Look and Feel

Hello to everyone,

I am in need of some of the advice. I am wanted to do video of HS Seniors such as this one. Sandy Puc My Story

The story line to this is. I have senior who plays football. I want to start his video with a audio clip of his name being announced at a game. He also plays the keyboard so I want a track of him play as he tell a little about himself. I am going to start out just doing static video clips, but want to evolve in to more. Like wedding, events etc. What is the best option to capture the audio. I want to be able to capture externally as a backup and internally with the camera. I figure I can sync audio using the internal track as a guide to sync external track. My budget is about $500. What other hardware should I need to achieve the look and feel of the sample video?

I will be editing this in Adobe Premiere Elements 10.

My hardware is:
Canon 7D (will be upgrading firmware)
A 60D or T3i is in the budget.
Tascam DP004 Digital Recorder Bundle DP (thinking about invest in the DR-40 or H4N)
Audio-Technica ATR-3350 Lavalier Omnidirectional Condenser Microphone
CN-126 LED Video Light for Camera or Digital Video Camcorder
Nifty Fifty
Canon 28-135 IS
Tamaron 17-50 F2.8
Sigma 30mm F1.8

get bigger lights

and dont expect to produce amazing work over night. honestly each different type of video needs different equipment. i suggest not trying to build the best kit not but to build over time as you need that way you dont find yourself lacking a piece of gear while other stuff goes unused on some video shoots.

most of my film teachers and fellow videographers that i work with all say the same thing and i like to share it with people interested in video production.

in order to be skilled at a craft especially a form of art you have to master your tools (each single one, not all combined) and in order to master something you need to have worked extensively with your tools for at least 10,000 hours. at that point when you have mastered your tools then you work towards mastering your craft. another side note i hear at times goes with the evolving technology. whatever you know now... in 2 years its going to be semi-obsolete so you have to constantly be learning new equipment as it improves which means every time you starts learning something new its from the beginning with that piece of gear. while you have 10,000 hour working with one light you might not have as much experience with all forms of light source, standard tungsten, fluorescent, LED, etc... the variety of types and specific equipment used with professional video equipment can be overwhelming to some but if you are passionate its work all the time spent learning and honing your craft.

i dont say this to discourage. i only share what i have learned from others more experienced than myself because as an artist you will go through phases in your career as an artist where once you think you have everything figured out a door opens and reveals that you are only just beginning and there is a whole new world and style to learn and master. most well recognized videographers are did not become talented or successful over night. it didnt take their whole career to get there because most likely they spend almost their entire life getting to where they are. as i said i share this to open your mind to understand that learning video production can become a life long journey of learning and working. but i can say that so far in my experience its an amazing journey

That's was some great advice Brian_R. I have actually been looking at the Westscot T5 for lighting. Do you think I will need a pre-amp like a juice link? Also would you recommend the DR-40 or H4N over what I currently have? Thanks again for the advice.

while those westcott fluorescent lights are great and nicely priced keep in mind that most of the time straight out of the box you will be disappointed with how much light you get from it. most people end up having to modify the lights to get more out of them because of the nature of fluorescent lights the bulb dont shine light in one direction but everywhere which means you lose a lot without the help of a softbox or reflector to help shape the light forward. i personally would start out building some DIY lights from home depot. you can make some clamp lights and put large bulbs in them. can light will cost about $15 and bulbs will be less and you will get the same amount of light if not more. just be careful about color temperature on the fluorescent bulbs as you can get different temps and more important is get the highest CRI (color rendering index) for fluorescents as well. they also now make led bulbs that are decently bright at well.

as for audio its always great to go through a preamp like a juiced link because you then get control over the audio levels. i cant comment on the best external recorders as the only one i personally have experience with is the zoom H4n which is fantastic and my zoom H1 which is also good but fragile.

i personally prefer recording all my audio externally and using the camera for nat sound. but its possible to record onto the external and have it feed into the camera as well at the same time

Thanks again for the tip on lighting. I only mention the westscott as I would use it for studio portraits as well. I am all for thing doing double duty.

I think I will invest in the JuicedLink DS214 and the Tascam DR-40. My next question is can I run the a Rode Mic thru the juice then in camera and external recorder at the same time?

run the rode mic into the external recorder, then to juiced link, then to camera. 90% sure that would be the best choice for the situation. im definitely not an audio person as i have limited experience working directly with audio gear. im generally just a secondary camera operator getting nat sound and b-roll

Brian_R wrote in post #14877733
run the rode mic into the external recorder, then to juiced link, then to camera. 90% sure that would be the best choice for the situation. im definitely not an audio person as i have limited experience working directly with audio gear. im generally just a secondary camera operator getting nat sound and b-roll

I will give that a try. Thanks again.