PaulGilchristCamera

I will never do a wedding, I will never do a wedding....Guess what i just did?

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 17:38:00 -0500

One of the most commonly heard pieces of advice whilst going through college and university was study something else….but next to that i was told never to do weddings. It was a fairly common consensus that the stress, pressure and overall hassle of a wedding wasn’t worth while.

Beep goes the email (hey some peoples email goes beep) and it was a message asking if i would be available to film a wedding at the chapel within Edinburgh Castle. I quickly ignored all previous advice and decided to do it. After a few weeks of discussions it was confirmed. The basic idea for the wedding was to record the pre ceremony arrivals, the ceremony itself, post wedding lunch and all the evening bits and bobs including speeches, cake cutting etc. Knowing that it was going to be a full on full day planning was going to be key. Getting the right equipment was key as using my normal 550D for the full day wouldn’t quite give the flexibility needed especially considering the tiny but beautiful chapel at the castle. I was able to get my hands on my old favourite Sony PMW 350 which would go on to prove a great help. I knew that i could get good coverage of a decent quality on my own but thought that it was a good idea to take on a second pair of hands just to ensure that nothing was missed.

The day of the wedding started with the best piece of luck, SUNSHINE! actual sunshine in November. Myself and my assistant Melanie headed up to the castle with an hour in hand before the first of the arrivals. The start set up was fairly standard, myself on the PMW and i would take up a position outside the chapel to record guests and the couple arriving. At the same time Melanie on a Canon 600D would get cutaways of the castle as well as the arrival of the cars. Things went well through the arrivals but with there less space than expected in the chapel it meant that i would have to go handheld for the ceremony. We could only have one camera inside so while i recorded the ceremony Melanie would continue to get cutaways. The PMW is used as a ENG camera so it is built well for off the shoulder use however 20 minutes of constant recording did take its strain on me. Pain aside i managed to get everything and to a good standard although the chapel was dark the camera coped very well in challenging light. Next was the staged photos at the castle and this seemed to go without a hitch as i worked in conjunction with the photographer this meant we could agree a compromise so that both of us could get what we needed. Melanie recorded the haggis lunch in the castle tea room as she was able to put the Canons size and manoeuvrability to good use although once again the room was a little darker than you would hope.

The venue for the afternoon and evening presented similar challenges to those of the castle in that it was tight for space and a bit on the dark side. We had been told not to use lights so it meant using the gain on the PMW as well as upping the ISO on the Canon. As you will know its a fine balancing act between getting enough light without sacrificing quality. From the couple arriving to the end of the speeches everything seemed to flow well and it was at that point that myself and Melanie had a short break to watch the days footage whilst the guests sat down for dinner. The evening was a short but important one as all we had left to get was the cake cutting and the first dance as well as a “special surprise” which i will tell you now was a samba band. All went well but keeping up with the pace between events without missing anything was the tricky part however both myself and Melanie moved quickly and precisely. Everything in the bag there was just enough time to enjoy a piece of the buffet and reflect on the days filming.

Having been portrayed as such a negative experience i was slightly sceptical of the wedding. For me it was a fun and rewarding experience and i know we did get lucky with certain aspects but it was nowhere near the negative experience i had been scared into thinking. The reasons people give for not doing them are exactly the reasons i love working in video. Pressure of this kind is why i do this! Be it wedding, gig, sporting event or any other place a camera is needed i will keep doing it.

Strange Brew Gig.....DSLR and Live Music Can Work.....Kind Of

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 08:23:51 -0500

Having not learnt the lesson from my last venture of recording live video for a gig. I found my self back in a position with my Canon 550D pointing at a stage as a band walked on to perform. How did i get back here?

This gig was a favour to a friend of Elliot who just happens to be lead singer of a rather amazing rock band. The Eastgate Theatre down in Peebles was once again the venue for the show. Elliot had been very keen for a more positive result this time around so decided to tackle the gig from three angles. The initial plan was to have one main central camera (a Sony Z1) and two DSLRs roaming on either side of the stage. We hit a few snags with the Z1 no longer available and in the same day the loss of our third camera operator, things looked bleak. As quickly as things had gone wrong they seemed to get better with a past favour being paid back by a camera operator fried who had just purchased the new 5D and a new zoom lens. This meant we no longer had the freedom afforded to us by the Z1 but the band only asked us to record a few songs so this meant as long as we had one static it would still allow two roaming cameras to go for the hero shots.The band themselves where very accommodating giving us free roam of the stage, allowing us to dictate a fair part of there lights and also helping out with the sound recording equipment.

