The traditional
story structure taught in film schools is obsolete. We should be telling
stories the same way we are consuming content, jumping from one story and/or
platform to the next, almost never following a linear path.
The explosion of interactive video platforms is happening for a reason. And when you have not one but two 800-pound gorillas (Netflix with Black Mirror and HBO with Steven Soderbergh) competing to be “the leader” producing interactive stories, the writing is on the wall.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM0xWpBYlNM
When is comes to non-linear storytelling, the platform we chose to publish our stories should shape the content; so having a clear understanding of your target audience is key.
I’ve been a huge fan of Robert Rodriguez for years, and his book “A Rebel Without a Crew” was among the first I’ve recommended to filmmakers, photographers, musicians, and really, anyone working alone or with a very small crew.
I recently listened (again for the nth time) to a fantastic 2-hour interview that Tim Ferriss did with Robert Rodriguez. There are SO many wonderful stories and useful lessons that you should listen to the whole thing. Trust me, every minute is worth your time.
Robert Rodriguez directing El Mariachi as a 1 Person Crew.
On today’s post I’d like to share the most interesting parts, especially those applicable to the 1 Person Crew approach. Here we go!
“The creative process applies to anything you do.”
“That creative process blows me away and it applies to so much, even if you’re not a director or a filmmaker. The creative process applies to anything you do. How you raise your children, how you cook food, how you run a business. Creativity is so much a part of that.” Robert Rodriguez
“I only do one thing, I live a creative life.“
“When people say “Oh you do so many things. You’re a musician, you’re a painter, you’re the composer, you’re the cinematographer, you’re the editor”…. I go “No, I only do one thing, I live a creative life.” Robert Rodriguez
“Everything can be creative, even a business call.”
“I write my scripts, come up with ideas, while I’m play with my kids, while I’m cooking them a meal, which is a creative exercise, art you can eat.
“When I want to get into a character I might I’ll paint him first, and see visually what he looks like, or musically what he sounds like.”
“Everything can be creative, even a business call. Suddenly you go “this is kind of out of my league” but let me add my creativity to it and maybe I’ll solve something no one else will be able to solve.” Robert Rodriguez
“Stay where you are and come up with something that can be sold.”
“As a film student coming from a family of 10 kids living in Texas people constantly said “if you want to be a filmmaker you need to move to L.A.” Stay where you are and come up with something that can be sold.” Robert Rodriguez
“There’s no separation between work and play”
“When you put creativity in everything, everything becomes available to you. Anything that has a creative aspect is suddenly yours to go and do. And there’s no separation between work and play.” Robert Rodriguez
“Doing a $7,000 movie wasn’t impossible, but nobody had done it before.”
“People kind of forgot that that’s how movies really started. It was always like couple of guys with a wind up camera and Buster Keaton in front. It wasn’t a business yet. When it became a business suddenly everyone had a job and you needed 200 people, because it was now an industry! But that was not what the art form was originally. It was just the manipulation of moving images and you can do that with two people, one person. That was a breakthrough idea.” Robert Rodriguez
I often read books that have (seemingly) little or nothing to do with filmmaking. They provide ideas, different perspectives on how to tackle challenges, and inspiration.
The book “Tribe of Mentors” from Tim Ferriss is structured as interviews with approximately 100 very successful people from different fields. What’s unique is that all the interviewees answer the same set of 11 questions. One of the interviewees mentioned the word “Sisu” which I find extremely relevant to the 1 Person Crew approach.
From Wikipedia: “Sisu is a Finnish concept described as stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience, and hardiness and is held by Finns themselves to express their national character. Sisu is a grim, gritty, white-knuckle form of courage that is presented typically in situations where success is against the odds. It expresses itself in taking action against the odds and displaying courage and resoluteness in the face of adversity, in other words, deciding on a course of action and then sticking to that decision, even despite repeated failures. It is in some ways similar to equanimity, with the addition of a grim kind of stress management.
