Villa 9 from Matthew Allard on Vimeo.

I spent a week in Bali on a break recently and decided to make a short little film. I didn’t plan to do this beforehand and had only taken equipment to take photographs, so this is a good example of what you can do with the absolute basics. 

I had a Canon 7D, Tokina 11-16mm f2.8, Canon 50mm f1.2 and a Canon 100mm f2.8 macro (non IS). The only other things I had were a mini light stand and a gorilla pod. I didn’t have a Z-finder, monitor, slider, audio, ND faders or anything else with me.

Does shooting without those things make a huge difference? Well, yes and no. The essence of good filming is to do the basics well and to work within the limitations of your camera and kit. By understanding the limitations of your camera you can still go out and shoot something nice without the plethora of accessories. Your camera, lenses and especially you are the three most important elements of any shoot –  the foundation stones, if you will. Everything else is just the plaster and paint that help make it look prettier.

What did I miss the most? I would say ND faders. They do make your job a lot easier. Having to stop down the camera a lot to avoid running too fast a shutter speed was the biggest obstacle I faced.

A very basic Canon 7D kit

Not everything needs to be super-shallow depth of field. If you don’t have ND faders, adapt to shoot without them. Stop your lens down but use distance and separation between objects to achieve a similar result. A great lens for doing this is a macro lens. Even stopped down, by its very nature, a macro lens is designed for close focus. You can use it to great effect to create shallow depth of field, without it having to be at f2.8.

If you don’t have room for a big tripod, then improvise. A small light stand, a Gorillapod or anywhere you can place the camera where it is supported and steady will do. A table, a chair or even a rolled up shirt or towel will help you get the job done. If that is not available then rest the camera against the side of a wall or any other object that will prevent shake. A lot of hand-held DSLR material looks truly awful. As a famous cameraman once told me: “Don’t shoot anything hand-held that you can shoot off a tripod.”

There are certain times when hand held is the only way to shoot something, but don’t be lazy and go hand-held for wrong reasons. Even without a tripod you can find things to make your shots steady.

The mini lightstand/7D setup

Master the basics first such as composition and framing, and understand how your camera works before you take the leap into sliders, hand-held rigs and other accessories.

You don’t need to spend a fortune on equipment to get good results. Sometimes less is more.

About Matthew Allard, Aljazeera Senior Field Cameraman, Kuala Lumpur:
Matt has been a Camera/Editor in TV news for more 20 years, previously working for both Channel 9 and Channel 10 in Australia. Twice Network Ten Australia’s cameraman of the year as well as being a Walkley Finalist for outstanding camerawork in 2006 (for coverage of the Cronulla Race Riots) and a Logie Finalist for outstanding news coverage 2006 (Bali 9). He is a multiple ACS (Australian Cinematographers Society) award winner. His Sword Maker story that was shot on a 7D won the prestigious Neil Davis International News Golden Tripod at the 2011 ACS Awards. He has covered news events in more than 35 countries, from major sporting events to terrorist bombings. Based out of the Kuala Lumpur broadcast centre in Malaysia he is an avid user and follower of new technology, shooting stories on HD broadcast cameras, the Sony F3 as well as new Canon DSLRs.

Turntables in the camps from simon weyhe on Vimeo.

I recently spent twelve days in Lebanon and it was an adventure and an experience I will never forget; I saw another side of the world. I was traveling with Simon Lebon and Martin Fernando from Den Sorte Skole and Rita and Lei from Ladybox, who came to do DJ workshops for the Palestinian refugees living in camps. About 425,000 refugees are registered in Lebanon, but because they are not formally citizens of another state, they are not able to claim the same rights as other foreigners living and working there.

Simon Wehye filming in one of the camps

Turntables in the Camps was set up to spread the means for musical creativity, break down boundaries and to create a window to the world for marginalized refugee youth. It conducts workshops and sets up permanent local DJ schools for refugee boys and girls in order to show that everybody can be a DJ or an MC.

