Krisis - The Prism GR2011 - Watch the film here!!

A tidbit tribute to Steve Jobs

Throughout our history, there have been 3 Apples that have changed the world: The first that Eve ate, The second that fell of Newton's head The third that Steve Jobs invented !

Here is a playlist with all the interviews from the Prism GR2011

Here Is a compilation player with my work

The Prism GR2010 - Presentation

Video Journalism - DSLR notes

Here you will find what I consider the basics one needs to know to get started with video DSLR journalism. Feel free to contact me with questions, and drop back from time to time as I will be updating the content frequently.

GENERAL NOTES
- Taking time into consideration:
As photographers you might not be used to the element of time which is not usually part of a photographers process since the end result is a static image. However when shooting video the element of time is crucial to being able to create a scene. Shots rarely can stand alone. Unless its an establishing shot or a timelapse most shots need extra shots in order to edit together and make a scene.

Understanding the element of time and mastering it will make your transition from photo to video much easier.

Some things to remember in regards to time:
- Dont be shy ask people to do things twice, it is hard to get the right shot immediately so dont be shy ask people to to do things several times. Usually the subject will sympathize with your desire for a better shot and will accomodate you easily. Another important reason to do this is so that you can get the shot from another angle. This will dramatically improve the scene when editing. For example when someone is opening a door and wlks through it. If you do not ask the person to open the door and walk through it a second time, you will only have 1 angle of the shot. ie. from behind (over the shoulder shot). If you ask the person to walk through the door a second time, you can shoot the second take from the other side of the door, thus having a second angle of the person walking into the door from the other side facing the camera. This way when editing the cut can join the two shots and a much more cohesive and continuous scene can be made. Obviously this applies to things like opening and closing: windows, doors, closets, reaching for phones, tools etc.

Here is an example from Yanni's Biliris truck story, his background as an editor has given the foresight to shoot things that can then easily be edited together.




- Another thing to remember is dont be afraid to go back to the same place on a second day to enrich your shots. The audience does not know that your shots might be done on separate days. Thus if for whatever reason you might have forgotten to get some Close-Ups, details, audio, or something that you might have thought of after watching your footage (dailies), go back to your location and collect the remaining footage. You will regret it later if you don't, knowing that the scene would have been better had you had that extra shot.

Folding the Production Process - Audio - Video - Audi - Video

- Folding the production process:
As a one man show you are essentially not just a photographer anymore, you are a digital media producer of the 21st century. The tools at anyones availability right now are such that with a little training, operating the camera, and the audio recorder is something that you will get used to, but there is a trick in making this simpler than it sounds.

Here are some things to keep in mind that will make things simpler.
FOLD THE PRODUCTION PROCESS
Audio - Video - Audio - video
- Dont try to do everything at once, take your time and choose one medium to work with at a time.
Start with audio when you are dealing with potential human subjects so as not to be as intimidating. An audio recorder is much less intimidating than a camera, and it will allow you to get closer to your subjects at the early stages of introduction. Bring your camera with you if you must, but this step will allow you to get familiar with your subject and place.

Use the recorder to record sounds that are characteristic to the place, and in this case also record the source of the sound if possible.

if your subject is human, have them tell you whatever they find relevant and interesting to your subject matter. This will be useful for you to get inspired as to what to shoot so as to match the audio with images and footage.

Having recorder the audio you can now proceed with shooting video and stills. DONT DO THEM SIMULTANEOUSLY. Switching back and forth between video and stills is tricky since there are different settings for each and flipping back and forth between the two can be very confusing, so set out to do one or the other. This will allow you to focus on the particular medium and get the best results. Use the audio that you recorded as a guide to the images you select to make, this will tighten your piece and again will help and improve your piece in the edit room.

