This is review of my equipment and gear explorations over the past year. For those of you who aren’t film-technical… don’t read this.
As an independent filmmaker I use mainly the EX1/EX3, and my Canon 5D. When on other peoples’ shoots, I’m able to use other things, but this is specific to my set up for my shoots, for the time being.
The EX1/EX3 is a fail-safe. It’s been fantastic as a camera: even though I employ most of the manual controls it offers, it’s still a get-ready-and-go camera for me, combining all the features I need into one box and letting me worry more about interviewing and directing rather than shooting issues.
Being that I’m originally a photographer, I got really excited when the possibilities of the 5D became clearer. I could use my really shallow depth of field lenses that I already had and get gorgeous interviews without buying the $20,000 lens set ups other cameras needed, EX1 somewhat included (ok, more like $3000 or something but I’m still no where in that price range just for a lens).
Not. That. Simple. Hoooold up cowboy.
The 5D is an entirely different set up. It goes back to the old system of dual-recorded tracks. One for audio, and one for video. This is not a detail. It’s a Big Effing Deal. If you’re not an audio person, like me, then you suddenly find yourself having to scramble and learn how to use audio equipment for real. Most people recommend the H4N zoom recorder as a on-the-go field recorder. You can either use it as it is with the on-board mics (high quality) or you can plug in via XLR two externals.
So I got the Zoom H4N. It has now completely messed up three of my shoots, one of them being very important. I might attribute the first two to my lack of skills with it, but the third shoot was unacceptably not my fault.
Notes: The zoom H4N recorder is NOT connected to the camera – it functions completely independently. That’s the whole point of the zoom H4N. It’s a separate entity. Well you’re then having to deal with a second entity and all its issues. The Zoom H4N apparently doesn’t like cards bigger than 8GB, nor does like certain brands, nor does the zoom manufacturer or company advertise this anywhere or warn you in the manual. The zoom H4N also does not take to shutting down safely if batteries run out. If you’re in the M4H mode like I was, trying to record 4 audio inputs at once and providing phantom power … the batteries run out extremely fast.
If the batteries run out while you’re recording, you will lose your whole recording. As I did. All files showed up, but empty. Poof. 3 hours. Unrepeatable. I had 16GB Sandisk in there. Previous failed recordings were on a 32GB Kingston. Both are really good brands.
Now, the phantom power: apparently you can’t switch on the phantom power for only one external input. So, if I have my wireless lav in Input 1 and my audiotechnica shotgun mic in input 2, which needs phantom power, then I’ll hear little jolts of power over input 1 as my wireless lav doesn’t need it. If I turn off the M4H mode and go into STEREO mode which is what most people record in, then I can’t use the zoom’s on-board mics. So I’m reduced to. Recording. Only. One. Input. NOT OKAY.
Now, the EX1 also has this either-or set up… either you use the onboard mic (very bad, you hear all the camera noise) or the external inputs, but the external XLR are individually controlled by little knobs where you can set up phantom power or not. So I can have two audio inputs. Which is all I ever, really need.
On the EX1 I have a big massive battery that lasts for 6 hours that takes care of EVERYTHING – audio AND video. So I have only one battery source to worry about. If my battery runs out, I do not lose any video or audio. If I hear the audio over my microphones… then it exists, it’s there, and its’ badaboom ALREADY SYNCED so I don’t have to go back over my files later and find the audio files I had separately recorded. The post is much easier in regards to audio.
Now, the zoom H4N does allow me to leave it on, while my camera is off. Sometimes I just don’t want to get video of someone talking forever in the same spot, with unchanging facial expressions and unlikely good material. Perhaps I’m out of cards or can’t download the footage yet and clear them. Whatever the case may be, the H4N allows me to still record audio in the meantime, a handy backup. That is, if it works, which it really hasn’t yet.
To make everything more complicated, the 5D isn’t really set up for all of this external stuff, so you need to get a rig. A rig can be made out of anything. PVC piping. Metal bars. Wood. Anything. But of course, if you want to look professional, you don’t want to show up to interviews with a duct-taped (however functional) piece of cobbled bits together, so you need to buy this rig or actually spend quite a bit of time building a nice one. If you’ve got power tools in your shed, and you’re good with them, and you have some patience, creativity and time… then great.
My Chinese-made rig, which I got for $160, isn’t great but it more than does the job. It keeps my shots stable. It folds up smallish. It’s a bit too heavy. It looks professional.
I bought a $4 flash bracket to fit onto my hot-shoe that holds my zoom H4N (why did they call that stupid recorder a zoom???) my wireless receiver, and the audio technica shotgun mic. At this point it’s about as heavy as I can have it if I’m going to do lots of handheld shooting over a long day.