It was hard to plan much from home because of the language issue and all of the restrictions there are with filming in Lebanon and especially in the camps. So I had to go there and take it one day at the time – definitely not the optimal way to go about making a documentary.

Filming in the Nar el Bared camp

Shooting with the Zacuto Z-Finder, Manfrotto monopod and Rode Videomic

I knew that I had to pack light and leave a lot of the equipment in Denmark, because there would be situations where we had to smuggle gear into the camps and then stay as low key as possible once inside. I took:

- Canon 7D and Canon 550D (Canon T2i)
- GoPro HD camera
- Fader ND Filter (a great tool for those sunny days; don’t leave home without it)
- Two lenses, a Canon 16-35mm f2.8 and the Canon 24-70mm f2.8 – both work great for run and gun shooting
- Two time-lapse controllers
- Zacuto Z-Finder, I find it pretty much impossible to film without this one.
- Sennheiser wireless mic. The system works perfectly with the Zoom H4n
- Manfrotto tripod with a ball head, mainly for time-lapse
- Small slider dolly
- Manfrotto light weight monopod (I always use the monopod for running and gunning as it’s fast and gives you many options for getting a steady shot. I use an elastic belt with a pocket to hold the monopod as this way you can get steady shots when standing still, even with a 70-200mm lens.)
 
There was a lot of run and gun shooting and I was always keeping an eye out for the military, because there is one thing you don’t want to get caught doing and that is filming the military, especially in the camps. On top of all that there is stuff going on, that you don’t talk about and most definitely don’t film either. So all in all, you need to think before you pull the camera out of the bag… it was a learning process in filming in tight and tense areas and always having one eye open to spot problems before they happen.

Inside the Shatila camp, Beirut

About Simon Weyhe:
You can see more video from Simon on Vimeo.
And find our more about Simon’s work here.

Dying To Live from Matthew Allard on Vimeo.

In South Korea, many people “die” to learn how to live. The country’s Coffin Academies may sound strange, but they have become very popular and even large companies like Samsung have made it mandatory for employees to attend. The idea is for individuals to think about what they have done with their life and to try to make it better. South Korea has the highest suicide rate in the developed world and organisers hope that people attending these seminars come out with a better appreciation for life.

Correspondent Steve Chao and I travelled to Daejeon in South Korea to witness one of these coffin academies. I already knew from doing some research what was involved in the process and that most of the seminar was going to be undertaken in very dark conditions. I chose to use a Canon 5D and 7D and a variety of fast lenses to capture the story. The people attending the academy were paying to be there so I needed to be very respectful of their space and try not to interfere with their experience. I was not able to use any lighting other than what was available, making this shoot particularly tricky. I was going to have to shoot a lot of the scenes with nothing more than a few candles providing the ambient light. As much as I love the 5D for its low light capabilities I was wishing I had a Nikon D3x in my kit: the D3x is the ultimate low light camera that can run incredibly high ISOs (up to 20,000) without any noise in the picture.

The 5DmkII at work in the ultra low light. Photo shot on Sony NEX-5 at f2.8 ,ISO800, 1.3 sec exposure

The seminar started in a normal conference room with overhead fluorescent light. As soon as the attendees had written their own obituaries and how they would like to be remembered, the overhead lights were turned off and only a single small candle provided illumination for each person. Using a combination of fast lenses (mainly a Canon 50mm f1.2) I was able to limit the ISO to no more than 800-1250. As good as the 5D is, anything over about 2000-2500 ISO and you will start to get significant noise in your picture.

The main part of the seminar – where people read out their obituaries and spend time in a real coffin – proved to be one of the most difficult situations I have ever had to shoot in. It was in a pitch black basement with no windows and the only light was coming from less than 20 small candles. It was so dark that it was hard to see with the human eye. The whole process was to take no more than 10-15 minutes.

