I picked up a Rode VideoMic a few months ago, and I tried using it on some shoots. However, I noticed a horrible amount of handling noise whenever I used it, which I attributed (mistakenly, it turns out) to the mic being very sensitive to my fingers on the camera controls. I even bought the expensive Rode VideoMic handle, to try it handheld, and that didn’t help. So I stopped using it, because I couldn’t get any clean audio whenever I used it. But today, I discovered that it’s NOT my ham-handed fingers: there’s a problem with the shock mount.

Here’s how I figured it out. Today I was testing my iPhone with a mic adapter, the KM-IPHONE-MIC from KVconnection.com, which makes it possible to use external, self-powered mics with the iPhone. Just for grins I thought I’d test it out with my idle Rode VideoMic. Guess what I discovered? I got the same horrible handling noise as before, only this time, I had the mic in a controlled environment.

So where is all the handling noise coming from? From the shock mount. All those tiny rubber bands emit audible creaks. And it’s bad. Worse than useless, in my opinion: the Rode VideoMic introduces unwanted noise that otherwise wouldn’t be there.

Listen for yourself:

Am I the only person in the DSLR universe who has this problem? Is it possible that my unit is defective? Does the rubber on the feet age quickly and need to be replaced? How’s your Rode VideoMic working out?

**Update: I ordered a set of new silicon bands for the shock mount, and after replacing them, the mic is blessedly quiet. But I’m still not crazy about the fact that they had to be replaced inside of a year of very light use. That feels like a design flaw to me. The VideoMic should come with the following disclaimer: note that you will need to replace the bands frequently.

Popularity: 7% [?]

I hate dealing with releases. It’s a huge pain in the ass to carry around reams of paper and intimidating to people you’re otherwise trying to put at ease. So I was thrilled when my friends Basil Shadid and Matt Freedman turned me onto an iPhone app they jointly developed, called mRelease. I’ve had a chance to use it for a couple weeks, and it’s successfully changed how I feel about getting releases!

Everything you need for your next release is contained within the app, beginning with boilerplate legal text (which Matt assures me they hired a real lawyer to create and vet). The novelty of signing with your finger is actually kinda fun, and the app let’s you snap a picture of the subject to attach to the release, so that if you forget the person’s name, you can id them by their photo later. It then emails a copy to yourself and the person signing. Sweet.

Here’s a few screen shots:

This app works great if you don’t have huge numbers of releases to collect, but it doesn’t work so well as a way to organize your releases and keep track of them. For that, you’re best off to take the PDF copy of the release that is emailed to you, and fit it into your existing system (I store mine in a folder called “releases” contained within the project folder for the film I’m working on, organized by date).

Included within the app so far (it’s been updated once already) are: Appearance releases (the most common type that I use), Property releases, Location releases and Crew releases. You have the option of giving them an unlimited release, or a release limited to the project you are working on. There’s an option for guardians to give consent for children as well.

The app costs $2.99, a bargain considering the amount you save on printing supplies and paper if you commit to going paperless with your releases. I’ve done it, and won’t be looking back.

Popularity: 3% [?]

I had a potential disaster today: after returning from two big commercial shoots, which I shot with my T2i in 720p 60p, I popped in the 32 gb SD card with most of the morning’s work on it, and immediately came to the horrible realization that of more than 100 files on the card, only 6 were readable. The rest of the quicktime files were visible, but showed only 33 KB on disk for each of them. Obviously, something had gone horribly wrong.

I spent the next 7 hours researching all of the data recovery options available, initially without finding a solution (at one point I was so sure the data was gone for good that I contacted my client and told them I had to schedule a reshoot, never a fun conversation). But I kept trying the many tools available and finally found one that got my files back. So if you’re facing the same situation, read this first and hopefully you’ll be good to go a lot faster than I was.

Two stills that I snapped during the shoot, which also showed up as 33KB files, I was able to open. However, only the first couple of lines of image data displayed – the rest was gray. Like this (see image to right).

Background: During my shoot this morning, my camera was overheating constantly – the little red temperature light was blinking like mad. But I’ve seen that before, enough not to worry about it – if it gets too hot, the camera just shuts down, cools off, and then you’re good to go in a few minutes. I had a perfect storm today: in addition to the overheating, the card got full and the battery died all at about the same time. All I remember is an error message displaying on the screen which said something to the effect of “Unable to save files to disk” and then it went black. I didn’t worry too much about it, because I’ve never had a problem before when the power dies on my T2i. But after today, I can tell you that I will very much worry about it. As best I can tell after researching this, it appears that the culprit for the lost data in my case was running out of power while shooting. Don’t let it happen to you. But if it does, all is not lost. Here’s how to resurrect your files.

