Personal View site logo
Make sure to join PV on Telegram or Facebook! Perfect to keep up with community on your smartphone.
Please, support PV!
It allows to keep PV going, with more focus towards AI, but keeping be one of the few truly independent places.
The Wild Life of D.P. Jones (Feature Journal)
  • I've been working on my first very indie feature for the last year, now. It's been out of pocket and in my 'spare time'. Much of it has been shot in a documentary fashion as it is 'based on a true story' and real events have unfolded in chronological order. Recently I was able to get some money together and put a plan in motion to finish several fictional scenes and round-out my story. It's enough that I can dedicate six weeks this spring to finishing 'principal photography' before hopping over to my producer's house in the States, where I can live and use the editing suite as long as I need to at no cost.

    The basic premise is of an older Gringo feeling lost and told to slowdown by his doctors, his friends, and to an extent by his government up North. He goes searching for a final frontier and ends up with a plantain farm in the jungles of Central America, well beyond the end of the last dirt road. Things don't go exactly as 'planned', of course, and various hijinks ensue. It's heavily Fitzcarraldo and Mosquito Coast influenced with the man against nature and himself themes, though on a much more comedic scale overall. I'm writing, directing and shooting, William E McEuen (The Jerk, The Big Picture, etc) is producing, local crew from my commercial gigs will be assisting in places, the lead character is an amateur actor but lifelong performer and I'm rounding out supporting roles with television actors and real extras.

    This community has been the first stop and a great resource for my journey through learning all of this, and I'd like to share a bit of my process as things get more serious going forward. I also want to be able to speak frankly about various questions and challenges and have had a difficult time pinning folks down with regard to very specific technical questions on twitter and other forums.

    I've shot 95% of the current footage on a Driftwood Moon T5 or T7 hacked GH2 with a LA7200 Anamorphic Adapter, with the 20mm Pancake, 14-140 and a mix of Rokinon and Nikon primes. I've shot enough with the adapter and liked it that I am totally committed to the aspect ratio and the anamorphic feeling, but the challenges presented by the LA7200 mean that I'm light on close-ups and most of what I do have was shot spherically and cropped, which I'd rather avoid going forward. I've since been equipped with a GH3 and 12-35 and 35-100mm lenses, which, I like better than a lot of people, especially behind the LA7200. The 12-35 and the LA7200 is a pretty impressive combo on a GH3.

    Due to the extreme conditions of a lot of this shooting, I do not believe a Blackmagic or a 5D3 Raw or a similar low budget 'cinema' solution that is currently in vogue is the correct way to go. I have a certain love for the 1DC but it's out of the question for this budget and doesn't make sense with the current anamorphic tech. So unless the GH4 really does come out in February I'm not interested in a camera upgrade, and either way I'm committed to Lumix, which I rather love, especially out in the field in this country.

    My biggest tech purchase decision right now rests on whether or not to jump on the Letus AnamorphX, which seemed like an absolute godsend when announced but has been a bit lacklustre or hard to figure out since it's release. I've offered to pay for someone to rent it from DivisionCamera in LA and do some testing, I've tweeted Ryan Connolly who used it on 'Proximity', I've written detailed emails to Letus with relevant questions...all with little useful or no response. It seems like everything I need but warning bells are going off in my head. Maybe no one responds and the only tests are on 7Ds, weirdly un-squeezed or with shitty grading because they're selling so many no one cares to correct it...or maybe Letus is ignoring the situation because they'll make a lot more money on the GoPro and iPhone Anamorphic adapter gimmick thingies and just don't give a shit. I do not know.

    Beyond that, I'm mostly going for a hand-held aesthetic and so have been working on my rig a bit, slipping in a Shape pad and handles into my Geni situation after feeling them out in person on a trip to NY last year and finally being able to purchase them. My ideal look for handheld cinematography has most recently been demonstrated in 'Captain Phillips'. Not frenetic like the Bourne trilogy, but very immediate, real, and practical from a shooting perspective on location. Not to mention when it occasionally pulls out for a smooth helicopter shot it provides great contrast. The key to this look of course will be having something relatively heavy and well balanced on my shoulder. For a time last year in little dugout canoes I ignored my rig and I believe the naked Gh2 and Varavon loupe, while feeling nice in the hand, was too light and unadorned for the look I want.

