Video Advice Wanted

"Raymundo" (raymundo) 11/19/2015 at 14:14 • Filed to: None

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Hey, videoographers of Oppo. This weekend a friend of mine and I are going to attempt to do a video featuring an air-cooled 911. The owner wanted to do something similar to the theme of Magnus Walker’s Midnight Rambler video and I thought that might be neat; just a video of a driver bonding with his car, showcasing the audio of the engine and the atmosphere created inside the cockpit and around the shell of such a machine.

The equipment we’re bringing to the table consists of:

Nikon D3300 with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6, 55-200mm f/4-5.6, and 35mm f/1.8 lenses.

Canon 7D with 14mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.8, and 55-250mm f/4-5.6 lenses.

GoPro Hero 3 Black.

Rode shotgun condenser mic and Audio Technica wireless transmitter/reciever with a cardioid lavalier mic.

Various tripods on hand and the tripod used for panning/jib work is a crutch-type tripod with fluid pan head and an eight foot jib.

Three arm suction mount.

The intent is to film at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning since there will be minimal traffic. We’ve got a decently wide array of ideas for various shots but I’d like some input from you. What sort of captivating shots would really increase the production value of this short video?

I’ve shot random videos here and there but not of anything very worthwhile or interesting. I’ve also never planned a shoot that required, well, planning! We’d like to create a short video that will help get our name (FeaturedGarage) off the ground a little bit while trying to bring some more traffic to our site. Also, I simply just want to do a good job on this one. It’s not often for me that the owner of an interesting vehicle is willing to be completely flexible with the complexity of shooting a video. We’ve become decently proficient at condensing a photo shoot into a relatively small time frame, but this video thing is going to take some time I suspect.

So with that said, what are some suggestions you could provide to ensure the shoot goes well? Even obvious tips like bring extra batteries for mics are good refreshers, or maybe some tips on shooting styles. Some inspirational videos from your favorites collection might help too. Thank you for any input you may have.

Clay_T > Raymundo 11/19/2015 at 14:28

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Try and avoid the Magnus Walker oops video.

mcseanerson > Raymundo 11/19/2015 at 15:04

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Lights? Reflectors? I would setup the canon and the gopro as stationary cameras for an interview setup and you could move the Nikon around with 18-55 to get random shots to cut to in the interview. Mainly watch a lot of petrolicious videos and get a feel for how they shoot their shorts as that’s basically the pinnacle of this type of video.

Jonathan Harper > Raymundo 11/19/2015 at 15:04

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If it’s still dark the gopro 3 black will be pretty worthless. How do you plan to capture the sound? Do you have deadcats for the mics? If not, get them, they will help a lot. How down with hooning is the owner? People LOVE to see classic 911s sliding around.

Here’s a little thing I did last summer, all the on-road footage looking back at the car was shot with a Hero4 black, which truly is miles better than the 3 black for stuff like this. The quick cut-ins and end shot were filmed with my Sony A7, and audio was captured with an aux Sony stereo mic on my Hero 3 black on the back of the 911, sound then overlaid on the lead car footage.

Have fun!

Raymundo > mcseanerson 11/19/2015 at 16:50

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True, but there is no interview. The owner made a specific point to not include words. We’re also going to do photos and a write up of his car so the video is more so just supplemental car porn for the write up.

mcseanerson > Raymundo 11/19/2015 at 17:19

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That’ll be tough. I’ve always considered the interview the core and they edit the rest of the footage to fit the theme of the interview.

Not impossible, just you’ll be trying to create a new type of car video.

If you get one of these you could use the go pro to take really nice interior and exterior shots.

Granted those shots look like they’re probably on a slider.

twinturbobmw > Raymundo 11/19/2015 at 18:57

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I’m no professional videographer, but there are a few tips that I think would make a fantastic video. First of all, every video should have a storyline, even if it’s simple. I like your idea of owner bonding with car, so maybe expand a little on that. Also, get a good amount of clips that aren’t of the car. Clips of scenery, road, the driver, and actions like shifting, steering, etc are just as important as showing the car. Another thing as well, get as much quality audio as possible to play over some clips, as there are going to be a few clips where the camera audio alone won’t suffice. And of course, be creative with angles. I think that 14 2.8 on the 7D could make for some cool wide angle shots.

Raymundo > mcseanerson 11/19/2015 at 20:46

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Those shots probably aren’t done with a GoPro considering the depth of field and the soft bokeh. I did really enjoy their video of his 930 though.

Raymundo > twinturbobmw 11/19/2015 at 20:49

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Clips of scenery, road, the driver, and actions like shifting, steering, etc are just as important as showing the car.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

get as much quality audio as possible to play over some clips

Awesome, great points.

Raymundo > mcseanerson 11/19/2015 at 20:57

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Plus, you don’t always need a slider for smooth shots. With a steady hand or a homemade neck brace made from PVC pipe, and some editing in Premiere Pro, you can really smooth out shots to make them look like the camera is on a proper rig. Here’s a demo I did a while ago. You can tell which clips were edited to stabilize the picture and which weren’t.

mcseanerson > Raymundo 11/20/2015 at 07:28

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Warp stabilizer can save you in a pinch but you want to be cautious about overusing it. I was saying they probably used a slider not because of how smooth it was but because of the type of motion. It was a smooth shot moving straight along a single axis. The shoulder rigs are good for stabilizing a handheld shot but it doesn’t help for much more than just pan and tilt shots. A gopro on a steadicam will smooth out pretty much all your movement. A slider is definitely smoother than all these options but that would be a more significant investment.