I’ll spare you the long list of 7 demo software applications I downloaded and tried, without success, and just jump straight into the killer app that saved the day: Klix Digital Picture Recovery. This $29 piece of software is worth every penny, and then some. After scanning my sd card, it built a list of all of the missing files. However, it did NOT include a preview – which at first led me to believe the files were not recoverable. But in fact, they were.

The way I discovered this was by trying the nuclear option – a company called Aero Quartet that has a sweet piece of software for Mac that you can download to diagnose your broken Quicktime files, called Treasured. Treasured scans your damaged quicktime files, and tells you the odds that your file is repairable, and walks you through the steps of preparing it for submission to them, where a real human will look at your file, and attempt to salvage it. They will give you an estimate of how much this will cost automatically, and a real person will confirm it before you are charged.

In my case, one of the diagnostic screens said “surprisingly, your file can be opened in quicktime.” I was all, huh? It can? I went back to the saved Klix file, and sure enough, it opened just fine. Audio was perfect too. Whew!

I’m grateful that I didn’t have to use Treasured’s more expensive service this time, but I’m grateful for their help diagnosing my file issues and really glad to know it exists.

And the next time the battery starts blinking red on my Canon dslr, you can bet that I’ll be changing the batteries BEFORE it goes dead.

UPDATE: The same software also works if you accidentally format your card before downloading the files.

Popularity: 7% [?]

I’ve been happily using a Zoom H4N digital recorder since last October to record audio such as interviews. I use it primarily with a AT875 shotgun mic, which requires phantom power. It’s no problem, because the Zoom has a mode that provides it. But I’ve noticed the price you pay for using phantom power, at least with my AT875, is reduced battery life. WAY reduced. I generally can expect about two hours max of record time. And if you’re using rechargeable alkaline batteries, that drops to less than half an hour, as I discovered this morning.

But here’s a far worse discovery that I made today, which amounts to a serious design flaw with the Zoom: if you’re recording when the batteries die, you lose everything recorded on the clip up to that moment (it saves a 0 kb file, rather than a file with your data in it).

Bottom line: the Zoom H4n is a great recorder. Just don’t EVER let it run out of batteries, and it eats them like candy, at least if you’re using it with phantom power and an AT875.

Popularity: 4% [?]

I recently took the plunge into DSLR cinematography by purchasing an $800 Canon T2i. If you scoff at the idea that video shot on a consumer grade Rebel can be taken serious by pros, I look forward to showing you some of the video I’ve been shooting.  I’ll post a proper review of how this unpretentious game-changer is working for me in my documentary work soon. But today I want to talk about lenses.

Both Lara and I used to be professional photographers, and during those years, we acquired a fair bit of top-notch Nikon glass. So when I was looking for a HD video DSLR, I looked in vain at Nikon – Canon is so far ahead of every other DSLR manufacturer in this regard that it’s not worth discussing. I’d long heard about adapters that allow you to use Nikon lenses on Canon bodies, but I’d always dismissed them mainly because they don’t work with autofocus or other electronics, which is a big deal on modern still cameras.

But video is another matter entirely. Manual focus is the only way to go with video. Furthermore, one of the limitations of the T2i interface is that, if you’re using modern Canon lenses, you have to hold down a button on the back with your right thumb AND AT THE SAME TIME rotate a dial with your right index finger to change the aperture. That’s lame. Wouldn’t it be nice to just rotate the aperture ring instead? Using a lens adapter, you can.

Looking at lens adapters can be confusing: They range in price from a $270 model from Novoflex, to a $79 model from Fotodiox, to a $9.99 model sold by a top-rated Hong Kong ebay member Kawaphoto. I’ve since purchased and used 4 of them, and here’s what I’ve discovered.

