Pre-Production

Original Audio and Camera Setup:

Camera:

Here is the camera setup layout that I sketched out:

camera light setup 4x3.5 labled

Audio:

Before the shoot I talked to the AVTS audio guru, Josh. He suggested using (3) separate Lavalier mics. The (3) receivers would all plug into a mixer using XLR cables and then (1) XLR cable would plug from the mixer to the Marantz recorder (older model with XLR inputs) – so one feed would be recording into the Marantz (which records onto a card).

Here is the layout we sketched out:

audio setup adjusted

Equipment List:  (Davids Last List shoot with Norman & Janice on 3/1/2014)

  • (3) AG-AC 90s Camcorder
  • (1) Headphone
  • (1) Boom mic
  • (1) Marantz recorder + additional XLR cable added in from another kit
  • (3) Tripods (heads are attached)
  • (3) Sets of Lavalier wireless mics w XLR cables
  • (1) Lowell light kit in a hard case
  • (1) Very large Home Depot insulation sheet with a silver side &  (1) HD opaque shower curtain
    • (as per a low budget setup scenario taken from the DVD workshop series “Alex Buono’s Cinematography Workshop”. It also required a shower curtain – which I bought but didn’t use because it was hard to set up and didn’t seem to add much. NOTE AFTER THE FACT: If I had set up the curtain – it would probably have helped with the reflection in Norman’s glasses.

Add’l Resources:

Books: 

  • Making Documentary Films and Videos by Barry Hampe
  • Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction by Patricia Aufderheide
  • Storycraft: The Compete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction by Jack Hart

DVDs:

  • The Art of Visual Storytelling / Alex Buono’s Cinematography Workshop by Alex Buono

October 30, 2013 email (edited) to Dr. Vollmer:

Thank you for any advice or direction that you can give me. Norman created this spreadsheet and document to help his (wife’s) family deal with the loss of their brother/father/husband. Most families in critical healthcare crises go into a tailspin while they are trying to cope with both the emotional pain and also the day to day decisions and tasks. They are thrown into an entirely new environment that has to be mastered while being emotionally distraught. Norman created these document (mostly compiling from books and online research) to help bring organization to a sense of chaos. Though all of the tasks would have been done eventually, these lists helped everyone contribute and accomplish the individual tasks in a calm manner. A family meeting was held, the tasks were discussed and divided, and the spreadsheet was put on line so that they could be checked off as they were finished. this day to day advice and comprehensive lists of tasks is incredibly helpful to a family in crisis.