Announcement
This annual Roz Bernstein Reporting Day will take place next week (Tuesday, Feb. 18) in the Bronx. Our class will be meeting either at the usual time here at Baruch or at 10am at The Point CDC the Bronx, and we’ll be having a guest speaker. You have the option of attending the entire day of reporting in the Bronx if your schedule permits. (Includes 9:05 or 10am at location TDB, followed by Bronx Defenders at 11:30, 1pm lunch at Xochimilco, and 3pm visit to the Bronx Documentary Center.) Please let me know by the end of the day if you’d like to RSVP to any additional part of this itinerary.
Screenings
We’ll take a look at your 10-Shot Sequences together. Did any questions or challenges arise in the process of shooting and editing these?
Discussion
Things to keep in mind on shooting days:
Get comfortable with the settings and equipment before you go out, especially your tripods since those can be a little tricky.
Bring snacks/water! Filming is physically demanding work.
Know where the public restrooms are near you.
Fully charge your spare battery (as well as the one in the camera) and bring it with you.
Dress warm! Keep your spare battery in a pocket where it won’t get cold; battery power and camera equipment in general don’t do well in extreme cold or heat.
These are large kits and you won’t need all the gear in them for this video, so anyone who would like to leave the bag in my office is welcome to.
Consider what kind of light you’ll be working with ahead of time and plan accordingly; if it’s likely to be a low light situation, you may want to check out a lens with a lower f-stop.
In video recording settings, Movie Servo AF is the setting which, if enabled, will automatically cause the lens to focus on a subject as it moves. In some situations, you may want this enabled, but remember that it takes control out of your hands so in many situations you may want to disable it.
Settings Cheat Sheet
Movie rec. size: 1920×1080 and 30fps
Shutter speed: 1/60 (or multiples of 30, ie if it’s very low light you can go down to 1/30 or if it’s very bright you can go higher)
ISO: Remember that if you go much higher than 800 or 1600, the image will start to get grainy. Sometimes this can’t be avoided, but avoid it if you can.
Aperture: The lower the f-stop, the more light you’re letting in, and the more dramatic the depth of field.
White balance: You can use Auto White Balance (AWB) if you expect to be changing light temperatures mid-shot (following someone outdoors, for instance). Otherwise it’s best to set it manually.
Movie Servo AF: Disable if you want to be able to control focus manually, and set the button on the lens itself to Manual Focus (MF).
We’ll wrap up a little early today so everyone can check out cameras.