Here’s a Time Magazine quote from 1940: “The Finns have something they call sisu. It is a compound of bravado and bravery, of ferocity and tenacity, of the ability to keep fighting after most people would have quit, and to fight with the will to win. The Finns translate sisu as “the Finnish spirit” but it is a much more gutful word than that. Last week the Finns gave the world a good example of sisu by carrying the war into Russian territory on one front while on another they withstood merciless attacks by a reinforced Russian Army. In the wilderness that forms most of the Russo-Finnish frontier between Lake Laatokka and the Arctic Ocean, the Finns definitely gained the upper hand.”
Sisu is so simple and straightforward that sometimes it takes a whole book to explain it.The BBC also has an interesting article about Sisu.
What do you think? Is there a filmmaking term that closely matches the meaning of “Sisu”?
When working as a 1 Person Crew we have plenty of things to worry about. Here are some underused tricks I use to save lots of time and minimize potentially fatal mistakes.
First, let’s face it. I’m a geek. I am one of the very few people who not only READ instruction manuals, but actually ENJOY doing so. Done. My public confession is out.
I have used way too many cameras (just ask my accountant, my wife or simply check the screenshot below). My current favorites for documentary work and short films are the Sony FS7 and Canon C200 (respectively)
I also have been using the Panasonic Lumix line since the GH3, not only for their small form factor, portability, and image quality, but also because of their incredible versatility. You could adapt a Panasonic Lumix GH4 or GH5 to virtually any existing workflow, be it AVCHD, MP4, MOV, HD, 4K or Cinema 4K. That’s incredible!
Screenshot from the Panasonic GH5 Manual.
Recording Options on the Panasonic GH5.
Today’s article is about choosing the right settings for a specific project. I usually bring at least two cameras on every assignment. I like to save identical settings on them, so when I turn the cameras on, they match exactly, every time. This saves a tremendous amount of time and minimizes potential mistakes.
Here are more screenshots from the Panasonic GH5 Manual, which seems perfectly designed to scare people away. The charts do not reflect the most recent firmware version (v2.3) for the Panasonic GH5.
My Ultra Geeky Approach
I did something only a super geek would do. Made a pot of coffee, opened Excel, and with my camera on hand re-organized Panasonic’s charts in a friendlier and more useful way.
As you can see on the far-right column, I also added EAC1, EAC2 and EAC3. Those are my Custom Menus saved to each camera so the starting point is always the same.
Note: I prefer to shoot UHD (3840X2160) over Cinema 4K (4096X2160) simply because it is easier to incorporate into HD (1920×1080) projects.
3840/2 = 1920 and 1080/2 = 1080
My Default Modes
Since most of my work ends up on YouTube or Vimeo 30 frames per second is a good starting point.
Doubling the frame rate (30×2) gives us a good starting point
for your shutter speed, which is set at 1/60th of a second.
Ideally we want to extract as much data from the camera’s sensor as possible, so I choose 422 10-Bit.
VLog (similar to S-Log on Sony, C-Log on Canon, and very recently N-Log for Nikon) is set my default camera profile, so I have more room to enhance the story through color. Keep in mind that I only go this route if I know I’ll have enough time for post-production, otherwise I’d chose the “default” camera profile and call it a day.
Upcoming “1 Person Crew” Master Class in Lisbon, Portugal. Come join us!
VLog has a minimum ISO of 400, so that’s that. An aperture of
f5.6 is a nice starting point, as well as 5600 Kelvin for my White Balance.
EC2 is my Camera Setting for shooting on Gimbals and I use EC3 when I want/need to shoot at 60 frames per second and play with the footage in post. Here’s another post on Camera Movement.
The cool thing about this approach is that I can save my custom settings and import them into another Panasonic GH5 (running the same firmware version), without having to select every single option again.
Here’s how to perform that magic trick:
Working as a 1 Person Crew we constantly worry about audio, framing, exposure, directing and when to replace the batteries. Anything we can do to save time and avoid potentially fatal mistakes is key. Saving Custom Camera profiles is in my opinion an underused but awesome trick. Enjoy!
