The Art & Science Of Mounting Mics

Lavs vs. shotguns, plus hidden lavaliers

By Dan Brockett

LAVS VS. SHOTGUNS Q I’m looking for advice on the best long shotgun microphone that I can mount on a Sony PXW-FS7 camera. I’ll be shooting interviews with athletes from five to 10 feet away, but don’t have the resources to have a sound mixer with me. I’m not very knowledgeable about sound. Help! Sherrie V. Via email A When you don’t have... Read more

My Friend Flicker

Correcting flicker in time-lapse, plus more on working with a colorist

By Michael Guncheon

Q I’ve been experimenting with shooting time-lapse. My success rate has been pretty good, but there has been a lot of trial and error (emphasis on the errors). There have been some obvious issues that I’ve fixed, like not having my camera as secure as I’d like and making sure something isn’t going to come in and block the shot (two hours of... Read more

Choosing A Wired Lavalier

Plus, locating custom audio cable harnesses

By Dan Brockett

WHICH WIRED LAV IS RIGHT FOR YOU Q We recently upgraded from the Canon EOS 5D Mark III DSLR to a Canon EOS C100 Mark II. It will be so incredibly convenient not to have to utilize a separate recorder for decent sound. We shoot a lot of in-studio interviews with two talent, so I want to buy two new lavalier microphones. We have a low-end lavalier that... Read more

Share The Speed

Plus, working with a colorist

By Michael Guncheon

SHARING YOUR DRIVES Q I’m really enjoying the speed I’m getting with the Thunderbolt on my new Mac. What’s also refreshing is that it seems a lot more reliable than what I was using before. I was using SATA connections and it worked pretty good—when it worked. Now I have a project where I’d like to share my drive between... Read more

Darth Zada

The filmmaker takes us to the dark side again with his follow-up to Take This Lollipop—and tells us why we like it there

By Simon Wakelin

Jason Zada is an expert at entertaining audiences in our digitally networked society, delivering us to the dark side with his customized interactive horror short Take This Lollipop, an experience using Facebook data to bring viewers directly into the creepy film. Written and directed by Zada, the film embedded user data such as text, images and video... Read more

True Indie Film

Kodak’s Andy Evenski talks Super 8 and film for indies

By The Editors

Let’s talk about Super 8. What’s happening with it? It’s the 50th anniversary, and we’re really proud of that. For us, Super 8 is sort of the foothold that brought motion pictures into the home. When you look at the Super 8 format, it started in the home, and a lot of people would shoot baby pictures and family vacations. But,... Read more

Better Video Through Compression

Most video cameras and DSLRs have an internal recording format designed to get you the most footage possible on a media card.

By Andy Shipsides

AbelCine recently hosted the VII Evolution Tour, an event series for photojournalists making the transition to video production. The tour helps attendees identify and overcome the challenges of going from stills to motion production. A topic that was covered during this event was the use of external recorders. In one of her workshops, photojournalist... Read more

Sound & Vision

Zoom Q8 Handy Video Recorder, and Tascam DR-70D Audio Recorder

By Dan Brockett

A rep from Zoom recently approached me to check out their new Q8 Handy Video Recorder. A few weeks after NAB, a box from Zoom showed up. The question is, what’s a "Handy Video Recorder," and why would a sound-oriented person be interested in it? Zoom, as you probably know, makes a line of digital audio recorders that have gained considerable... Read more

Proper Data Wrangling

Plus, whether to shoot 4K or 2K, and explosion-proof cameras

By Michael Guncheon

A CAUTIONARY TALE Q This really isn’t a question, but a way for me to shout from the rooftops about making sure you pay attention to how your data is handled. I recently had a project with a short time frame and a tight budget. I didn’t have real control of who was going to be on the shoot and what their responsibilities would be. That was... Read more

The FCC Has It In For Me

Røde RødeLink Wireless Filmmaker Kit, and DPA d:facto Interview Microphone

By Dan Brockett

RØDE WIRELESS MIC SOLUTION Q It seems that, in the U.S., the FCC is slowly encroaching on most, if not the entire, common spectrum used by wireless microphone systems. I had three Audio-Technica and two Lectrosonics wireless mic systems that operated in the 700 MHz spectrum. The FCC auctioned off that spectrum to digital HD broadcasters a few... Read more

Focus This On That

Lens adapters and extending the life of your lens

By Andy Shipsides

At AbelCine, we get a lot of questions on camera and lens combinations. With so many new cameras hitting the market, often with new lens mount types, it’s no surprise that people are trying to determine the best lenses for their new camera system, while others are trying to utilize lenses they already own with a new camera. We all know that lenses... Read more

Short, But Sweet: Proper Data Wrangling

Or emptying the mailbag

By Michael Guncheon

When I compile questions from the Video Assist email inbox, sometimes, I just respond via email because the question can be answered so quickly. I mentioned this to a friend. He said that just because a question has a short answer doesn’t make it any less important. He was right. It got me thinking that some questions others ask may not be ones... Read more