    One slight obsession point, then, is the rig I'm using. I feel slightly sick when I see threads full of everyone's frankenrigs and I wonder how much use we all get out of them. Yet that same sentiment fades when I realise the aesthetic I'm trying to achieve and the conditions I'll be working in. For the same reasons I'm learning to carefully select shoes, a lumbar support and gloves, I need to have the right setup on my shoulder to go the whole day. I'm feeling pretty good about my current setup but there is a lot of unnecessary metal in the Gini handle assembly and I am worried the Varavon Loupe and GH3 screen are going to be a weak point under extremely heavy use. I am considering moving the GH3 back farther onto the shoulder, and using a Swedish Chameleon Cage and Zacuto EVF to really solidify things. With the Letus, the snap on Mattebox and the Skier ND filters on the front I'll be dealing with some weight, and moving things back and locking it all in sounds like a plan, not to mention the focusing aids and the ability to see anamorphic un-squeezed on the Zacuto. Of course the price on the Swedish Chameleon is disgusting, especially next to the $99 GH3 cage out there, but, I like the semi cage for the ability to still handhold the camera in a real pinch. Zacuto seems tough and I already own a Z-finder...that plastic takes a beating, seems proper. I am DISGUSTED by how expensive EVF mounts are, but know that I'll kill myself if it's loose all the time.

    So that's what I'm dealing with right now. Got my story and my people in shape, scheduling on track, some money in the bank. The idea of $4,000-$5,000 in additional equipment right now makes me queasy and feels like I'm focusing in the wrong place, but I don't see much of a way out. Either way from there on in, it's going to be Bananas, Dugouts, extras, actors and food when it comes to budgeting.

    Any thoughts, help, observations and the like that the community can provide would be wonderful. Beyond that, I'll share as much of the process as I can (if it's ok with Vitaliy), moving forward.

    Screen Shot 2013-05-09 at 8.05.39 PM (2).png
    640 x 290 - 443K
  • 22 Replies sorted by
  • Go for the Camtree EVF mount. Just bought one for my Alphatron and it's damn good for the price. I'm able to use it on both cages for my Pocket Cam and my 2.5K BMCC.

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/400605983981?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

    Offered them $100 and they took it.

    BTW, nice update. That jib still making great shots for you?

  • Sounds very cool. Best of luck with rest of shoot.

  • Thanks guys!

    @vicharris great recommendation, thank you, I like the looks of it for direct rail mounting or even possibly via a high rail mount on the cage itself. I take it this is also an endorsement of the EVF concept in general?

    Still digging the deals jib, yes, though I've beaten it up so badly a bit of gaffer's tape is now part of the setup. In constant use on commercial gigs.

  • @kellar42 Yep, part of it is mounted permanently to the top of the 2.5k cage and then when I need it for the pocket, I take the whole mounting plate part off and just slide the 15mm rod through the handle on the Pocket cage. I'll throw up some pics if you want but you can do anything you want really. And of course it now provides another stable point of contact for handheld. My shoulder rig has 5 points and is stable as anything.

  • 5 points? Shoulder, eye, two hands...and....?

  • Since I'm using a Vmount Battery on the Tilta plate, the right side of my head rests against it just by accident!

  • Hahaha, excellent.

  • Just pulled the trigger on a Zacuto Flip EVF and a Camtree EVF Mount. (Thanks Vic.) After my Shape counterweight arrived today, things really started to feel balanced but I've got to get the camera back over my shoulder a bit...hence the EVF.

    Also...couple of grabs 14-140 and LA7200 MoonT7 first two and Final one 35-100 cropped.

    image

  • Technology and Romance

    It's been a interesting month or so. (Or has it been nearly two months, now, haha?) In this Panama high season (roughly January-April), I was quite insecure about subsisting solely on the 'Wild Life of D.P. Jones' budget and perhaps overloaded on the usual bread and butter advertising and promotional gigs, as well as extending myself pretty far with charitable, but not personal, work. In the midst of it all, I was brought on to produce an experiment in cinematic television for Panama's leading national broadcaster. There has been a dry period in national narrative production and they're looking to change that. Our half-hour political comedy airing a few days before Presidential elections is an extremely exciting step in that direction. Also my lead actor on the feature has to undergo surgery and will not be fit for action until late April, so everything is falling into place for rolling the entire month of May. I'm looking to get the last of the commercial stuff off of my plate this week and focus entirely on post for the Television show and final pre-production details for the feature, which, on the strength of these last months of learning experiences has become slightly more formal in terms of actors, schedules, shooting plans and the like. I've no doubt that it will still be very guerrilla, but not quite as hopelessly documentarian as I'd once expected. The real take-away from this time is that I love TV/Film work, can survive with it, and need to learn to say no, even to good money on the commercial front, if I cannot build a better team to handle it, or I will go nuts.

