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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

who else in this forum is doing nature & natural history docs?

Opcode,

When I was single my response to this query was always, "you don't have the right bra size." I had a male AC once immediately respond with, "I'll get the breast implants tomorrow - do you prefer C's or D's." LOL

Check your PM - the future is very exciting...

Sharky
 
sharkguy said:
You sir are a creative thinker
Click to expand...

By profession! :biggrin:

In the end from a technical POV it's a matter of stabilization: does a REDone with Birger Mount and electronically stabilized wide-angle optics need any additional gyro-stabilization? I remember to have read some impressions on those tests from BirgerEngineer. One will have to try, but I'm curious if it worked mounting a pan&tilt head on that kind of cableway they're actually using in my valley here to bring down the timber from the steep mountain slopes - those rope-systems are mobile, easily available and have ranges up to 1000 meters.

For those remote helicopter shoots: they're already doing them with the small Panasonic and Sony Camcorders. I think in this case it's a matter of stabilization and budget: I know what that one-day-shoot with Cineflex-HD in my upcoming production will cost, including mounting and unmounting, standby-fees... and yes, you get great panoramic shots, but mostly it's even more impressive to be closer when moving around your object.

Already in those specific themes: any probe-lenses that any of you would recommend for the REDcam? Light-weight dollies?

The reason why I asked Sharkguy about filming with a submarine is that I'd like to prepare something on the building of reefs. Could anyone also recommend me marine research institutes working on this topic?

Regards, Friedrich
 
sharkguy said:
Opcode,

When I was single my response to this query was always, "you don't have the right bra size." I had a male AC once immediately respond with, "I'll get the breast implants tomorrow - do you prefer C's or D's." LOL

Check your PM - the future is very exciting...

Sharky
Click to expand...

LOL, that's hilarious.

The future is exciting indeed. I sent you back a PM.
 
Ya,

His sense of humor was like mine - hysterical over the top. I always hired him as my AC on music vids and commercial work here in California. We would be cracking each other up on those 18 hour days on location.

On the nat history gigs if you only do one thing, like sound, it's hard to justify the flight and accommodation to the Arctic in the budget. I got hired on a major NG Explorer series as the pilot (Cessna 185 on wheel skis), underwater B camera, Surface A camera, aerial operator and rebreather technician. Only one paycheck of course.

But standing on the edge of the Arctic ice flow on a sunny day in a t-shirt with our Cessna in the background while filming a hundred or more belugas frolicking at your feet I turned to the producer and asked, "You're paying me to do this?"

Sharky
 
what is a rebreather technician?

i think that one of my peak moments was shooting a commercial documentary in bhutan and getting rare footage of a newborn baby takin. there aren't many takins left and seeing, let alone being able to shoot, the babies is unusual...

i'd love to hear more of other people's peak moments...
 
planet e said:
what is a rebreather technician?
Click to expand...

A rebreather technician is the guy that does the daily assembly, gas charging and system checks of the rebreathers on set/location. We used two of my modified O2 rebreathers to dive under the Arctic ice while filming the marine mammals for the series. Several of the more spectacular shots can be seen in the feature film Arctic Tale slated for release next month. The bubbleless life support system provides warmer breathing gas, extended range compared to Scuba and the holy grail of no bubbles.
 
Hi planet e

I visited Bhutan last year to photograph White-bellied Herons - what a wonderful country. Was the Takin wild or in the enclosure outside Thimpu?

Lots of great wildlife moments for me, but visiting an Emperor Penguin rookery with small chicks stands out. If only I'd been able to shoot it with a Red camera!
 
blueandgreen said:
"General question: who else of you is doing natur & natural history docs?"
Friedrich Moser
Click to expand...

We are working on Natural History. Not with budgets as BBC NHU, but certainly we will be using the RED with several SRL lens and scopes for our work.

blueandgreen said:
Keith Brust said:
"I'm on my knees! Which parts of Planet Earth? I am watching it over and over again. They're of a tremendous beauty! Congratulations!"
Friedrich
Click to expand...

Friedrich, you must see "Sonora: A Violent Eden" one of the Keith's Amazing docs with the great Sean Morris.