I’ve been using Rode wireless mics for many years and never expected to change. There’s even a blog post on why I have been completely loyal to Rode for so long.
But, for the past couple of weeks I’ve been using a new set of wireless mics from a company I didn’t know: Comica.
Features
The complete kit comes in a nice hard case, and offers all the expected features:
96-channels
Auto scanning
Real time monitoring
AA batteries
Lavalier mics included
Some other features stand out:
Adjustable RF signal strength which can be lowered to reduce power consumption and increase battery time
A working distance up to 394 feet (120 meters) in a open area
But there’s ONE feature that tipped the scale for me: two transmitters can be used with only one receiver.
Audio Workflow
In practical terms I need only one receiver connected to an audio recorder (like this or this or this) and can record two people simultaneously. As you can see below, as a safety net and to record high-quality scratch audio, I used a Rode shotgun mic on my camera. Later in post I simply duplicate the track, keep subject A on Channel Left and subject B on Channel Right, and sync the audio and footage manually in a few seconds using PluraEyes.
I wanted to document my two main characters, one winemaker on the field collecting the grapes with a small group of people, and a second winemaker at the shop, receiving and pressing the grapes. They both were working at the same time at two different locations.
Do you shot on the field with the beautiful early morning light and miss an event that happens only once a year, OR do you document the grape crushing process and get b-roll later with super harsh mid-day light?
As a 1 person crew my options were very limited. I did run like crazy all day to get enough footage of both, but by having a wireless mic on each subject the whole time I was able to also capture wonderful moments. For example, the small group of farmers singing and joking while picking grapes, and at the same time one of the winemakers describing his winemaking philosophy, and why they choose to use ancient methods over modern ones.
Trying to record a long and formal interview on the most important and busiest day of the year for the subjects was out of the question. And if you have done any interviews before, you know it is extremely rare to get this kind of spontaneous sound bites.
Pros and Cons
I used this kit for about 5 hours straight on a single set of AA batteries per unit, which is very impressive. I always use and recommend Eneloop rechargeable batteries, they cost a bit more but last much longer.
I’ve seen some complaints on Amazon about the quality of the mics. I haven’t noticed any issues, but will test the wireless transmitters with other lavalier mics in case I’m missing something.
There are also a few complaints about the battery holders (aka cartridges). I agree with that one. The batteries are super tight, so I’d recommend getting three extra sets of battery holders to swap batteries much faster.
There you have it; how to record two people at two different locations with only one receiver and getting fantastic results. The 1 person crew approach.
I’ve been following Scott Simmons for a while, and on every article or webinar I’ve always learned at least one new Adobe Premiere Pro editing tip from him.
Today I wanted to extract and share the best tips from one of his most recents articles (“How I edited a complex feature documentary with in Adobe Premiere Pro with no crashes”), but there’s so much good info into a single article that I’m simply sharing the direct link -> http://bit.ly/2QnEjs6
Obviously, the performance tips don’t ONLY apply to Adobe Premiere Pro, they could be used on any NLE.
I found the RAID system Scott recommends on the article, the OWC ThunderBay 4 RAID 12TB, at least $150 cheaper here. It’s a beautiful beast!
I wanted to shoot the upcoming wine harvest in Portugal. Where to start? This is where having a good understanding of pre-production is vital.
A quick Google search taught me that there are 26 DOCs (main regions), 4 IPRs (sub regions) and 11 VRs (regional wines). In other words, lots of options to choose from. A good problem to have.
The Strategy
Since I’m based in Lisbon and don’t own a car I decided to focus on two nearby regions, Alentejo and Setubal. After researching online a bit more, I found a very comprehensive and seemingly up to date website for the Wines of Alentejo.
I located the info for the marketing department and emailed them, asking for help selecting a few small wineries that would be willing to participate on a video shoot. Surprisingly, they replied, but the answer wasn’t good. Alentejo has 160+ wineries and they can’t recommend some over others. Understandable.