    I'd like to explore thoughts on what I learned on the Television production, where I was nominally producing but jumped in with a shoulder mounted GH3 as Bcam on about 40% of the show, but first I'm going to explore some continuing thoughts on technology that have cropped up during this process, and the evolution of tech for the feature, as well as some intangibles about tech and the net in general.

    Right off the bat @VicHarris was right about the CamTree EVF mount. It's as solid as they come and that plus the Zacuto EVF really solidified the rig that I've been cobbling together over the last year or two. (Gini Extreme 17" mostly completely retrofitted with Shape handles, shoulder pad and weights and red rock carbon fiber rods) This is the area where the title of the post starts to come in...out here on the fringes I feel like we often have a personal or sentimental relationship with technology. The same weekend I got the Zacuto and Camtree, I received a $1,300 upgrade to my Phantom Drone, with expanded controllers and FPV, new motors, etc. Hundreds of flights and upgrades and openings hadn't caused a hitch with the drone, but something in this upgrade threw a ghost into the machine we still can't seem to fix. The sensation of having spend close to a thousand dollars to mount a tiny monitor on what started long ago as a $400 Gini rig was initially stomach churning, but the feel of the thing finally balanced on my shoulder, being able to see and focus, having my old Z-finder be slightly loose and Zacuto instantly ship me a new Z-finder skirt for free really sold me on the idea of paying for the right kinds of gear...whereas the $3,000+ smouldering pile of tangled wires and drone that looked nothing so much like a broken toy got me thinking about when DIY and consumer gear become more of a liability than an opportunity. At any rate even at that point I attempted to disconnect my emotions from the machine even after it failed after repeated fixes and tests, to the point where after an attempted repair I was shooting with it commercially on a one day trip the Dominican Republic on the client's dime and had a devastating crash after the brain went nuts near hi-tension power lines and had to pay a group of Somalis who found and kidnapped it to get it back....and I'm sitting in my hotel room with a soldering gun trying to get it ready for the morning and pondering what the fuck I've gotten myself into by dealing with this tech at all.

    I'm not sure I have the writing skills to find the heart of what I'm trying to explain here, but I guess I'm starting to understand what needs to be personal about filmmaking and as we all say in lip-service gear isn't that thing...but it takes a lot to really live and breath from that perspective. Then again my rig is now something perches by itself on my shoulder and gives me the exact heavy 35mm hand-held aesthetic I'm looking for from Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, or parts of Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, which are a trifecta of inspirations for me (visually and in terms of how they were made) Seeing it sitting in the corner of a room and having the feeling that one could pick it up and make a movie at any moment is a romantic, but powerful notion. Watching the behind the scenes of the aforementioned films one realises that they simply rig out an Alexa or 35mm Cam in a straight forward way and achieve that aesthetic because that is where that aesthetic comes from. (Please not I'm not interested in shaky-shaky cam...Phillips for instance is much more steady overall than early Greengrass Bourne films, but it does have an immediacy that I will have no choice but to embrace on rivers and in Banana Plantations where all equipment comes in on horseback.) Rigging a GH3 out in a similar manner is a daunting task, it turns out, and in Sean Bobbit, BSC's excellent lecture on hand-held cinematography, a waste of time for anyone with the ability to do anything else. Finally achieving something that can be psychically felt every-time it's hoisted on the shoulder is incredibly gratifying. It gives on a distaste for the endless internet 'these are my rig' posts and the poorly balanced or thought out pre-fab solutions sold by everyone that now seem an idiotic waste of time. Then again, without being able to comb through, research, try and cobble together, one would not end up forging a primary story-telling tool out of the muck. I'm not sure where this puts me on the tech scale, other than to say I guess I'm learning that a complete enyclopedic knowledge of the tools is required to be able to cut throughout the chaff on a budget and effectively tell stories, but that any emotional feedback loop between wallet and latest purchase is a mistake...the romance is in what you can do with it, and both spending too much money too quickly on the perceived best solutions and being afraid to spend too much money for the best when it is required are ultimately harmful. It's a fine line.

