ProVideo Coalition.com: Camera Log by Adam Wilt | Founder | Pro Cameras, HDV Camera, HD Camera, Sony, Panasonic, JVC, RED, Video Camera Reviews

Day 2 - Tim, Rob, and I meet at 6:45am to cover the starting line of the Dipsea Race. It turns out that half the people in Mill Valley know Rob, and half of them have been in one of his previous films. In between the impromptu reunions, we get the footage we need, and repair to the main location after a hearty breakfast.

Tim sets up a VistaBeam behind the door. The VistaBeam draws 600 watts, yet puts out about as much light as a 4k tungsten instrument in a softbox. Bounced off ceiling and wall, it brings the base levels up to the point where I can shoot the scene without blowing out the windows. I even have to throw in the ND1 filter to keep my aperture around f4, yet have the shadows down where Rob likes them. Not for the last time, the VistaBeam proves itself a wise choice.

We need to get low, as in ground-level, so I yank the DvRig and plan to operate completely handheld. Rob is in the hall, monitoring on my Panasonic BT-LH1700W (there’s no way I’m working around that composite cable in full-handheld mode); Tim is mixing, Alan is squeezed between a dresser and the wall, booming (Rob likes to have lavs on all his actors, but we also use a boom mike for coverage, backup, and ambience. This is a short establishing shot, then we’ll come back for closeups, so we’re cool with the required contortions.

25 minutes and 5 seconds later, Rob says, “cut”. It’s jazz, man; improv: sometimes the scenes run a bit long. At the 20 minute mark, I have to choose between dripping sweat on the camera or on one of the actors (it was in the high 80s that day), so I compromise by dripping sweat on both. I fondly remember 4GB P2 cards and 8-minute maximum take lengths, when both slots of the HVX200 were filled… ah, the good old days! [1]

The VistaBeam moves out onto the rear deck, to kick up the fill level in the dappled light beneath a gnarled tree. It’s 6pm, and the sun is beaming down out of a cloudless sky, yet we have rich detail in the shadows and no blowouts on sunlit skin nor in the sky (I hope to post frame grabs soon).

Day 3 - We sit down at call time and go over the shot list. We’ve shot for two days, and we’ve been busy, but it still looks like we’re about two days behind schedule. How can this be?

I’ve figured out that my sore thumb is the result of the EX1’s composite cable pressing into my flesh; it’s to the point where, after a take, I pretty much can’t use the thumb at all. I tell Rob he’s on the Panasonic whenever possible, and he agrees, so I gratefully switch the EX1 to HD-SDI monitoring as much as possible.

The Panasonic 17” monitor was a lifesaver.

But sometimes it’s not possible. In one take, we expect to start on the rear deck beside a chair, and wander around a bit, so Rob is on the Glasstron. We have wireless lavs on three actors, plus a boom. As the scene progresses, we rise up from seated eye-level and wander over to the railing, looking out over Mill Valley… when one actor grabs another’s arm and takes off at a dead run. I follow right behind them, and feel a slight jerk on my cables: remember, I’ve got a sound guy attached to me with dual XLRs, and a blind man on a leash!

Somehow both Aaron (on sound) and Rob (on a Glasstron leash) manage to follow without utter catastrophe, and 13 minutes later, the take is in the can. At about the 10-minute mark, Rob’s Glasstrons became disconnected, but the take was a success; we come back only for a couple of cutaways to cover various technical and artistic lapses (on-camera Litepanel Micro fill light reflected in glossy Olympic medal case; soundman caught on camera during another unexpected run).

We finish up with two cameras shooting as the sun slips behind the ridge, the light fading on our actors as they watch the sunset.

At the end of Day 3 (on a six-day shoot), the following truths have become self-evident:

[1] Yeah, yeah: how about, “the 11-minute maximum take with a 400-foot mag on an Arri 16BL… ah, the good old days!” There, is that better? Are you happy now? [2]

[2] Oops, I just got myself banned from CML for mentioning the Camera That Shall Not Be Mentioned. Dang.