5 favourite bits of gear for mobile indie production
Big events like NAB tend to veer discussion towards big tools and big technology - integrated post-production systems, media management hardware, RAIDs and servers, uncompressed HD, 2k and 4k cameras, steadicams and bloody big projectors... Well just to balance things out a bit I thought it worthwhile reflecting on some of my favourite simple tools for portable, light weight, independent, flexible and inexpensive guerilla video production. Not necessarily new or even hi-tech; but effective and functional and useful and cool....
1. Sony A1 HDV camera. There are obviosuly much bigger and better cameras on the market. Even in the same class there are newer and better cameras availible. Its bottom loading tape chamber is a pain in the arse with a tripod, low light performance isn't the best but even with these issues no pro-featured camera around is this portable, this flexible, this compact. I've shot a lot of stuff on a lot of different cameras, big and small, but shooting with the A1 is fun becaue its raw, its personal, its just you and a lens.
With its full kit its a highly viable pro platform particularly for doco, short film and video journalism. Stripped down to its basic chassis the A1 can pass for an ordinary consumer camcorder and thus arouse no issues when shooting somewhere you shouldn't :) This flexibility is further matched by a robust and hassle free design. You can just about drop the A1 in a puddle and it will keep truckin'. Great for under water housings, great for strapping to a helmet and jumping out of a plane, and in 1080i HDV can be happily and easily inter-cut with other HD footage from bigger cameras. Its a highly functional, very flexible little camera with a mighty good image that when handled well can look amazing.
2. Edirol RO9 flash memory audio recorder. Not much bigger than an i-pod this is a very functional audio recorder for dual system video or field audio. Uncompressed 48k WAV recording is obviously good and the R09 handles this fine with big memory cards; but hi-sample rate mp3 at 384kbps is just as good for atmos and voice with much longer record times. Many video makers are afraid of recording mp3 but at high sample rates you have plenty of headroom for post and no human ear could tell the difference. There are a number of competing products on the market but the R09 has a couple of advantages in its simplicity. Most notably that it takes ordinary AA batteries rather than a built-in rechargeable. Meaning that when caught out in the field any old pack of batteries can keep you going rather than needing a charger or connection - like the Microtrack from M-Audio which is much the same as the R09 but needs a laptop USB connection to charge a fixed non-accesible battery. Simple, effective, inexpensive, reliable. Has worked a charm for me on a number of projects.
3. Archos Gmini402 Camcorder. Hands down my favourite piece of technology. Its easier to talk about what it inst than what it is, its the uber-device! Despite being about the size if an i-pod it makes i-pod feel archaic. Mp3 player, mobile video player (both to its own screen and via output to TV), portable 20gb hard drive, digital photo album and viewer, digital camera, game console and video camera.
Running a Linux based OS the Archos serves a number of media production specific purposes for me. Its my portable audio recorder for lectures and presentations and all my podcasts are made with it using nothing but its built-in mic and sitting casually on the lectern. The resulting quality is startlingly good. It's a great ultra-portable still camera for video-shoot reccy's and rough storyboard images. The portable hard drive is put to good use for transporting rushes, dallies and rough cuts around and with the composite output to a TV is great for being able to screen those anywhere.
Most of all its an awesome ultra-portable videocamera. Shooting VGA 640x480 with a beautiful muted colour feel to it that is very much reminiscent of 8mm film, the Archos makes for great mobile movie making. Far better quality and post-production viability than a phone camera the images, in the right context, can make for really very engaging and aesthetically pleasing media, especially streaming and web-based. Without doubt some of the best money I've spent. If only it had wireless and an internet browser it'd be perfect.
4. Contour Shuttlepro. There are plenty of editing system control surfaces out there but none so gorgeously effective, simply elegant and wonderfully functional as the Shuttle Pro. Once you've had one you just cant edit without one. Just as at home on big edit bay as a laptop in the field or hotel room and it cross-application compatibility is almost limitless. It serves me equally as well in the NLE as it does in an audio sequencer, 3D animation program or compositing system.
5. Mini Rover Handgrip camera bracket. The simple things in life are often the best. The Manfrotto Fig-Rig is innovative, the
U-Grip shown at NAB has some great features, but my Mini Rover is hard to go past. Its so simple, small and portable and yet can make the world of different to getting a steady hand-held shot from a small camera.
So what are your favourites bit of kit. Those little things that you cant work without...?
Posted at 01:00AM Apr 22, 2007
by Mike Jones in general |