I began by ordering the cheapest one from Hong Kong, and it arrived in less than a week via mail. With a little guesswork in how to correctly attach the thing (it comes with no instructions), I figured out how to rotate and lock it into place. Then I gingerly seated it on the Canon, worried that the protruding elements of the old Nikon lenses would hit the mirror or other electronics on the Canon. In fact, I had to remove a protruding element on my Nikon 35mm 1.4 lens in order for it to fit. But once that was done, it clicked into place and was good to go. The video produced was sharp and the lenses focused normally, no problem focusing to infinity (but it does allow you to go beyond infinity, which is slightly annoying if you routinely focus by looking at the focus ring instead of through the viewfinder).

I was so impressed with the fact that I could now use my Nikon glass on the T2i that I initially overlooked the fact that there was a little bit of play between the lens and the camera body. I ordered two more of the same inexpensive adapters, thanking, screw the expensive ones, these are great! But I got a wakeup call when the next batch arrived. One of them seemed to be fine, but one of them was a loose fit, which allowed the lens to rock back and forth when I turned the aperture dial, throwing the image slightly out of focus and jogging the image. At that point, it was clear to me that the cheap adapters, while they work, are not machined to exacting specifications. While not a big deal for only occasional use, I found this highly annoying with heavy use.

So I shelled out for the next cheapest model, sold by Fotodiox on Amazon for $79. It arrived quickly and much to my surprise, I discovered that it was made from plastic on one side, metal on the other. That worried me at first until I rotated it onto my lens and it snapped into place requiring a reassuring amount of force. The fit was like night and day from the all-metal cheaper version. Obviously made to much higher specifications, it holds the lens without any give at all. I can now twist the iris and focus without any fear of slippage.

Because all adapters are a bit of a pain to take on and off of your lenses, it’s a good idea to purchase one for every lens you are planning to use, and simply leave it on all the time. This means buying Canon lens caps for all your Nikon glass (in this business it seems every time you buy something, it means you have to buy yet another thing to support it, followed by yet another thing to carry it in, etc.)

I have not tried the more expensive version from Novoflex, because the $79 Fotodiox model works perfectly for me, and is the one I recommend if you’re shooting video professionally. If you’re only occasionally using Nikon glass on your Canon, buy three of the $9.99 adapters, try them all out when they arrive, and throw away the two that fit the least well.

Popularity: 28% [?]

Until yesterday, I had 6 Lacie hard drives spinning on my desktop. They have worked fast and flawless for my video storage and editing needs. But there’s one big problem: if (when) one of them fails, data on that drive will be toast. I DO occasionally back up my most critical footage from one drive to another, but that’s a horrible backup strategy. I’ve known that I need to resolve this data storage issue for a long time. So when I was in Vancouver last week at his workshop, I asked Larry Jordan what he recommended for storing a lot of video files safely. He recommended products from four companies: Dulce Systems, Caldigit, Gtech and Drobo.

After researching all of them, I picked the Drobo Pro. Here’s why:

1. I can use ALL of my existing hard drives in the Drobo. It’s sleek black box accepts up to 8 SATA hard drives of ANY size or rpm (yes, that means you can mix and match and if you run out of space, simply pull out a smaller drive and pop in a bigger one). Many of the other systems require all the same type of hard drive, which would mean buying a whole bunch of expensive new drives in addition to the raid enclosure.
2. The Drobo Pro offers an iscsi connection (in addition to firewire 800) which promises theoretical transfer speeds of up to 100 mbps using a regular ethernet cable between my computer and the Drobo. Since I’m planning to purchase an iMac 27″ as my main editing workstation soon, that’s the fastest data connection I could hope for with the iMac, since there’s no way to add expansion cards (such as eSata) to the iMac.
3. Several of the video editors at the workshop in Vancouver mentioned they were using Drobo products and liked them, and Larry Jordan also repeatedly mentioned Drobo during the workshop, although he added a caveat that he had not personally tested the Drobo Pro (but was planning to soon).
4. Drobo has won a bunch of awards.

Before purchasing the unit, I noticed a few negative comments on B&H suggesting that the iscsi connection wasn’t living up to it’s billing, instead producing slow transfers that rarely exceeded 20mbps. But many others raved about it, so I overlooked the naysayer and placed my order. Possibly a mistake, as I later discovered.

The unit arrived yesterday in pristine Apple-inspired packaging. The inside of the cardboard box was actually painted black! And the unit itself was neatly wrapped in branded black cloth. Lovely. B&H included a free 1TB hard drive for purchasing it from them, which I promptly shoved into one of the slots backwards. I should have read the directions, which are literally as simple as 1-2-3. I next added a 2tb drive which I had ordered previously from Otherworld Computing (note that the unit requires TWO empty hard drives to start up the first time).

