EX1 – over-cranking and audio
I shot the majority of this event using my EX1. I normally shoot these at 720/25p and switch on S&Q motion (overcrank) from time to time when I want some slow motion footage. The only problem with this approach is that the EX1 doesn’t record any audio when running S&Q. I ran into a problem last year when the client asked for audio from part of a sequence I’d shot in slow-mo so needed another approach this year.

I decided to do two things differently, firstly I took along my Zoom H4n audio recorder and whenever possible asked the guys running the sound desks to give me a feed so that I could have a non-stop audio recording regardless of what I did with the camera. I also decided to shoot the whole event in 720/50p mode so that I could create slow-mo in post using cinema tools and be able to use the footage on a 25p timeline with audio should I need it.

Shooting at 720/50 when you know you’re delivery will be at 25p means you have to be careful with shutter speeds. I normally have my shutter on the EX1 set to 180 degrees which results in each frame being exposed for 1/50th second. If I left that setting the same when shooting at 720/50 each frame would only be exposed for 1/100th of a second.

Because I planned to export the video back to 25p I turned the shutter off, effectively giving each frame 1/50th of a second of exposure giving it the same amount of motion blur as 25p in the hope it would produce similar results once reduced to 720/25. This theory didn’t really work out that well, when I imported my 50p clips into a 25p timeline the footage didn’t look as fluid as I’d normally expect from 25p. Edited on a 720/50p timeline the footage played correctly, but when exported out at 25p I still wasn’t overly happy with the results. I’ll need to look into this one a bit further.

One other downside to the 720/50 route to slow-mo is that cinema tools can’t conform XDCAM-EX footage, it needs to be transcoded to Pro-Res first which could take a lot of time considering I had hours of footage. I handled this by going through the footage and creating a sequence with all my favourite shots in which I then exported out as a 720/50p ProRes file which was then conformed in Cinema Tools and reimported for use in my edit.

Custom bike tracking shots
I used my 5D & glidetrack shooter rig during the events custom bike show.  As well as being a very light and portable rig for tracking shots the results are some of the nicest looking custom bike shots I’ve managed at an event so far, I’ll definitely be using it again. Using the Manfrotto 394 quick release plates to switch between tripod and ground shots worked a treat too.

Using the Canon 5D
I made the decision before leaving to shoot this event that I was going to shoot the majority of it on my Sony EX1 with the exception being the tracking shots on the glidetrack.

I did however also want to experiment with the 5D so I ventured out a couple of times with it on a DV Multirig. One area where the 5D shines is in low light environments so I took it instead of the EX1 when I headed out to film a couple of bands and the party goers watching them. Shots such as bar scenes and people dancing on the beach being lit by the stage lights were brought to life by the 5D where the EX1 would have either been dark shadows or a grainy mess. I did however discover a limitation with the 5D that I wasn’t aware of before this event.

I was shooting some guys riding Harleys through the event ground with their headlights on and noticed black dots appearing in the middle of the headlights. On reviewing the footage these black dots appear anywhere in the image that’s ultra bright. This also happened on occasion when shooting the bands and a stage light would shine on the camera, the light would become a small black spot on the image.

I’ve mixed up things quite a bit in the event video, to me the 5D shots are all very obvious but I’m not sure they always represent the best looking images. The tracking shots of the custom bikes look good, but some of the crowd shots from the event have a kind of “mobile phone” look about them rather than the deep focus, ultra clear HD images that the EX1 usually gathers.

Manfrotto Monopod
This was the first event I’ve shot where I took the Manfrotto monopod along. In theory the monopod should be ideal in this environment as it’s fairly low profile and yet allows for steady panning or tilting shots when required. In use though I found the monopod to be a bit of a failure. It was easier to carry than something like my Miller DS-2o tripod but I found it quite useless for trying to get smooth panning shots. Fast pans were a little better, but trying to pan slowly resulted in a kind of clicking action from the fluid cartridge in the base that was very visible in the resulting footage. I won’t be taking it again.

Workflow
My workflow changed slightly at this event mainly due to the use of the Nexto DI NVS2500. For footage offloads I continued what I’d started on the ride to the event by offloading my media cards to the NVS at the end of each day and then syncing it to an external drive.

I did have one scary moment when the external drive I was using developed some kind of fault that could only be fixed by formatting it and re-syncing. This took a couple of hours to complete, during which time I felt particularly vulnerable knowing the footage was solely on the NVS hard drive but the device performed perfectly and allowed me to re-sync my data once the external drive had been reformatted.

