DMC video shoot

Here is a quick look at lighting and camera setup for a commercial shoot.
We were filming the host teaching the two girls how to make a craft project in a "follow along style" so the viewers can do the same at home :)

We needed the scene to be evenly and well lit - we used two Kino Flow day light corrected florescent lights as the main illumination for the table and talent and added the following:
Two Westcott Spider Lights - day light corrected florescent lights with soft boxes on both sides of the table to fill in and complement the Kino flows.
- Although Kinos are a great source of even, soft light, they are pretty expensive if you are on a budget making the Westcott Spider Light Kit (kit of 3 lights with accessories!) a perfect choice for reliable, beautiful, continuous daylight corrected light source.

A row of simple bulbs inside metal reflectors set up behind and above the talent was filling in from the back; we used gels to balance the color temperature and match it to the rest of the lights.

A few Fresnel hot lights on both sides of the table were pointed at the wall to illuminate the colorful array of thread and craft materials behind the sited talent, they as well were gelled to produce the desired color temperature which was a slight warm tone.

Four cameras were used all at the same time to capture the footage from various angles -

The main camera was a Canon XF 305 video camera on sticks mounted on a dolly that captured the front and main view of the scene.

Two canon DSLRs on both sides of the table were used to capture details of the craft project being taught - a Canon 5D II with a 300 mm lens on the right and a Canon 7D with a 70 -200mm lens to the left of the table.

A Canon Vixia HFS 11
was mounted to the ceiling directly above for an additional point of view and was operated via remote control.

Monitors on the DSLRs were extremely useful to determine critical focus and composition, especially after changing the position of the 5D2 to a higher shooting angle - It would have been very difficult to operate if I didn't have the screen on the articulating arm to look at.

Each camera was hooked up to a TV monitor so Farley, our director could see what's being recorded and give us his input and instructions.
In addition to being the producer and director for this shoot, Farley also doubled as the sound man, "micing" up the talent with wireless lavalieres and monitoring sound as they spoke.

All the footage was downloaded from the recording media and safely stored on a computer and back up hard drive.

Unlike photography which can often be done as a one man operation (excluding talent) , making movies requires a group of people, all working together for a common goal - Farley (director/producer) put together a great team of professional film makers that was a lot of fun to work with!



If you have any questions or comments regarding the set up or shoot in general feel free to post them here :)

To see similar past videos go to the DMC website at DMC-USA.com and click on the video link under the Education Tab.
I'll post the new video as soon as it's ready :)