After installing the included software, the Drobo finally appeared on my desktop. The simple setup process requires nothing more complex that naming the drive and clicking a few buttons. It couldn’t have been easier. Props to the team at Drobo for making a truly hassle-free install.

OK time to see how fast this puppy can move data. I selected the contents of one of my hard drives and dragged it to the drobo. It was about 700 gigabytes. It copied in about 4 hours. Not bad. After that, I took the drive that had just finished copying out of its enclosure, and added it to the Drobo. It did a little light dance and suddenly there was almost another 1TB space available (drives are automatically formatted when you install them). Sweet.

Then I dragged over the contents of another 800 or so gigabyte drive. This time, the progress bar said “26 hours remaining.” Hmm. Not so good. I was headed out the door to dinner, so I just let it run, thinking maybe it would speed up. When I got home at 2 am, I checked on the drive, and it showed 22 hours remaining. Yikes. I went to bed and woke up this morning and it was still churning away with like 16 hours remaining. I did the math and figured out it was copying data at approximately 15mbps. Horrible. Time to go to plan B.

I cancelled the copy, and unmounted the Drobo. I disconnected the ethernet cable and replaced it with a firewire 800 cable, and then powered the machine back up. It took a few minutes, but finally it mounted on the desktop. However, a few seconds later it disappeared and the “disk improperly put away” error message appeared. Huh? The red power light had also come on. A glance at the manual revealed that red power light means the unit has overheated. I didn’t think that was possible, having just powered it up, but I followed their instructions – disconnect powercable, wait a few minutes, and reboot. I also connected the firewire cable to the second port on the Drobo. This time when it mounted it stayed mounted.

I dragged over the same stack of files and now the copy time was 4 hours. Much better. As the files were copying, I read in the manual that you can daisy chain firewire devices via the drobo (there are two firewire ports for this purpose). So while the files are copying, I plug in 4 daisy chained hard drives into the extra port. The Drobo didn’t like that at all. The drive lights flashed, then went blank. The red power light came on. And my Mac froze up, eventually forcing me to do a hard force quit by pressing the power button. I hate that.

After rebooting both my machine and the Drobo, everything mounted OK, including the daisy chained drives. Then, I started the copy again. Only this time I noticed it was nearly twice as slow. It was going to take 7 hours. What’s up with that? Apparently Drobo slows way down when you chain Firewire 800 drives to it (and no, I didn’t use any firewire 400 cables anywhere in the mix, so that’s not the reason). So I unmounted the Drobo, unplugged the chained drives, and rebooted, then re-inated the fire copy. The speed this time was back to 4 hours.

I created an account on the Drobo support site (you have to provide your serial number to create the account and get support) and sent a message to support asking for help to troubleshoot the slow iscsi issue. It’s a Saturday, so I doubt I’ll hear from anyone till Monday, but might as well try it just in case.

First impressions: mixed. The ease of setup and ability to use any kind of drive is fantastic. And I’ll be sleeping a lot better knowing my data is protected. But the slow iscsi connection has me worried, especially after seeing the comments from some other users that iscsi runs slow for them too. At least I’m able to get decent firewire 800 transfer speeds, as long as I don’t try to daisy chain it with other drives. I really wish this unit included an eSata port, but even that wouldn’t help me when I switch to the iMac. Mostly, I’m just bummed the iscsi isn’t delivering on it’s performance promise. But I’ll reserve judgment until I hear from tech support and I’ll update this post when I find out what’s up.
Update 5: OK, this is my last word on this: The supposedly amazing iscsi interface simply doesn’t work. It’s not at all ready for prime time, and I’m surprised Drobo shipped it with this product. So if you buy this unit, don’t expect to get faster transfers than the firewire 800 is capable of, which in my configuration is about 35-50 mbps. Drobo support isn’t very good – they send these silly automated emails that say, before even acknowledging you as a person, “we’ll assume that your problem is solved if we don’t hear from you within 48 hours.” Never mind that some of us have films we’re in the middle of producing, lives to live, etc., and on top of that we now have to follow Drobo’s schedule to try and figure out how to make their stuff do what they says it will do, only, it doesn’t. Lame.
Update 4: The problem is back. It randomly worked fine for two days, but today when I test with AJA System Test, I’m getting only 11 Mb/s file transfers. This is really lame. I’ve reopened my support ticket, and I’m wondering whether iscsi is actually ready for prime time.

