Tripod, Tapes, Accessories.

By Ben Crosbie

Like many young filmmakers, when I made my first film, I didn’t realize that I needed to use tape. I shot some really awesome scenes, and when I went back to watch them, all I saw was a blue screen. Call it learning the hard way.

In reality, choosing the right tape is pretty simple, but like most things in digital filmmaking, it can get much more confusing that it needs to be. One rule you might hear over and over again is “choose one brand of tape from the beginning and stick with it.” This doesn’t mean you can’t ever change tape brands, but it’s just the best way to play it safe with your video camera. Switching tape brands often in the same camera can cause the video heads to get clogged and dirty, due to different tape manufacturers using different chemicals and lubrication on their tapes.

We ended up using the Panasonic DVM63PQ tapes at $3.29 a pop bought in bulk from B&H. They are “professional quality” – whatever that means – so they are supposed to be a few steps up from the stuff your mom would buy at Best Buy, but they aren’t nearly as expensive as the “Advanced Master Quality” tapes from Panasonic that cost a few dollars more per tape (that small difference adds up to a lot when you are buying 100 tapes). Bottom line: buy the best tape you can afford, and don’t reuse old tapes, that’s just being really cheap.

Always use a tripod! That is one bit of advice nearly all new filmmakers hear. People hate bad handheld shots, and for some reason new filmmakers love to use it (it just looks so cool!) Handheld camerawork has its place, especially in documentary film where the camera operator has to follow someone around. It’s usually just not practical to set up a tripod for every shot or scene you want to film in an unpredictable environment. The best way to get around this issue is to use a tripod for all of your b-roll, sit down interviews and shots taken in a semi-controlled environment (where your subject is confined to one particular room for a certain period of time, for example). If you get as many of your shots this way as possible, then your shaky handheld work (we’ll get to how to make it less shaky in a moment) will be more forgivable in your final film. Sometimes things are just going to be shaky, even broadcast and theatrical documentaries have some element of shakiness (ok last time I use that word I promise).

So how do you make your handheld shots more stable? One way is to shoulder mount your camera. You can buy all sorts of different shoulder mounting braces to support a variety of camera sizes. We opted to try out the SpiderBrace mini rig. It’s basically some pvc pipe screwed together to fit over your shoulder with a handle, and you attach your camera to the top of it. In theory the brace could work really well, but it just didn’t pan out with our XH A1 (no pun intended). Because our camera was so front heavy, placing it on the SpiderBrace didn’t really alleviate any of the arm strain that came from hand holding the camera. In fact, I found that it introduced a totally new form of arm pain. The camera doesn’t really sit on your shoulder with the mini rig, it sort of floats over your bicep (imagine your elbow is bent at about 90 degrees holding the handle of the brace out in front of you), so nearly all of the camera weight is supported by your arm instead of your shoulder. The backside of the SpiderBrace is just a bent pipe, so it doesn’t grip or follow the contour of your shoulder, and as a result just rests on it, providing no weight relief.

Maybe a different camera would fare better, and I’m sure the full sized SpiderBrace with two handles would also work better, but after testing it out for a few hours, we decided the SpiderBrace needed to be returned (30-day full money back guarantee, thank you!) Shoulder mount cameras would also work much better, as they are built from the beginning with the intention of being carried on the shoulder. After the SpiderBrace we gave up on the idea of shoulder mounting and didn’t try any other brands.

So what else can you do to stabilize a hand-held shot? You can buy steady-cam device or even build your own (google “$14 steady-cam” and have fun). Steady-cams are great, even the $14 one, believe it or not. The only problem is that they introduce a decent amount of bulk and weight, and it takes some skill and practice to get smooth shots. On a documentary film, especially one in Israel, it’s not really practical to bring along a steady-cam. But if you are shooting locally and have room to move around with one, then it’s a great tool to use. Although the cheap steady-cams are usually handheld devices (unlike the vest-attached big-daddy steady-cams) so it adds even more potential muscle fatigue for the operator. It’s really a trade-off. If you want some cool smooth tracking shots in your film, then by all means use a steady-cam of some sort. The more you practice with it the better your shots will be and the longer you’ll be able to hold it for.

If you’re not using a shoulder mount, or a steady-cam, then you just have to get really badass at hand holding a camera. This is entirely possible, but just takes practice and rippling muscles. I find that imagining my arms and body as being one big steady cam helps get nicer hand held shots. I learned long ago from being in the marching band (I understand if this is where you draw the line and stop reading) the best way to walk smoothly while playing an instrument. We called it the “glide-step” but it just means that you walk heel to toe with slightly bent knees so that you gliding along as you walk. Give it a try and see what happens (imagine a forward moonwalk).

If you keep your arms and shoulders loose and glide-step, then you can get some decent hand held shots while you walk. And when you are stationary, find something to lean up against, or just find ways to use both hands and arms braced against your body to keep the camera steady. One last tip: being at the widest end of your focal length will make things seem a lot steadier. Telephoto shots will amplify every little twitch and judder of the camera.

The camera bag. A camera bag can be anything – a backpack, shoulder bag, duffle bag, potato sack, whatever. When we first got our camera, we didn’t buy a special bag for it. When we took our equipment to our first shoot, I carried the tripod, mics and other accessories in a backpack, and the camcorder in a messenger style bag because it allowed the camera to sit flat. This method worked reasonably well, but the camera was not protected by any sort of padding, which can be quite scary when you’re carrying around a $3,500 piece of equipment (that’s a lot for us low-budget folks).

After deciding we didn’t want to trust the fate of all our nice equipment to cheap bags, we decided to get a dedicated camera bag. We got the Petrol PCCB-2N. We were able to easily fit all of our equipment in the bag and keep it very well organized and nicely padded. The only downside to the bag is that it’s not very comfortable to carry around. I don’t think this is a fault of the specific bag, just all shoulder bags in general. It only has one padded strap that you can sling over your shoulder, so that shoulder gets tired very quickly. As long as you’re not carrying it for long periods of time, then you’ll be fine. A special backpack or roller bag would be better in that case.