I couldn’t get people to wait for me to set a shot up, I couldn’t get them to do anything more than once. Everything happened very, very quickly. Having to run as much as 6400 ISO on a f1.2 lens provides major focussing problems. High ISO and super fast aperture also create a lot of noise. I managed to get what shots I could in the little time I had and was fortunate enough to have already placed a GoPro Hero HD camera on the lid of one of the coffins facing down for a shot to show what the participants were experiencing inside the coffin. To provide a tiny bit of light inside it I placed a Switronix LED torch light near one of the participant’s arms.

Interviews lit with Litepanels LED lights

The interviews were all shot after the seminar on a Canon 70-200 f2.8 US IS II and lit using Litepanels 1×1 LED panel lights with Dedo lights illuminating the background.

I also spent time in the coffin once the seminar was over to experience what it is like. In complete pitch black darkness, with no noise for just ten minutes, it was something that really made you think about your life.

The author spending time in a coffin

I was happy with the end result given the conditions and time I had to shoot this story. Without using a DSLR it would have been virtually impossible to shoot – my Sony XDCAM HD would have been useless in these lighting conditions.

One other thing I’d like to mention. Whenever you are shooting, try and shoot the material as if it was going to be the finished product. Too many people these days just say “I’ll fix it in post.” DSLR cameras may have huge sensors but they can’t capture in RAW. h.264 has a far lower bit rate and way less colour information than a camera such as the RED which can shoot in RAW. What this means is that DSLR cameras have far less tolerance to change things such white balance, black levels and contrast than cameras that can shoot RAW. Yes, there are lots of picture styles out there designed to give you a very flat neutral image with reduced sharpness and saturation, but unless you are careful you can end up with an image that you may not be able to use. Remember anything that you are adding in post is artificial……whether it be more saturation or sharpness. Shooting in a neutral picture style may be fine for people making short films, but in the world of news people are watching on HD television sets and expect to see vibrant, sharp images. The lesson here is to think about what you are aiming for and who your audience is. Post-production is all well and good, but the less time you have to spend doing it the more time you can spend shooting. Trying to get it right when you shoot it is far more rewarding than spending hours trying to fix it in post. The lesson for today: In news as in life, it is better to make the most of the moment than regret messing up once you get to the end.

About Matthew Allard, Aljazeera Senior Field Cameraman, Kuala Lumpur:
Matt has been a Camera/Editor in TV news for 20 years, previously working for both Channel 9 and Channel 10 in Australia. Twice Network Ten Australia’s cameraman of the year as well as being a Walkley Finalist for outstanding camerawork in 2006 (for coverage of the Cronulla Race Riots) and a Logie Finalist for outstanding news coverage 2006 (Bali 9). He has covered news events in more than 30 countries, from major sporting events to terrorist bombings. Based out of the Kuala Lumpur broadcast centre in Malaysia he is an avid user and follower of new technology, shooting stories on HD broadcast cameras as well as new Canon DSLR’s.

Jag35 launch Monitor-X finder and updated shoulder rig from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

Jag35.com were at PhotoCine Expo showing off their soon to be released Monitor X LCD magnifier which allows shooters to view and focus an image without having your eye right up to the camera. The company were keen to stress this is not a direct replacement for the Zacuto Z-finder or the LCDVF, but instead an additional way to view the LCD screen where you may want to shoot for long times on a tripod, or want to use both eyes to view instead of one on a rig. The finder comes with its own stick on frame as well as option to use an arm for mounting. They also showed a modified Monitor X fitted onto a Zacuto frame allowing users of the Zacuto system to swap between the two finders in different shooting situations.

The new Jag35 finder tested on Nikon's new D7000

I was told the price of the Monitor X is likely to be very competitive at around $150 when it ships in around a month. It will be interesting to see how it compares to Cinevate’s newly launched Cyclops viewfinder.

Jag35 also showed an improved version of their economical run and gun rig which will be available soon.