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My first serious attempt at getting some footage was at PCA's Parade in Vermont. It turned out to be an important event for 928's and some of our well-known members, so I put together this video that some of you have already seen:
I think it shows promise that a full documentary might turn out pretty good if we can collect good footage on a variety of topics. I have a variety of reasonable plus over-ambitious ideas, but it's all open to discussion.
I'll be in Ontario for Adam's event this month, and at Frenzy. Those interested can talk about it. I know Adam has interest and talent.
I'm excited!
Tech details: The next TV you buy will be 4K, so we've gotta try to shoot in 4K. The Parade video was all from a DJI Osmo set to 3840x2160/30fps, with an external directional microphone. When appropriate, I will fly a DJI Phantom 4 quadcopter with the same settings. I may eventually acquire a real camcorder - the Osmo is limited by its fixed wide angle lens.
I can't help but mention that the music is the ending of Mahler's Fifth Symphony, a performance by the Chicago Symphony in Berlin. You can find it on Youtube, and it will give you goosebumps. The extra burst of applause is when Bud Herseth was asked to stand, long-time trumpet player and good guy brought back from retirement. Best orchestral trumpet player ever. The same can be said about French horn player Dale Clevenger, my hero, for which there was a later burst of applause.
That this music and applause lined up so well with the ending was mostly serendipity. You want lots of serendipity when you do this sort of thing.
the largest factor is producing the scene....taking control of who and what is on camera, especially the lighting and shadows on the faces, hats are always a challenge. You need reflective light boards to bounce back sunlight plus an assistant or two...the "golden light" is early morning, late afternoon when the angle of the sun makes EVERYTHING look so much better. Try to keep the sun at your back
Take ownership of the scene and direct it .... not simply record what is happening. The audio is also somewhat challenged but difficult to improve given the equipment being used. Also recommend that "scenes" interviews be shot repeatedly from different angles with some variation in topics and that having the director/camera man / third party ask questions and comment to breakup long monologs ..... a conversation is always far more engaging than a talking head The editing process being what makes or breaks it...you need to shoot way too much in able to be able to throw away most of it
Thank you so much for sharing your talent, and taking the time and effort to put this together.
It's just wonderful thus far.... I can't wait to see where you take this project.
the largest factor is producing the scene....taking control of who and what is on camera, especially the lighting and shadows on the faces, hats are always a challenge. You need reflective light boards to bounce back sunlight plus an assistant or two...the "golden light" is early morning, late afternoon when the angle of the sun makes EVERYTHING look so much better. Try to keep the sun at your back
Take ownership of the scene and direct it .... not simply record what is happening. The audio is also somewhat challenged but difficult to improve given the equipment being used. Also recommend that "scenes" interviews be shot repeatedly from different angles with some variation in topics and that having the director/camera man / third party ask questions and comment to breakup long monologs ..... a conversation is always far more engaging than a talking head The editing process being what makes or breaks it...you need to shoot way too much in able to be able to throw away most of it
Curt's approach with video, for this event, was very much like my approach to still photos-- try to melt into the background and shoot candids, hoping to catch happy faces in their natural setting. Others do as you suggest, control the scene and get a much higher percentage of good results-- but not necessarily the natural reactions. Both work but the second is much more predictable.
Curt's camera was small and his style was that of a butterfly in the peripheral vision, aware of it but not a focus of attention. He shot a lot of "film", and he did a great job of editing it. Ultimately I think a mix of both approaches is the perfect answer.
Taking control is a simple as asking people to walk to the other side of their car to correct the shadows or not turn their back to the camera. And as soon as you turn a camera on most people there are no " natural reactions"
When we shot at my house for Comedy Central there were a dozen or more crew wandering about and rolling two cameras for 8 hours to get 5 minutes of show And that was a very small crew !!
You are both right! I see all sorts of flaws in my shooting and I have much to learn about interviewing people. Vermont was practice. The pace of the Parade video is very slow, but I thought the folks here would be interested in most everything that was said. The documentary must have a much faster pace - the purpose as I see it is to pique the interest of others. Concours competition might make up only 5% of it, and the footage here might be useful for 20% of that - 1%.
I'm thinking we'll have to live with a considerable amount of rough/candid shots of events and subjects, and try to compensate with attempts at "high production values". I've done a few formal interviews in my studio for kicks (e.g., my father in
Really enjoyed that and real good quality video to boot.
Nice to see some faces of names I have known for many years now and consider to be good friends but have no clue what they actually look like in person- kind of weird.
Jim seemed very much different to my perception of what he might look like. Good to see Kim was in town for the event.
From watching the video, I have realized I have been spending too much time on here because I recognized that Bertrand Daoust was the owner of the engine they were showing just before they started interviewing him. If they didn't display his name I would have been prepared to bet that it was him, and I'm not a betting man.
07-13-2016, 11:33 AM
Proposed Documentary, Part 2
The editing process being what makes or breaks it...you need to shoot way too much in able to be able to throw away most of it 
