- In this video, (ethereal music)
I'm gonna take you behind the scenes
as I shoot a new video
and show you exactly how you can get more creative shots
and use visual storytelling
to craft a more interesting story
and I'm gonna be shooting the entire video
using the DJI Action 2.
Now, I wanna say a special thanks
to DJI for sponsoring this video.
They've actually just released a new case
for the Action 2, that solves one
of the biggest problems, which is overheating.
So I'm gonna switch over to the Action 2, and let's talk
about this case before we get into the rest of this video.
Now this Action 2 case that DJI has developed is
to help with the heat dispersion
and it's also to protect the Action 2 from damage
if you were to drop it or hit it on something
or pretty much anything that you're gonna encounter
with an action-style camera.
So it's really easy to put on,
you just clip it on to the unit itself
and it works on the main camera module
and it also works on the video screen,
which I'm using right now to film myself and see myself.
It also works on the battery.
Now, there's metal in this case that disperses the heat
so that you can have longer record times.
So in 4K, 30 frames per second, which I'm using right now,
you get 42 minutes of uninterrupted recording
when you're using the case.
So DJI realized that this was a problem
and so they developed this case
and they're giving it to you free of charge.
So if you own an Action 2, you can get one
of these cases right now and they'll ship it out
and if you're gonna buy an Action 2,
which it's a great little camera,
that's gonna come with the camera on all future purchases.
Now, when you put this case on,
DJI has updated their firmware
so it automatically recognizes that the case is on
and your times are gonna be extended
and when you're working with the Action 2,
you just go into the menu, you turn your heat level on high
and then you can record for these longer durations.
So if you own an Action 2 or you're thinking of getting one,
this is just a piece of mind,
knowing that you can record for much longer periods
and you're not gonna have issues with overheating.
I'm out here at Joshua Tree working on a new video,
which is what we're talking about in this video
and I don't have to worry
about this camera overheating for these long takes
where I'm talking to camera
and getting all of this B-roll.
Now, I'm shooting this story for my second channel,
which is all around the Giant Rock
that's out in the middle of the desert.
It's become the meeting place for a lot
of different communities and cultures over the years
and it also has this weird history
around UFOs and aliens from Venus telling a man
to build a crazy structure that rejuvenates our bodies.
It's such a weird story
and that's why I'm doing a video about it.
I'm gonna show you, step by step,
how I use the Action 2 to shoot a video like this
and I have a few different attachments that I'm using.
So, I have the Action 2 with the screen module,
so I can do the vlogging.
I also have the battery module so I can run longer.
I have the little handle with the magnetic attachment
so I could get some different kind of shots
and the last piece of gear that I'm using is the DJI Mic
and that's what I'm gonna use to get my audio
and it goes directly into the Action 2,
which is a pretty awesome feature.
You don't need a ton of gear to produce good looking videos.
You just need to think through your story
and figure out what types of shots will fit that
and make it all piece together.
Okay, so there's a section
in my script where I mention Joshua Tree.
So I wanna show that we're out here in the Joshua trees.
I'm gonna do a shot where my Jeep is driving
through this landscape.
As you can see, it's like pretty cool.
Like this looks like we're at the park.
We're actually just off-roading,
kinda behind the town of Joshua Tree.
So, for this shot, I wanna get like a gimbal-like shot
and with the Action 2,
you can handhold and get gimbal-style shots.
So for this shot in particular,
I'm just gonna be using 4K 30,
and I'm gonna use horizon balancing
and what it does is it basically keeps the horizon level,
even if the camera tilts up to 45 degrees.
So, for this shot,
what I'm gonna do is I have this giant Joshua tree here.
You could see the Joshua tree right there.
What I wanna do is push forward,
so it's a gimbal-like shot of this tree
and then the Jeep is gonna come down the road
as the camera's pushing forward,
so you have these two planes of motion happening.
So to get a gimbal-like shot, I'm gonna get down low,
have the camera pointed up slightly,
so you see the big Joshua tree,
and then I'm just gonna walk and try to keep the camera
as level as possible so that I can get
that gimbal-like quality, even though I'm just handholding.
