Turkey Hunting Set Up #3- 3rd Arm Crooked Stick

Turkey Hunting Set Up #3 - 3rd Arm Crooked Stick




Mark Scroggins and Dean Scott are spot and stalk hunting turkeys. For their second camera angle set up they used the 3rd Arm Crooked Stick.

The 3rd Arm Crooked Stick is specifically designed for shooting rock-steady video on the ground. The Crooked Stick is a fold up unit only 19" long, allowing for easy packing. The Crooked Sticks unique design allows for videoing from as low a 12" to a full 40" off the ground. It comes equipped with a point and video design called the Joy Stick, simply grab point and video-Its that easy! The Crooked Stick is rated for a maximum camera weight of 2 pounds.







For more information on the 3rd Arm Crooked Stick go HERE

Bring Out The Colors of Your Gobblers- add a Polarizer Filter to a GoPro

Add a Polarizer Filter to a GoPro or GoPro2

This filter simply goes between the HD Hero camera lens and the underwater housing lens.  It is a polarizing filter that makes the sky deeper blue, grass more vibrant, reds more bright and removing water reflections and giving more vibrant colors all around.

While filming with GoPro cameras outdoors, many users may notice their HD video looking washed out and overexposed. The GoPro Camera has a fixed aperture which means it lets in too much light in bright situations. GoPro overexposure most often takes place while in the snow, near water, or shooting scenes in partly cloudy to sunny conditions.

Polar Pro Polarized Filters block only the wavelength of light most commonly associated with reflection, which means all other light enters the camera unfiltered (still produces vibrant colors, unlike a pure neutral density filter.) With our filter you will be able to capture the production quality video you were promised when you purchased a GoPro HERO.

The Polar Pro Polarizer Filter is made Specifically for GoPro HD HERO and HERO2 cameras. The small polarizer filter fits in between the GoPro camera and the waterproof housing and prevents this "reflected light' from entering the camera. When using the polarizer filter it extracts the bad light and still allows great coloration to pass thorough, something a Neutral Density filter will not do. You will only want to use these filters in partly cloudy to sunny conditions because when there is no light out the slight tint will make it even darker.

Key Features:
• Reduces Glare
• Increase Color Saturation
• Eliminates Overexposure
• Easy to Install/Remove

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About Filming Freaks: Filming Freaks is a sister site to CampbellCameras.com. It is all about YOU!  It's your number one source for tips, tactics and information about filming in the outdoors. Whether you're interested in filming hunting adventures, fishing trips, action sports or other outdoor activities this is the place for you. It is another source to check out our inFOCUS Blog for the latest product information and tips, or visit the Filming Freaks Forum to chat and share stories with your fellow Freaks.

Like Us on Facebook to start a conversation with other people who enjoy filming in the outdoors like yourself! It is also a great place to get your questions answered from fellow outdoor videographers! 

The Battle Against Boredom- How to produce a compelling TV Show

Every TV show is an art form, and creating art is never easy. Every Hunting Show, TV Show, Movie and Video game you watch, you are taking in that storyline.

Every TV show is in a battle against boredom. How do they conquer the battle? By strategically setting up the battlefield – visual, audio, emotional variety, highs and lows, and momentum; to attack at specific times. The result – Victory over boredom. 

Now lets take a deeper look into what causes boredom:

• Nothing interesting is happening. Hunters definitely understand the term patients, as they could spend all day in the stand waiting for that one perfect shot. There are going to be times with nothing interesting is happening, you either can discard that video in editing or find a way to make "nothing happening" interesting. 
• When you have an interesting story, but it is not presented in an interesting way, every second of the video.
• The characters are boring or cliche- and neither the story, nor the way its shot and edited is interesting enough to keep the viewer.

Ways to compensate boredom:

• Different Camera Angles
• Editing
• Subject Matter
• Character Interaction
• Audio

Tips to battle boredom:

1. Film everything– Extra shots are always useful, because you never know when you are going to need a "Cutaway" shot, or other shots to fill in during editing.

A "cutaway" shot is the interruption of a continuously filmed action by inserting a view of something else.