Now you have recorded the audio and have gone out and shot video to "dress" the audio. As you review the material you will most likely notice gaps. Video that you shot that does not have audio to go with it and Audio without images to "dress" it with. Take notes of things you would like to cover on your next outing, then repeat the previous steps till you feel you have covered the subject and scene. By "folding" the process and deciding what medium you are going to focus on, you can break the media-collection process down into manageable steps that don't overwhelm you in the field.

You could begin with the camera in situations where you are comfortable and familiar with your subject, however starting with audio is a great way to get acquainted with your subject matter.


- Setting up to shoot a scene:
No matter whether you are shooting an interview, entering a new place, or following someone around, there are standard ways to create scenes and establish a sense of location to your audience. It is usually done by following a "stepping in to the subject" and then "stepping out".
In other words:

"shooting wide establishing shot - Medium shot - CU and Extreme CU - Medium Shot - Wide establishing shot"

This is obviously a very extensive coverage of a scene and you can get away with a lot less coverage, however its better to have more than less
- dont forget to shoot close ups of the details in the scene,
- cut ins and cataways an also be useful, so for example if you are shooting an on camera interview, cut to their hands, their feet moving, their sweat on the neck, their tattoo, their alligator who is crawling on their feet , their shaking arm, and anything you may find interesting.

Preparing an Outline and Script for the shoot

This is an extremely important and useful step that will enable you to think of the structure of your story. You should write a short 2-3 paragraph description of your story so that it has a beginning middle and end and then accompany that document with a script-shot list.

This second document is essentially your map for the shoot. It allows you to know exactly what you are looking for. Obviously in the beginning you will not have any audio or video to fill in the parts of the script however as things progress.

As you record more audio and video footage you will be able to place the voice over directly into your script outline, thus filling the spine of the story with fleshy content.

Here are a couple of examples of scripts and outlines of a few multimedia pieces.

Sample Script, Shot-List and Outline 1

Sample Script, Shot-List and Outline 2

and here is a Blank Script for you to work from

INTERVIEWING

Interviewing is key to all multimedia storytelling, its what brings the footage or the photos to life. It is really important thus to try to get the best Recording you can get. Always monitor the recording device with headphones in the beginning of the interview so that you are sure you are getting a good audio signal.

It is really important to get a few things right so as not to have issues later in the editing. It requires being persistent because some of your interviewees will forget and will be needed to reminded often.

1. Ask your subject to repeat the question in their answer.
So if you are asking them how old they are, their answer should be: "I am 34 years old" and not "34". If you ask them where they had lunch today? their answer should be "I had lunch at McDonalds today" and not "at McDonalds".

2. Dont forget to get the release forms signed by your interviewee. In the worst case scenario if you do not have it you can have them say it on camera. Have them look into the caera and say that they allow you to use the video however you see fit.

3. Ask the person to introduce them selves int he begging of the interview on camera. They should look directly into the lens and say my name is Lynda Smith, I am 34, and I am a graphic designer.

4. Ask your subject what they were doing right before the interview or even when you are interviewing them. For example “ What are you doing here in Parnitha?” “I am here to paint a wall with graffiti. “What are you doing on Stadiou Street?” “ I am burning a sign that says that this is the parliament”. “I am demonstrating because I lost my job. I was fired yesterday”.

5. If you are doing on camera interviews (some of you are) do not center your object in your frame. Always chose a dark plain background, nothing busy or flashy. If you decide to do a close up interview check out the interviews at the documentary Restrepo, great close up framing, sometimes even extreme, they cut both the edge of the head and the chin: (never cut the chin and leave the head!!!)

http://restrepothemovie.com/video/

If you prefer a medium shot, frame your subject above the waste. Make sure nothing is sticking out of their head. Best on camera interviews are always outdoors, unless there is true meaning in contacting them indoors, (e.g. on a wooden horse that the author rides to be inspired or next to the death bed of his mother, if he is talking about his dead mother. Otherwise you chose a scenery that has meaning for the doc, for example if you are shooting an environmental story film your interview in front of the mountain of coal, or in front of the power plant.