    To that end it is surprising at times with how many resources there are on the internet just how few there are when you really need to know something. The rental houses of a major U.S. city are one thing I've grown to envy, as nothing beats trying things out for one's own. I continue to have an anamorphic problem, with letters, tweets, and painstaking research in all corners of the internet not totally convincing me on the Letus. You'd think they'd be eager to share something if it meant selling more products, unless the product isn't that good, but even that is an over-simplified conclusion...they may just not care or not fully understand why I'm asking such detailed or oddball questions. Zacuto's customer service has been mighty and miraculous, though even they stumbled a bit in terms of offering a reply about the Z-drive and tornado when I really started to grill them on focus systems. (To be fair I went from asking specifics to basically asking them to recommend something for which a solution may not exist) Right now I'm evaluating a custom diopter solution for my LA7200 to keep the wide end of the zooms open and and SLR Magic anamorphot plus diopter set for longer lenses. The overall price will scratch the bottom end of a Letus package, but the community at large is more open and sharing on both issues and @BurnetRhoades recent SLRMagic stuff has been incredibly helpful. I offered to pay for an LA guy who just got an SLR Magic over Letus do to price to Rent a Letus from Division camera and test, but nothing materialised.

    In a Vitaliy inspired move I bought an ISK hyper cardiod to try for interior dialog and I really like it. We used a Rode NTG-3 (and Sennhieser and Audio Tecnica Wireless Lavs) on the Television thing and I was less impressed by the Rode and Blimp than I'd expected to be. They broke the actual mic from my Sennhieser on the production so I've also bit the bullet for a Sanken lav for the feature. I don't love my dialog line up right now, NTG-2 which I hate, ISK which I like, Sanken which I will presumably like on Senn wireless transmitters...end of the day that is going to be the principal source of dialogue recording for the main character as we'll be in remote or difficult locations and I want him laved up and running with it all day. Still queasy about my overall sound options and dreading the idea of buying a pair of Sanken's if I stick one of Panama's leading TV actors in the film and up the supporting role's dialogue which is looking like a good idea right now. Either way I need someone to handle it and the skill set seems in short supply down here. I also (in a very un-Vitaliy) move purchased a Mitra 3d Mic Pro, which will be either one of my stupidest purchases ever or one of the best, and the jury is still out. The sound guy used is a lot on the second half of the TV special, and claims to like it but we haven't hit sound post. I've only used it once, since and am waiting on a shock mount and wind-muffs. The idea of having something in my background audio that gives a punch to indie sound is extremely attractive (I'm afraid I'm no Shane Carruth) and worth the price. I am unsure about processing and results thus far, however, and the support materials and information seem pretty thin or low quality. I have a hard time believing Laforet and Bloom were out and and out lying however, and I'm going to make an effort to make this thing sing...hopefully before running up against B&H's 30 day return policy, which I understand is extensive, though I've never used it, nor is it my style to do so. Time will tell on this one, but I'm certainly attracted to the idea of standing out in jungle with it or gurgling down the river...but is it the real technology or the romance of the marketing working on my brain?

    While the GH3 and rig performed amazingly during the TV thing (stacking up against an FS700 as ACAM, looking better in most cases), I did have a follow focus problem as noted above, which is what really drove me to look at the Zacuto one man band systems. I did OK by hand but realised the trouble I would be in on the feature. Honestly for a lot of commercial work which is shot doc style I use auto-focus which was simply not an option for narrative. However I'm worried about the Tornado and use of anamorphic adapters which are damn close to Mattboxes in size/position in some cases. I ended up finding a clever way of rigging my Gini follow onto the rig on the right hand side, which allows me to hold the top of my shape handle and follow focus with my right hand...feels damn solid and nice. I need some bigger 360' follow focus gears to get the follow away from the lens and fit the anamorphic, and for lumix lenses, which work better than I'd hoped (perhaps I show inexperience without marks and hard stops but honestly I can hit focus without a lot of issues this way). At some point maybe a lighter follow focus, but for now, I'm happy. I notice that even Bad Lieutenant and Dallas Buyer's club basically handle focus from hand-held with a right facing monitor and a right mounted follow and some dude pulling it by hand, which seems crazy to me but is an option if I have an assistant around. This feels like an area where tech is going to get a lot better in the future but will work for now. Oddly this also makes me keep my Gini 'cage' apparatus, the only heavy chunk of metal on the rig, with a lot of knobs to support one handle. I'd considered Swedish Chameleon, but doing everything from the 'wrong' side like this...the Gini setup is actually coming in handy to support a rod with the follow on it.

