admin|Duchin Productions

Shooting hand held video

The camera is as heavy as it looks. When you start to add on batteries, microphones, wireless receivers and other pieces, things quickly start to get heavy. For this particular project, going handheld was our only option for getting the shot. One of our biggest tricks in getting smooth, sharp handheld footage is to use a wide angle lens. The wider the lens, the more stable your shot will appear. This particular lens is one of Jay Duchin’s favorite. The lens alone costs over $8,000, which is more than some companies spend on their entire camera. Our investment in technology and...

Video recording in stores

There are huge advantages to some of our shoots. Besides working with great people on this training video, we were also able to do a bit of food shopping afterwards. This particular food store remained open during our time there but we wanted to avoid getting customers in the shots. One trick is to raise the camera to the maximum height which limits how much is in the background and at the same times makes for some great perspective...

Traveling with video equipment

Going on remote locations around the world often isn’t a glamorous as many people think. It takes more time to get through security lines and the really expensive pieces like cameras should all be hand carried. Sometimes we’re able to take smaller cameras but it’s now always feasible. On this particular trip, the camera fit in the overhead bin. One trick we’ve learned over the years is to pack along some inflatable neck pillows. These can be inflated and used to help protect the camera and other spare parts we bring...

Making people comfortable

This particular shoot was about a companies 10 year anniversary. There were some items we wanted to show in the background which meant setting the camera at a very specific height. This meant we had to put our interviewee on a tall stool to get them at just the right height. We gave our person a box to put their feet on so they could be comfortable. If your talent isn’t comfortable, they might not give you what your looking for and their tolerance for being in front of the camera is greatly...