Here is a great link with 13 tips of how to conduct a good interview

CAMERA SETUP

- The challenges of shooting with shallow depth of field:
What is so special with the the 5DMKII is the ability to have interchangeable lenses and thus control the shallow depth of field, meaning that you can have the beautiful out of focus backgrounds and the very shallow depth of field, giving us the cinematic look we all crave and love. This is truly revolutionary, since up till now the only way to achieve this was with super expensive cameras and lenses.

However there are challenges when shooting with shallow depth of field here are the most common ones:
- losing focus on the subject - when shooting with a shallow depth of field it challenging to keep the subject in focus if they are moving. Depending on how shallow of a field you are working with, even static interviews might be hard to focus on the part of the subject's face that you want to all the time. The solution is to be bold and to make a choice if you are working in the field with out a tripod. Chose the shot and commit to it. Re-adjust ifd you must but dont fiddle back and forth to find the focus. Guess and make a choice, commit to it and then adjust your position to get things in focus that might not.
If you are using a pull focus ring like the "Run n' Gun" set or the Zacuto, you can make marks on the ring so that you know the in-focus range of the subject. What I mean is that if some one is walking toward the camera and you have made marks on the pull focus ring to mark the in focus position of the subject, at 3 meters, 2 meters and one meter. In Fiction you would make marks on the floor as well which would correspond to the marks on the pull focus ring

SHUTTER SPEED:
For most situations you have to use in order to have the film look we are looking for:
PAL 25 frames per second
Shutter Speed 1/50
only
if you are doing pans and tilts or there is some quick action use:
PAL 30 frames per second
Shutter Speed 1/60

EXPOSURE:
- Using the ND filters so as to be able to shoot with shallow depth of field in bright daylight. Having this option is what really makes DSLR with interchangeable lenses so great, it allows to have a shallow depth of field which is what gives the MKII the ability to look like it was shot on a cineflex or a much more expensive camera.
Use ISO and ND filters in bright settings to control exposure and avoid over exposure

WHITE BALANCE:
WB: 5600K in noon light and work from that standard.
Use custom WB in settings with multiple light sources.

OPERATING THE ZOOM - H1 & H4N

OPERATING THE ZOOMs
General things to keep in mind - Use the headphones to monitor the audio levels, and then look on screen to make sure that levels are reaching the -12 level with the loudest audio and not passing it (peaking). Try to place the recorder 1-2 meters away from the subject. Always put the wind protector foam over the microphone so as to eliminate wind noise.

- Zoom H2n:
The advantage of the Zoom H2n over the H1 is its ability to record 4 different channels of audio while the H1 allows only for 2. This means that you can add a wireless microphone into the equation, this is ideal for interviews and situation where the subject is in a noisy or crowded place. Here is a video to illustrate the difference of using the H4N microphone vs. the camera mic vs. a wireless lavaliere

- Zoom H1:
Here is a basic tutorial of how to use the H1 zoom recorder, again i cant stress how important it is to monitor the recorder with headphones to get a sense of what is beinng recorded do not simply rely on the lcd screen reading of the digital signal, there might be a sound in the background that you can not hear with your ear but is being picked up by the zoom and then once you try to edit in post the audio is unusable. Another tutorial on H1 Zoom

AUDIO RECORDINGS

On camera - the mic of the camera is not great so whenever possible use the min-ijack sennheizer shotgun microphone to improve recording quality.
You must wear the headphones to gage the quality and levels of the audio. The screen monitor on the zoom is ok but you should definitely monitor the audio with the headphones.

Set the Audio to Auto in most situations where the sound levels are more or less consistent,
Use Manual audio settings when sound in area tends to fluctuate and peak at different levels

There is no question that the more you shoot the more you feel comfortable with the camera and shooting style that the camera permits, so i would suggest you play with the camera as much as you can before going out to shoot your subjects.

Dont forget you can download the tutorials from my sever here:

5DMKII tutorials download