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Author Topic: Don't worry about gear  (Read 7728 times)

Robert Roaldi

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Don't worry about gear
« on: October 11, 2013, 09:48:32 pm »

Fun talk:
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Robert

EgillBjarki

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Re: Don't worry about gear
« Reply #1 on: October 13, 2013, 02:16:09 am »

Nice! How ever, the majority of this forum is very focused on technical aspect. Casey is really focusing on everything but.

He really does bring up good points. What he is pointing out, is what we all should do, get out there and make the idea or vision happen without anything holding us back (such as lack of equipment, software or experience).

I think with the newest mobile phones, their ability to shoot video and photos, things are and will continue to change fast. All current and upcoming supporting applications/software will even speed things up more. My iPhone can shoot 120fps video clips now, how crazy is that?
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Morgan_Moore

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Re: Don't worry about gear
« Reply #2 on: October 13, 2013, 01:05:05 pm »

Im a big fan of Casey. Cool ideas drive his content.

Of course gear is nothing and everything.

He seems to have a heap of operators shooting everything on six angles on shitty cams.

He then trawls the hours of footage to find some nice stuff.

Fantastic. But if those operators and editors were on a decent day rate it would probably be just cheaper to shoot it on proper kit and get the job done quicker with a better shooting ratio which would cut down the edit cost .. and that is where gear becomes 'cheap'




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Sam Morgan Moore Bristol UK

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Re: Don't worry about gear
« Reply #3 on: October 13, 2013, 07:32:10 pm »

(such as lack of equipment, software or experience).


Equipment, software, doesn't make you better, experience (with a goal) talent, hard work does and that's where I get lost on a lot of this type of stuff.

It's like the endless blogs and facebook pages that are waved in front of my computer every day . . . "here is me being cool in front of Big Ben, here is me being cool in Times Square,  here is me being cool eating a hot dog. . . ok, some of it is somewhat interesting, but how much better would any of these semi stories be if they had that extra bit of effort, without the jitters, the out of focus misses, the overexposed white lumps, the me, me, me storylines?

It reminds of those weird news articles that come up from time to time where some guy finds 12 weather balloons, ties them to a lawn chair and blasts off to 10,000 ft.   I guess it's brave, (or just stupid) but no matter how high the altitude you reach your not a pilot, your just a guy hanging on and hoping.

IMO

BC
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EgillBjarki

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Re: Don't worry about gear
« Reply #4 on: October 13, 2013, 11:41:56 pm »

Im a big fan of Casey. Cool ideas drive his content.

Of course gear is nothing and everything.

He seems to have a heap of operators shooting everything on six angles on shitty cams.

He then trawls the hours of footage to find some nice stuff.

Fantastic. But if those operators and editors were on a decent day rate it would probably be just cheaper to shoot it on proper kit and get the job done quicker with a better shooting ratio which would cut down the edit cost .. and that is where gear becomes 'cheap'

I agree, he likes to make sense of his material after shooting it. Most clients want a storyboard or a shooting list before commissioning the job. But I find his view and way of working refreshing, although it is inefficient as you point out.

Equipment, software, doesn't make you better, experience (with a goal) talent, hard work does and that's where I get lost on a lot of this type of stuff.

It's like the endless blogs and facebook pages that are waved in front of my computer every day . . . "here is me being cool in front of Big Ben, here is me being cool in Times Square,  here is me being cool eating a hot dog. . . ok, some of it is somewhat interesting, but how much better would any of these semi stories be if they had that extra bit of effort, without the jitters, the out of focus misses, the overexposed white lumps, the me, me, me storylines?

It reminds of those weird news articles that come up from time to time where some guy finds 12 weather balloons, ties them to a lawn chair and blasts off to 10,000 ft.   I guess it's brave, (or just stupid) but no matter how high the altitude you reach your not a pilot, your just a guy hanging on and hoping.

