They key to making your on-camera light less harsh is to use "Tough Spun" Diffusion in front of your light. I use "1/2 Tough Spun (Light Spun) then cut it to fit my light, then double it up and tape it infront of the light itself. This will soften the light, and give you a good light source, resulting in richer color and definition. You can buy Tough Spun at JCX Expendables

An On-Camera Light can help when shooting in mixed light situations, such as a Sunny Kitchen. First you will need to add a small piece of BLUE GEL in front of the light itself. Use a piece of professional Motion Picture 1/2 Blue Gel on your light. Another name for this Motion Picture lighting Gel is CTB (Color Temp Blue). This allows you to shoot in "Mixed Light" settings.

For example: you are in a kitchen, daylight is filling the rooom, your subject is cooking at the stove, the Blue Gel on your sun gun will allow you to add light that does not look too RED. If you shot the same scene without the 1/2 CTB in front of the sun gun's light, the image would look too RED. This blue gel changes the color temperature of the sun gun from 3200K (indoor) to approx 5000K (Daylight). I also add a piece of 1/2 Tough Spun to soften the light. You can order this gel from JCX Expendables in San Francisco. You want to order a "Sheet of 1/2 CTB". It cost approx $8 sheet.

In Summary. Even a cheap Sun Gun can make your little portable DV Camera look better. The key is using Tough Spun and when in mixed light, Blue Gel over the Sun Gun. Tough Spun will always soften the light...use it every time. Blude Gel or CTB will allow you to use the Sun gun both outdoors and in mixed light scenes ( IE: Kitchen in daytime, with windows open).

On the right are Logan Smalley and Dylan Wilson. Two former Dvworkshops students that arrived in San francisco last week on a cross country tour/documentary project. Their documentary is about a young teen who has MS and is confined to a wheelchair. Since his family can not afford a wheelchair Van, He has never left his small town in Georgia. Logan lives in Georgia, knew the young man, and decided to take him on this trip. Logan then enlisted Dylan Wilson as primary cameraman. They attended DVworkshops 4-Day Crash Course prior to the shooting. I met up with them on a foggy day as we shot them crossing the Golden Gate bridge.

Their RV was outfitted with Neutral Density Gels on all the windows to cut down on the high contrast light coming from all sides. The ND Gels allowed the crew to film and interview the driver while seeing the landscape pass outside his window. If they did not use ND 9 Gels ( neutral density gels #9) the window would have been over-exposed, with little or no detail of the outside landscape. They also outfitted some of the the indoor lights with removable CTB Gels ( daylight correction Blue Gel) so they could add light inside the RV while shooting interviews during the daytime Drive across America.

I asked them what their biggest challenges were? They told me that "They wish they had more shots of them leaving and entering each city or state park." They lamented that they,"Did not have enough establish shots of the RV and Darious in front of the many places they visited. They felt rushed for time, and omitted some of these key "story telling" shots.

It is always important to get establish shots of every house, building, street and town you are filming in. Always get a shot of the exterior of your subject's residence or workplace. "Welcome to" signs on the side of the road as you enter a new town. If you are in the film, drop your camera person off, and have him/her film you entering the building, or driving across the Golden Gate Bridge. Establish shots... get 'em or you will be sorry...

These guys are shooting with the Panasonic DVX100A camera in 24p ADVANCED Mode. The Advanced Mode is the "Film Look" mode, that allows for the best Video to Film Transfers. Only use this Advanced mode if you are fairly sure your movie will be transfered to FILM. If your not sure use the DVX100a's 24p STANDARD mode to achieve a film look and not have any hassles in the editing room. Word on the street is shoot STANDARD for Video, ADVANCED for a Film Transfer ONLY.

They are using a Senheisser 416 Shotgun mic on a pole with a blimp and softie (see photo at top of article), and a pair of the low cost Senheisser Wireless packages. One smart thing they did, was to use one of the wireless kits to allow the boom operator to be "Cable Free". This gives the sound person more flexibility if they are not attached to the camera with a physical cable. The wireless tansmitter has an optional XLR connector, which allows you to plug in any mic to the wirless transmitter.

Dylan and Logan used the wireless Shot gun mic for recording great sound in the middle of the ocean. Their subject , Darius takes his first dip in the Ocean...in Florida...they shoot it with a camera in an underwater housing, and the sound man wore his cowboy hat, placed the small transmitter on top of the hat, and got into the ocean to record Darius experiences being weightless in the ocean for the first time. Way to go guys!

On the right is a photo of Jodi and Kalena from our DV documentary Intensive last month, shooting inside a bakery in San francisco's North beach district. Please visit our website to see student testimonials, and clips from documentaries produced during the class.

It was so cool to see all the ideas we teach in our DV Camera Bootcamp and Crash Courses come alive with "Darius goes WEST", and in many recent works produced by DVworkshops students. Most of these topics are discussed and used in hands-on training at our DV Camera Two Day Bootcamp this weekend, August 13 & 14 10am tp 7pm. Space is limited, cost is $295 Please click on link below for exact details of what material will be covered in this workshop. Instructor is Aron Ranen

The class features camera eye line rules, exposure and hands-on Lighting exercises on the first day, the second day includes The Five Elements of documentary, Interview techniques, and in the field shooting & critique.