A word from the cameraman

[rayliehm]

As with the last two conventions I've filmed, Midfur 2007 and Rivfur 2008, Midfur X was very much a learning experience. I've never had any formal training in videography, with the exception of a small video production done as part of an elective in high school, so almost every skill I've acquired I've had to teach myself, and has usually been learnt through some sort of mistake or screw up.

Midfur '07 taught me to stay on one subject at a time, to not overuse the zoom and to get a better camera! Rivfur taught me how not to film in the dark, and how not to film in the rain. And the lessons I learnt at Midfur X were mainly those of how to operate and get good footage in a convention environment, like where to set up to get the best shot of a panel, or how to effectively use a tripod, or to get enough rest to properly pan through a full stand-up performance without having to sit down and leave the camera unmanned due to fear of passing out.

However, one thing that struck me while filming my first furcon was the way in which people interacted with me while I was filming. Some of it was good, some of it unexpected, and some of it was downright annoying. Therefore, for the sake of my sanity next year, and hopefully your entertainment for the next few minutes, here are a few do's and don't's for convention goers for when you're around a camera person:

DON'T:

• Don't talk to the cameraman in their ear while they're filming! The number of people who, while I was taping some amusing moment, would come up and start yapping about something, was somewhat infuriating. As well as being distracting, if I can hear you, then so can the camera, and a loud, disembodied voice tends to screw up a shot fairly well. Even from in front of the camera, directly addressing the cameraman tends to break continuity, although there are some rare cases where it works. If it's not important, then wait until they've clearly finished shooting and then say what you needed to say. Only talk in their ear in the case of an emergency, or to point out something worth filming, like 'OMG that dragon fursuit just breathed fire!"
• Don't walk past an operating tripod if you can help it. There's a high chance you'll bump it, and failing that, at MFX the floor wasn't particularly steady so any nearby movement would make the tripod shake as the floorboards shifted. And for the love of god, why did everywhere I chose to set up suddenly become a major traffic thoroughfare? At the Gala Ball for example, people kept walking past me to get to their dinner tables, so I moved my position across the room - only to wind up in some sort of service laneway, with dinner ladies tromping noisily past every 15 minutes, getting in the shot and shaking the floor! I don't really blame them as they've got a job to do, but it was particularly frustrating. In short, if you really must get from point A to point B and the only way is past me, then do it, but if you can take another route, then please do.
• Don't stand near an operating tripod, for many of the same reasons as above, but also because your chatter will get picked up. This was particularly a problem during the panels - seemingly no matter where I stood, someone would always stand beside me and either try to talk to me or someone else nearby, and the bonus conversation track kinda tends to spoil the panel footage. General rule of thumb I find is about 3 to 4 meters clearance, but the more the better.
• Finally, on a slightly more positive note, don't let the camera get in the way of your convention experience. Pretend I'm not there, and if I'm bugging you, say so and I'll back off. Don't feel intimiated by the camera. I'm there to enhance the convention by capturing the essence of whatever's going on, and I have a lot of fun doing it, but if in the process I'm detracting from other people's enjoyment, then I want to know about it so I can stop.

DO:

• Fursuiters - nosebeeps, please! Call me a BBF copycat if you will (and I probably am to a large extent, but imitation is the sincerest form of flattery), but I want nosebeeps! Stick your nose right down into the lens until you can't go any further :). Makes for more good film moments, as does general play-acting for the camera.
• Do tell the person filming if you don't want to be filmed. In my case, I will either turn the camera off or wave it in another direction. I didn't seem to have any complaints in this regard at Midfur, although the red kercheifs never showed up so I may have caught people who otherwise didn't want to be seen.
• Do feel free to film me! I don't particularly want to be on camera as I'm usually not very photogenic, but if I have the right to poke my lens into everyone else's face for nearly an entire week then you have just as much right to get a few good revenge snaps of me. And a shot of two cameras filming each other can make for an interesting bit of vision, particularly if you've got the footage from both of them to work with :)

That's probably all I'm comfortable with saying for now, and this list will possibly be revised at some point - it's by no means comprehensive. I don't mean to whine with the "don't" points either, but they're mainly things that did get on my nerves and that people may not have been aware that they were doing. And I did want to post more "do's", but they started turning into "don't's" =p.

If you've got anything to add, or if you think I'm whinging about petty things, feel free to leave a comment. As for the footage itself, I have been informed that capture of all 17 hours has been completed, the final file size coming to somewhere around 215 GB. As I understand it, editing shall be commencing shortly, and I'll be sure to let you know when the finished product is released :)