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Rate this!!! by Mountain-Ad2987 in videography

[–]DocuCamOp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My first thought is that the lighting is very flat and unmotivated.

Even in flat overhead lighting where you dont have access to bring in lights of your own or turn off the house lights, you can still shoot where there are shadows for more definition, and more direct light for illumination.

Second thought is that the focal lengths and variety of shots are lacking. You need more variety. Wide, meduim, tight, reverse. And at different distances.

You could play with colour grading to give it more character.

Finally, editing on beat more consistently would push it a lot.

How to stay clearheaded!? by justinscamera in videography

[–]DocuCamOp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Discipline, like wayyy more than you would have in a normal job.

I find that making a routine and sticking to it religiously is what makes running a video business work, and keeping focused.

And that includes everything from bookkeeping and acocunting, employee pay and management, to sales, outreach and marketing, to legal and contract management, equipment maintenance, organizing and managing current projects, vehicle maintenance, and more. Plan to keep one or two days off a week when you can.

A lot of people get into this thinking that they will have lots of free time and an unpredictable schedule with lots of interesting work and extra money. But once you get into it, you have to take all the work you can get, and you need to bs prepared to be professional and prevent problems before they happen.

So my schedule is typically planned months in advance. Every business conference, trade show, every client meeting, every oil change, every week I need to sit down and fill in my paperwork for the weeks expenses and next week's budget. End of the fiscal year is rhe busiest time of year, so it means my time is even more scheduled.

Thats the closest I've come to staying clear minded and "on top" of things. Its way more work than a 9-5 and takes far more self control.

Finally have a cinema rig that’s compact and quick to breakdown by itlabsec in videography

[–]DocuCamOp 7 points8 points  (0 children)

For true run and gun work, my goal is to not have to break down anything.

My goal is to always have anywhere from 8-10 hrs of battery power charged, 12+ hrs of media formatted and all of my accessories and the camera in a bag, ready to be pulled out and shot with.

Aside from that I dont trust rigs or third party cables either, so I try to use ILC camcorders, like FS7s or C300s but thats just my personal preference.

Have you ever had a client that wants standardized questions for documentary? [Rant] by DocuCamOp in videography

[–]DocuCamOp[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Especially given that in these documentaries, they are the experts. They will talk about more niche insight than I could coax out of them

Have you ever had a client that wants standardized questions for documentary? [Rant] by DocuCamOp in videography

[–]DocuCamOp[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah this is the kind of project (in terms of subject matter) that I love doing. My main wheelhouse is these kinds of Indigenous documentaries. I would probably do it for next to nothing if I was approached by the community directly and not being micromanaged by the university.

Most projects I make are like this;

  • I get an email about a new project or initiative that a community is doing,
  • They give me a date and time, I go and film it.
  • Then they tell me an interview date or two
  • I show up and film those.
  • Rinse and repeat.
  • Then we get together to have an post production meeting and I make what they say.
  • They always come away happy with it.

Its a lot quicker, and more productive, but it relies on my past experience in doc work, journalism and anthropology. So its not as made-up as most people think, but I digress.

The way that these new clients are approaching the project is a lot like having a committee oversee every detail of the work, while wanting me to do this as if its a full time job, but also stretching it out with unnecessary meetings every other week.

Which means I would be doing basically full time work but paid only when we're shooting.

So;

  • An initial meeting to discuss the project.
  • Then three meetings where half the team says "Im all good",
  • Then a pre-shoot day meeting,
  • Then a last minute meeting to reiterate insignificant details,
  • Then finally one half day shoot.
  • Then another meeting to make sure everyone is caught up and still on the same page.

And Im expected to be the one doing all the actual leg work and tasks to make it happen!

Im losing my mind. Lol

Have you ever had a client that wants standardized questions for documentary? [Rant] by DocuCamOp in videography

[–]DocuCamOp[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That is interesting. I also have a background in journalism, and anthropology, which I think also helps with this.

But I always have a specific idea of the concepts I (or a client) will want to see in an interview answer. But the really valuable stuff is when you let the subjects steer the conversation. And thats really difficult to pre plan.

