Interviews

Professionally filmed and arranged interview Set -up

Chose the right space

Make sure the space works for you , try to use surroundings to tell the story, does your environment change things like sunlight coming through

Look out for audio distraction, things like a air-conditioned turning on and off loud traffic outside a plane passing over head . Do you have enough floor space to work with properly . You will have things like

lights crew and your subject fitting everything into your location. Do you have enough room to separate your subject from the back ground they are in front of . Can the height of your ceiling accommodate your light setup . Do you have enough floor space to work properly . Investigating the power situation . Sufficient outlets to run your equipment from . Be aware of the buildings circuitry .

Composing your shot

Allow your subject look room . If you frame the subject left with look room to the right try to have your subject right in front of the camera so the subject is looking off to the side.

You can also have the subject looking directly in front of the camera more of talking directly to you effect. Camera height can be at eye level or you could shoot down on the subject to hide

a double chin or use that angle creatively to use that angle week or small . You could shoot up on a subject to hide a shiny bald spot or us that creatively to portray them more powerful.

Your Background . If you have a background that is distracting pull them towards the camera more so there is a nice depth of field and it is not as distracting.

Running a second camera

This can be extremely helpful for you in the editing room . Offset my B camera about 30 degrees from my main angle. Although different angles can be effective in the type of interview

you are doing . Always set up 3-point lighting, key light , fill light and back light . Soft boxes always work well for controlling the brightness . Flags and cutters are great for allowing us to

block the light off of certain areas, great for cutting of the excess light in the back ground for example , using nets are another great thing for reducing the light on the subjects face .

Mics

A stick mic which is used in news casts sports interviews after a game etc, wireless lapel mics are great if you are doing a lot of moving around. Shotgun or boom mic are used for setting

up above the subject head towards the vocal cord area to get the best sound , these are great for most sit down interviews were the subject feels very uncomfortable wearing a lapel mic.

Most celebrates prefer the boom mic that i have worked with .

Hope this gives you good idea going in the right direction for professionally shooting a interview.

Photo Montages / Slide Shows

Just Finished a very unique photo montage /slide show for a students project . He talked about his work in crafts and how he has worked with it over the years.

  Story telling with slide shows is a excellent way to make extra money on the side especially if it is only going to take you a couple hours to do . If you are wanting to get into this field   you could advertise very quick turn around 1 day or so or even the same day if the project is not too demanding . Remember Customer service and quick turn around is what really    sells in today's economy as long as the project is done professionally and too there discretion .

                                                              Video files are so easy to send now so is there no excuse why the customer can not be involved in some the editing process  .

Live Webcasting Sports

I've been very busy with live webcasting women's hockey; sorry I have not gotten back to my blog in a while.  Live webcasting hockey takes a lot of organization as well as total concentration as the play moves so fast and you have keep up . If you lose the puck you always look away from your monitor to quickly find it, keeping a wide shot . Anticipating the play is very important. Knowing where the puck is, anticipating the pass, etc.  Below is an example of what I mean .

Editing

When having a pile of Editing to be done make sure you get some help from other editors.

The worst thing is trying to do it all yourself . Keep an eye on them make sure you are on the same page of exactly what has to be done.  Always give a example video to your editor to copy from you will never go wrong .

Finished Dance Recitals

Just Finished up our Dance recital season went very well . Everything is organized to make sure we get all the work out on time.

First thing we do is making sure everything is downloaded into our hard drives ASAP , we always do this right after the recital has been filmed .

Always use if you can a exterior hard drive so you do not clutter up you internal hard drive , especially if you are using 4k or 1080p because of the file size . There are now external hard drives that are 6tb around for the price of $200.00 us dollars , but that is what you are going to need if you have two-five recital schools. If you shoot in 4k you will probably need two of them .

Hiring a video production crew.

Very Busy with dance recitals have 4 this weekend and one next weekend .

Staying organized is the most important thing .

Hiring a the right crew when very busy

First of all you have to offer a very reasonable rate to pay any crew , without that you will not get the right help you need .

Screening your future  Employees  is very important , not just looking at there work but checking references interviews etc.