During the gig i roamed around the side of the stage with my camera on a shoulder rig which gave me enough stability without sacrificing my movement. From the start of the gig i felt the shots i was able to get worked well and at the interval myself and Steve the 5D camera operator compared footage and felt positive about the set up and execution so far. The second half went well and apart from slight shoulder pain from operating the rig for a long period of time i felt great and extremely happy with how the gig had gone.

After seeing all the footage since, all angles got great shots and most importantly all useable and great coverage for an edit. The lesson i took from this is that getting coverage and being selective allow for a lot more freedom as long as there is some method of gaining a constant recording (we used a static 550D in the centre). So i am no longer afraid to tackle gigs in fact BRING IT ON!

Paul

The K Is On The Way

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 04:01:18 -0400

This weekend was a new experience that i won’t soon forget. The job was filming a promotional video for a campaign (The K Is On The Way) that is trying to get karate made an olympic sport for the 2020 games. The shoot was a two day event based around the British Open at the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow. The first day was always going to be the toughest day as it was not only our first day on the job but my first experience of karate itself. Once again i was using my Canon 550D but instead of the Zeiss prime lenses we made the decision to use zoom lenses mainly for flexibility. Standard zoom lenses are not normally a good idea and can’t really be used for there zoom function unless you have a constant aperture which my lenses do not as they are mainly used for photogtraphy (and i didn’t have a spare £1000 this weekend). If you can get your hands on a zoom with a constant aperture i highly recommend it for jobs like this as the flexibility it offered us was invaluable. The layout was simple for the first day, different age groups and different forms of karate split over a dozen mats in one large hall. As is often the case with events like this space was at a premium but thanks to the flexibility of using zoom lenses and the flexibility of the organisers and all those taking part and spectating we where able to get some good footage. Getting the action was not an issue the biggest trouble was finding locations for interviews that where quiet enough without compromising on the aesthetics however those of you lucky enough to visit the Kelvin Hall before will know that the building is not set up for beauty (inside anyway). Compromises had to be made with the interviews but in the end we where able to get what we needed from the first day.

The second day was dedicated to children’s and disability karate both of which were truly impressive. It was also K Day which as part of The K Is On The Way campaign was used to promote the campaign in different countries around the world. In terms of getting footage from the day it was more or less the same as the Saturday and once again i was surprised at the compromises made and the flexibility allowed by everyone at the event to allow us to get what we needed. Over what was a tiring weekend due to travel and long days the event itself kept my spirits up and seeing so many people there for the cause was inspiring and made me believe in the cause which in term pushed me to try the best job i could. The footage is in the hands of the editor now so i have my fingers crossed that we can have a great final video come the deadline. I would like to give a special mention to the BKF (British Karate Federation) and everyone who was at the British Open over the weekend, it was a real pleasure and i hope that THE K IS ON THE WAY.

Please support there campaign

http://www.thekisontheway.com/

Paul

DSLR's and Live Performances Don't Mix!

Sun, 19 Aug 2012 09:40:55 -0400

Last night i returned to work after a fairly long lay off. I had the pleasure of recording a fantastic Scottish blues band called The Jenson Interceptors. The gig was fantastic with amazing performances from all members and it was very well received by a near capacity crowd in the Eastgate Theatre in Peebles. Myself and my colleague Elliot decided to shoot 3 cameras (all 550ds because it is our stocked camera and the call was fairly short notice). Now anyone who shoots live performances will tell you it is tough going but things are made all the tougher when working with cameras that require so much work just to get one shot at a time. Between unpredictable recording behaviour, overheating cards, dull/dark lighting and batteries dieing the gig was filled with jumping camera to camera constantly changing different aspects just to keep things moving. in the end there are some nice shots and the H4N Zoom Mic performed above expectations for recording the sound. My thoughts are now with the editor, hes going to have a tough job on his hands…..oh wait thats me….gulp.

Paul

"Fade" Day 8 (final day)

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:28:10 -0400

The final day was once again a simple shoot, only one set up but this time the set up was a bit more difficult. The shot was to simulate a CCTV camera so the tricky part was height, getting the camera up to (nearly) ceiling height. Thanks to a clever suggestion from Scott our sound man we used two wardrobes pushed together as a base for the tripod which worked suprisingly well. The only problem we had when framing was trying to cover some parts of the room which looked a bit too flat like, as the scene was supposed to take place in a facility where our charachter was being held against her will. When we had eventually set up the shoot ran smoothly and apart from a few shakey moments on the ladder neither myself or the camera were harmed. Final shot in the can and that was it, 8 days of interesting, fun but sometimes hectic filming at an end. I intend to work alongside the editor Ryan over the next few weeks so stick around for a few more updates on the progress of Fade.