IMO

BC

Good points, his way of doing things only take you so far. But his going forward attitude and making his ideas happen, gives you experience you cannot get from reading up online. I for one don't go out there and do as much personal work as I should.

The photos you are referring to, are just that, "me being cool somewhere". Regardless of how good the lighting, grading, composition or any other technical elements, the image still has that same core. It has a personal value for the person in the shot and those nearest and dearest, for others, not so much.

I admit, Casey is a little gimmicky, and I am not sure how future proof having him self in his work is.

There is a spot between the technical approach and Casey's way of doing things. I think, that is a good place to be, keeping all the aspects of the results in mind, with out overly leaning on any one aspect.

I personally prefer a mix of Casey's and the technical approach. He seems to relay heavy on "leaving room for the unexpected" element, while most of us here on everything but.

Hard work and knowing what you are doing from experience is very important, I agree 100% with you on that. In fact, if you are working in an environment that has the script/storyboard set up already, there is no need for any creative thinking or a unorthodox Casey like approach.
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Morgan_Moore

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Re: Don't worry about gear
« Reply #5 on: October 14, 2013, 03:54:37 am »

I think he is inspirational.

He is one of my large pallet of influences/inspirations - from super planned fisher dolly F65 people through to guys who strap a gopro on their head and do something 'cool'.

One thing - he is a great film maker and adheres to a lot of traditional rules, coverage, angle of view and the like. Im sure he is to some extent a guy who can paint a traditional sunset but chooses to fling paint at the wall.



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Sam Morgan Moore Bristol UK

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Re: Don't worry about gear
« Reply #6 on: October 14, 2013, 04:01:42 am »



I personally prefer a mix of Casey's and the technical approach. He seems to relay heavy on "leaving room for the unexpected" element, while most of us here on everything but.

Hard work and knowing what you are doing from experience is very important, I agree 100% with you on that. In fact, if you are working in an environment that has the script/storyboard set up already, there is no need for any creative thinking or a unorthodox Casey like approach.

Egil,

Before I respond, I should say I loved your videos, expecially the Shanghai football.  Really beautiful and I feel I was there.

I guess looking at your work and the Casey stuff, shows me the difference in understanding how to make a tool work to tell a story, vs. just shooting and then trying to tell a story from whatever you end up with.

i personally don't find the Casey work unorthodox, I just think it's simple and not Swedish design simple, just make sure our cell phones are charged simple.

I doesn't seem like it's anything to aspire to, but hey, everybody is entitled to their opinion.

Personally, whether I'm working from a script and/or storyboard or just working from a theme as we go, it's all going to change if I do it right.  Paid talent, real subjects all have some great moments and personal strengths and I believe it's out job as storytellers to find that.  In fact I tell my subjects I'm there to serve them, (I'm not sure most know what I mean), but in other words if I do my job right, they'll be proud, if I do it wrong, they'll say (i would do that).

We just shot a series of "real" subjects with a goal to produce a snapshot of their life.  I had a plan, did interviews, wrote shot lists, but never minded straying from the plan if It was working.

Anyway, I love your videos.

IMO

BC
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fredjeang2

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Re: Don't worry about gear
« Reply #7 on: October 14, 2013, 04:09:13 am »

Talking about gear or not to gear,

I tell you about a revolulotionary gear
That litteraly will improve the work:

Go to the wooden store and ask for 3 peices
Of wooden panels, about 50 cm height and
Measured to cover the all lengh of your editing walls
In a row. (like a U). Cost about 40

Then, go to any store and buy some sticky notes of
Different colors. Cost about 5

In the d.i.y store, buy the screws to fix the panels on
The walls. 5 bucks

So total cost is 50

Now, just above the monitors, fix the 3 panels on each
Walls so when you're editing you are in the center of the row.

Now, before touching the computer, do your edit using
The sticky notes, starting from the left side of the panels.
Read the story...change the paper's order as much as it improves
In your mind. When you got something, open your favotite
Editor and work. You'll tell me about that.