Examples:
- Driving shots to your hunting location, area shots from the town that you are hunting in/ traveling to.
- Landscape shots: detailed shots of nature, to give your editor video to use as cutaway shots that will help set up the scene.
– Close-up shots of your hunting equipment (bow, gun, tree-stand, etc.), people in the shot (hands working, feet walking, etc.), other animals in nature (squirrel climbing a tree, bird building a nest, etc).
-Signs, including HWY signs, clocks, etc. to help orient the audience.

Multiple Camera Angles are a guaranteed way to decrease boredom in your show.
Watch this next clip from Dual Survival 2


Now imagine what this video would have looked like if they only had one camera angle following the raft from the sidelines. It would make the rafting trip not look that "intense" and it will be boring.

Here are some of the different camera angles that I found:

Side Perspective

Front Perspective

First Person Perspective 

From Land Perspective

Dual Survival most likely had a cameraman in a boat in front of the raft, on the side and behind them. Now you are probably thinking that there is no way for you to afford to have 3 different cameras and cameramen. There is a way to "fake" the multiple camera angle by doing retakes. In the end of the video clip above, there is a camera on land to capture one of the men getting up from the wrecked raft, this was most likely a re-created shot because they would have needed to get a cameraman on the land and set up for that shot.  The front perspective shot is a cutaway shot, inserted to be used as this perspective to give the audience a feel that they are right there with them.
Even in most of the hunting shows that you watch these days, the cameraman are constantly calling for re-creates to capture the shot the way that it needs to to produce compelling content.
If this was your filming situation and you only had one camera to shoot this scene, this is they way I would set up the shot:

 A) Take the boat with the cameraman down this section of the river to capture the extra video that can be used for cutaways and to set up the scene.
B) Start farther back from the "rapids" to allow yourself more time to get the different angles.
C) Set your cameraman and boat far in front of the raft and film them coming down. Zooming in and out to get the shot that you are looking for.
D) Start following the raft when it gets to you and closer to the action to get the side by side shots.
E) Slowly back off to get the behind the view perspective.

Once the rafters fell out then the cameraman team set up on land and they did the recreate of one of the guys coming out of the water "desperately" looking for his partner.
Then they recreated the scene where the one guy is getting up in the water.




Here are some of the cutaway shots:

Some examples of re-takes that you can use during hunting situations:
• Take close-up shot of the hunter drawing back the bow (from the side, front, behind, etc.)
• Take a medium shot of the hunter drawing back the bow (from the side, front, behind, etc.)
• Repeat with the release
• While walking to your stand/ ground blind – with the 1st walk get a full body shot, second walk & etc. you can get different camera angles and shots to edit together to look like you have multiple angles.

*All these different angles and shots and recreates gives the editor (artist) a lot of material to work with.

2. Extra Audio
• Film ambient sounds
• film interviews with the hunter and you can use that shot or the editor can use the audio for voice overs.
Some things to talk about:
A) Things you hope will happen during the hunt.
B) Things that you worry about that could go wrong
C) Moments of anticipation
D) Moments when your sad, bummed, angry or frustrated
E) Comments on the weather, the terrain, the hunting conditions, equipment (sponsor plugs), etc. *Remember to get cutaway shots that visual show what you are talking about.
F) Use your knowledge to share with other. Viewers like learning something that has to do with what they love. Watch the clip below where they could have just shown them walking through the forest, but instead to make it interesting, he shared his knowledge about poison ivy and what you can do to battle against it. Also, watch for the different camera angles and cutaways

3. Beginnings and Endings
Pat Reeve from DrivenTV likes to give his videos the feeling of a clear beginning and a clear end. There are a lot of ways to do this – even using voice-over in the beginning and end to "frame" your story.
If you say that you drove 5 hours to get to your hunting spot and now your in Southern Illinois, but in your last episode or clip you were in Alaska, your audience is going to be thrown off and not see a connection and will be disoriented. A good way to combat this is by taking video as you pass HWY signs indicating location, State welcome signs, etc.  Pat has even said that he will pull over and clean off his windshield to get a clear picture and he will drive by signs multiple times, until he gets the shot that he is looking for.  These practices take a lot of time, but in the end the editor and the views will greatly appreciate it.