All right, so now let's drive the Jeep.
I'm gonna pass the keys off to my buddy Jesse,
who's helping me
and he's gonna drive the Jeep. (ethereal music)
I wanna get one more shot out here in the Joshua trees.
I wanna get like a dolly shot
where I'm seeing all the trees pass by
but it doesn't actually look like you're in a car.
So I want it to kind of have that drone quality.
So I'm gonna drop this down to 2.7K
and I'm gonna use the HorizonSteady,
which basically on this camera,
when you're recording you can rotate the camera
in 360 degrees and the horizon's always gonna be level.
So no matter where you point this camera,
it's always gonna have a level horizon.
So I'm just gonna hold this camera out the window
and just let the trees pass by
and not worry so much about the camera
and we'll get a shot that kind of looks
like a drone flying through this landscape.
(ethereal music)
All right, so we got to the Integratron,
which is part of the story
and I wanted to shoot a little bit here
but the issue is, they do sound baths
and so there's a sound bath in progress
and so we can't go anywhere near the Integratron.
So with the Action 2, there actually is a zoom feature.
So I'm gonna zoom in, I'm gonna try two times,
I'm gonna try three times and just get some different shots
of the Integratron in slow motion,
just to lay over the footage
when I'm actually making the video
and I think using the zoom feature will be, you know,
it'll get me what I need to tell the story.
Unfortunately, I can't walk right up to it.
(serene music)
So for the intro of my video,
I'm doing this tripod shot.
So I mounted the Action 2 on a tripod,
trying to use the camera in different ways
beyond just using it as like an action camera.
So I have it mounted here
and I'm using the DJI Mic to use my audio
so I can walk away from camera.
Now, this gives me the flexibility to be able to move around
and not always have to handhold the camera
and it gives me different styles of shots
so that not everything is like on my chest, on my hand
or just from my perspective.
And so one of the big things
when making an adventure style video
or vlog is get the camera away.
So using a tripod.
(serene music)
The desert never ceases to amaze me.
I mean, when you look around,
it's just a whole bunch of rocks,
but when we turn this way,
there's what's known as the Giant Rock
and this rock has been the focal point
for native American communities and UFO enthusiasts
and there was a man who actually lived
underneath this rock and he blew himself up.
Now, this is kind of a crazy story
and we have a lot to unpack
but it's all centered around this one big boulder.
So the area has cleared up a bit.
There's not a lot of people.
It might get busy 'cuz it's Friday.
So what I'm gonna do now is just walk around
with this tripod setup and just get some different shots
of myself, kind of interacting with this space
while there's nobody here.
'Cuz the idea is, when I'm shooting this video,
I don't want it to be like crowded.
I wanna make it feel like it's kind of desolate out
in the desert by itself
and if I had like a bunch of like off-roaders
in the background or people walking
around doing Instagram photos, it gives a different vibe.
So, now that it's clear, you know, putting the camera
on a tripod, I can get these different wide shots
that really show how big this rock is
and I can get myself moving and interacting with the frame.
(ethereal music)
(motorcycle engine revving)
It's nuts out here!
So many people!
So I'm waiting for all these motorcycles
to clear out to get a shot,
but they're just gonna do circles.
I'll wait.
But one of the things I'm shooting my videos, you know,
vlogs or you know, more educational pieces, whatever,
I like to break it up in terms of the types of shots.
So, I started this video with a tripod shot
and then the next shot I wanna introduce when I'm talking
on camera is kind of this vlog style
and so I'm using the Action 2, you know,
arm stretch away and just getting a shot
of me kind of free floating so I can move around
and it gives it a completely different dynamic.
And one
of the things I like doing is switching back and forth.
So I'll go tripod shot to handheld, back to tripod,
back to handheld, just so it breaks up the kind of energy
and it's not just the same shot over and over.