However. It is advisable to also get an external monitor. I have a crappy one I need to send back. No comment as of now. Well, yes, I do have a comment: that external monitors are great in theory but when you’re shooting solo are ridiculous accessories you have no time for. I should use one for my EX1 but I don’t have time for it then either. I can focus fine in my viewfinder off the 5D. The extra amount of control that comes with the external monitor isn’t worth the crowds that gather behind me to “watch the show” nor the extra weight or hassle to set it up. Not to mention that my external monitor needs to be PLUGGED IN (not something I understood when I bought it, thumbs waaay down).
We come to the final two rounds of extra stuff you need for the 5D. Lenses, and follow focus.
So follow focus is a thing of Hollywood and fiction films. If you’ve got time for setting up and repeating shots and tracking focus, it’s absolutely necessary. But on-the-go, documentary style shooting? It falls low on my list, almost impractical [update: TOTALLY impractical]. The only thing which has made sense is the hybrid “friction” follow focus. Those just lay on your lens and via friction will focus your lens. I used mine that I got from IDCPro once on a shoot and it was nice… but that’s it. It was nice. It was a pain in the ass to take off afterwards as I had forgotten my key for it, and didn’t have an approximate tool. It’s heavy. It isn’t on-the-go friendly, at all. I’d use it ONLY if I was shooting something with my prime, and had time to worry.
Time to worry. Now that’s the big thing. When you’re shooting solo or on a two-(wo)man team, and you’re having to interview or direct as well as shoot… this set up is a nightmare to nail down right AND direct AND interview.
Lastly – lenses. I got all excited that I was going to use my 85mm prime lens I have for these upcoming interviews. On the first one, I realized that the distance I needed to my subject to get the right depth of field for a 2/3 body crop (him AND part of his motorcycle) made me having to stand far away to interview him. I had someone monitoring the camera and came closer but it was still too far away to create that intimate feel I’m used to. [update: this was taken care of with just switching to my 50mm]
Also, a big duh-moment for me, I had forgotten that there is no zooming on the prime. That’s why they call them primes… because they’re at a fixed-focal length. Which is why you can get such a beautiful image. But. It also means you can’t recrop in one interview without
a. moving the tripod + all your gear closer/farther away, or
b. changing your lenses halfway through the interview… which means stopping the flow of things.
So my idea to shoot with a prime doesn’t work reliably [update: I take the chance with it. See my latest film "Baffle Them with Bullsh*t, Kerry Leigh" completely filmed with a 50mm]. YES I would do this if I was the cinematographer and only the cinematographer. But I am too often playing multiple roles that take too much of my time to worry about changing lenses. Not to mention, checking camera batteries, audio batteries, sound (as it’s being recorded), and if the subject is still framed correctly, AND remembering what my subject says so I can keep moving forward in the interview. I went back to shooting on a 85-105 after that, and realized that the only other thing I could try and is shoot on a macro lens because that gives me great depth of field at really close ranges, but it still would be a pain to reframe if I wanted. So what I did with the first interview is just go wide as I could always crop in later on. [update: which is what I did for Kerry Leigh, and it works great. Perhaps it saves me the headache of having zoomed in when I shouldn't have].
So, it requires a new shooting style. The problem is that its takes waaaay too much brainpower if I’m the only one on location who knows what they’re doing. If I’ve got a cinematographer doing everything, and I can focus on other things, then it’s a go. If I’m able to let go of my other duties and just shoot, then it’s a go.
Together, I need to make compromises. Less so on sit-down, stable interviews, but definitely more-so on handheld verité style shoots.
I’m shooting all the time. This post will evolve over time. I thought I’d write this while it was still fresh from an intense week of experimenting new gear in Qatar.
Shoot me your comments or questions, let me know your experience with all this gear, and any suggestions you may have.
xoxoxo
Isabelle
UPDATE: I’ve gotten a lot more used to my set up and just can’t get over how relatively small and portable it all is compared to my EX1. My process is much smoother now. Confirmation on: No monitor for documentary shoots. No follow focus, its useless, but DO get a lens that has a smooth focus ring on it (all the new canon lenses, made in the USA, have that). Oh there’s more, but I’ll leave a big update for later. Ciao!
Tags: 5D, Canon 5D, friction follow focus, follow focus, external monitors, documentary film, documentary filmmaking, independent documentary filmmaking, 5D rig, 5D cages, EX1, EX3, wireless lav, wireless mics, shotgun mic, audio, sound, film, video, ethnography, on the go shooting, rough and ready shooting, easy shooting, zoom H4N recorder, prime lensesTags: isabelle carbonell, isabelle, carbonell