Nota: it's way faster to use paper sticky notes than white board.
Then, you can use a color code. Also important that the
Panels look like a band.

Can be used in pre or post prod. In pre-prod you just take
Pics with your phones of the story. It doesn't require great
Drawing talent as pros storyboarders. Just quick draws that
Show the framings, CU etc etc...
« Last Edit: October 14, 2013, 04:32:26 am by fredjeang2 »
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Christopher Sanderson

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Re: Don't worry about gear
« Reply #8 on: October 14, 2013, 08:23:22 am »

Talking about gear or not to gear,

I tell you about a revolulotionary gear
That litteraly will improve the work:
...buy some sticky notes of
Different colors. Cost about 5
...
Show the framings, CU etc etc...


Amen!
« Last Edit: October 14, 2013, 08:25:47 am by Chris Sanderson »
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EgillBjarki

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Re: Don't worry about gear
« Reply #9 on: October 15, 2013, 08:41:29 am »

Thank you Russell, I appreciate you taking the time to have a look at my work.

You bring up good points working with the talent, figuring out what their strength is and trying to capture it. I agree with your words on servicing the talent, it's a joint venture for sure. I also try to do the same as you do, working from a storyboard, not constraining my self by it.

Again, thank you for the kind words, means allot coming from you!

Egil,

Before I respond, I should say I loved your videos, expecially the Shanghai football.  Really beautiful and I feel I was there.

I guess looking at your work and the Casey stuff, shows me the difference in understanding how to make a tool work to tell a story, vs. just shooting and then trying to tell a story from whatever you end up with.

i personally don't find the Casey work unorthodox, I just think it's simple and not Swedish design simple, just make sure our cell phones are charged simple.

I doesn't seem like it's anything to aspire to, but hey, everybody is entitled to their opinion.

Personally, whether I'm working from a script and/or storyboard or just working from a theme as we go, it's all going to change if I do it right.  Paid talent, real subjects all have some great moments and personal strengths and I believe it's out job as storytellers to find that.  In fact I tell my subjects I'm there to serve them, (I'm not sure most know what I mean), but in other words if I do my job right, they'll be proud, if I do it wrong, they'll say (i would do that).

We just shot a series of "real" subjects with a goal to produce a snapshot of their life.  I had a plan, did interviews, wrote shot lists, but never minded straying from the plan if It was working.

Anyway, I love your videos.

IMO

BC
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fredjeang2

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Re: Don't worry about gear
« Reply #10 on: October 15, 2013, 04:05:45 pm »

I've watched Egil's video works and I do too join my voice to Coot's. Great work !! specially the rugby team.
(I don't know if you call that rugby or football)
It's nice to see good stuff.
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bcooter

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Re: Don't worry about gear
« Reply #11 on: October 16, 2013, 02:08:37 pm »

To me Egi's videos prove that equipment matters, but doesn't rule.

I don't know what he shot on, looks like a 5d, but whatever he uses works for him and probably will for a long time.

Buying the latest isn't going to change his work, though some cameras, like cell phones, small sensors, low iso, or heavy cameras can make a huge difference in the style you work.

IMO

BC
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NickNod

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Re: Don't worry about gear
« Reply #12 on: December 10, 2013, 02:37:28 am »

except you don't have a tripod. ;D

Dinarius

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Re: Don't worry about gear
« Reply #13 on: December 10, 2013, 08:58:23 am »

Reminds me of a comment I heard Martin Parr make to a group of students: "People, I'm not seeing enough mistakes!"

D.
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stevesanacore

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Re: Don't worry about gear
« Reply #14 on: December 15, 2013, 04:49:15 pm »

I think many photographers and cinematographers use gear as a crutch. Of course gear matters but not enough to hold you back from making a great film if it's in your heart and you have the talent and skills to pull it off. But unless you go out and shoot, you will never learn and get better.
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