Bamboopictures
Senior Member
Before you start tossing out your old production gear and replacing them with new ones, it is prudent to appraise them against a simple checklist I call the "S.A.W. classification.
S.A.W. is a set of criteria that may help you select the right gear for 3 types of especially demanding situations -
Speed, Access, and WOW (or more accurately Wayang)
Depending on your type of assigmments, it is good to maintain a set of gear of each type of challenge.
The challenges are not mutually exclusive, so it will be great if you can find gear that meet more than one type of challenge.
1. Speed
For fast breaking news, cinema verite, dangerous venues or just VIPs in a hurry, it's important to maintain a set of fast-deploy gear. Leave your finicky tools at home. Anything that needs assembly, fiddling, and figuring out will not cut it.
Good to haves: Reliable autofocus, high ISO, one touch-tripod like the Manfrotto Neotech 458B. internally-recording mics like the Yellowtec ixm.
2. Access:
Access means the ability to fit or smuggle your gear into a location. In some locations, it also means subterfuge.At the very least, your gear should not suggest that you are a professional.
The characteristics of gear for Access are:
innocuousness, extreme portability, concealability.
Good to haves: colorful pocket or phone cameras, Sony QX line, strong IBIS, lollipods, lume cubes. Self-recording lavalier like the Tascam DR-10L
3. Wayang
Wayang gear or WOW toys is the opposite of Access gear.
The secondary purpose of the gear - besides the actual acquisition of good footage - is to either impress or intimidate clients or talents.
Situations that warrant their use could be for media training, (to create stressful situations) high mark-up assignments or if you want to 'hijack' a location so that unwanted people will either leave or get out of your way.
Old, oversized gear are best for wayang. Get them cheap, second-hand and make sure they come with ATA crates.
Then - light your set from pitch black.
Good to have: anything shoulder mounted, matteboxes, rails, kinoflos, redheads and blondies.
I'm not one for hoarding but I believe you should slowly build up S.A.W. capability if space permits!
S.A.W. is a set of criteria that may help you select the right gear for 3 types of especially demanding situations -
Speed, Access, and WOW (or more accurately Wayang)
Depending on your type of assigmments, it is good to maintain a set of gear of each type of challenge.
The challenges are not mutually exclusive, so it will be great if you can find gear that meet more than one type of challenge.
1. Speed
For fast breaking news, cinema verite, dangerous venues or just VIPs in a hurry, it's important to maintain a set of fast-deploy gear. Leave your finicky tools at home. Anything that needs assembly, fiddling, and figuring out will not cut it.
Good to haves: Reliable autofocus, high ISO, one touch-tripod like the Manfrotto Neotech 458B. internally-recording mics like the Yellowtec ixm.
2. Access:
Access means the ability to fit or smuggle your gear into a location. In some locations, it also means subterfuge.At the very least, your gear should not suggest that you are a professional.
The characteristics of gear for Access are:
innocuousness, extreme portability, concealability.
Good to haves: colorful pocket or phone cameras, Sony QX line, strong IBIS, lollipods, lume cubes. Self-recording lavalier like the Tascam DR-10L
3. Wayang
Wayang gear or WOW toys is the opposite of Access gear.
The secondary purpose of the gear - besides the actual acquisition of good footage - is to either impress or intimidate clients or talents.
Situations that warrant their use could be for media training, (to create stressful situations) high mark-up assignments or if you want to 'hijack' a location so that unwanted people will either leave or get out of your way.
Old, oversized gear are best for wayang. Get them cheap, second-hand and make sure they come with ATA crates.
Then - light your set from pitch black.
Good to have: anything shoulder mounted, matteboxes, rails, kinoflos, redheads and blondies.
I'm not one for hoarding but I believe you should slowly build up S.A.W. capability if space permits!
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