    Lighting is something I don't see myself using much of in the field on the feature, though I did double down on my F&V LED kit last month with 3 V-mount to NPF adapters and 10 NPF battery clones and couple of dual chargers. I've never loved or hated these lights, but an experienced gaffer on the TV program really made them shine, mounting them to drop-cielings with a special adapter and gelling them and using the battery power for maximum speed and potential. I'd like a few LED fresnels, Camtree doesn't look cheap are cheap and am heeding Vitaliy's warning against them for now. It was cool to have a panel van full of HMI's and Fresnels and little kinos and stuff but half the time it slowed us down and other than some city interiors I'm staying away from most of it on the feature.

    GH4 is on pre-order...I wish Panasonic Latin America was something that existed on the Lumix front, but unfortunately I think May 2nd is my earliest chance of delivery. I would have gone forward on the GH3 but with my lead being indisposed and my spring freeing up this seems like a good time to start. I'm hoping to reshoot a lot of my early test and documentary material, but also hoping it will intercut with the GH3 stuff to some extent. Also hoping it doesn't turn my anamorphic stuff into a waste of fucking time and money.

    Ah, cinema :). I realize I've basically written a book about my shopping list here, while decrying having any emotional connection with technology. I'll be getting to actors, TV promotion, and film preproduction, as well as samples from the art department, soon...just had to get this stuff off my chest, and as always, the personal view community is insightful about tech and I have issues left to solve and an overly romantic connection to my pocket book and film budget hahahahahahahaha....

  • Not sure if they are wanted or not on the forum but just posted links to most the discussed tech on my site so here they are here if it's OK/helpful:

    Gini Extreme 17" Rig: http://www.amazon.com/Gini-Rigs-Advanced-Extreme-17/dp/B00D0LQUQY

    Shape Handles: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/734510-REG/Shape_wlb_HAND5_Quick_Handle_Rod.html

    Shape Shoulder Pad: Can only find composite/mini composite on Shape or B&H's site...I have something bigger with an adjustable back that may only come now as part of their rig kits.

    Shape Additional Counterweight: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/734737-REG/Shape_wlb_PADCW2_Additional_Counter_Weight.html

    Redrock 18" Carbon Fiber Rods: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/672900-REG/Redrock_Micro_8_011_0002_8_011_0002_15mm_Carbon_Fiber.html

    Cavision 8" Carbon Fiber Rods: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/868538-REG/Cavision_TC15_2_20_15mm_Pair_Carbon_Fiber.html

    Zacuto EVF Pro: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/755493-REG/Zacuto_Z_FIND_EVFP_Z_Finder_EVF_Pro_3_2.html

    Camtree EVF Mount: http://www.thecinecity.com/eshop/CAMTREE-HUNT-EVF-Mount.html

    Mitra 3D Mic Pro: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/772101-REG/MITRA_CORP_ARM3DMPV3_3D_Mic_Pro.html

    Sanken Lav with Sennheiser connector: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/606469-REG/Sanken_COS_11D_PT_BK_EW_COS_11XPT_Omnidirectional_Lavalier_Microphone.html

    Sennheiser Wireless Kit: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/618739-REG/Sennheiser_EW_112P_G3_A_EW112_p_G3_Camera_Mount.html

    ISK Super Cardiod Microphone: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/iSK-Super-Cardioid-Condenser-Microphone-Cymbal-Mic-/310867211251

    F&V Lighting 1x1 Panels: http://www.fvlighting.com/store/lighting/led/k4000.html

    V-mount to NPF Adapters: http://www.amazon.com/ILED-Battery-V-Mount-Converter-Adapter/dp/B00E0CEDIE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396201110&sr=8-1&keywords=v-mount+to+npf

    NPF batteries: http://www.amazon.com/Sony-DCR-VX2000-Camcorder-Battery-Lithium-Ion/dp/B00301UMEK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396201121&sr=8-1&keywords=npf+battery

    Dual NPF Chargers: http://www.amazon.com/Kapaxen-Channel-Battery-Camcorder-Batteries/dp/B00DTWRGL2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396201135&sr=8-1&keywords=dual+npf+charger

    Letus Anamorphic: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1016558-REG/letus35_lt_anx_h_kit1_anamorphx_high_flare.html

    LA7200 Anamorphic: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Panasonic-AG-LA7200-16-9-Anamorphic-Lens-Adapter-AGLA7200-72mm-/121302648068?pt=US_Lens_Adapters_Mounts_Tubes&hash=item1c3e338504

    SLR Magic Anamorphot: http://www.slrmagic.co.uk/slr-magic-anamorphot-133x-50-anamorphic-adapter.html

    Panasonic GH4: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1028453-REG/panasonic_dmc_gh4kbody_lumix_dmc_gh4_mirrorless_micro.html

  • Very interesting look into your process. There's a lot of information here that's good and practical but I appreciate the more emotional parts too. I can relate.