Field Research
The next step was to pay a visit the marketing department. Perhaps over coffee I could ask more specific questions. For example: How many female wine makers are in Alentejo (answer: two). Who are the youngest winemakers with most potential? Any wineries using ancient or very different winemaking methods. Bingo! Now I had a list of 15 candidates. The pre-production research was starting to pay off.
Back in Lisboa I went to the offices of Viniportugal at Praça de Comercio. A complete waste of time as the two young employees only cared about checking Facebook on their phones.
My next move was to go to my favorite wine store in Lisbon, where I have developed a wonderful friendship with the staff. They helped me narrow down the list from 15 to 7 candidates. Much better.
Engaging the Target
Then I drafted a short, to the point email, indicating exactly what I wanted to do, why I wanted to do it, and how shooting as a 1 Person Crew would not interfere with their busiest and most important time of the year. Then I asked Fernanda, my incredibly awesome Portuguese teacher to help me translate the email to Portuguese.
I sent the seven emails and within two days received three replies, all positive. Honestly, much better than I expected.
With my friend Gonçalo we scheduled an early morning to scout two of them, Cabeças do Reguengo and Herdade dos Outeiros Altos. Both produce high-quality wines in very small batches, and both have incredible stories behind them.
The First Battle
Here’s a quick video that my friend Bruno put together from the location scout footage at Herdade dos Outeiros Altos.
A couple of weeks later we spent a whole day documenting the harvest and now we are just missing one last interview with the winemakers to deliver the final video.
The total pre-production process took me about a day or day and a half counting the roundtrip drive to Evora, and the location scout at two wineries took another day. Shooting was less than two days, including the interviews.
In this 1 Minute Tutorial you will learn how to quickly record audio from a wireless system like Rode’s RODELink Filmmaker Kit to an external monitor/recorder like the Atomos Ninja Inferno.
As an example I’ll be using a Panasonic Lumix GH5, but the steps apply to virtually any camera, wireless system, monitor.
Key Steps
1. Make sure the Transmitter and Receiver have been paired. Just in case, here are the instructions to do just that.
2. Connect the camera to the external monitor/recorder via HDMI cable.
3. Connect the RECEIVER (RX) via a “3.5mm male to 3.5mm male” cable to the camera. This cable should be included with your RODELink Filmmaker Kit.
4. CRITICAL STEP: In The Atomos Ninja Inferno turn the volume ON and enable the RECORD buttons on the LEFT. Then make sure to turn OFF the volume and the record buttons on the RIGHT.
5. CRITICAL STEP: Under “Audio Options/Audio Delay” select ZERO (0) frames. This is the case when working with the Panasonic Lumix GH5, but you might need to adjust the Audio Delay settings for other cameras.
And that’s that.
But, why to get into all this to begin with? Because now we can have very long recording times AND embed high-quality audio to our high-quality footage. There’s no need to transcode nor sync anything in post saving lots of time. That’s why.
The hottest current global trend in visual storytelling involves productions where one person is required to be the filmmaker, photographer, sound engineer, producer, director, and even editor, often working on shoestring budgets, minimal gear, and tight deadlines.
After circling the globe for 18 months, and having traveled to 61 countries very often working as a one-person crew, I’ve developed a fair amount of tricks, fine-tuned my workflows, and learned to do more with less.
Why me and why now?
Great question with multiple answers. First, I believe that education is the strongest currency one can own. Second, there’s no crew smaller than one, and nobody wants to travel with more or heavier gear. And third, I’d like to create the content I wish I had available when I was getting started, 18 years ago as a photographer, and over a decade as a filmmaker.
In addition to honest “from the trenches” experiences I’d like to share the most relevant techniques covered on my books, online courses and workshops, but from a very practical and (hopefully) useful perspective.
I also plan to tackle subjects like “adding production value through camera movement” or “mastering 4K workflows on the road”, and break them down into a few core principles that people can understand and utilize.
My ultimate goal is that anyone involved in run and gun scenarios like weddings, NGO, corporate and sporting events, documentaries, red carpet premieres, product launches, tutorials, video podcasts, and even short films benefits from the content on this site.
