StudioNow - A Cut Above

Spotlight on Dierks Bentley from Sean Green

Producing video is not only his full time job, it's also Sean Green's passion. Since 2006, Sean has been perfecting his video production expertise in partnership with his father's audio production company, Digital Master. When Sean is not producing EPKs, music videos or web promos for Digital Master, he finds time to produce videos with StudioNow and sometimes, even answer a few questions here.

SN: The video you created for Playboy on Dierks Bentley has stunning visuals. What can you tell us about specific techniques that you used on location to help achieve this kind of look?

SG: Shooting Dierks Bentley was a unique challenge because we only had a limited amount of time with him. Playboy brought in Alison Bonaguro to conduct the interview and on the day of the shoot, we got there several hours early to set up. We had only enough time to shoot the interview once before Dierks had to leave, and we didn't have the budget for a second camera operator. I knew the video would suffer greatly if we only had one angle of Dierks for the entire interview, so I decided to add a second unmanned camera to provide another perspective. Then, we had him play through the song twice—I stayed wide on the first run through, and then got as many camera moves and closeups as I could on the second run through. This approach allowed me to be confident I always had a good shot, and improved the overall pacing of the final piece.

The other challenge we encountered was the low ceiling of The Station Inn. Thankfully, we had a lighting guy who brought in 8-9 lights to work with. He set up almost all of them, with at least 4 in the background. My dad ran location sound and I operated the main camera, which was a Panasonic Varicam. In my opinion, thats one of the best HD cameras around in terms of color depth. At that time, I had never used it before but thankfully, I got to spend a lot of time with it and the manual the day before to make sure I knew how to operate it properly. And since we had extra time built into the schedule, we managed to get the light situation correct first and then have a stand-in to make sure everything looked good on the monitor. 

For the b-roll footage, I decided to use the shaky handheld style movements because it adds energy to the frame. Without it, the interior shots of the location would have been little more than a slideshow. However, as with most things, it is possible to overdo it. I tried to balance the cam movements with the stable tripod shots of Dierks. When we shot the interview, it was raining heavily and we weren't able to shoot anything outside. I had to go back the following day to shoot the exteriors of the Station Inn which I did handheld because I could get the pans that i needed quickly and still be fairly smooth. Almost as soon as I got those exterior shots and got back in the car, it started raining. If I had tried to set up a tripod, I wouldn't have gotten all the shots I needed of the building.  

SN: What about any specific techniques that you used in post?

SG: During production, my dad and I decided that we would put a lav on Dierks and also use a boom for ambient sound as well. It can seem like overkill sometimes, but once I started cutting the edit together, I noticed that the lav captured the interview audio best, while the shotgun picked up the singing best. I didn't anticipate this initially, but I was glad I had both sources in post. 

SN: If you could offer some quick advice to a fellow StudioNow filmmaker about creating a compelling video—what would it be?

SG: The best advice I can give is to echo the advice of one of my mentors, Kenny Mims, and that is "Never forget rule number one... always get the shot!"  I can give you an example of what can happen if you forget rule number one. I was editing a video that was to chronicle a rising Country Music Star as he got ready for his very first performance on the Grand Ole Opry. For a Country Music singer, to be asked to play the Grand Ole Opry is a tremendous honor. There was a two man camera crew tasked with following this singer around and documenting his preparation for the momentous performance. He was nervous and excited and it was obvious how much the performance meant to him.  The camera crew followed him around for hours and captured everything he did. Then the big moment approaches, the camera crew is strategically positioned on the side of the stage filming the Opry host as he is about to introduce our singer. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome..." and the camera goes black.  Puzzled, I search for the footage from the other camera and amazingly he doesn't have it either.  I couldn't believe it, the main goal of the video was to document this singer's very first Grand Ole Opry performance and the camera crew didn't even get him going on stage. Most video shoots can be distilled down to a few absolutely critical shots that you absolutely must get... make sure you get those shots. Get as much coverage, angles, and cut-aways as you think you need, but remember those are always secondary to your critical shots.  "Never forget rule number one—always get the shot!"

The other part of my advice is a more general CYA — in other words, more than simply getting enough video coverage. I would encourage every filmmaker to get as clear a picture of each project beforehand —its essential for understanding the expectations of what will be required logistically from start to finish. Ultimately, you have to always be prepared to adapt and respond on the fly at the last minute. As I learned from the military, you have to imagine the worst possible outcome so you can fully prepare in advance. Thats the first step to being able to deal with things out of your control. 

SN: Great job, Sean! We really appreciate your help!

Spotlight on StudioNow Videos: Jimmy's Burger Joint

Today we look at another Citysearch business profile... this time for Jimmy's Burger Joint in Costa Mesa, CA. 

Jimmy's is brought to you courtesy of StudioNow Network Member Roger Timm of Los Angeles, CA (and sometimes Austin, TX).  Roger is a part of Ugly American Entertainment and has been a video and film creator for the better part of 10 years. 

