LIFE THROUGH A LENS.

Hey man

that’s not my one, its a 3 video release, our one comes next and has more of the band in it!

I would urge beginners to looking towards using a lower end DSLR like the canon like the T2i/60D/550D to learn more about how a camera works. It might seem like a relatively large mountain to climb but you can learn a lot from just taking the time to use a camera to film anything. A good starting point is to watch a load of tutorials on the internet about the basics, mostly so you grasp the key parts to your piece of equipment. You need to know it better than your closest family member. Once your brain understands things like ISO levels, shutter speeds, apertures and lens types you’ll start looking at situations and equating what options are best for them. It really is like learning a language (don’t be scared, it’s fairly simple in many respects).

It’s hard when you start because I know money can be tight and there is a tendency to ‘grab whatever you can’, which in many ways I agree with, but I am a firm believer that buying cheap ultimately results in you buying twice. So it’s good to try and find a middle ground. You have to train yourself to accept the cost of some bits of gear, and over time where once £100 seemed extortionate you’ll be considering buying equipment thats ten times that amount and upwards. 

That isn’t me being disrespectful with money, it’s a mindset I have where I know I need to progress, and to do that sometimes you need gear. It’s important at the start to learn the skill to ‘use what’s at hand’, but once you have that dialled you’ll quickly start wanting to do things which require more skill and ultimately more pieces of equipment. Those points can REALLY get frustrating. There are so many ideas I have for so many things, which realisitically I know I need ‘x’ piece of equipment for. It’s a crazy stupid race which you can run at whatever pace you want. But for me I always recommend grabbing the best of what you can.

Rode have a number of excellent DSLR microphones for shooters of all levels. I would urge you to head in that direction. At some point in the future you’ll be thinking differently about sound, but for now, a video mic is what you need. So look to the rode video mic or video mic pro. Don’t get the stereo video mic unless you’re looking to do acoustic performances or jobs which are similarly based on live sound of multiple sources.

With lenses I would say grab a decent wide angle (samyang / tamron) and a 50mm. Those two give you some great options and a versatility you’ll need. If I had to pick one out of those two I’d say go for the 50mm and just go out practising making depths of field sharp in all the right places, and just capturing some amazing shots. The trouble is with a 50mm though is you’ll be in a tight spot in close quarters; i.e. you’ll not be able to encapsulate all the action up close. This is why I suggest a wide angle if you’re shooting documentary, because moments can pass quickly, and a wide angle will save your bacon if you need to capture a wider area of ‘action’.

Ideally a shooter will look to have a budget of around £800 to get a decent mic, camera body and lens, but I know this isn’t always the case when it comes to cash flow. Therefore look to buying a good second hand camera from a RELIABLE SOURCE. Be careful on ebay and other online shops! Be sure to look to see if the seller has sold items of a similar nature before and if they were well received in the feedback. Try to keep your full name out of any usernames on sites like ebay to avoid people hunting down your details (this has happened recently to a friend when selling a camera). Never arrange to meet up in a public place with anyone alone with a large amount of cash (or even at a late hour). You gotta play this things safe so make sure you have plenty of backup whether it’s in the form of a buyers guarantee or a couple friends who really know what they are doing.

Check with a couple other shooters you know to see if they use anyone who regularly has decent gear for sale, or if they have purchased gear online from a store that does great deals. It really is go from the moment you decide to become a person dedicated to making ‘great images’. I regularly check the reviews of items on places like amazon, ebay or wherever to get second, third and fourth opinions. I use amazon a lot because I know they are fairly well protected on all the items. I even signed up to their ‘Prime’ option the other day so I get free next day delivery on key items (£49 a year which I probably spend on postage and packaging just from a few orders).

You’ve also got to take into account that if you order a camera from any other place overseas you might be charged import tax! This is a very very very big thing. I remember once where I had ordered a redrock micro lens adapter for my old canon XHA1, and then had the nasty shock of getting a call from DHL who told me they were not going to release the item until I paid a customs fee of around £300. It sure hurt and taught me a lesson that overseas purchases are not ALWAYS the smartest. You need to be savvy in so many areas of your job and this is the one at the top of that list. In short you have to learn when to cut corners and when to NEVER cut corners. Most of these things you’ll learn from experience, but other times there’s people like me who’s always willing to talk your head off.

Hopefully this has helped! If anyone has any other question to do with  other parts of this job, please don’t hesitate to drop a question in my ask box!

Rx

Funny you ask this because it’s something I’ve been addressing of late. The whole show being released is once again down to the label. That’s all I can say at the moment. The trouble is with this job is (and it’s not really all that much trouble if I’m honest) as you get to bigger clients there is more red tape and more people involved in the management and distribution of content. I have a pretty hard skin now to ‘that’ sort of situation, because if I didn’t I would get upset that my work isn’t going out there. But the reason I’m being paid is to direct and create work, and then see that it comes together in the right manner/fashion. It then gets passed onto a band/label/management firm who deals with it’s distribution.

On very rare occasions we (Crashburn Media, my company) will deal with the distribution of such ‘products’, but really that isn’t our job. We’ve been working on the new Gojira DVD at the moment which is a more recent shoot, so that has taken a lot of my attention. Along with things like the defeater documentary, the crime in stereo DVD, along with other projects in London, and also projects I have coming up this year. Not making excuses here, just saying that, alas, sometimes I don’t have the control on what I get to show you all. In my ideal world we’d put out work where and when we wanted, but this isn’t my ideal world and that’s not really my job. 

I HOPE that the whole thing goes out, and when I can say more I will, but until then it’s the same old story where everyone (myself included) has to patiently wait. The same goes for the new Deftones video. Sorry that it’s taken a while, but good things come to those who wait as they say.

Thanks for bringing this up though! It’s given me a chance to tell everyone.

It was done well over a month ago, I’m waiting for it just as much as everyone else! All down to the label now man! Patience!