Best,
Christian
Click to expand...
 
thanks for the description, sharkguy. the only underwater i do is snorkeling around with a splashbag and an old GL2 on the occasional beach vacation, so it's good to know these things.

the takin was wild, although that's an oxymoron, because they have the deepest, gentlest vibe of any mammal i've ever encountered, which makes them the perfect national animal of bhutan. a most amazing place....

true story. i was in a monastery shooting, and the lama who was showing me around was talking with another fellow, and i was a little bored, so i looked out the window and saw, across a valley, a guy in robes sitting on a precipice with several prayer flags behind him. so, using a 20x zoom, i zoomed in to frame a shot, and the guy, who was initially looking out over the deep valley, turned in my direction as soon as i locked onto him, and he looked right at me and turned away, like he didn't want his picture taken. i was stunned, because i was an entire valley away, behind a monastery window. i gave up on the shot, and looked around the room for something else to shoot. i tried it a second time, and got the exact same response, the second i zoomed in on him. i took the shot anyway, but it was quite clear i had invaded his space.

that's a pretty clear, uncluttered vibe, of a guy who can feel your camera a mountain away, from within a building....

wondrous place, bhutan. quite magical.
 
blueandgreen said:
Hi planet e,

I'm working on a 50min prime-time tv-doc, basicly for Austria/Germany, but also an english version for the international market on the region I'm living in (www.suedtirol.info). I made my RED-reservation some days ago, it should ship in early 2008, so I hope I can shoot most of the project already Redcode 4k.

For me personally, quite a few novelties come together: First, I'm upgrading from Beta SP. Second, it's the first time I'm filming alpine wildlife (chamois, ibex, golden eagle, bearded vulture, snow grouse, marmot ...) - up to now most of my work was about man&nature. So, the places where I'll be shooting are the same, but the approach is pretty different. Third, for me it's a major leap from the quality-POV, concerning both storytelling and shooting, because I'm moving from the regional scale to the international one (but with an experienced partner who in fact runs the production and does the post. My part is screenwriting/directing/camera-work).

Luckily, the commissioning editor behind the project warned me already in november not to buy equipment at that time for there were great changes to expect in the camera market... When I first checked out the RED-site, I thought it was a joke: a ridiculously cheap cam double as good as Arri's D20 (that I had seen at IBC 2004 and perceived as from another sphere), and also, just watching those renderings all the time with very little test-footage from a sensor called "mysterium"... until this NAB I considered it the fancy of a mad millionaire, although a dream I'd have liked to share.

Well, since NAB I consider it something pretty serious and it will be a bomb, especially in our field of work: the ability to use an imense range of lenses at the tenth of the cost (or less) it would have been with HDCam (+CineStyle lenses...). The ability out in the field to do a rough-cut in order to check if the scenes visually worked (within a one-step-only workflow !). And: its 4k, so it fits well for cinema or the projection in info-points of national parks or so, too.

I started this thread to get together expertise & expectations of those REDusers who will be working in the outbacks. Which lens options did/do you choose? What power supply? Temperature/humidity issues? Third party accessories? And, last but not least, making 4k stock footage available (just to put an example: for a doc I made last year about the geological history of a canyon in the Italian Dolomites I needed footage from the Bahamas to show how a certain geological strata looked like 200 million years ago). Stock footage that's not touristic or commercial-like can be very precious, as is the possibility to engage someone living next-door to a certain motive.

So, it would be great to create a plattform within this plattform that is not so much dedicated to the feature-film/indie-film issue, but that could be a nice place to drop by just to pick up some usefull information for all those interested in nature / natural history / scientific filming.

Regards,
Friedrich Moser
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Hi there, I am a french independent wildlife cinematographer. Last thing I did was a 50' about the european eagle-owl. I'm considering going red myself, and I'd love to know where you're standing now...is it the coming thing for us, as it seems ? Checked out flaws or impediments for our specific use ? What format do you expect to shoot in, especially using heavy 35mm canon or Nikon telephotos ? thanks for answering me, I'm getting confused a bit, since, as you know, being a wildlife specialist is often quite enough to go busy with! Regards, Denis
 
Salut Denis,

I am convinced it will be a great tool for wildlife. I'll be shooting Redcode RAW 4k as often as I can, and the high-speed shots at 2k/100fps (if/when enabled, there are threads about it).
Why 4k? For my archive, because as I'm not specialized, my topics will constantly change (except: mountains) for TV-productions, but there are always smaller projects for institutional purposes (info-points etc.) in between, that are made for big screens. Offering 4k makes me more competitive. And my archive will outdate more slowly.
Regarding slow-motion I count very much on the development of appropriate software for NLE-plugins and on further developments by RED.

BTW, will some of you nat-hist-people show up @IBC? I plan to be there on Friday 7th. Would be nice to have a coffee or beer with you!

Regards, Friedrich
 
I'm with a New Zealand NGO which is trying to get into natural history about NZ biodiversity. Been going for 3 years and making slow but steady progress. Bush Telly is linked to a national NGO with a good network of support amoungst conservationists. We have done one 20 minute doco and filmed bits for a number of others to be completed. Our biggest challenge has been good sound, light and camera support. Will have nailed those problems in a few months, and so the challenge then becomes getting a decent camera or two.

Till we can raise the $$, the effort will be pre production, and putting together a storyboard for each program (powerpoints). So far we have around 60 programs we want to make about NZ native plants and animals.

We are planning lots of oral history with conservation participants, and then telling the stories with all the neat stuff (birds, landscape, insects etc).