These days it is getting harder to film inside of airports, if you can, film the gate number (where it says your destination), film the clock to get a time lapse video.
Bring the viewers along on your journey and they will be more likely to stay with you.


4. Analyze your favorite TV Shows
Watch and look for the different camera angles, voice overs, transitions, cutaway shots, audio, and recreation shots. Now that you know what to look for, you will see a lot more of them.
Tip: Don't just watch hunting shows, get outside of your element and watch other shows, just to see how they are doing them. Higher quality production in the outdoor industry is still relatively new.... if your lucky, you can use the education that you received from analyzing other TV shows and your creativity to create a hunting show with filming techniques that the industry hasn't seen yet!

Did this blog help you? Comment and let us know!

Lens Vignetting

Lens Vignetting

Vignetting is the effect caused by more light reaching the center of an image rather than reaching the edges. For a visual example see the photo above. There are several types of vignetting caused by mechanical, optical and post production.

Mechanical Vignetting is caused by a physical obstruction that prevents light within the lens' field of view from reaching the camera's image sensor. The obstruction can be caused by the lens barrel, a filter, lens hood(improperly misaligned or designed) or anything else in the way. To try this technique, look through your viewfinder as you use your hand to block out the light from reaching the edge of your lens. You will typically see a strong, dark circular darkening most apparent in the corners of the image.

The Mechanical vignetting will go away as the lens is stopped down (narrower aperture).

Example from Toothwalker:

Figure 7. A typical case of mechanical vignetting. (Distagon 28/2 @ f/11 + Contax metal hood #3)

Figure 7 illustrates a typical case of mechanical vignetting. The image was taken with the Distagon 28/2 equipped with Contax metal hood #3, which is simply too long for this lens. A graphical explanation is given in Fig. 8. With the Distagon used at f/11 and infinity, an image corner relies for its illumination on the orange ray pencil, which comes from infinity heading towards the entrance pupil (in red). The angle with the optical axis is the semifield angle, which amounts to 37 degrees. In the absence of a hood the oblique ray pencil has full access to the entrance pupil, but in the presence of the hood the entrance pupil is invisible to this pencil. The pupil is eclipsed by the hood and the image corner receives no light at all.

Figure 8. The Distagon 28/2 without and with Contax metal hood #3. The oblique ray pencil is blocked when the hood is attached.

Optical Vignetting is caused by light hitting the lens aperture at a strong angle - an internal physical obstruction. This effect is usually noticed in images taken with wide angle and wide aperture lenses used with wide open apertures. This will occur even with the best lenses because the light hitting the lens is coming from a strong angle which is partially blocked by the aperture. Light hitting the lens from the front is allowed to pass through the aperture unobstructed. This again will disappear when your lens is stopped down (narrow aperture)
Example from Toothwalker:

Figure 1. Optical vignetting with a 50/1.4 lens. Left: f/1.4. Right: f/5.6.

Figure 1 illustrates optical vignetting for a Carl Zeiss Planar 50/1.4 with an ever exciting subject like a brick wall. At full aperture the image reveals a 'hot spot': a brighter center and a darkening towards the corners (left photograph). When the lens is closed down to f/5.6, the light falloff has disappeared and an evenly illuminated wall remains (right photograph).

Is Lens Vignetting Bad? Not necessarily. Some videographers and photographers purposefully incorporate vignetting to improve other attributes of a lens such as contrast and sharpness. Many videographers want vignetting in their images for effect and they may even add it during post production in Photoshop.

Can they design lenses with no vignetting? Yes, the could create lenses with very minor vignetting. However, they would be much larger and heavier and no outdoor videographer would want to carry them along.

If you have a full understanding of your lenses, you will be better positioned to use them most effectively. Understand when you are trading depth of field (narrow aperture) for shutter speed, background blur - and vignetting. 

- The Digital Picture

 
 

Manipulating Lighting

Manipulating Lighting

I am going to challenge you for the next day that when you watch television or a movie to pay attention to the lighting. The videographers are not just taking an expensive camera and pressing record; there are a lot of other details that go into creating the perfect shot. One of these details is lighting. Being an outdoor videographer you might think that the only lighting issue you have to deal with is low light situations when you are at your peak of hunting. Wrong! Good lighting can take your video footage and/or tv show to a Discovery, National Graphic and History channel level of videography. The color, direction, quantity and quality determine how your subjects appear. 

