- Hey everyone, welcome back to another video.
In this video, I wanna talk about 10 things
that I like to do to prep the camera gear
for a commercial shoot.
We're about to head over the hill
about an hour and a half drive over to Blenheim
to shoot a testimonial video for a coffee franchise
and I thought this would be a great opportunity
to show you behind the scenes of how I prep the camera gear
and just get ready, I guess, to turn up to set prepared
with all the right gear and redundancies in place
to always get the best shots possible.
So let's get into it.
The first thing that I like to do to prep
is to just have a quick meeting with the producer
or the director for the project
to ensure that we're on the same page creatively
and we are, I guess, going on set
with a consistent vision of how the visuals are gonna look.
For example, are the interviews that we are shooting
going to be on sticks on a tripod
or are they gonna be more situ interviews
where we're roaming around a facility maybe on an Easyrig
and sort of a walk talk type interview set up.
All these questions really helpful
to have at least a week beforehand
so that we know what we're prepping on set.
We also don't wanna get to the point
where we don't know what's on set
so we have to take every type of equipment possible
just in case we're gonna need it.
So the more refined we can have our shot lists
and the creative treatment for a project,
the better we are gonna be
and the less equipment we have to manage.
On a smaller shoot, you might be the director
as a camera operator and DP.
This is great because you do have creative freedom
on the shoot, but what is important
is just to consciously go through the types of shots
that you want to achieve on set
and just prepare accordingly.
Number two is to check out the production schedule
that the producer has put together.
If you have a good producer working with you,
they'll produce something that looks a bit like this
which is a production schedule
and it essentially outlines the layout of the day
and talks about all of the flow of talent and crew
and where people need to be at certain times,
when the call time is.
For me, I like to include all of the interview questions
and the key shots that we need to capture for the project
and then of course,
there's all of the important contact details for crew
and for talent and then also for your client.
All right, so number three is a really practical thing,
but the day before,
make sure that all of your batteries are charged.
In the studio, we have a left to right system,
so all of the dead batteries
come in on the left hand side of our shelves.
They pass through all of the charges
and then they get put into a ready-to-go box
on the right hand side with all of the fresh batteries.
And so the day before I move into the studio
and make sure all of the batteries
are charged for all of the gear
and equipment needed on set for the next day.
Number four is prepping all of our media storage
for our camera.
In this case, we're rigging out the URSA Mini Pro 4.6k G2
with the SSD caddy on the back.
And so in this case, we are prepping 2.5 inch SATA SSDs
for the URSA Mini Pro.
What we wanna do the day before is prep every single drive
and format them for the shoots
so that on the set we are not formatting any drives.
So simply what we do is insert the first drive
then go into the menu and format that drive
and reset the roll number.
So in this case, we're changing the roll number to A001
for the first drive.
We'll go ahead and format that.
Once the drive is removed, we will label it A001
along with the project ID and then the DP name.
This is important because when these drives
get back to the office,
there are often many different projects
being ingested at the same time
and so it's important
to have the physical drive labeled clearly
so it avoids any confusion in post-production.
For this particular shoot,
I'm gonna go ahead and format six different SSDs
to ensure that I've got ample amount of storage
for this shoot.
Once we have these drives sorted,
we can move on to step five
which is to build out or rig out our camera
for the particular shoot we are preparing for.
Again, this is a step where every single shoot is different
and in our studio,
we like to strip down the camera to store it
and we have a whole shelf full of accessory
which we can build out our camera with.
And what this will do is ensure
that you're really thinking through the shoot
that you're prepping for.
A lot of the time we don't need a fully rigged out camera
depending on the shoot
and so this allows us to start from the camera body
and build out the camera accordingly.
In this case, I'm building this URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 camera
out for an Easyrig
and so I do like to have quite a bit of weight on the camera
to give the Easyrig a really nice flow of motion.
If you wanna know more about this setup,
you can check out this video here which is linked
and I explain a bit more about the Easyrig.
As we are rigging out our camera within our studio,
we rig it out on a second table on the right hand side
and this allows us to pull the equipment
from the left hand table,
move it over to the right hand table to prep the gear
and this allows us to isolate any of the gear
that we need for our camera for this particular shoot.
