So, today I did some work for an arm of the company that I don’t get to do a lot of work for (but that’s about to change), Mark’s (formerly Mark’s Work Wearhouse). That’s right folks…Canadian Tire owns Mark’s. And here’s some more interesting news that you might not all know, but Mark’s is a very fashion forward, men and women’s retail store with really nice clothes. For real! In fact, Mark’s just held a fashion show at Yong and Dundas Square in the heart of Downtown Toronto and I was there to capture the event for a Sizzler Video that I’ll be editing mid October.
Call time was 6:00am…I live in Brampton, which meant wake up time was 4:45…yeah…A.M! So, I got out of bed and grabbed my PRE-packed (from the night before) video essentials and hit the road. With me today…a single Canon 7D with the customary lens kit, Zacuto support, Tripod with Indislider Mini Delux and my Zoom h4n with Sennheizer audio kit. I was given a Creative Brief for this shoot and was supposed to shoot video that would visually support some key metrics that are supposed to be used onscreen and as the direction of the messaging. The fashion show as a whole presentation was being shot by Frishkorn (whom we also worked beside for the staging of this event), so I really could concentrate on getting good planned shots of the people attending, the Mark’s reps interacting with the general crowd as they gave out free socks (I’m wearing mine now), umbrellas, t-shirts and scan to win coupons as well as behind the scenes stuff and my interviews.
So, let’s talk interviews for a sec…I have been playing with the Beachtek DXA-SLR, the Rode Video Mic Pro and the Zoomh4n for some time now and have finally come to a decision…here it is.
I like the Beachtek because it allows me to line xlr based audio devices into it and then out to my camera, allowing me to record “good” audio directly to the CF card with the video…cool! It also has Auto Gain Override, which is important when dealing with the 7D, but, the monitoring capabilities suck! All you have is a little light that blinks green when you are in a good range and receiving a signal, and blinks red when the auio is hot or too loud. The Rode video mic is cool, the size is great and it is super light, but even when the input level is set to 0db (flat) it is too loud and noisy. I always find myself shooting at -10db. I almost had to forfeit an interview because of that. Also, when u use that directly into the camera there is no monitoring option for you. My fav now is the Zoomh4n. Proper monitoring, multiple inputs (xlr, 1/4in and onboard mic). it is mountable like a shotgun mic with very nice mics built onto it and I can record ambient audio as well as directly into the recorder onto an SD card. The only downfall is that I cannot go directly to the camera with it…ok, I can but I still have the Auto Gain issue with the 7D. So…my point: Interviews are to be done with the Zoom h4n along some type of wireless mic’ing set up for optimal audio…and that’s just what I did here.
The host of the event was Lisa Rogers from City Line and she walked and talked us through 3 sessions of the runway show where models showed off clothes from Mark’s from underwear right through to jackets and accessories. We owned the whole square for this event and it really was put together well. I have attached a few pics of event…ok, me working at the event (lol), and I’ll upload the video as soon as it’s edited. Make sure you check out Mark’s though, you’ll be surprised!
Shoot Straight
thedslrguy 