  Lighting for the Outdoors

"Daylight and sunlight are not a constant source, because they change hourly and with the weather, season, location, and latitude. This changing daylight can alter the apparent shapes, colors, tones, and forms of a scene. The color of sunlight changes most rapidly at the extreme ends of the day. Strong color changes also occur during storms, haze, or mist and on blue wintery days. The direction of light changes as the sun moves across the sky. The shape and direction of shadows are altered, and the different directions of sunlight greatly affect the appearance of a scene. The quality of sunlight depends on its strength and direction. Strong, direct sunlight is "hard" because it produces dark, well-defined shadows and brilliant highlights, with strong modeling of form. Sunlight is hardest on clear summer days at noon. Strong sunlight makes strong colors more brilliant, but weak colors pale. Sunlight is diffused by haze, mist, and pollution in the air. This diffused or reflected light is softer; it produces weak, soft shadows and dull highlights. Directionless, diffused sunlight is often called "flat" lighting because it produces fine detail but subdues or flattens form. Weak, directionless sunlight provides vibrant, well-saturated colors." – From Photo Composition Articles

I understand that when you are up in a treestand or in a ground blind and especially while spotting & stalking the last thing on your mind is setting up lighting. There is not going to be room in your backpack to bring a full light set up to your tree stand. Therefore, a way that you can work with the lighting that you got (sun) is determining where you want to put your tree stands and cameras (determined by the time and location that there is the most animal action). A good way to watch and determine the animal movement is by using a trail camera and studying the footage. Once you know the direction and timing of your animal, you can determine where to set up your camera depending on the sun and the weather.

Portrait Look

There is an old tradition that says put the sun behind your subject. However, this creates a flattened effect and does nothing to bring out the detail or provide an impression of depth. This is a good technique if you are going for a "Portrait" look (a nice look at sunset).
To give your subject an impression of form, depth, and texture, you should ideally have the light come from an angle or the side.  Take a look at the image below of the brick wall. Notice when the light is directly facing the wall, the bricks looks smooth and flat (1st picture). Now look how positioning the light to the side gives picture 2 depth and creates texture in the brick. 
A subject who is wearing a ball cap or any other hat cast even more shadows in strong light, creating harsh shadows.

Bad Lighting

Take a look at the snapshot from a video of The Crush. This is an example of a bad lighting setup. You can see that the sun is behind Lee. Notice how you can not see his eyes, his mouth, what clothes he is wearing, etc.

Tip: Eye contact is a known way of establishing sincerity, emotion, and a way to establish a relationship with the audience. Creating lighting situations where your subject's eyes can not been seen, will draw your audience's attention elsewhere and loose focus on your video.

If you are shooting non-hunting material where the sunlight is behind your subject, there is a way to correct the lighting using a reflector. A reflector is an improvised or specialized reflective surface used to redirect light towards a given subject or scene. Reflectors come in all different shapes and sizes, with many of them having the ability to fold down into compact and portable configurations. A reflector will reflect available light into those areas of your subjects face that would be in shadow without it. Quite often the best place for one is below your subjects face reflecting light back up into those dark under-spots.

To use a reflector you're going to want to get it pretty close to your subject – without getting into the frame. Reflectors can be used anytime that there is shadows casting on your subject. You want to position the reflector so that it's glow bounces back up to light up your subject's face. What you should be looking for is a nice even light with no shadows (or shadows where you creatively place them). Keep positioning the reflector until you achieve the look that you are going for.


You can manipulate the color, tone and intensity of the shot by using different colors and sizes of reflectors. Lets take a look at how changing the color of the reflector can change the mood of the shot.

White Reflectors - Provide the softest, most even fill.

Left: No Reflector           Right: White Reflector

Gold Reflectors - Give off a "warm" tone.