Update 3: Drobo support asked me to generate a diagnostic file, and submit it to them. I figured I should probably have the plodding iscsi hooked up when I did this, so I restarted drobo and hooked it up. But low and behold, when I did that, the problem vanished, and I’m seeing decent iscsi transfers of between 50 Mb/s and 80 Mb/s. I’ve tested it throughout the day, restarting three times, and it’s still working by end of today. I’m crossing my fingers that it stays working this time…

Update 2: Unfortunately, the fix that had been working stopped working less than an hour later. So I tried to send a message on the old ticket, and got a reply that it had been closed. I created a new ticket this morning, informing them that speed over ISCSI was down to 11 Mb/s. Then I left to go on a shoot that lasted all day. I got back this evening, and find an email from tech support telling me that they’ve reopened my old ticket, and I’ll need to resubmit my request for support on that old ticket. OK. Going to do that now…

Update 1: I received an email reply from Drobo tech support on Monday shortly after noon. Following these steps corrected my problem, and I’m now measuring screaming-fast 85 mbps data throughput to the Drobo using iscsi. Whoo hoo! One minor gripe: There is a button in the Drobo Dashboard that says “check for updates.” I had previously checked that, and it reported no new software updates, even though there was, in fact, a new update. Seems a bit odd that I had to go through this convoluted process to update to the latest version of their dashboard. But I’m thrilled with the results.

I would like you to update your Dashboard to 1.6.8

In a browser, go to www.drobo.com/support/updates.
Download the latest version (e.g., 1.6.7 or later) of Drobo Dashboard for Macs, the one you want to install. Take note of where the file is located
Put your Drobo in standby mode. Or shut down your DroboPro. (Alternatively, you can shut down your Mac.)
When the power light has turned orange (Drobo) or otherwise turned off, disconnect the data cable (USB, FireWire, eSATA or iSCSI) from your Drobo storage device to your computer. (Turn your Mac back on if it is not powered up.)
If Drobo Dashboard launches, close it completely by clicking on the red X in the upper left-hand corner of the window that displays the pie chart, then click on “Drobo Dashboard” in the upper left-hand corner of your screen and select “Quit.”
Go to the Drobo Dashboard installer (e.g., ddinstaller_19930_1.5.1.app). This is normally in Applications/Drobo Dashboard. Double-click the installer file and follow the on-screen process.
Accept the license agreement.
After you accept the License Agreement, in the next screen, select “Uninstall” from the drop-down menu.
Follow the on-screen instructions to uninstall the Drobo Dashboard application.
In your Mac HD Applications Folder, delete the Drobo Dashboard folder by dragging it to the Trash.
Empty Trash.
Restart your computer.
Double-click the .dmg file you saved from steps 1 and 2 to install Drobo Dashboard.
Choose the “Register Later” option when asked.
When prompted to eject any mounted Drobo volumes, simply select Continue.
When prompted with “You may now reconnect,” simply Continue again.
Quit.
When Drobo Dashboard says, “Ready For Connection,” connect your data cable (USB, FireWire, eSATA or iSCSI). For Drobo S, DroboPro or DroboElite, also flip the power toggle switch in the back of the unit.

Popularity: 10% [?]

The hardest thing for me to let go of in making the leap from still photography to cinematography has been the shutter speed. Losing the ability to dial that in is like losing a limb. On the one hand, you have aperture size. On the other, you have shutter speed. When you open the aperture, you increase the shutter speed. Everybody’s happy.

With cinematography, you basically get one shutter speed. Ever. Period. That’s the speed that is half your frame rate-assuming you’re going for a film look. This means that if you’re shooting at 24 frames a second, your shutter speed is always going to be set at 48th of a second (or the closest DSLR equivalent, which in the case of my Canon T2i, is 50th of a second). Yeah, I know that you CAN go all Saving Private Ryan and shoot at a faster shutter, but it’s a special effect. You can’t reach for it very often unless you’re James Longly.

So, how CAN you control light? How can you use a nice shallow depth of field in bright lighting situations when you’re stuck with what, to still photographers, is a ridiculously slow shutter speed? You COULD adjust your ISO. But that bottoms out pretty fast. On my T2i, the slowest ISO I can set is 200. If you’re in any kind of sunlight, you’ll be bumping against the slowest ISO you can set, and begging for more.