SN:  What unique challenges and opportunities do you feel like restaurant shoots provide vs. other kinds of businesses?  We'd love to know if and how you approach different categories of businesses.  Salons, restaurants, clubs, plumbers, etc...

RT:  Restaurants are tricky, but can be the most rewarding. You get lots of visually stimulating shots, but many times they are dark and must be managed because most places WILL NOT let you bring in external lighting. I approach each job individually. Clubs always need extra lighting and usually need seperate areas for interview, so I always get there early. Salons are usually the easiet to showcase because they are concentrated, self contained. The key to a good restaurant shoot is to get to know the owner, or manager on the phone before the shoot. Also get to know the style of place and food involved. This will let you create a video based around the person rather than just the place. This is critical to a good documentary approach.

SN:  The lighting on this piece looks great and the production value is high.  Please elaborate on any specific techniques (either on location or in post)  that you used on this or other shoots to help achieve this kind of look?

RT:  To get the best look, I attempt to set subjects in the best balanced light for a sharp and complete exposure. Sometimes this takes a little extra time finding the right spot, but it is always worth it. When that is not available, I bring in my own lighting if the client allows.

SN:  What do you have in your standard kit of gear that you take for a Citysearch or business profile video?

RT:  I use a Panasonic HVX-200 camera with a lens adapter kit and 2 16 gig P2 cards (review). I use a Bogen tripod with a fluid head. I also use an arriflex light kit for some shoots, but not the Jimmy's shoot that was all ambient light, and I have a bescor and a lowell interview light, one of each. I use an e series wireless lav kit by Shure, the beta, and I use Sony Pro headphones.   Other miscellaneous items include multiple charged batteries and backup power supply, lens filters and gels and paperwork with clipboard. Also, always remember a pen!

SN:  If you could offer one piece of advice to a fellow StudioNow filmmaker about creating a really awesome, compelling business profile video, what would that be?

RT:  The best way to make a great video is to remember that this is a video for a person/business and that this is that person's livelihood. If you take the time to showcase the personality and best traits of a particular place, the editing is easy. Also, patience is very important. These are not actors, but most times they know what they do far better than you do. So let them help you craft the video by bringing out the best in them.

Spotlight on StudioNow Videos: Barre3

This week we shine the spotlight on the Barre3 business profile video done for Citysearch.

StudioNow Network Member John Morgan of Portland, OR. shot and edited Barre3 along with a number of other great looking and compelling business profile videos.  John has been in the tv/film industry for 15 years and just opened his own business, StereoEye Productions, a year ago. 

John has provided some great information regarding his own technique and process along with a lot of advice and suggestions that are dead-on:

SN:  We've noticed that in many of your videos you include several (more than the usual 1 or 2 that we see most of the time) customer testimonials.  Having multiple testimonials, even if only brief, is extremely effective at enhancing the message of the featured speaker as well as providing added authenticity and improving the overall pace of the piece.   How do you approach people about giving a brief testimonial so as to encourage their participation and also minimize the inconvenience to them?  Also, what do you do to put your speakers at ease?

JM:  The best way to acquire testimonials is to call ahead. Contact the client and suggest that they have some of their favorite customers drop by to appear on a "commercial". Sometimes clients will have scripts written out for their customers when you show up for the shoot. This is great for people who are experienced at working in front of a camera, but not so good for the average person. Have the customers deliver the lines given to them by your client, then have them answer questions you ask, or even better, have the customer say what ever they want. You will find out what method produces more natural testimonials as soon as you start logging. Stand next to your camera and have the customer look at you while they speak, make eye contact, and look relaxed. Of course, tell them they were great!

For Barre3, I have to confess, one of the speakers was a reporter for a local TV station, and another was a professional PR person. Sometimes you really hit the jackpot. For the other speakers, I asked them some standard questions like, "what do you think of the staff here?", and, "what is your favorite thing about Barre 3?" Then I asked them to tell me what they would tell one of their good friends about the business. I also edited the bites down to the word, eliminating quite a few repeated words, uhms, ahhs, and sentence fragments. I then used video to cover the jump cuts created by these edits.

SN:  In many of your business profile videos, including this one, you mix the music and the sound bytes, with the ambient/natural sound of what is going on in the room in a very effective way (ie. the portion of the video where you can hear her teaching her class).   This provides added energy and atmosphere to the overall piece.  Many pieces we see simply just use music and the soundbytes as the audio.  Can you talk about what you feel the live sound can bring to the piece overall, and how you incorporate it into your pieces?

JM:  For Barre3, I made sure the instructor/owner had a wireless mic on as she taught the classes. This does not always result in any useable audio, but it is always worth a try. She just happened to say some things to her class that she had mentioned in her interview, so I just spliced them together as tightly as I could. Sometimes, I will ask the owner to wear a wireless mic as they meet and greet customers, you can capture a lot of personality that way.