Finally go with your gut feeling about your employees , if they fit your project  and they all check out do not sit on it because they will be booked up very quickly .

Stage Sound

Hi there, we all have been away for a bit on business.

Want to talk about stage sound for video - we just finished up a big production on the play Shrek tonight. Mixing sound into the video is a very crucial and important task. With the tech supervisor by your side it can be a very smooth process , but do make sure you have the stage mic'd - I use a HD sound recorder ( see below ). With this device you can place it on the tip of the stage ( center stage ).As for tonight a wireless mic that was on a actor failed for one of her lines but picked up beautifully on this device, this has saved me plenty of times.  

Theatrical Performances

Just Finished Filming 4 shows over the weekend one of Aladdin 3 of Peter Pan at Showstoppers Academy in Maple Ridge . The sound Tech there is always great to work with giving me the best feed from his board , of course I always mic the stage with floor mics.

I then run them too my sennheiser wireless adapter which then feeds to my receiver and to my mixing board. Sound is just as important as good clean video when doing any kind of theatrical videography.       

Web Casting Project

Hi there just finished a simple small one camera web cast on Tuesday April 5th 2016 for the Senior Deputy Governor Bank of Canada.

Web Casting Productions

Today we are talking about Web Casting for Conferences. When web casting for conferences, government etc., you need to get full details of what they are looking for.  For example, they can want a very basic webcast or something that can consist of a number of cameras, video mixer, sound boards, etc. 

1. A basic web cast would more than likely consist of one camera, web cast encoder, a feed from the mic at the podium to the camera.

2. A medium based webcast would consist of 2 cameras with operators, video and audio mixer and maybe a power point presentation .

3. A high end Webcast would consist of 3 or more cameras with operators, a sound tech would be hired to look after all the mic feeds . Then we would get a feed from his sound board. We would also have a small audio mixer to make any sound adjustments on our end instead of asking the sound tech to do it; of course a 5-7 input video mixer coming from and to our encoders.

Clean Video .

Clean video and the type of camcorders you use are very important in todays technology Usually everything can be output from a HD signal (depending how strong the upload speed is). Modern HD connections include HD-SDI, HDMI, and Component. HDV over FireWire is no longer relevant, as that codec has been replaced with AVCHD and anamorphic codecs have more undesirable video artifacts than a full-raster recording. In fact I have not seen any new encoders that carry fire wire . SDI is the best reliable way to carry an HD signal for web casting as a HDMI signal can come loose very easily. Also most HDMI cables cannot support strong HD signals to the encoder if it is longer  than 8 feet where sdi cables can run hundreds of feet. As we do have a lot of cameras with hdmi out, we usually connect to an hdmi/dsi converter and then extend our sdi cables as long as we want to our encoders.

Clean Audio

Clean audio is just as important as clean video and having the right mics along with a simple audio mixer is crucial. When we do conferences they usually give us a xlr connection from the sound tech (that is the easiest way to do it).If there is no sound tech usually the facility you are in has a tech person that can connect you to the mic with a xlr cable. If not, then I have gotten away with using my lavalier mic on the podium, hidden away from the camera shot. If the speaker moves around a lot it is crucial that you mic up the speaker with your livalier mic.   We always cover our bases.

In closing

We always cover ourselves in every way when doing live web casting productions. We always have a rule of thumb test, test, test, take; even a full day to test is not a bad idea (depending on how big the production is). Make sure that you are so confident everything is going to work that if you do run into any trouble it does not affect the broadcast.

Womens Soccer Recuitment Video

I am writing today about soccer recruitment videos - I just finished filming one of three games for a very talented player at the Newton Athletic Park in Surrey BC Canada.  This is abig  tournament every year with teams from all over Canada. I will be continuing to film two of her other games next week . One thing that we cannot control is when the player we are filming will play in the game. Sometimes for their own reason, coaches will sit players and play them later on in the game. As a recruitment videographer, it can be very frustrating and to the parent who is trying to send their kid off to university. I always suggest that the parent film some games to make up for the time the player did not play - you never know when a very important play she made will be videotaped.  I always say the more footage the better.