Gold Reflector

"Soft" Gold Reflector

Example from GrayPhotograph.com:

In this behind the scenes image below, you can see that the place we wanted to shoot (in-between these nasty old trailers) was actually very dark and the light was pretty bad. We liked the light that was coming in behind our subject, but the light on the front was terrible. So in this instance we bounced some direct sunlight into where our model was in order to light here face. At first we tried using white side of the reflector to get the softest look we could, but the white just didn’t reflect a strong enough light source onto her because she was so far away from the reflector. We then went for the silver/gold side of our reflector. The problem with that was it looked too much like a spotlight and because we were so far away, the light was also very harsh. So what we did was first position the bottom of our reflector at chin height so it would hit her in the most flattering way, then, we used what’s called a feathering technique to slightly soften the light. We did that by shooting the bright light at her, then ever so slightly panning the light to the side so that it tapers off a bit and does not seem so harsh.

 Here is the resulting shot! The other cool thing about using the silver/gold reflector, is that the color is warmed up from the gold which makes the background get cooler during the afternoon time (at sunset, silver gold is similar in color to the sunset colors). This makes our subject really stand out because her skin tones seem so much warmer than the background. 
Apply these photography techniques to your video.






Silver Reflectors- Gives off a "cool" feel to the shot. Silver adds more light than white. It is like a mirror, it reflects what it sees. Outside the Silver reflectors will give the shot a "cool" look because it is reflecting the blue from the sky.

No reflector; light source
top right

Add Silver Reflector

End Result

Using the sky to manipulate your light with a silver reflector:

"This is how we created the first shot. Triflash through with a Skylite Panel & a silver reflector for bounce. Used the grey-ish sky as my background. The ability to light just opens up so much possibility in our shoots." - From Louis Pang

Black Reflectors- Are opposite of other reflectors because they absorb light. Used to "shade" light.

When you watch TV shows or Movies or even look at photographs, you don't realize the amount of setup that it takes to capture those shots. You can manipulate light by using one of the 5 in 1 reflectors and having a partner to hold the reflector.

Here are some different size options for reflectors:

Remember that Photography came before Cinematography; therefore, there is a lot to learn from photography.

I can guarantee that a lot of hunting shows are not using these simple techniques. You might be thinking, "Why should I use them then?" You should use them because they will take your  tv show, dvd, or home video to a new professional level.

The best way to master these lighting techniques is to practice! I suggest taking a plant or something stable and then just start using all the different filters at different times of the day.

These are not rules that you have to follow, they are ideas to spark your creativity! 

Analyzing Video of DrivenTV's Wisconsin Hunt

Things we can learn from analyzing this video:

• 0-09 sec intro - High quality graphics & Music mix. Notice how the music and the clips go together and are in sync. The flashing sounds is in sync with the way the editor flashed the clips.
• 12-16 sec - Check out the music that goes with the graphics of the Sept. 12 and the Pat Reeve Driven Title. An entertaining way to add the titles without just overlaying them on the video. This is a theme that can be seen throughout the video
•  This is a Medium Close Up Shot- from the center of the chest to the head
• Good, clean and clear audio comes from good wireless mics and a shotgun microphone. Pat Reeve uses Sennheiser EW100ENG G3-G Wireless Mics and the Sennheiser MKH416-P48 Shotgun Microphone

• 17-30 sec - Notice how the Pat's audio is a voice over on different video clips while he is talking so there isn't that long, awkward, just starring at the camera talking clip. Tip: Film Everything. You never know when you will need some "filler" clips. The editor can cut the audio out of a clip or you can do voice overs later in the studio. The scene eventually goes back to pat talking to rap it up.
• 32-38 sec- Plug your sponsor. This is a great example of plugging in one of Driven's sponsors without making it a sales pitch. Trail Camera sponsor- show the product in action with the trail camera photos that were taken in that area with that trail camera. It is important to actually use your sponsor's product. Showing these photos not only plugs the sponsor but it allows the viewers a sneak peek at what is in the area (the viewer is anticipating a good hunt and has now become attached to watching the entire video to see it play out)

53sec -1:05 min- Notice once again that the music is in rhythm with the video clips. I believe that the shots of the two bucks fighting is sped up in post production a little bit. The short clips and the music brings feeling of adrenaline to the audience.