Paul

"Fade" Day 7

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 07:50:28 -0400

Day 7 was a day of nerves but not due to complicated set ups or difficult scenes. I had approached my uncle to appear in the project, this might not seem too bad but when you combine working with a family member for the first time with the fact he is a professional actor it adds that little extra dose of nerves. The set ups could not have been easier, only two set ups one of which was a static web cam POV which dominated the scene so it was one of our easier days. From a camera point of view the only thing i took from the day was a slight negative of the PMW-350 however its an issue more to do with the lens when shooting at closer range the focal range doesn’t really allow you to focus without having to dive into macro. This is not something that is an issue in a large space but in a constricted area it can cause a problem. The performances both from my uncle and from our lead female worked well i will say though in summary that as a camera person i work hard to make something that looks good but you cannot underestimate the impact of an experienced professional actor and that is with no disrespect to anyone i have worked with previous but it really adds to the production value (i am aware i may be a tiny bit byist).

"Fade" Day 6

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 06:53:36 -0400

Day 6 gave us an impressive location, the Lindsay Stewart Lecture Theatre which is a fantastic modern design and very spacious. Despite the impressive nature of the theatre it actually caused us a problem because the scene was supposed to be a police news conference which meant we had to limit the amount of the theatre we could actually see. This lack of workable area somewhat scampered our creativity but that being said it also gave me a chance to try think more outside the box (hate using that phrase). The toughest shot was a pull focus in a small area which when using the PMW-350 is tricky but for light and sound reasons the 550D would not have been ideal, although focus pulls and gaining shallow depth of field on a DSLR is so much easier depending on lenses. That being said with a little bit of a play about with the macro i feel we achieved the shot. The lesson to take from day 6 is not just to pick a location because it looks good, think more practically about what you need from it and always be ready to think outside the box….sigh

Paul

"Fade" Days 4 & 5

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 12:35:12 -0500

Day 4 was a short but sweet day. The scene was a simple boardroom one with basic shots (wide, mcu, reverse wide) so from a camera persons point of view it was nice and simple. We managed to dress the set, shoot and clean up within a few hours so felt good to work through a scene quickly without sacrificing quality. Day 4 was a strange one it began with the call time being pushed back with suited myself but led to confusion with one of the actors which meant we had to quickly write out that charachter (mainly to ensure we completed the scene that night). We shot on location in Newhaven in a fantastic modern flat. The scene followed a man home from work before he meets his demise at the hands of our main characheter. The PMW-350 was once again the main camera but my Canon 550D had a larger role to play as we used it for a shot inside a fridge (similar to the locker on day 3) and a very interesting track from the balcony looking in, we didnt have tracks but just used a shoulder mount and moved slowly from one side to the other, this action actually resulted in a very good looking series of shots. We faced a challenge creating a shallow depth of field with the PMW over a short distance but thanks to applying the ND filter and juggling the shutter speed we managed to create a nice looking shallow depth. The last shot we grabbed was a nice CU of a teddy bear which once again gave us a chance to use the impressive macro which did not dissapoint. Its fair to say i have been won over by the PMW-350 but i will try and put up a balanced review soon.

"Fade" Day 3

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:40:28 -0500

Day 3 was a good day. It began with that oh so tricky scenario of shooting in and around a car. The scene was fairly simple but the obvious lack of space was a small issue. We persisted in using the PMW-350 (It really is growing on me) but for some shots we had to go back to the 550D as its much easier to use in tight situations due to its size. The second part of the day was spent at the Napier campus at Sighthill. The building was doubling up as a scientific research facility, which sort of worked because it has a very modern design. Shooting in the corridor of a university has its negatives and we ended up with less space than we anticipated. The shots looked good with the PMW-350 but we had to break out the 550D again when shooting from inside a locker which turned out well. The next shot was an external of the building with a tilt from the sky, this was an opportunity to use the PMW’s colour tempertaure mode and i must say its so simple and the colours look great. The last sequence we had to get was a chase and this is the part that i am least happy with because we had to shoot a lot less than anticipated and it felt rushed however it gave me a chance to run with the PMW for a POV running shot and it worked well. Overall the day started well and i was happy with the quality of shots but i feel that the quality of work took a dip towards the end of the day.