Cinematographers have solved this problem a long time ago by using something I never once used in all my years a professional photojournalist: neutral density filters. When the sun comes out, the big fat matte box appears on the front of your lens, and starts getting loaded with darkened pieces of glass. They don’t affect anything about the light except intensity – that is, they do essentially what using a faster shutter speed used to do for you (without the motion-stopping side effects).

That’s all great, except for one thing. Using ND, as it’s called, is a pain in the ass. They generally come in 4″x4″ sheets, and require a matte box that costs more than your camera to work. Then you gotta carry around a bunch of them. Then when the light changes you have to swap them out and so on.

Before I continue, I want to raise a second former-photographer gripe about DSLR cinematography. My old Nikon glass is awesome, and works great on my Canon with a $10 adapter I bought on ebay. It’s manual focus, perfect since autofocus essentially doesn’t work on DSLRs when shooting video. But when I dial the aperture, each stop clicks audibly into place. And even if sound weren’t an issue, the sudden full-stop clicks make it impossible to smoothly dial in an aperture, like you can on professional video cameras, which have a continuous smooth iris ring. So we’ve got two serious problems that suck pretty bad. Wouldn’t it be cool if you could regain some of the control you gave up with the shutter dial AND fix the aperture click issue by adding one small piece of gear to your kit?

Enter “The Fader.” After using it for just one day of shooting, I call it something else: The Holy Grail. It’s a filter that looks a lot like a polarizer, with two rotating panes of glass. Only when you rotate it, it gets darker. A LOT darker. In cineamatography terms, it goes from ND 2 to ND 400. Wow. That’s hardly anything to almost complete darkness. And it does it smooooooothly as you can rotate it. See why this is so cool? Because it allows you to set an aperture, say 2.8, and when the sun comes out, you just twist the dial, like you would twist the aperture ring on a video camera, to chill down the exposure to something perfect.

In practice, it’s best to do this between takes. But the fact is, I actually was able to dial in the exposure while rolling using this instantly indispensable tool. It’s got nice grooved edges that make it easy to smoothly twist, and it’s MUCH easier to adjust on the fly than cranking on the clanking aperture ring of my Nikons.

I already feel naked without one of these on the front of my lens. I like these so much, I’m buying one for each of my primes (20mm, 35mm and 50mm). I plan to leave it permanently on the front of each lens (except when I absolutely need every stop out of the lenses when shooting in low light).

Thanks to Ryan Bilsborough-Koo for turning me onto this crazy-sexy device on his outstanding DSLR Cinematography Guide.

Popularity: 5% [?]

As I’ve immersed myself in documentary films over the past 3 months, I’ve gotten more curious about the history and tradition that informs the films being produced today. I found myself wondering, who made the first documentary film? Where did cinema verite come from? How come Canada has a national film board that supports documentary filmmakers and we don’t? So I picked up a used copy of A New History of Documentary Film, which is written for classroom use, by a pair of academics, Jack Ellis and Betsy McLane.

After reading this book, I’ve got a solid picture of where documentary film came from, who the major figures were and are, and why documentary developed differently in Canada, Great Britain and the US. It’s a young medium, really, when you consider the first feature-length documentary ever made, Nanook of the North by Robert Flaherty, was released in 1922. What’s really cool, is that very first film is still in print – I was able to request it on Netflix and I’ll be screening and reviewing it next week.

I also picked up a raft of new names that I’ve added to my “must see” list: filmmakers like Dziga Vertov, John Grierson, Pare Lorentz, Colin Low and Wolf Koenig, Robert Drew, Jean Rouch, Pennebaker and Al and David Maysles. I’m also now planning to screen films by Frederick Wiseman, Ricky Leacock, Les Blank, Nick Broomfield, Rob Epstein, John Else, and many others.

It was fascinating to discover just how much successive generations of filmmakers have been influenced by each other’s work. For example, Michael Moore was influenced by filmmaker Tony Buba, who began making films in a similar personal style about similar subjects as Moore, in similar part of the United States (and in fact Moore hired Buba’s editor to work on his first film Roger and Me).