The worst thing to do is set up a camera
on a really messy desk
and then when we to go to pack the camera down,
we could easily forget or misplace an item
that's really important for our rig.
Number six, because this is a shoot
that we are using the Easyrig for,
I like to open up the Easyrig
and actually prep the camera with the Easyrig,
get it nice and balanced
and ensure that what I'm holding
when I've got the Easyrig on
is exactly what I will need on shoot.
By putting on the Easyrig and attaching the camera
and just moving around the studio
capturing a couple of sample shots,
it's a really easy way to ensure that the camera
is set up in a way that you will need on set.
Sometimes I've forgotten to do this
or I just haven't had time to prep the Easyrig properly
and then when I turn up to set,
I've realized that there's something really critical
missing on the camera.
So in my opinion, it's important to fully rig out the camera
and set it up entirely with the Easyrig
and the setup that you want on set
just to troubleshoot any issues beforehand.
Okay, so moving on to number seven.
Now that we have our camera prepped,
we have all of our batteries charged
and then we have all of our media formatted,
we need to remember this motto, redundant everything.
So now's a good time to do a once over
of your entire camera set up
and make sure that there is redundancy
for every point of failure on the camera.
When we're on set and if something break down on us,
we want to be able to replace it quickly
to reduce the amount of downtime onset.
For example, if I'm looking at this particular setup,
what if this SDI cable breaks or fails on me
and I lose my monitor?
And so I'm going to pack a spare SDI cable.
The same goes for the power.
What if the DTaP to DC power cable brakes or get snagged?
And so I want to pack a redundant option
for everything to do with the camera.
Number eight, don't forget to pack all of the tools
that you require to build your rig.
This is another reason
why I like to completely build my rig beforehand
because I isolate all of the gear on that second table.
Every tool that I use to assemble the camera,
I like to isolate as well
and ensure that that is packed in the gear bag as well.
There are so many times
where I have forgotten to carry these tools to set
and if something breaks or needs to be adjusted on set,
the tools are going to be essential
to achieving those modifications.
So just take a note of all the tools
that you're using to assemble the camera
and then go through your entire rig and ask yourself,
do I have tools for every single aspect of this camera
if I need to adjust it?
So number nine, now that I have the camera fully rigged up
with all the tools and redundant items in place,
I then pack down the camera using the tools
into a single hard case ready for shooting.
I pack the camera down in this way
to ensure that everything I've just prepped
is safe in a single hard case.
Once everything is in the hard case,
I put a padlock on it to ensure that no one messes with it
and it is ready and safe for the shoot the next day.
So what we have now is a couple of hard cases
in the corner of the studio with a padlock on it
ready to go for the next day.
I know that in these hard cases,
there is everything I need to produce the results
that the director or producer want me to produce
as a camera operator
and I'm confident that there's also all the tools
I need set the camera up
and there's redundancy if things do go wrong.
Okay, so now the final 10th thing is to go home
and get some sleep.
This might seem like a bit of a cop out,
but there are so many times
where I haven't slept very well the night before a shoot
and that's simply because I haven't done the prep
and I haven't trusted the system I have in place
to make sure that I've got all of the gear prepped.
If you're finding it hard to sleep the night before,
it's probably because you're thinking about the shoot
and worrying about certain aspects of the shoot.
Do I have this piece of gear prepped?
I need to make sure that I charge this in the morning
or I need to sure that I prep that.
If you haven't done the prep well the night before
or even a couple of days before with those cases closed
with the padlock on it in the corner of the studio,
knowing that everything is ready to go,
it's really difficult to rest
and sleep well the night before.
All right, so there we have it.
I hope that was helpful
in giving you some insight into in my process.
It's a really simple process,
but a lot of the time, the simpler the process the better
and the more efficient it becomes.
So if you're preparing for your next shoot, good luck
and I'm sure you are gonna smash it.
Speaking of smashing it,
why don't you smash the luck button,
smash the subscribe button
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in the comment box below of this video.
I'd love to hear your feedback for future videos,
but for now we will see you in the next one, peace out.