Recently, I spent a night (well, not the WHOLE night) at a bar that was showing extreme sports videos to the tune of your normal bar music. Although this was at a ski resort, most of the guys weren’t into extreme sports, yet they kept looking at the displays. The displays were big but definitely not HD which made me think: “Imagine how much attention a REAL high definition extreme sports video will attract!”
With this in mind, lets think about the gear you need to capture extreme sports in HD. We all know a few crazy heads so hopefully finding “characters” won’t be much of a challenge. Keeping them alive is another matter though.
Once you’ve decided on a sport - be it extreme skateboarding / snowboarding or wakeboarding, it’s gear time. Every sport is different and some have even “rules” about camera angles so your HD camera will need to meet those. For example, most extreme skateboarding videos feature fish-eye shots, i.e. very wide angle shots that have pronounced barrel distortion.
Taking extreme skateboarding as an example, here’s what your shopping list of features might look like:
- Fish-eye: either through an interchangeable lens or through an adapter
- Small enough to carry in a backpack
- Sturdy construction to withstand at least a few falls
- Neutral density filters
- A tripod or some sort of a harness
- Long battery life
- Etc
Now, some of these will be more important than others but the point is you need to start with a (mental) image of the finished product. For example, getting the extreme wide-angle look could mean getting a camera with interchangeable lenses like the Canon XL H1. Or, you can get a fixed-lens camera (HVX200) and use a lens adaptor. One problem with adaptors is that they’re optimized for specific models, so if you’d like to use a specific adaptor, you’ll need to get (buy or rent) a specific camera.
You get the point – it doesn’t matter if you shoot white-water rafting or weddings – you need to consider your shots beforehand. I’m not saying you should start storyboarding every frame. Rather, come up with your ten “staple” shots/compositions and plan for those. There will always be extraordinary situations that you cannot plan ahead – after all you’re doing guerilla filmmaking.
Hi,
I know this has nothing to do with your post, but I’m in a jam and I was hoping you could give me some advice. I filmed a film in Israel using MiniDV Sony tapes and now I’m back in the States and I need to make backup copies of the tapes. Where can I get this done here (I’m in DC)- i.e. what sort of place offers this service? and do they have to be copied into PAL (the Israeli standard) or NTSC?
I’m thinking of editing this in the US.
Thanks in advance.
Best,
Al
and if you’re shooting with the hvx-200 and want to use 35mm lens, be aware that (at least of a month ago when i shot my short), there weren’t that many hvx-specific adapter packages available. we ended up getting screwed by the rental house out of ours (they rented it out to someone else), and weren’t able to find another the weekend we were shooting (in los angeles).
Al, I think you should simply google “PAL to NTSC transfers”. There’s a host of companies doing this. They don’t have to be in DC even. You can simply mail the tapes to them and they’ll send them back with their NTSC copies.
Keep in mind these transfers downgrade the quality. When you consider NTSC is 525 lines vs. PAL’s 625, you’ll lose about 20% of the resolution.
Thanks for you comment, deepstructure. What kind of lens were you going for? I’m just curious …
Krasimir,
I’m a big fan of your blog, I read it regularly and find it very informative. I know this is only vaguely related to the topic, but if you could give me a bit of advice I would be much obliged.
My friend and I filmed our short using the HVX200 (in 720p/24, using either of the cine-like modes, depending on the scene). Unfortunately, the light sensitivity was very underwhelming. Even with the iris open, dimly lit indoor scenes and outdoor scenes at dusk were almost black, so I was forced to use bright lights that were very obvious and hard to motivate. I realize that light sensitivity is Sony’s forte, and Panasonic prioritizes picture quality, and the benefits of the HVX200 still far outweigh the shortcomings, but it would still be nice to be able to film believable (and visible) dimly lit scenes.
I feel guilty for abusing your time, but I haven’t been able to find any answers.
Yours, Peter
Hi Peter,
I think yours is a problem that every cameraman faces early on in his/her career – you can never have TOO MUCH lights. When I got my first Sony VX2000 a couple of years ago, I was extremely disappointed when I saw my “home” tests. I quickly ordered a Lowel kit to the tune of $2000 and I’ve never looked back.
The only problem I found with my hot lights is that if you shoot on location on a hot summer day and there’s no air conditioning, it quickly turns into hell on earth. In terms of motivation, I’m not sure if you mean motivated lighting or motivated actors. I’ve never had a problem with actors in this respect – they LOVE the spotlight (pun intended).
If you’re concerned about “bright” lights as in hot, spot lights, maybe you need to try some kinoflos (fluorescents). They give you a very soft light, so it may suit your needs better.
Hey just a quick question relating to this blog. I am about to shoot many hours of snowboarding in Whistler this winter and I have to decide on which HD camera to use. Any suggestions. Most shots will be during the day with varying visbility. Is their anything versatile enough that will suit my lower end budget?
Thanks for taking the time.
Monty
What an awesome way to explain this-now I know eveyrhtnig!