The book reads like the college textbook that it is, so you won’t find particularly colorful or impassioned or entertaining descriptions of anything – it’s just the facts, presented simply and briskly. It’s a fantastic jumping-off point for further reading, with additional books referenced at the end of every chapter. Further, there’s a fantastic suggested viewing list of films at the end of each chapter as well.

Popularity: 2% [?]

I chose to skip film school and get straight to making documentaries of my own. But that doesn’t mean I’m skipping filmmaking education. I’m opting to learn by reading, by doing, and by watching great instructional materials like Sound for Film and Television. This 2.5-hour film by location sound professionals Barry Green, David Jimerson and Matt Gettemeier can be summed up in 2 words: audio bootcamp.

Whether you know nothing about recording location sound for your films or are working on your second documentary, as I am, you will learn something from this DVD. What’s more, you’ll enjoy learning it, as Jimmerson and crew put a lot of effort into making the sections entertaining as well as informative. There are just two hugely important techniques that will solve 80 percent of your location audio problems, and you’ll learn them in the first few minutes of the DVD. Then you’ll have them repeatedly drilled into your head through the rest of the film, so that by the time you reach the end, you know exactly what it takes to get great audio on your next film.

Topics include:

• Avoiding common mistakes
• How to choose the right mic for interior vs. exterior shooting
• How to use a boom pole
• Sound kit basics
• Choosing great locations

Key takeaways for me:

• When recording dialogue, a good recording level is -20db to -12db; never higher than -6db.
• Octava MK-012 mic is an excellent, inexpensive mic for interior booming.
• A hypercardiod is the best type of mic for interior booming.
• Countryman B-6 is a good tiny lav that’s easy to hide.
• Avoid clipping at all costs – it destroys the audio usability. Better to keep levels too low than too high (same is true of video highlights)
• In typical video situations, you can split the signal so you’re recording two levels simultaneously, one lower than the main. If a spike happens, you can substitute the other channel in post
• Hardwood floors, parallel walls, tile floors, open glass windows – all are warning signs that bad audio may result.
• Odd angled walls, carpeted floors, soft furniture, window treatments such as drapes – all good signs that place is good audio environment.
• Listen to the sound of a room through over-ear earphones before recording. You’ll pick up tiny details like refrigerator hum, and can correct it before beginning to record.
• Always record 30 seconds of room tone without any other sound, for use in post.

My only critique of the film is that it’s all about narrative film, and some of the techniques describe overlook the fact that as documentary filmmakers, we can’t always control the set. But ultimately the techniques are the same, and there is a good deal of time spent in this film on how to get the best sound from lav mics, which is what I use all the time (they recommend not using them for narrative work, which I agree with – but they’ll save your ass on docs).

If you’re considering making a documentary and don’t have experience recording audio beyond what your camcorder can do, this film is required and enjoyable viewing.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Last week I ran a fairly extensive Google search for films about how to make documentary films. Guess what? The market isn’t exactly crowded. In fact, I could only find this one, Documentary Filmaking: Tips from the Trenches, a 2008 educational film made by Brooke Barnett and Katrina Taylor. So I oredered a copy off Amazon, where it retails for $30 and, sat down to watch it after breakfast this morning.

The film is almost entirely a series of interviews with 30 documentary directors, most relatively obscure ones, but I was thrilled to find a few legends like DA Pennebaker, Marshall Curry and Ross McElwee.  To call it a low-budget production would be an understatement – most of the scenes appear hastily lit, and shot on low-quality video with occassionally distracting backgrounds. But I give Katrina Taylor and Brooke Barnett major props for making this film, which I would recommend to anyone looking to deepen their understanding of the documentary form.

The film structures the interviews into 6 sections:

1. Introduction
2. Story
3. Shooting & Editing
4. Legal Issues
5. Ethics
6. Financial & Distribution

Introduction

The film starts out with what to me is a tedious question: what is a documentary film? Luckily more than one director agreed with me and said as much in the film, and we soon get past that into the good stuff. Marshall Curry explains how he taught himself how to make documentary films by watching his favorite films over and over again, breaking them down scene by scene, writing down how long each scene in the film lasted, and recording the role it played in the film. If this sounds like hard work, it is. That’s why most people don’t do it. And why most people don’t have their first film nominated for an Oscar, as Curry’s was.

Story

You should be able to describe your film in one sentence – if you can do that, you may have an interesting story, said one director interviewed in the film. DA Pennebaker stressed the importance of frequent practice: If you were a painter, you’d be painting every day. You’re a filmmaker, so you should be shooting every day. That’s how you improve.