• Tip: Animals are difficult to film because, unlike actors, you can not give them direction on how to move and where to move. You can however, predict the animals movement and set up the camera frame leaving plenty of room to move. In this still shot the focus is the buck coming in from behind those trees. Pat has set up his shot giving the animal plenty of room to go the direction that he is facing. It would make a short clip and one that you would most likely have to leave out if you were to frame the deer on one the left side, when clearly that is the direction that the buck is going.

 This is what is called a Medium Shot- from the waist to the head. Remember from our blog earlier about Understanding the Rule of Thirds  One rule of thumb is the "Rule of Thirds" that states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.(2)  Aligning a subject using these points can create more tension, energy and interest in the subject more than simply centering the subject. 

From blogger

1:48-1:49 min. – This video technique from being unfocused to focus is a type of technique called Rack Focus.  Another Rack Focus technique is to have two different subjects (one in the foreground and one in the background) and you switch the focus of the lens between the two so that one is blurry and the other is sharp.

 These are two interesting and different camera angles, both from below and the one of the left as though it is a "hidden" camera.  Tip: Experiment with different camera angles. Don't go crazy and have a lot in your video just change it up a little to keep the audience entertained.


 This is another good camera angle. (behind the hunter) This gives the feeling that the audience is right there with the hunter and it is like they are experiencing the same thing. It also allows the hunter to turn and face the camera and talk to the camera.


Tip: You always want to film in manual focus because in situations like this you want the camera to focus on the buck and not the tree branches in front of the camera.



4:04- 4:07 min– This is a filming technique called a "Time Lapse" To create this is really simple. You set up a video camera on a Tripod or some other support and you just film for the duration of the event that you are trying to create. This was a clip of the sunsetting so they set up the camera a while before sunset and filmed it all the way. You then speed up the  video in post production.

A lot of deer action happens in low-light situations. It is important to get a camera that is good in low-light. When looking at video cameras and their specs, you want to check out the "LUX" rating of the cameras because this is their low-light rating. There is NO standard way to rate "LUX" and therefore it can be a little tricky. Some brands label their LUX rating right out of the box, without changing any settings. Others, amp up the GAIN and then set their LUX rating there. Video Gain is where the Iris is opened up to allow more light to come into the shot. This, however, causes the film to become more grainy and pixelated. Tip: I suggest you stay on a 0 Gain, because once you increase your gain, your film will start looking amateur really fast. If it is absolutely necessary, don't go over 12 gain. No higher than 12 Gain is the Network  Standards.
It is also important to have a good video camera. Pat Reeve is using a Professional Sony PMW-EX3 
 








5:27 - 6:00 – The weather is a key factor when it comes to videoing outside in its elements. Under strong wind it is a necessity to have a windscreen on BOTH your shotgun microphone and you wireless mics. These windscreens with block out the wind noise so that it will not be recorded. It is also important to protect your video camera in the rain. They make several different raincovers that will most likely fit your camera. Campbell's also has two versions of Camouflage Rain Covers as options.  In below freezing conditions, it is important to keep your camera warm or it will freeze up on you. Polar Mitten covers are going to be what you need if you are filming in below 30º weather.

8:12-8:40 – Watch how the music makes your heart speed up with anticipation. You are expecting the kill. The music stops in the final seconds as the hunter pulls back his bow, this is a technique that leaves the audience on the edge of the chairs waiting for it happen.


Tip: It is important to add some personal and behind the scenes footage into your video. It allows your audience to feel a connection between you and them.


9:21 – Adding a little humor to your video never hurts (unless it's not funny)


Tip: When filming in conditions where there is 1) Snow on the ground 2) Your filming by water or on water 3) around a reflective surface, you want to use a Polarizing Filter. A polarizing filter screws on on top of your lens and filters out like polarized perpendicularly to the axis of the filter. This has three applications: it reduces reflections from some surfaces, it can darken the sky and it saturates the image more by eliminating unwanted reflections.



Review "Lighting For A Recovery Shot" Blog

11:27-11:50 – Notice the difference between Pat and the Other Guy's audio levels. Pat is wearing wireless mics and the other guy is not. You can hardly hear the other guy and Pat's audio is coming in nice and clear.

Hope you learned something or at least enjoyed the video!
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