Documenting a journey on Video - What would you bring?

[Christian P.]

I have a question for all the audio/video experts on this forum.

We are working on a project and we want to document this adventure on video. Ideally we'd like to make a short documentary after we're done.

I'll give more details later but let's just say it involves a car, a lot of driving and some desert crossing...

If you had to assemble a package from scratch, what equipment would you bring? I am looking for precise suggestions as what type of camcorder, storage devices, batteries, wireless mic, editing software etc.

Also which format for the camera would be better, considering the tough conditions in which we will travel. MiniDV?

Would you go HD?

Let say the budget is about $3K-$4K - excluding the laptop.
Is it even doable for that amount?

I know that DHackney carries some video equiment, but I did not find a thread specifically dedicated to this subject.

I am just starting to explore that field and doing research, so any input is welcome.

thanks

 

[adventureduo]

Dang where do i start.

As far as a camera being rugged enough for offroad use.. there isn't one. You just need to be careful that's all. Don't be hanging it out the window unless that puppy is strapped tight to your wrist! Umm watch out for dust and dirt getting into the heads of the camera. Don't open up the tray to put a new tape in unless your inside the rig. Bring a head cleaning cassette. Watch out for jolting the camera around. Use a high quality mount or have your passenger/co-pilot hold the camera.

Format. I would suggest minidv being just fine for what you want to do. Two reasons. With a 3 chip Sony camera you will get great quality out of that format. If you go HD you won't be able to produce HD unless you have a editing system that can handle it anyways. HD in - HD out. Under your price tag.. that's going to impossible. We run a Sony VX2000. It's a great camera and you can find them on Ebay all the time. The Canon's are great cameras too. We have a ton of clients that use the XL2.

Editing. I wouldn't even try and edit it on the road. I would wait till you got home. You will get frustrated trying to edit on a laptop and with your budget the screen will be small and you'll hate it. Not to mention the latop that you'll need will eat up a huge chunk of your budget. I would get a used tower from someone on craigslist when you get home. Pick up 2 cheap CRT monitors from your local electronics place.

Im currently working on a small dvd for Mojave Road. When we went we took a billion still pictures, combined with hours of video and our end result was about 30 mins. So pack tons of tape. Bring spare batteries and better yet you'll need a car charger. Also, if you can find a power source that you can use (we used a inverter) while your filming you never have to worry about running out of batteries while shooting within the cab.

Hope some of this helps, fire back any questions you may have.. im sort of in the media industry.