On how to find a good story, Curry put it this way: “If you point a camera at people who are interesting, you’re going to have an interesting film.” And look for stories that have a narrative arc – that makes it easier.

BBC has two rules about stories they tell: Any project they undertake must:

1. Entertain
2. Educate (optional)

But if it doesn’t entertain, it does the opposite, and you never get the chance to educate. Many filmmakers agreed that it’s better to “uncover” a story than it is to script it. The story section concludes with one great piece of advice: Commit. It’s tempting to try and cover everything about a story, but you’re better off covering one person deeply. When you come to a filmmaking fork in the road, take it.

Shooting and Editing

Tip: Don’t use zoom – get close instead. Too many shots live in the “dead zone” of middle focal length, said one filmmaker. It’s better to be either wide or tigh. Also, and this is advice I got from Zach Levy at his workshop last week, HOLD your shots for a 10 count after you think they’re done. If it’s dangerous or exciting, use a 20 count (because you’ll be counting faster than normal).

Focus on what you have, rather than what you don’t have. It’s important to use the technology you have fully. Play to the strengths of the equipment you’re working with. It can be a good thing rather than a limitation – and good filmmakers see it this way. One example provided is the film Tarnation, made over a 20 year period entirely with consumer grade equipment.

Remember to get stock shots of your subjects in various moods, without them talking – just sitting and looking pensive, or happy, or whatever. You will need these in the edit.

Tip: To improve your filmmaking skills, watch your favorite films with the sound turned OFF. This takes you out of the story, so that you can fully concentrate on what’s happening with the cinematography, editing, etc. And it’s a reminder that your doc will only be as good as the sound you get to go with it.

A lot of the directors in this film agreed that the role of editor is essentially of equal importance to role of director. Pennebaker suggested that you approach editing little by little, and the story will tell you where it wants to go. Curry agreed, saying that for him, editing is “months of trial and error” in which you try some things out, show them to people, and keep modifying until it works. McElwee stressed the importance of showing your film to test audience (of people who are not your friends or family), and asking them direct questions about what worked and what didn’t, as part of the editing process.

Legal

There was widespread agreement among directors that you should get releases when you can, but they also stressed that there’s lots of grey areas. One director said his rule of thumb is to obtain a release for anyone who speaks in the film, but not if they simply appear.

The concept of “Fair Use” was glanced on, without much clarity emerging on this foggy topic. Some directors said they wouldn’t use anything without it being “cleared” while others said it was fine to use news clips and other archival footage if they helped advance your story. For example, a song by a major artist might be fine to include if your subject is playing it on radio, but not if you use it to cut across multiple scenes as background music. Also you’re on firmer legal ground if you use only part of a news clip instead of the entire clip.

Ethics

Trust is the currency of documentary filmmaking. As such, you have to earn it and build it, and you begin to obtain that by observing a simple rule: do what you say you will do. So if you say you’re going to be there filming on Sunday at 3pm, you be there. Also, important to let people know you’re rolling – tell them, “if I’m here and the camera’s out, assume it’s rolling.” One filmmaker stressed that you will also be renegotiating access throughout the story, and it’s important to keep the camera rolling especially in difficult situations, because you might not get a chance to come back to it later. You can decide what to leave in and out of the film in the editing room, but if you don’t record what’s happening, you don’t have the option. So get it.

Financial & Distribution

A large number of directors said they worked day jobs while making their films to support their filmmaking. You have to have another source of income, they said, to maintain your independence. Others said grants are possible but generally only after you’ve established a track record. One gave this quote by Ghandi: “Find a vision, and the means will follow.” They concluded with the advice that funding organizations will be much more comfortable if you can show that they are part of a group of other organizations that are also funding your project, rather than the only one. And I love this bit of advice: “I’m a small business owner first, and a filmmaker second.” The government certainly sees you this way, so it makes sense to remember that.

Everything is changing with regard to how films are distributed, most filmmakers agreed. Self-releasing is becoming a viable option. One filmmaker even pre-sold $12,000 of his DVDs before his film was released using the net. And the festival circuit is essential to build a pedigree for first-time filmmakers, McElwee said. On that, Slamdance is taking over the role that Sundance once held as a means of identifying truly indie films.

Popularity: 3% [?]