentaries

The key to documentaries is research. Research, research, research. Know your subject, interview experts, have an idea what they will say so that if you see a good B-roll shot at any point, you will know to get it, if you need archival footage, you will have more time to seek it out if you search during your production schedule rather than wait for preproduction.

[Author]

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