Football Report 13/07/2017
13/07/2017
Football Report 07/13/2017
I have decided to start using my blog to document my progress filming Football at the the ILT courts.
This is my third time doing it, with both of the first two I walked away knowing more than I did when I showed up and because of this I feel it would be important to record the lessons I've learnt.
First, a quick recap of the previous two occasions on which I filmed the game:
The first time I did this I hated the experience - for multiple reasons. The first and largest was that it was freezing cold and the clothing I currently have are not at all suited for Invercargill winters. One of the biggest clothing items I need, and one I intend to purchase over this upcoming weekend is a pair of gloves. On both football games and the SIT Pro commercial shoot I had numb fingers. With Sunday the 7th's game I wore an undershirt which helped immensely, and has become a permanent addition to my football filming kit.
The second reason was that in order to film the game I had to get onto scaffolding some ways above the ground, The reason this bothered me so much is that I am afraid of heights. Climbing something that tall is already an uncomfortable experience for me, doing so with cumbersome and expensive equipment is terrifying. It didn't help that thing felt unstable and moved under me throughout the duration of the filming. While this really put me off at first, I got used to it quickly, and by now it's just part of the job.
The second reason was that in order to film the game I had to get onto scaffolding some ways above the ground, The reason this bothered me so much is that I am afraid of heights. Climbing something that tall is already an uncomfortable experience for me, doing so with cumbersome and expensive equipment is terrifying. It didn't help that thing felt unstable and moved under me throughout the duration of the filming. While this really put me off at first, I got used to it quickly, and by now it's just part of the job.
The third reason I hated the experience was that I had not anticipated how long the exporting process would take. When something went wrong with one export I'd have to wait hours before I can fix it. Eventually I made a deal with Luis that I'd put it on google drive for him - this worked quite well, but my export was without sound as I wanted to get it to him as soon as was possible.
The second game I filmed was much better than the first, it was during the day and the weather was about as good as it gets, this game was a rare instance where filming outside down here during the winter wasn't freezing cold. The problems this time were all mistakes of my own.
The second problem I encountered was that during the exportation process I didn't let on the of the two videos finish before uploading it to Drive, this meant that Luis received an M4V file, instead of an MP4, which meant that there was no sound and that he couldn't download and open it in VLC. While he could still watch it on Drive, it is a mistake I intend not to repeat.
Finally I will discuss yesterday's game:
The biggest and most apparent difficulty of this game was the weather. It was windy, cloudy, cold and there was a light rain. The first decision I had to make was how to approach the rain, if it got worse then I'd probably have to sit out the game. I made Luis aware of my concerns and he suggested I show up, see what the weather is like and then if the rain persist I go back home. This seemed like a very good idea and when I got there the weather had improved by a lot. There was still a very light rain when I set up, but I temporarily placed a shirt over the camera until the game started. By kick off the rain was gone and the camera perfectly dry. In future I will have to be prepared for an extended period of rain, in which case I'll have to find a more effective way of keeping the camera dry. My polyester shirt isn't going to do the trick in longer periods. I'll discuss this with my tutor.
With this game I also tried to improve the sound, I did this by attaching a cardioid mike and placed a wind sock over it. It picked up the sound much better than before.
In this comparison it's clear that the sound and video quality is an improvement, however I actually found the second game to be easier to watch than the third, this is because I zoomed and panned too much in my latest outing. The fog made it hard for me to see some players in the distance and even harder to see the ball, especially on such a small monitor. In future I have to keep in mind that the longer shot is a much more enjoyable viewing experience when analyzing the game, even more so because there is just one camera angle.
The biggest mistake I made in this game was that I was filming in 50i, instead of 50p. I hate the interlaced look and it really doesn't work well for sports. What made this worse is that when I tried to fix it I couldn't, embarrassingly enough I had forgotten how to change this and because of my incompetence I ended up filming the whole game interlaced. I have to recap the X200 options and menu layout.
There are still aspects in which I need to improve, but these are mainly things that come with practice, like me losing the ball about five times per game (being generous).
During the game I made a short list of things I need to have with me in future:
- Bring Towels
- Buy Rain Jacket
- Buy Gloves
The scaffolding gets wet if it is a rainy day and I don't like putting the equipment down onto the wet surface, even in their bags, so I thought it would be a good idea to bring a towel with me just to wipe everything off. This would also allow me to dry the railing, which I like to occasionally rest my hand on.
The second game I filmed was much better than the first, it was during the day and the weather was about as good as it gets, this game was a rare instance where filming outside down here during the winter wasn't freezing cold. The problems this time were all mistakes of my own.
08/07/2017
The biggest challenge I faced was a obstacle of my own making, in all my wisdom I decided to give the other easy to carry camera a go - the Sony PMW-EX1. Chris ensured me that it was about two generations behind the camera I usually use (Sony PXW-X200), but I insisted that I wanted to try out another camera. I wanted to give it a go because I wanted to see what the results would be like, needless to say the results were very disappointing. Reviewing the footage revealed that the quality was just not up to the same standard as that of the X200. Luckily Luis didn't mind that much when I informed him of this. Since this experience I've kept my distance with the EX1. I would try the Canon camera we have access to as well, but it's mode of storage is uncomfortably large and heavy - at least compared to the X200 and EX1. It's just not really something I want to take for an hour long walk (30 minutes there, 30 back), the tripod is already enough of a burden.The second problem I encountered was that during the exportation process I didn't let on the of the two videos finish before uploading it to Drive, this meant that Luis received an M4V file, instead of an MP4, which meant that there was no sound and that he couldn't download and open it in VLC. While he could still watch it on Drive, it is a mistake I intend not to repeat.
Finally I will discuss yesterday's game:
13/07/2017
My shirt covering the camera, side-view
Shirt covering camera
With this game I also tried to improve the sound, I did this by attaching a cardioid mike and placed a wind sock over it. It picked up the sound much better than before.
Windsock
Comparison between second and third game:
In this comparison it's clear that the sound and video quality is an improvement, however I actually found the second game to be easier to watch than the third, this is because I zoomed and panned too much in my latest outing. The fog made it hard for me to see some players in the distance and even harder to see the ball, especially on such a small monitor. In future I have to keep in mind that the longer shot is a much more enjoyable viewing experience when analyzing the game, even more so because there is just one camera angle.
The biggest mistake I made in this game was that I was filming in 50i, instead of 50p. I hate the interlaced look and it really doesn't work well for sports. What made this worse is that when I tried to fix it I couldn't, embarrassingly enough I had forgotten how to change this and because of my incompetence I ended up filming the whole game interlaced. I have to recap the X200 options and menu layout.
There are still aspects in which I need to improve, but these are mainly things that come with practice, like me losing the ball about five times per game (being generous).
During the game I made a short list of things I need to have with me in future:
- Bring Towels
- Buy Rain Jacket
- Buy Gloves
The scaffolding gets wet if it is a rainy day and I don't like putting the equipment down onto the wet surface, even in their bags, so I thought it would be a good idea to bring a towel with me just to wipe everything off. This would also allow me to dry the railing, which I like to occasionally rest my hand on.
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