Documentary 3rd camera

Bryan Oldenburg · December 31, 2016

As a new director, who has had still camera experience in the past (and a limited amount of using motion picture cameras), I'd like to incorporate a third camera into my documentary mix. Would you folks think a Go Pro Hero 5 could supply ample quality for b-roll, or indeed, alternate angles for interviews?

Max Field · January 1, 2017

Does the Go Pro have better output possibilities now? From the one I used which was either a 3 or a 4, they are interesting cameras to play around with, but do not look naturally nice themselves. If your A and B cams are DSLRs I guess it wouldn't stick out too bad. That's just me. Going slightly up the price ladder for a BMPCC seems like a better option. Also lets you use a wide variety of lenses (or just lenses period).

Tyler Purcell · January 1, 2017

I mix the go pro with BMPCC all the time and it's ok for certain things. I think getting the color to match is the most difficult part however. It won't intercut like other cameras. Far better to have a camera like the BMPCC, inexpensive and fully manual, giving you the best of all worlds.

Bryan Oldenburg · January 2, 2017

Thanks Tyler and Macks! If I cannot get the last crew (who brought their own equip), I may need to find an A (principle) camera myself. What do you suggest is the best quality camera for this low budget doc coming up-- i.e., one with good quality, but relatively inexpensive?

Max Field · January 2, 2017

If you're legit low budget then it's gotta be the BMPCC

Bryan Oldenburg · January 2, 2017

PS: Tyler, would you recommend a directional mic with the BMPCC (say, for protest scenes)? Perhaps I could quickly learn how to use the BMPCC and get good B-Roll myself; I'm principally the director, but have had a fair amount of still camera experience. And one last query: would the BMPCC blend in well with most A cameras? Thanks a million!

Max Field · January 2, 2017

Is having a sound guy there with you at all possible? Or like a belt that could hold an H4?

I've learned the hard way multiple times to not have the camera be your preamp/A2D.

Tyler Purcell · January 3, 2017

PS: Tyler, would you recommend a directional mic with the BMPCC (say, for protest scenes)? Perhaps I could quickly learn how to use the BMPCC and get good B-Roll myself; I'm principally the director, but have had a fair amount of still camera experience. And one last query: would the BMPCC blend in well with most A cameras? Thanks a million!

I use the Rode Video mic on my pocket camera. The pocket does have noisy preamp's however. The solution to the issue is actually pretty simple. Since the Rode mic is mono and hits BOTH channels when you plug it in, I simply set one of the inputs higher then the other one and make sure one of them never goes near clipping. This way on quiet stuff, I can use the channel with the higher gain and on louder stuff I can switch to the one with the lower gain. It's a simple trick that works flawlessly and the Video Mic sounds good enough for anything but direct to camera dialog. If you need critical dialog audio, I'd buy a wireless lav kit or two and run them into the camera OR external recorder. For my own projects, I always use the built-in pre-amps. I don't have the time to resync hundreds of clips after shooting.

This is one of the first things I shot with my pocket and Rode video mic. Everything on here is Rode accept for the dialog. All recorded with the pocket. I did put a "stereo" effect on the music so at least there would be some depth.

Bryan Oldenburg · January 3, 2017

Thanks Tyler. I just watched your video(s) on Vimeo. I attempted to leave you a message there. Please let me know if you got it. Your work is excellent!

Tyler Purcell · January 4, 2017

Thanks mate! My Vimeo page has a lot of cool stuff on it. I'll be putting a lot more on it in 2017 for sure.

I didn't get any message from Vimeo, but I did get a comment from another member of the cinematography forums:

"For such an avid poop-talker on Cinematography.com, your work is shockingly amateurish. Consider removing yourself from the medium"

To each his own I guess! But thanks for the props! :)

Bryan Oldenburg · January 5, 2017

I was merely trying to get in touch with you re the BMPC and your tutorial. Hopefully, the brief message I sent on FB got through. Thanks!

Bryan Oldenburg · January 9, 2017

One last set of questions re my camera set-up folks: Does a Panasonic GH4 as the A camera and a G7 as the B make good quality and economic sense, as another option for a low budget doc? Could I, as director, learn either one of these, realistically, in order to pose as an additional cameraman? I have had a fair amount of still camera experience, though very little cinematography. Thanks all of you camera geniuses!

PS: I probably don't have the time to wait for the release of the GH5, though it looks wonderful, in many ways.

Edited January 9, 2017 by Bryan Oldenburg

Tyler Purcell · January 10, 2017

The GH4 looks totally different then the G7. So that may not work, its good to have two of the same or similar cameras so cutting between them isn't abrupt.

The GH5 does look "interesting" though it doesn't mention what codec it's using for the 200mbps recording mode.