Paul

"Fade" Day 2

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:40:07 -0500

Well day two of the journey was a slow one. That is not as negative a comment as it would appear. I believe a rather lovely Irish drink (which i may have had one too many of in Dublin at the weekend) has the slogan which runs true with “good things cone to those who wait”. The day began in the glorious surroundings of Portobello beach with the plan being to pick up a quick sequence of shots for a dream sequence featuring the lead actress (Marly). Once again i was using the PMW-350 but once again i was frustrated by the lack of clarity through the viewfinder. Having said that it was sturdy and easy enough to use, espescially when splashing through water and sand on a beach. With the beach shots in the can it was time to embark on the epic journey across town to Costorphine and to Ryan’s (the editor) flat. This i when delays set in with a lot of waiting and pondering however like i said, waiting is not the end of the world and once we got rolling things ran smooth and the shots looked good. One scene in particular will stay with me when i had to lie in a bath tub to get a certain shot, a shot i am very proud of. I had my first real chance to use the macro setting on the camera for a shot soon after and i must say it was fantastic and coped very well in low light. The last few shots were fairly routine although set dressing was a long task, simply because it involved stripping a room to the bare bones. All in all it was a day that could have been completed in half the time but i do not think we have lost anything for taking our time in fact i believe it has actually helped the project. Friday will be a real test as we have a lot to do so a pick up in pace will be needed so my blog for day three may be a bit of stress relief session….be warned.

Paul

"Fade" Day 1

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 02:30:51 -0500

Today was the start of Fade, a three part sci-fi drama. The shoot today was all on location at Cammo Estate in Edinburgh so i was prepared for a day of rolling in the mud. The best thing about today (although i certainly didnt think it at the start of the shoot) was my chance of using the Sony PMW-350. The camera itself is an impressive piece of kit but i was suprised to see a Canon lens being used, the lens itself is quite impressive however it is not the largest. For the purpose of this project though a large lens is not everything. Intially i found using the viewfinder tricky with it being difficult to gauge sharpness and colour however taking the mirror out of the equation helped. With everything working well i was impressed with the camera i found the controls a bit tricky at times but the quality is fantastic. I used my Canon 550D for the close ups and focus pull just because with the Sigma 75-300mm lens i have for it really is simple and effective. The focus today was on some of the more arty shots which gave me a good chance to shine as a camera person, hopefully i took that chance. So one day down 8 more to go, fingers crossed for the rest of the shoot.

Paul

The lovely looking PMW-350

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 13:33:27 -0500

The lovely looking PMW-350

Electric Man UK Premiere

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 05:58:26 -0500

Last night was the UK premiere of the Edinburgh made comic comedy Electric Man at the CCA in Glasgow. I was there along with Elliot Campbell to capture an overview of the event. I shot on my trusty Canon 550D but had the pleasure of using the fantastic Zeiss lenses which are just…unfairly good. For the bulk of the shoit i stuck with the trusty 50mm 1.4 which is a great lens however we began to use it more because we had problems in low light with the others. The pre premiere shots were nice and simple but moving into the theatre things got a bit more difficult. Being a theatre it was a bit dark and space was a bit of an issue however you could shoot a man eating an apple with those Zeiss lenses and it would still look interesting so hopefully the few shots we took inside look good. The film itself was great, i had seen an early cut of the film before but this was a new and i believe final cut which was a lot cleaner and really got some great laughs so a massive congratulations to the team of Electric Man. After the showing, the cast, producer and writers/director took a short q&a session and this is when the real weakness of the DSLR becomes apparent. Sound….the word sends shivers through my spine because although with the right mics it can be good on a DSLR i recommend always using external sound if possible especially if you are stuck with the Rode Video Mic, dont get me wrong its handy and very cheap but its cheap for a reason. We had problems getting the whole panel in shot because i only had the wee hairy Rode i couldnt stand at the back and get a nice overview so it meant getting in close and being handy on the focus which to be fair looks ok….through a tiny screen on a camera. I know that there will be issues with the sound but i hope that some of the good exchanges will be salvageable. The last thing to do was quick vox pops with the cast and crew but again sound was a worry and due to the low light issues we were having with the 35,25 and 18mm we had to use the 50mm again which meant getting super close which to be honest looked ok although i would get a kick in the balls from everyone that has ever taught me about framing. Overall it was a fun day it certainly isnt going to be my best work by any stretch of the imagination but to have any involvement in the Electric Man experience is a real pleasure and i wish them every success with the film.

Paul

Electric Man!

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 04:37:42 -0500

Electric Man!

Hello tumblr

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:16:49 -0500

Just a quick “hey whats up?” to the world as the journey begins……The entire reason for the blog is actually to act as a test to see 1- how easy/difficult the site is and 2- to explore the potential beyond the blog.

Cheery bye world

Paul

Photo

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:02:33 -0500