I'm a big fan of like making things feel more dynamic
by having some different shots, especially
for a piece like this where we're, you know,
talking about this big rock over here
there's only so many shots that I can get of a rock.
So trying to break it up and,
I just gotta wait for these guys.
I feel like this is gonna be constant all day.
Looks like they are riding off though.
All right.
I'm gonna try to get this shot before someone else shows up.
Now,
from a geological perspective (ethereal music)
this is a really, really big rock.
Coming out here, like, you really get a sense
of how big this rock is when you stand next to it.
It's massive!
Now, one of the things that I wanna capture
when I'm out here is just the view from below the rock.
So I'm gonna use the Action 2 in 4K 120,
because I wanna get some smooth shots
that really look cinematic as I'm moving
around the rock and kind of looking up at it.
So one of the techniques that I'm using
for this is keeping the camera
in RockSteady mode, which is stabilizing
but it's not keeping the horizon balanced
and that allows me to kind of free float
and get that kind of dreamy, floating quality
versus always having the horizon completely balanced.
There's times where it makes sense
to be able to use this kind of POV style,
where you're just kind of dancing around
and when you use the RockSteady,
it's always gonna be super stable.
(ethereal music)
So one of the shots I wanna get is me interacting
with the rock, kind of close up,
so I wanna get a low shot with the camera down,
looking up and you're seeing me
as I kind of walk around the rock.
So, I'm gonna use this little handle,
it extends a little bit and just put the camera down,
so you could see kind of like, upper half of my body
and I'm gonna do kind of like a behind the back style shot,
just something different to use in the edit to add in
because it's a lot of footage of just a big rock
and there's a lot to talk about,
so I need a lot of just different styles of B-roll
so it doesn't feel like it's the same shot over and over.
(ethereal music)
And I'm shooting a lot of these shots in 4K 60,
because I think 60 frames per second looks good
when you're working with people.
You don't always wanna be shooting
in 120 frames per second.
It's great for that dreamy quality of footage,
but 60 frames per second looks really good
when working with people.
So, I like to vary it up
and the good thing about the Action 2
is you can use all of these frame rates in 4K,
which is how I produce my videos.
So the next shot I wanna get is a reveal of the rock.
I'm gonna do this in a few places around the rock
but essentially what I do is I go behind one
of these other rocks or something in the surrounding area
and then I move the camera up.
So it's just kind of a good shot to always get as B-roll.
So I'm gonna start down low,
I can see the ground
and then I'm just gonna slowly bring it up
and I have it on horizon balance mode
so that I can have a stable horizon
and I'm just gonna hold this for a little while,
just so I have some extra B-roll.
Okay, cool.
I'm just gonna get that
in a few different spots around the rock.
(ethereal music)
So I have my phone, I can use it as a monitor
and I've also set it into pro mode
so that I can get shots where I go out
from like a dark background and then reveal the rock behind
and if you do that, and you're not in pro mode
and you're using just auto settings,
it's gonna go super bright and then it's gonna darken up
so I would just wanna have a consistent look and, you know
on the Action 2, you can go fully manual,
which allows you to adjust
so that you can have different exposures
and not have the camera fluctuating.
(ethereal music)
Now, if you wanna see the full video that I made
around the Giant Rock and this crazy story,
I'll include a link down below in the description,
but overall, my experience working
with this new protective case is that it works super well.
I shot in the desert, 90 degree temperatures all day,
the camera didn't overheat once.
I was doing long takes
where the camera would just be rolling
and I didn't have any issues, and I was shooting
in 4K, 4K 60, 4K 120, no problems whatsoever
and the case itself is very unobtrusive,
so as soon as you put it on,
you forget that you even have a case on your camera.
So if you do have the Action 2,
I'll include a link down below in the description
to where you can actually get this case right now
and if you plan to buy an Action 2 and start using it
well, you're gonna get one of these cases with your order
so you'll never have overheating issues.
Next, you really should check out this video right here,
which goes through the DJI Mic
and why I think this is such a good piece
of equipment to use to make your videos.
Check out this video right here.