Tag: filmmaking

The Tascam DR-60D

Good Audio for Great Video: Turning to Tascam

Posted on by Michael

One of the most important… and useful… sayings I’ve ever heard, and which I’ve incorporated into my workflow as a filmmaker is this: ninety percent of good video is good audio. From my earliest days in television news and all the way through to my current documentary, this is valuable advice that I keep in mind every day during production and editing. It makes a lot of sense when you consider the effect of your shooting and editing on the people who will ultimately be taking in your work.

Most of us multitask, not so much as a matter of Continue reading “Good Audio for Great Video: Turning to Tascam” →

The Panasonic GH4

Mulling Over a New Camera for Documentary Shooting

Posted on by Michael
Can the Panasonic GH4 be a camera for documentary shooting
I’m considering whether the video features of the camera override some of its reported flaws.

I’m pleasantly surprised by how much of my filmmaking can be accomplished by using a DSLR camera for documentary shooting. It’s one of the most crucial tools in my current documentary, The Palette Project. While even our primary camera, a Panasonic HPX250 is a smaller camera than I ever thought I would use, the DSLR is becoming quite a workhorse.

Right now, we’re shooting with Continue reading “Mulling Over a New Camera for Documentary Shooting” →

GoPro Filmmaking
GoPro on the Deck

GoPro Filmmaking: How To Make It Work For Your Film

Posted on by Michael

GoPro Filmmaking: How To Make It Work For Your Film

This post on GoPro filmmaking was updated on February 6, 2016

GoPro filmmaking
GoPro filmmaking can be a key ingredient in your film production.

GoPro filmmaking is no longer confined to action video shoots. It can and should be a part of your camera arsenal. I refer again to what I call "The Crayon Box Principle."

I often refer to the this idea, and the metaphor of the crayon box when it comes to my craft as a visual storyteller. The backstory can be found here, but the general idea is that the tools you use rank a distant second compared to your passion for telling a story with the tools you

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Guide Dog in Training
Guide Dog

Si Se Puede, Part II

Posted on by Michael

The life of a visual storyteller is based on one hard and fast rule: you write to the video you have, not the video you wish you had. Our unscheduled shoot at Guide Dogs of South Australia and the Northern Territories was a reminder that whether you’re the last reporter on the scene and the police are rolling up the crime scene tape or filming an around-the-world documentary about what it’s like to explore the world in the midst of losing your eyesight, the rule is the same.

Guide Dog

For this, I couldn’t be happier.

The challenges facing my shooting partner and I could hardly have been more daunting. We had been on the ground in Continue reading “Si Se Puede, Part II” →

adelaide+aerial
Adelaide, Australia
veale_ws
Veale Gardens
What the...?

Si Se Puede: Adelaide Part I

Posted on by Michael

All respect to Ché, this was our motto as we began our travels in Australia for The Palette Project.  We would shoot the stories we came to tell, but we would be open to whatever new adventures came our way, and when it came to new stories, we would not be disappointed. They… were… everywhere.

I often tell beginning storytellers  if they end a project with the same story they started with… they’re doing it wrong. My goal was to leave the southern hemisphere with loads of footage that was never Continue reading “Si Se Puede: Adelaide Part I” →