I love doing this stuff. Our small crew is learning a hell of a lot along the way. We have put a lot of the audio stuff up as internet radio programs in the meantime.
 
Mike Peters said:
We are planning lots of oral history with conservation participants, and then telling the stories with all the neat stuff (birds, landscape, insects etc).
Click to expand...

BRILLIANT! Mike this is an outstanding idea and project goal. I highly recommend that you, if you haven't already, purchase GENESIS (2005) directed by Claude Nuridsany and Marie Perennou, who previously created another acclaimed scientific documentary, Microcosmos. Study this film OVER AND OVER, set the bar for your images with REDONE based on their work and build upon their unique oral history technique and you will create programming that inspires (and sells). You will notice they use a significant amount of studio set ups with the more challenging creature behaviors and I think it works well even if the audience believes it is "in the wild." Besides, only maddogs and Englishmen (BBC) actually live in a tree for weeks at a time to get one 30 second shot (I kid the Brits. They are often my inspiration to push the envelope on my next project).

Here's a link with info and a trailer. This film is a must see for all NH filmmakers:

http://video.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?ean=821575536257

Mike Peters said:
I love doing this stuff. Our small crew is learning a hell of a lot along the way. We have put a lot of the audio stuff up as internet radio programs in the meantime.
Click to expand...

The audio is as important as the video for your films. Glad to hear you are aware of that. I too love doing this stuff and look forward to seeing some of your results.

BTW - If I were in NZ I'd be working my way into Peter Jackson's 4K studio for posting my Redone originated NZ docos. Never know, might find an interesting mentor or two their?

Sharky
 
Hi Sharkguy
I get a lot of inspiration from BBC Bristol's work. Planet Earth is on the telly tonight - so I know what I'll be doing. I have seen Microcosmos - its truly inspiring.

Interesting what you say about setting the bar. When we started, we were just a bunch of conservationists planting native trees, who wanted to get some natural history programming for NZ. Our govt had just sold off NHNZ who then had to make stuff for the US market. It was a very sad day for NZ conservation.

So in 2001, we got hold of an old S-VHS camera, $10 mic from Dick Smith and a cassett tape recorder and went out there and gave it a go. It was the right way to start but the results were pretty terrible.

So we just kept going at it, learning on the job. Luckely we had quite a few good photograhers (mainly old botanists) who knew a thing about good pictures. No one in the official world believed we could do this, but we kept going. Finally convinced someone to hand over some $$$$ and started getting decent gear. We built a good edit computer and spent a hell of a lot on audio equipment. We also built everything we possibly could. Our crappy 2nd hand photo tripod got replaced by an excellent 2nd hand vinten 8. Etc etc. We found the better gear, meant we could raise the standards of what we could do, which enabled us to raise more $$.

The radio program was a very good decision. We know have a separate radio unit and are planning to rapidly increase the amount of radio programming content. We go to a lot of public talks, record the audio and combine it with the slide show images. Its really important - some of these speakers are living treasures, having spent a lifetime on some specialised area and their talks need to be recorded for the future generations.

Early this year we all went over the early filmed stuff, looked at a few old NHNZ programs to compare and biffed 95% of what we had done. I think next year we will probably do the same. But at least we have got more of an appreciation of the standards we need to work to.

Right now, we are building a 6m pipe camera crane for canopy shots, table dolly for macro shots. I'd love to find out how to make a probescope. It must be possible. Its only a periscope, with a macrolense isn't it?. I've never seen one except on the web but it looks very useful.

Yeh we figured out that a lot will have to be filmed in someones bedroom or garage. Forest floor plus blue screen on the kitchen table. Oh well - I guess we will have to make a ton of aquariums from recycled glass shelving, and learn how not to kill the little critters.

Anyway plenty to look forward to. I can see why you lot all love this stuff. Its just wonderful and so much fun.

Thanks for your encouragement.
 
My interest in RED is also and only because the production of nature docs of northern Scandinavia. RED brings at least three significant advantages to me. Firstly, 4K format means that what is shot today can be fully exploited in the future. During the years I've been filming birds, animals, and landscapes, there has been many unique situations which cannot be repeated. Having such material in SD 4:3 format creates nowadays a sigh. Secondly, the four audio channels makes it possible to make modern multichannel audio. And third, since it is quite difficult to revert the choice of Canon lenses made years ago, the possibility to shoot with the existing lenses with the Birger EF-adapter is a very wellcome wellcome feature.
 
What lenses would be people recommend using with RED One for natural history work. I take it from the forum 6that many people are planning to use their existing older lenses eg:

Canon EF 200mm f/1.8L

Would you go manual or digital lens? My thought was to start looking for used lenses in good condition.

What would you use for Macro work?
 
We work on Wildlife too. Id be very interested in views on lens set ups and prefered shooting resolutions.

Dave
UK
 
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