  • Thank you, Sean, means a lot.

  • Very interesting look into your process. There's a lot of information here that's good and practical but I appreciate the more emotional parts too

    Indeed!!! I subscribe entirely

    Like you, also found @BurnetRhoades video helpful could even say inspiring... tech context and poetics hand by hand.
    I wish you best of lucks, seems you're set off to a wonderful journey 8D

  • @kellar42 From Chariots of Fire - "Where does the power come from, to see the race to it's end?...it comes from within". Keep rocking brother. I hear you on tech - it's on odd obsession we have...but later when we see our results (beautiful images) we know it was worth it. As we all later realize, all that tech work before the shoot is critical, because once you're actually shooting, things just flow in a semi-whirlwind way, so if workflow and quality has been prepped ahead of time, you just get into creative shooting mode and your tech prep backs you up.

    My only tip on equipment is to possibly consider the Tram TR-50 lav mic. Available at B&H. A bit less expensive than COS-11. They're available with 1/8" connector for use with Senn. They also work perfectly when plugged directly into a recorder like the Roland R-05. Just finished shooting a feature with that audio setup (recorder and lav concealed on actor), and audio quality was great.

    http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/258079-REG/Tram_TR50BSET_TR50_Omnidirectional_Lavalier.html

    Another from Chariots - "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure!"

  • Thanks for the kind works @Maxr and @matt_gh2 . Good quotes.

    Sanken Lav just showed up, will be testing soon. Also just ordered an SLR Magic Anamorphic with diopter kit. Weirdly, after pushing SLR to sell me one early (they claim preorders fill at the end of April and I shot myself in the foot for the early birds version by turning down the $1,300 version with the lenses early on), it turns out that Adorama just has them in stock?!?! Anyhow, hoping by Monday or Tuesday to have it in my hand.

    Interesting advice on the Tram...I remember reading about it being an old workhorse in the Location Sound bible. Will see how Sanken sounds and how many I need.

  • Did you ever get any kind of response from Ryan Connoly?

  • @kellar42 If you haven't seen this "lav shootout", it's a comparison of the Tram TR50, COS-11, ME-2, and a Rode lav. Although my use of the Tram TR50 yielded better sound than what you have here in this youtube video, I think the general nature and type of sound is somewhat accurately represented here. (Odd to hear "non-optimal sound" in an audio review.) The Tram is often called a "warm" sound, and that's accurate. You might be able to get a feel for the differences in how the mics sound. Of course, you could always rent a few for a day and test yourself, to make sure your audio is just how you want it for your shooting. Hope this is helpful.

  • Thanks @Matt_gh2 that's quite helpful, especially as the rent for a couple of days and try it option really isn't open to me down here. (EDIT, that really makes me glad I got a Sanken haha)

    @burnetrhoads...I got Connoly involved in a twitter conversation with Letus and may have been a hair harsh with him initially with comments about the grade, and it took him/them awhile to get past trying to to explain to me the difference between an anamorphic adapter and a color grade, which I already knew. They eventually said nothing serious, and he eventually said he understand what I was after and would do some straight testing at some point, which has not happened. Much later I asked Letus for an email for some kind of rep, which they provided, and sent several questions with a very friendly but detailed tone which received no response.

    I've since noticed others, such as Timur Civan, tweet about receiving the Letus and posting results soon and then say they got busy and never post results. The Across Media people with a Letus and GH4 released that one terrible, terrible little preview video, and then nothing. I'm either over thinking, or there is a pattern, here.

    If you wish to see the entire twitter convo, it's below. At the time there was a BMCuser thread, a thread here, and one on Reduser and I was trying to explain to them some of what I was seeing to them but perhaps twitter was a poor medium for it.

    http://imgur.com/a/1tSkL

  • Yeah - I had another listen, and thought the Sanken might be best choice for you because it has the most "realistic"/"real" sound which will match the fact that you have a documentary feel/aspect to your film. (The "warmer" Tram played well for our drama/thriller genre). I guess what I call "realistic" sound is what the reviewer referred to as sounding "brighter". Best of luck with film - have fun - sounds very cool.