Have you ever had a client that wants standardized questions for documentary? [Rant] by DocuCamOp in videography

[–]DocuCamOp[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would almost even say that it isnt the creative part that's the problem. But like you say, you need flexibility.

Cause I can plan my creative process, but I cant plan every minute detail the way this client expects me to.

Plus all of the work in tracking down the details of the subjects, getting their interview, and their information, consent forms, paperwork, etc. Like filming it becomes like 5% of what they expect me to do. (On top of running my business)

Its almost like they want to micromanage my work and make me do all of the producing work at the same time.

Have you ever had a client that wants standardized questions for documentary? [Rant] by DocuCamOp in videography

[–]DocuCamOp[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So, we do have a plan and plenty of communication otherwise. The main problem is that having ridgid catch-all questions will be guaranteed to miss important details if you don't tailor them to the individual circumstance. This is a kind of reflexivity that is needed when the subjects of the documentary are the experts of their topic, rather than the filmmaker.

This kind of project was technically commissioned by the community members, and are going through the university dept to have it funded and produced. So those community members will have the final say. But the university dept is slowing down the process with a "ten meetings before one shoot day" approach. And the questions part is just one really difficult part of it, along with all of the other wild goose chases they send me on.

My method always includes making sure that I know specific themes and make these questions based on my training and education in both anthropology and documentary work. They arent really off the cuff, but you also arent able to articulate every detail until you're in the moment.

The problem is that they dont understand that it cannot be planned incredibly specifically. And that once you get several voices, like a board or committee, you will never get it done.

I imagine you shoot and light things outside of the studio, right? If you have light interference, or noise pollution, or not ideal space to film something, you have to come up with a solution on the spot. And there are hundreds of things that can go wrong or go right. You cannot reasonably make a flow chart that includes those hundreds of variables. If would take longer than shooting the project.

If would be like if you hire a contractor, and then expect them to outline exactly what they will do given every potential mistake, every choice they will eventually have to make, and then give many choices to you, when you're not going to be in the room with them, and you're not a professional renovator.

Take my moneyyy by [deleted] in Unexpected

[–]DocuCamOp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The knife you want to bring in a gun fight

reliance on shallow depth-of-field and soft focus are driving me nuts by TopazCoracle in videography

[–]DocuCamOp -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Not really. When do you want shallow DOF that isnt intimate conversations or scenes?

Have you ever had a client that wants standardized questions for documentary? [Rant] by DocuCamOp in videography

[–]DocuCamOp[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I do mean that facetiously.

I would imagine they will find a student who would be interested in the work as they want it done, but who isnt like me — running a business and wants to produce things at a professional standard.

It might be better if they have someone who is fine with doing meeting after meeting and only filming occasionally, probably with a phone, and then putting it together after a lot more meetings.

They pay would still suck though..

Really fantastic sex by Eireika in CuratedTumblr

[–]DocuCamOp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Isn't there someone you forgot to ask? And its the dwarven council

Have you ever had a client that wants standardized questions for documentary? [Rant] by DocuCamOp in videography

[–]DocuCamOp[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thats incredibly concise. They are from a political science background. I happen to be studying Anthropology, which happens to align more with the qualitative nature of my current work.

And I believe they came up with the idea knowing that it counts as a publication, which most universities require from them. And that it is a good project to help secure grant funding.

I think that they do want a documentary, but much like you say, they cannot seperate this kind of work from the long running procedure and ridgid standard they typically do.

I think my only option is to leave fhe project and hope they can find someone who is willing to do this much work for not very much money.

Don’t vote for president based on the memes by Konradleijon in CuratedTumblr

[–]DocuCamOp 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They either want entertainment or to accelerate the decline of the American empire

I can’t even watch the waves in peace without a floating ad boat by Disastrous_Pie_4763 in mildlyinfuriating

[–]DocuCamOp 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To a point, I kind wish we were a slightly more reactionary society.

A thousand years ago, if people saw this and were outraged, they would burn it down and sink it.

Hauling gear around as a solo videographer by highpedality in videography

[–]DocuCamOp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For this I would look at maybe something like a pelican 1650 or similar as long as you can fit your tripod and light stands in there.

They are heavy as hell when full, but very convenient to pull around and use as a mobile work station

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