All in all the shooting at the event went well, I had no major problems with equipment etc. The weather even started to look up, we had the occasional shower but it stayed dry for the most part with a fair amount of sun thrown in.

So here it is in all it’s splendour, a brand spanking new BMW R1200 GS Adventure fully kitted out with luggage, tank bag (not in the pics) and a full Satnav system.

Excuse the rubbish quality iPhone pics, too excited to go get the 5D!

Preparations are coming on nicely. I’ve been talking to the local BMW dealership about the luggage on the new GSR and they were not confident about how waterproof it will be, apparently however BMW supply waterproof liners that will do a better job of keeping my cameras etc dry so I’ll be taking a set of those too.

After my road test of the GoPro’s I’m confident they will produce some nice results too, I’m working on some support options for those at the moment. I’ve also nailed down the angles so that I don’t end up with as much footage of the road!

These little cameras are supplied in waterproof housings and considering their small size actually record pretty nice quality video. of course it’s nothing like the quality you would expect of a 5D mark II, but then even though the 5D is smaller than my EX1 I still don’t want it on top of the helmet!

I’ll write some more about these cool little cameras soon when I get out and test them on my bike, but just to give you a rough idea of their capabilities they can shoot in 1080/3op and even 720/60p which should be great for doing slow motion. They have an incredibly wide lens which is even more extreme when shooting in the 720p mode.

I was faced with a slight problem in that they do not come with a charger unit and require charging via USB. This is great under normal circumstances but I didn’t plan on taking my laptop on the road so I had to find an alternative solution. I decided to give my iPhone charger a whirl as that uses a USB connector and it seems to do the trick just fine. I have two of those so problem solved.

If you’re interested in trying them out for yourself B&H Photo Video sells the whole range.

Here’s a really cool example of what these things can do.

Video by Alan Fendrich courtesy of vimeo.com

I’ve also had to invest in a bunch of logistical kit for this trip too, I’ll be taking six LP-E6 batteries, two Delkin dual chargers and four 32Gb CF cards – that all adds up to quite an investment! I’ll be backing up as I go to the Nexto DI NVS2500 & USB drives.

Considering the flexibility that this setup offers though it adds a lot of possibilities to my shooting options. I was never able to take my 35mm adapter on one of these jobs before due to weight restrictions for the flights, I’m looking forward to having more creative options with this rig than I’ve had previously though, and all in a lighter package.

Audio wise I’m going to be using my Rode video-mic and Zoom h4n. The Zoom will be used for any interviews requiring better audio than the rode offers and for recording from mixing desks when required.

Support wise I’m still a little undecided. I’m definitely taking my glidetrack shooter which will do the job of shoulder support too, I’ll also be taking a steadicam merlin. Tripod wise I’ll probably have my Miller taken to the event for me because I think it’s going to be too large to take on the bike, I’ll need some kind of support for the ride out there but I’m unsure if I can get away with a normal stills tripod. Will I miss the fluid head or not?  Decisions decisions!

I’m quite interested in shooting the trip on my 5D if canon release the 25p firmware in time, either that or get a 7D for the project.  I’ll be testing out some options over the next few weeks and experimenting with various bits of kit that  and workflow solutions so stay tuned and I’ll post my findings as the project progresses.

Although this event is likely to be that last this year, it’s by no means the smallest, in fact it is by far the biggest event in the HD Europe calendar. The event is reported to have attracted over 100,000 visitors, most of whom are bikers.

Here’s the first video from my shoot for Harley-Davidson at the 2009 H.O.G. Rally in Jumala, Latvia.

]]> http://www.pauljoy.com/2009/07/2009-european-hog-rally-jurmala-latvia/feed/ 0 http://www.pauljoy.com/2009/05/harley-davidson-euro-festival-st-tropez/ http://www.pauljoy.com/2009/05/harley-davidson-euro-festival-st-tropez/#comments Thu, 14 May 2009 20:34:05 +0000 Paul Joy http://www.pauljoy.com/?p=2352

Here’s a short promo showing the the event I shot for Harley-Davidson in Grimaud and St Tropez in France.

Over four days I shot over 110Gb of footage on the EX1 which included shooting from the back of a truck, filming bands on two stages and getting general coverage of the event and the surrounding location.