  • @kellar42 yeah, at least you had more luck than me getting anything from RC. It's likely from being lost in the roar of all the Film Riot youtuber fanbois but I've never gotten a response from direct messaging. I've been watching their show for the last couple years because I like their style of comedy and they occasionally have some neat DIY ideas.

    Yeah, looking over that twitter convo...ugh...

  • Does anyone know anything about Timecode? I recently purchased Sync and Link for FCPX, after reading the below article about a feature in Bulgaria.

    http://www.fcp.co/final-cut-pro/news/1225-fcp-x-in-bulgaria-a-new-definition-of-professional

    I gave it a whirl on this Television production which had already been shot but was organised by day. It completely failed and I quickly realised what all the fuss about 'real timecode' has always been. There are gaps with mostly commercial sets, working down in Panama and an internet education, or in having U.S. mentors that were mostly active before the digital age. 'Timecode' is something everyone talks about and accepts as part of a normal professional workflow, and that I don't have a real grasp on.

    Seeing things like this from today's NAB thread, however, fully reinforce that I'm on the right track as far as building a feature workflow in FCPX using Sync and Link, especially for the kind of shoot where I'll be deep in the jungle, running long audio and video takes, maybe not always starting and stopping perfectly at the same time, and all of that.

    Gregory Clarke from Intelligent Assistance (the developer of Sync and Link) says he's never actually worked on a shoot with Timecode, but linked me to this MovieSlateApp: http://www.movie-slate.com/Timecode_Sync/ I also found these guys from the NAB stuff http://www.timecodebuddy.com but am not sure exactly how to integrate that into a solution.

    The GH4 apparently has real timecode, and I'll be shooting on that. My Tascam DR100 MKII most certainly doesn't. I doubt I'll be able to afford a Sound Devices 633 in the budget, but I'm assuming there is something out there that would make sense as a recorder upgrade that will do timecode.

    Here is my big question...if both camera and recorder due real timecode, can I just hit record on both and this will mean something to an application like Sync and Link later? Do I have to plug them into either other or somehow 'jam sync' via a slate like the one above? Do I need to slate at all, which I'm hoping to avoid?

    I'm hoping someone might be able to walk me through this stuff as it applies to a documentary style shoot.

    Also...the SLR Magic Anamoporhot and Diopters showed up...thoughts on that, soon.

  • Some more replies just in from Intelligent Assistance, reproduced below first to last. I suspect the GH4 will only work if some kind of timecode enabled external recorder is used. Obviously PluralEyes is cool, but it doesn't do everything at once.


    'If you are working with jam-sync’d timecode* on the set, then Sync-N-Link X will work to synchronize your clips in a single batch before you start editing.

    • You would have a LockiT box or Timecode Buddy device on every camera and every audio recorder. With LockiT boxes you synchronize together 2-3 times a day; with Timecode Buddy you have real time continuous sync from the master generator. This, of course, requires cameras that can take an external timecode input, which I do not believe any DSLR, including the GH4, can do.

    If asked “Do I have matching timecode” my response is: “Was it expensive and an incredible pain in the *ss on the shoot?” If so you probably have matching timecode. :)

    Philip'


    'Thanks Phillip. When Panasonic says they are adding SMPTE timecode to the GH4 though…are we basically saying that it’s a useless feature if there are no ins/outs to sync it with any other device? Expense and hassle seem worth it if I can avoid expense and hassle in post, but it’s possible I could be trying to do the impossible.

    So how about Sync and Link working with waveforms, instead of timecode hahaha?

    Cheers,

    Stuart


    'Supporting SMPTE timecode is a good feature, but the ability to sync that to an external source is an additional feature. A timecode generator may not necessarily be able to sync to an external source. I do not know the specifics of the GH4 but you are correct that it is useless for Sync-N-Link X purposes without being able to synchronize to external sources.

    Generally speaking cameras that can synchronize to external timecode are found in the more expensive price ranges.

    Sync-N-Link X using waveforms is called Pluraleyes 3. :)

    These are different workflows. Matching timecodes for Sync-N-Link or Sync-N-Link X are ubiquitous at the high end of Television, and all feature film production. Synching by audio is what I do on my own more life-size budget projects.

    Philip'