During tomorrow’s weekly meeting, the documentary team will be discussing one of the most crucial aspects of the upcoming voyage to France: the luggage. Attempting to fit a plethora of equipment within a compact packing situation is a difficult feat. For our crew, it’s the equipment we will need to film our on-site interviews and additional b-roll footage.
Thanks to the Pace University media lab, the crew will be taking a handful of top-tier equipment overseas. A few students will be bringing their own personal cameras, however, the Sony NX80 and Blackmagic Pocket Cinema will be our two main cameras.
The complicated nature of airplane travel limits the types of microphones being brought. The team will rely solely on Lavalier mics. These tiny tools clip onto our interviewees and will allow us to record the audio without having to lug around big boom mics. Having these mics on hand will allow us to also not rely on the internal mics of the cameras.
Batteries and memory cards are imperative. Both professors urged the importance of charging the cameras and checking the daily footage every night. At the end of each work day, our crew is instructed to review all of our footage. Since our filming location is a plane ride away, the team must approach every filming shoot as if it is our only opportunity. When team members unload the memory cards each night, we can dictate how much footage we can obtain while across the pond.
Equipment may seem like the least glamorous part of the trip (it is), however, making sure that the team has all that we need before heading out is an essential part of pre-production.