Paintball Movie/Documentary

[ShooterJM]

Mods, feel free to move this if it's in the wrong forum.

Anyway, has anyone tried to make their own paintball movies? I know I still have camera equipment laying around the house from college. Was kicking around the idea of trying to put something together. Has anyone tried this?

Currently the plan is to just try it with a local level tournament, figure out what shots look good, etc. Dig out my editing board, if I still have it, and see what I can do. Then maybe a trip to something big.

[Paintchucker]

http://www.pigtv.net/


http://www.paintballmovie.com/iyf.html

[ShooterJM]

Yep familier with both sources. WARPIG is more what I was picturing FYI. To be a bit more specific, has anyone HERE tried to video paintball. While the movie and warpig are decent resources. It's a bit different when you're just going to do it for fun on your own dollar. Although, to be truthful, for all I know Mills could do it on his own buck.

[BradPalooza]

We film paintball. What kind of info are you looking for?

[ShooterJM]

Originally posted by BradPalooza
We film paintball. What kind of info are you looking for?

How many camera's do you use? Do you try to mike the players or use shotgun mikes or anything? I'm not gonna buy more equipment so I'll be winging it with a bunch of audio equipment and a single digital hi8 camera. (Canon A1, old but works well).

I guess I'm just looking for basic tips. Do you find it difficult to capture the excitment of the game? Is there anything you wish you knew before starting, etc?

There's a night speedball game here in a few weeks that I might try (rented stadium lights).

[ogre55]

Many years ago my team and I did a little paintball filmclip. It was not an actual game but a staged encounter. It actually worked out rather well, considering we did it on the fly, without storyboards or anything other than a general idea. However, it turned out very well as a few of us were proffessional artistic types and all the actors were long time players.

A word of warning if you want to pursue this endeavor. It is time consuming. It was 2-3 minute short, but it over 6 hours to shoot, not including editing time.

As for equipment, we had simple filming equipment, but some serious editing equipment available.

Alas it was lost in the shuffle of years, but if I ever get my hands on the digitized version I will post a link to AO.

Ogre

[ShooterJM]

Yeah, it's always much more time consuming then anticipated. I've done a few shorter movies in school, but it was mostly for fun. Political views etc. The actual video editing could be a huge pain unless I get my computer fixed. Then it could be a minor pain. Actually this all could be a pipedream unless I find my charger!

Basically, it was just one of those. You know, I wonder if....:D

[BradPalooza]

We've been using 3 cameras, and plan to use 4 for the next event. Realistically, the more the better. You can never have too many angles on an exciting action sequence.

We opted not to mic players using wireless because of the increased equipment costs and added headaches they would bring. Our "main" camera (XL-1) has a pretty good mic on it so we just use that and mix in audio from our secondaries (GL-1s)when it's necessary. A few good shotgun mics would be good.

You'll find that you can't please everyone. Some people like the close-up shots, some like to be further back so they can see the game unfold. Smoked is a great example of a video with nice tight shots and alot of action but you can't follow the game. It is high energy and great to get you pumped, but if you are interested in seeing the stratagy involved you will be hard pressed to find it.

We try to mix the two, with one or two cameras on elevated stands, and one or two down in the trenches getting closeups and over the shoulder shots.

I think to truly express the energy captured in the video, you must have highly charged music that fits the game. Try watching a PB video with the sound turned all the way down, it doesn't have the same effect.

If you have a local studio that promotes bands in your area, you can probably reach an agreement with them to provide music in exchange for free exposure.

When you are watching ANYTHING, analyze how they do things and note things that you like, and things that you don't. In alot of cases, you can adapt those techniques to your project.
-Brad

[ShooterJM]

Good points. Man. You have some sweet cameras! There's no way I can or will afford that stuff. As for audio I think I'm going to test mike a few bunkers. Figure five different recording sources or so. Then place them at the strategic bunkers. Should be able to get some good player interaction and other "sounds of the game". The lack of angles is what I'm most worried about. It'll either be all aerial or none. Unless I can rig up some place to shoot from that I can jump down quickly from. Maybe a ladder.

[BradPalooza]

Mic'ing the bunkers is a good idea. It would be a bit difficult to get a Sup Air bunker but I'm sure it could be done with some duct tape. : )

I've often thought about running a thin cable across the field at the 20's and dropping a couple of mics down off of them but there is the cost factor again, not to mention the paint that would undoubtedly get all over the mics.

One of our self imposed criteria though, is to be extremely mobile. We need to be able to get from field to field in relatively short order. When you start talking about running audio, that becomes pretty time consuming.

We used a boom lift once, it got some interesting angles but I don't think you only use that angle. I think your best bet would be to stay on the sideline and if you have something that you can get on and off of easily, use that in the center to get the breakouts.

Good luck, and if you need any pointers I may be able to help. I'm pretty fluent in Premier and After Effects. If you are of the Apple persuesion, I won't be of much help.
-Brad

[ShooterJM]

Speaking of paint all over. Do you take any extra precautions to protect the cameras?

[sniper1rfa]

GL-1s as BACKUPS!?

lucky stiffs... lol

those ae the nicest camera's i have access to, but they wont let me bring them to a pball field...
:( lol

[ShooterJM]

Originally posted by sniper1rfa
GL-1s as BACKUPS!?

lucky stiffs... lol

those ae the nicest camera's i have access to, but they wont let me bring them to a pball field...
:( lol

That's what I'm saying! I'm sitting here with a camera like 9 years old, and he get's GL-1s as a backup. That's awesome! Of course, this is just a quick project for me.

Basically I've gotten tired of trying to explain how you play paintball if you're not in the woods. Figured a good quick video with a voice over, freeze frames, etc would work well. A Newbs guide to non-woodsball if you will.

[billmi]

Originally posted by ShooterJM
Yep familier with both sources. WARPIG is more what I was picturing FYI. To be a bit more specific, has anyone HERE tried to video paintball. While the movie and warpig are decent resources. It's a bit different when you're just going to do it for fun on your own dollar. Although, to be truthful, for all I know Mills could do it on his own buck.

Actually it is for fun, and often on my own buck.

See you on the field,
-Bill Mills

[ShooterJM]

Originally posted by billmi


Actually it is for fun, and often on my own buck.

See you on the field,
-Bill Mills

I'm impressed man! Well, I just ordered a replacement charger for my camera, we'll see if I can come up with anything good.

[BradPalooza]

LOL, you guys misunderstood. Secondary camera doesn't mean backup camera. They are still rolling tape, they just don't have the same audio capability as the XL-1 which is necessary for some of our other projects. The image quality is, to me, the same.

For camera protection, we use nice thick towels wrapped and zip tied on to keep them safe. It doesn't look all that slick but it works. I think it's more of a deterant anyway because the only time the cameras get hit is when I think I'll be ok without it. : (
I use a UV filter to protect the lense from a shot right down the pipe.

Bill Mills has a really nice neprene cover for his camera which I'm working to have made for ours.
-Brad

[leopardhead]

Originally posted by BradPalooza

For camera protection, we use nice thick towels wrapped and zip tied on to keep them safe. It doesn't look all that slick but it works.


On Spplat Attack we had nine cameras rolling. Mostly Cannon XL-1s. Some we had in professional camera bags velcroed shut leaving only the lens exposed. But most just got a plastic garbage bag duct taped around them.