Keep an open mind as you log. Save sub clips of anything at all that could highlight any of the primary messages on your production checklist, as well as anything interesting. Be thorough. There might be 18 frames of gold in that 6 minute clip. If you log and label carefully, it will be easier to pair bites, video and nats. Nat pops, and music swells can also serve as an easy way to accomplish otherwise awkward transitions.

SN:  The lighting on this piece looks great and production value is high.  Please elaborate on any specific techniques (either on location or in post)  that you used on this or other shoots to help achieve this kind of look?  Of particular interest are the camera moves and techniques that you used on the exteriors and signage.

JM:  Use natural light when you can, and use a white card! If you don't have time to white balance, at least hold the card up for a second so you have a white reference to calibrate with in post. You might not have time to set a 3 or 4 point light scheme, so concentrate on the face. I use a 42" reflector disc for head shots. Bouncing a good tungsten Fresnel light off of that will give you a nice smooth light. If you are not good with scrims, use a dimmer. Sometimes the direct light from that fixture will sneak through the barn doors, there is your fill light!

When shooting exteriors, I use a tripod and get as many kinds of zooms, pans, and tilts in various speeds. Use a fast shutter speed if possible, this will improve the result if you use any slow motion, or motion smoothing effects. Once you have spent your precious 5 minutes shooting from the tri-pod, you can then go hand-held and try the fancy stuff. In this video I shot through the business front window, getting the city in the background and the logo (which was backwards to the camera). In post I flipped the image so the logo was readable, who was going to notice that the city was backwards?

SN:  What do you have in your standard kit of gear that you take for a Citysearch or business profile video?

JM:  I take the following with me:

• Canon XH-A1 HDV camera + spare battery!  (see Cnet review)
• Bogen 3233 sticks with a Bogen 3063 head (it is a tank, but it is one of the cheapest used fluid head set ups that you can find on eBay)
• Sennheiser EW100 G2 body-pack transmitter with Omni Lav mic, with EW100 G2 shoe mounted receiver
• Sennheiser ME66 shotgun mic.
• 2 Arri AFR 300 Fresnel light fixtures
• 2 AC dimmers
• 1 Impact 42" reflector disc
• Set of color temp correcting gels (learn how to use these!)
• Other various fixtures, clips and stands.
• Clip board with tons of release forms, and pens. (you would be surprised)

SN:  If you could offer one piece of advice to a fellow StudioNow filmmaker about creating a really awesome, compelling business profile video, what would that be?

JM: When you finish a project, you will likely have realized one or six things that you wish you had done during the shoot, or even in editing. Remember these things, write them down if you must. This might include things like how you relate to the client, including more close-ups for easier editing, asking more open ended questions, or using manual focus instead of auto. If you can make each video better than the one before it, you will be a pro before you know it.

Spotlight on StudioNow Videos: Julep

This is the first in a series of posts taking a closer look at the best videos that we see and the filmmakers behind them. 

This week we bring you a Citysearch video for Julep.

Julep was shot and edited by StudioNow Network member Clyde Garrido.  Clyde is from Seattle, WA. and operates Nova Light Media.  He has been shooting film/video for ten years.

We recently spoke to Clyde about Julep and his film-making techniques:

SN:  You were really able to bring out the personality of the owner and the business and to get clear differentiators for the business.   How were you able to do that on this shoot and in general what is your approach to trying to get the most out of your interviews?

CG:  The most important thing to do is to not put the interviewee "on the spot".  I like to talk to them beforehand with the camera and gear up.  It's important that they know they have all the time in the world (even though they don't) and are not self-conscious about what they are saying.  Generally speaking, a business owner is passionate at what they are doing so if you make them comfortable, they should be able to express what is great about their business.

SN:  This piece looks great and the production value is very high.  Please elaborate on specific techniques that you used on this or other shoots to help achieve this look?

CG:  I like to shoot with 35mm adapters to provide selective focus.  The look was created in camera with no post color correcting or effects.  We used only one light on the interviews, a Diva Kino Flo, but the same can be achieved with any cheap softbox.  Julep also happens to be a great looking place, so we lucked out on that one. 

SN:  What do you have in your standard kit of gear that you take for a Citysearch or business profile video?

CG:  I use an HVX 200 or Sony EX1.  The 35mm adapter I use is the Letus Extreme.  I always take 1 Diva light and 1 Arri 650 Fresnel.  Lately I have been using a Cinevate Slider to emulate dolly moves.

SN:  If you could offer one piece of advice to a fellow StudioNow filmmaker about creating an awesome, compelling business profile video, what would that be?

CG:  Work on your hand-held technique, don't use a tripod!**  You can get four times as many shots without one.  Keep up the latest technology trends and techniques. Watch lots of Apple videos, MTV and Discovery channel and emulate what they are doing.  Don't be afraid to step out of what you learned in Video Production 101!

** Please Note:  StudioNow recommends using a tripod for all interviews.