Ugh… finally.
I’ve been a “producer” at the cable access station for a YEAR, and just NOW finished editing one episode:
I’ve actually tape three episodes, but the footage on two of them got corrupted.. and I’m pretty sure I can’t retrieve it. So this is it.
So yeah. Here it is. Lots of technical issues but… also a lot of heart. hehe.
Here are my comments on this video (please keep in mind we did the whole thing in 24 hours, which was VERY challenging) Continue reading ‘Here it is.’
I’m producing a Toastmasters show on the local cable access program. I’m putting together a PSA of sorts to talk about what our show is going to be about once it airs. I wanted to post a clip of some footage I took of our host Marlo. I’m getting better at the technical details… As I mentioned in my previous post, my boom mic died, so I ended up getting another cheap microphone at radio shack at the last minute. It wasn’t great (hear the buzzing in the background? Gotta see if I can subtract that noise out with audacity), but it was much better than the mic on the camera, which picks up all the ambient sound in the room. Here is a clip of Marlo’s segment:
I wanted to shoot her with some natural light, but we didn’t get started until after dark. So I lit one side of her face with the ceiling fan light, and for the other side of her face, I shined my work light on the window to her left and bounced that light onto her face–direct light would have been too harsh. I like the effect, but the picture is still kind of grainy. I’m sure it has at least in part to do with my cheap camera, but I noticed that when I shoot outside in natural light, the picture looks much better. So I need to improve my lighting technique, for sure
While interviewing some folks for my latest project yesterday, I realized that I would get much better content if I just set up the camera and had a conversation with them, rather than pointing a mic at them and asking them questions. While setting up, the subjects would talk and talk, and I’d be like, “hold on!! I wanna get this!!” But it’s hard when they feel put on the spot, or like they are performing. Unfortunately, my microphone only works at short range, and is attached to the camera, so all that stuff has to be in the person’s face while I’m interviewing them. So setting up the camera and letting people talk is not a viable option at the moment, but I’ll keep that in mind for the future. If I could set up a sound system that would allow me to have the camera sitting far away from my subject, that would be much better.
I wanted to share my newest piece of inexpensive filming equipment. After filming The Trunk and talking to the sound editor, it became clear to me that I needed to buy a boom (or at least directional) microphone. I knew the ambient sound on my camcorder was not going to cut it. After doing some research, I came to the conclusion that you will not have great sound without spending a lot of money. So I settled on improved, but not amazing sound and bought a $50 shotgun mike on Amazon that got decent reviews. So far, I like it. I did an interview for my next project, and I am happy with the sound, for the most part, I need to remember to test every individual scene, though, to make sure I have the microphone close enough and pointed at the correct angle. But once I post it, you’ll be able to see the difference between that and the sound from the Ike footage.
Those of you who have watched my one and only short film probably noticed the horrible lighting. I have some work lights from the hardware store, but they are hot, and I didn’t know how to set them up in a useable way. Well… check out my newest piece of film equipment–a work light stand! For $25 this is a good deal. The light will be too harsh, but if I bounce one of them off the ceiling and another off a bounce card, it should give me sufficient lighting without blinding anybody. I need to practice, though…
So I broke down about bought a “real” camera! I got a Canon ZR500 on ebay for $125. It came with some little extras, and I’m really happy with it so far. And it has a microphone jack, so I was thinking of getting one of those microphones that are directional, where you point it at something at a distance and it only picks up the thing you point at. Or something. Anyway, this camera purchase was a bit of an ordeal, as I couldn’t get any computer to recognize it when I tried to download video. The guy I bought it from had barely used it, and he said he was able to download video the last time he used it. But when I visually inspected the firewire port, I could see it was damaged. Fortunately, it was under warranty. The guy who sold it to me was really good about sending me his original receipt, and Canon fixed it really fast. Excellent! So.. on to my 2nd project. I have something in the works, but I’ll blog about that next time…
