11 things video editors wish they could say to camera operators and DOPs
I much rather shoot with an operating-editor, than a camera person with little or no editing experience. Even if framing or focus are less than perfect, with an editor you know the scene will cut together. Often a camera person without editing experience wastes time on lighting, focus or perfect framing, completely missing the shot or emotion.
Multi-cam shoot
-Coordinate the rolls of all camera’s and audio recorders!
Everybody starts & stops at the same time. This greatly reduces the time you have to spend in post trying to figure out what belongs to what.
Bob the editor: ”Please no starting and stopping at will, you’ll create hundreds of files per shoot that I have to find and organize in post”
-Use a good common audio source on all camera’s & recorders.
Use the best mic possible to facilitate automated waveform syncing and make sure those mics “hear” the same source.
-Use Time-of-day FREE RUN on all sources.
With time-of-day, anyone on set can look at their watch and make a performance note or any other comment that will be useful and time saving later in the edit room. Make sure every device is set to Free Run.
-Shoot with an I-frame codec. >No H264 DSLR compression!
DVCPRO-HD, PRORES, DNxHD or MXF using external recorders to skip transcoding all together.
This is a necessity on shoots with more than 3 cameras because Premiere can’t decompress long-GOP-codecs without time consuming crashes and other issues.
Download P2 & AVCHD viewer , Sony clip browser or RED to screen native files on computers without Premiere.
-Use the strongest shooter for the b-roll.
Albert Maysles: ”Getting b-roll in a verite situation is tricky, you have to be quick to grab the right shots to make a scene editable”
-All cameras: Use fixed White balance, not automatic, not preset.
-Spend one minute getting a good balance, using a white card, all cameras, in the room where you do your shots.
-Use the same brand and type (no mixing of DSLR and video cameras)
-Use the same frame size and frame rate.
-If possible jam sync the timecode to time of day for easy logging.
-When shooting double system: LOG AUDIO FILES!!!! If it’s got no picture, tell the editor what it matches to – the editor wasn’t there when you shot it, and can only tell what it is, by playing it in real time unless there is a log.
-Make sure that the reel names and timecode on your camera are set correctly and that they increment with each new card, tape or disc. The more information you can supply the better. If you’re keeping logging sheets or camera reports, please know editors do actually look at them!
Single cam shoot
Ideal camera person has at least 2 of these qualities:
-has edited professionally for more than 1 year.
-has multiple, recent video’s online that you like.
-owns or has access to the camera that you want to use on the shoot.
-pays attention to detail & is easy to work with.
-has a “good eye”
A good camera operator will be able to spot a good opportunity and have an artistic eye for framing shots.
After finding a reel of someone you like, also ask for a private link to 10 min of raw footage, uncut. (Sped up 10x, Watermarked and Silent to protect clients)
See this 5 min video showing raw footage of a top cameraman
Fast forward to 3:30 for 10x sped up version of his footage. Notice how he holds shots and gives multiple options for things that happen in front of the lens.
Specifications for an interview:
-make sure that the interviewee is evenly lit and that there are no distracting bright spots in the BG.
-exposure should be checked with zebra or peaking.
-no distracting movement in the BG.
-when shooting an interview longer than 10 min; make sure the light balance/color balance doesn’t change over time. (don’t shoot long interviews with available light on a cloudy day)
-Use the largest monitor you can carry to check focus.
-The DOF (dept of field) should be large enough to allow the interviewee to move their head and still keep eyes and ears in focus.
-Pay special attention to reflection of crew and lights when people wear glasses. Move lights up or tip glasses down, to avoid.
Specifications for B-roll:
-no adjustments of focus or exposure during a shot.
-if you have to reframe or refocus, please hold the shot at least 10 sec.
–Always make a move both ways (tilt up, wait 10sec tilt back down)
–Roll static shots at least 30sec.
Bob: “I think that shooters spend so much time behind the camera that it FEELS like they’ve sat on a shot long enough, when they’ve really only scored about two seconds of usable footage”
–Check the back-focus on a large monitor before the shoot, learn how to adjust it for the specific camera you use:
Panasonic HVX-200 = Fixed lens > no back-focus adjust.
Panasonic AG-HPX370 always have the iris between 2.8 and 5,6 (use the ND filter & shutter to compensate) Higher aperture makes the shot soft, this is a known issue.
SONY EX3 > Set camera up with focus chart, go to the “Lens” menu in the main menu when your camera is in camera mode.
Select “Auto FB Adjust” and the camera should begin automatically calibrating itself.
AUDIO
-Monitor audio using headphones during the shoot.
-Microphone placement is everything. The one spot that sounds best may also create mouth noises that a windscreen can’t cure. Putting the microphone farther down the chest can cause severe rumble from the chest cavity and stomach, and let too much room noise into the balance of direct- to-room sound.
-Center the microphone on your talent as much as possible.
-Do not hide the microphone under clothes, it will create muffled sound and rustling noises.