Dance Theatrical and Recitals.

Welcome to our blog about Dance Recital's. Here are some things about theatrical or dance we want to share with you:

VIDEO EQUIPMENT

1 .Video Cameras.  You should be very choosy about what camera you want to use when filming Theatrical or  Dance Recitals.  Make sure your camera can change with the lighting. Some cameras are very limited on what they can do and they will over expose your dancers and the stage. We use very high chip rated HD cameras that you can have easy access to the gain, DB and focusing. Everything should be done in manual. Stick with a video camera, not a DSLR, for this job, for a number of reasons. First, many DSLRs have a time limit on how long you can shoot continuously. I assume you're going to want to shoot at least an entire dance straight through, maybe multiple dances without a break.

2. Sound.  Sound can be done many ways, it depends on the theatre. Some theatres are very big with excellent sound systems in which attaching your xlr from your camera to the sound board might be the way to go. We suggest having a small sound mixer that you can control all the sounds yourself . For example, if you are filming theater plays you will want to make the sound engineer your best friend.  He has all the controls for all of the actors and their voice range with all the music mixing everything professionally to sound perfect for the audience. If you can get to know him and work together well this is a huge bonus. 

3. Tripod. We all use Manfrotto smooth head tri pods with 504 HD Heads for a very smooth flow .

CAMERA WORK

Camera work is a very important part of the production. It can be used so many different ways to shoot dance recitals. Depending on your camera placement, a two camera shoot usually has one covering the wide stage shot and the other covering the dancers up close. When covering the wide angle shots it is very important that all the dancers be in frame and not so far back that they look like ants. Box them in your frame but also keep enough room where dancers are coming and going . As for the up close shot, panning dancers when they are doing the same sequence with another. Once in while you can cheat and show an extreme close up shot of the dancers as they are doing their routines (facial expressions in dance are very powerful)  

HOW WE AT IH VIDEO STAY ORGANIZED ON OUR VIDEO SHOOT DAY.

1. Equipment: While you may have all of your equipment gathered, it needs to be prepped shot by shot. This includes a shot list and all coordinating equipment, such as lights, stands, backdrops, etc.

2. Human Component: Gathering equipment and creating your shot list may seem easy compared with organizing all of the people needed to make your video shoot day run smoothly. Be sure that each person involved knows their specific duty,  Shoot days can be long, but if everyone has a place to rest and recharge, they can maintain the energy needed for the whole day.

3. Location:  You’ve found the ideal location for your shoot.  Visit your location at different times of day to get to know how the light changes and how noisy it may be at different times of day. If you are shooting downtown , you may want to know what kind of noises you have to deal with . If you are shooting inside make sure the entire room is sound proofed especially if you are doing a infomercial so there is no echo noise  . These are details you need to know before shoot day so that you can easily work around them rather than become stressed as they happen unexpectedly.

4. Creativity : Visiting your location a few times is not only necessary for planning, but can be great source of creative inspiration. Thinking through your shot list while at your location can lead to new ideas that may not happen while sitting in the office.

5. Stuff can Happen: You can plan, plan, and plan some more, but remember that stuff happens. You can be prepared for a lot of it, but not all. Doing the four steps listed will remove many variables ahead of time, allowing your shoot day to be 95% perfect. That 5% accounts for things that we just can’t predict.

WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR CLIENTS RELATIONSHIP

#1: Have a clear contract with your client

Make sure on the contract you have a clear understanding to the client of what services you are providing, be specific on your Contract.

#2. Get to know your client better

This is always one of the most import elements in your business; the more you know them and they know you - this is what is going to keep them around for years to come.

#3. Be a problem solver

The biggest reason the client hired you for your video services is so they do not have to worry about it. Be a problem solver if one appears , if something needs to be done just do it, do not ask them unless you have to,  this will make you stand out from the rest of your competition . 

#4  Work at it

Recognize the client relationship is part of the job. Working on a relationship will make you more and more  successful, enhance any work in the future with them  and make the projects enjoyable for all of you. Remember the passion you put into it is what you get out of it and they will notice it. 

SPORTS VIDEO PART 2

Hi there, today, on my second part of sports videos, I am going to talk about University/College Recruitment Videos.  I have had plenty of experience in this field. The first thing is filming the athlete the right way, it is not like shooting for the public eye. For recruitment videos, I always follow the player but I keep more than enough distance from the player to the action where the play can develop. Because the scouts or coaches who look at these videos everyday do not have time to analyze every move the player makes, making a recruitment video has a special feel to it.  I suggest keeping it no longer than 6 minutes (if the coach wants to see more he will ask for the full video of the game). Keep all the best plays at the beginning to catch the coaches eye.  I also add in plays that the player made a mistake on but recovered - by making a good play this shows that the player can bounce back from a mistake. Here is a soccer recruitment video to show as a example. Thanks for reading .

Sport Videography Part 1

SHOOTING HOCKEY FOR THE PUBLIC EYE.

As I am near the end of my hockey season, I want to share some ways of how to film hockey for the public eye at home.

Hi there and thanks for reading my first of several blogs I will be doing on how to film hockey. This one is titled SHOOTING HOCKEY FOR THE PUBLIC EYE.  The number one thing I see when hockey is being filmed is the location they are filming from - I am very picky on where i want to film it.  The worst thing is being in a position where the viewing eye cannot see what is going on at the end of the rink, like a goal scored, a penalty, or a good clean check etc. I always position myself were I can  see the whole ice. The perfect spot (if it is available) is at center ice, up from the ice about medium height where you can see into the corners.  Now this positioning is not going to happen all the time.  It may be up high in the corners, or next to center ice. If i have to be down close to the boards then i try to raise my tripod as high as i can, the higher the better. I always put myself on a small ladder or stool to film from - hockey is about the worst sport in the world to film if you are down by the boards with one camera. Once I have found my location, I always shoot the game in thirds. Filming too far back is like looking at ants, I always make sure i can see the play developing but also, too, that the public at home can see who has the puck, etc..  this is first of many blogs in which I will be talking about how to film sports.
See my hockey video example below

Sony FDR- AX100 4K Camcorder

Just Bought the Sony 4k ax100 camcorder , this is our first 4k camera , So far very impressed for the price very solid feel to it, nice size lcd screen excellent chip in it, will be using it coming up on some shoots so do stay tuned will let you know how every thing goes.

LiveWedge Cerevo Video Switcher/Mixer

Hi there, thought today I would talk about an excellent video/switcher that I use on a lot of my 2-4 camera shoots .

As you can see it is very small and I can take it anywhere. Check out the video link below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgrDbKnR3xI  

Love this tremendous switcher, not only it switches video but it can do a lot more . The biggest thing I like about this unit is you can hook up any source of video to and it will not have any problem reading it.  Some other units will have a problem that you have to get some extensions to add on to it. As you can see in the pic, it can be operated by your mobile device.  I have owned the LiveWedge switcher/mixer for about 7 months now and have used it extensively for my live webcasting corporate and event projects. Check it out.

Thanks for reading

Danny

IH VIDEO.  

INTRODUCTION & Sony BMBR300 remote control unit

Hi there! Welcome to our new website and our video production blog. A quick update - we are getting our first 4k camera next week!  
IH Video Productions just finished up on a very large webcasting project in Burnaby, BC .

We've also been using the Sony BMBR300 remote control unit - here is the link: ( http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-camerasptz/cat-ptzhighdefinition/product-RMBR300/ ).
It is very touchy, the zoom in and out is very nice, it is the panning that you have to watch.
You just have to very lightly touch the toggle control left to right, right to left or up and down so it does not pan too fast. 
There is a definite art to it and it took us a bit to get used to it . You can program all the shots you want on the number key pad which is very helpful.
You first use the toggle to get the shot you want, example zoom in out side to side up and down and focus.
There is a manual or auto or manually focus which can be found on the key board and in the menu.
Everything in the menu is what you would have on a pro camcorder, white balance, exposure, color correction, iris etc.
If you ever have the chance to work with one of these I highly recommend it , but first take a day to practice with it .