Ask MC: Climbing Videos 101

(From Urban Climber Magazine)

Q: I’ve seen all the climbing videos out there, and I know I could do better. What do I need to do to get started? 

A: An idea, a camera, equipment to edit with (or know someone how has it), a way to sell it (or give it away). That’s it. Good luck! 

Okay, before I get started, keep in mind that people go to school for years to learn this stuff, and then practice for years before they get actually good at it, so it is pretty understandable if you feel overwhelmed.

Let’s break it down: First, the idea.

What do want to make? A standard climbing/music video of you and your bros and girls sending at your local roadcut? An epic documentary spanning 10 years and millions of dollars? You should have a good idea of the scale of what you are wanting to make before you lift a finger or spend a dime. If you have a real story to tell, scripting is the best thing you can do, even if it’s a rough script. You will save hours, if not weeks and months of agony by planning ahead.

Now, the gear.

Get the very best camera you can afford. There are hundreds of options out there, but basically, it looks like this:

• Consumer cameras, which are sub $1000, usually are one chip digital, and nice and small. These have gotten pretty good over the last two years, and they are simple to use on a pole cam. Another upside is how easy they are to hide for those shenanigans shots in hotels, streets, cop stations… you know. Downside: usually one chip cameras have crap picture quality, unless the lighting is perfect and you are holding nice and still. Shooting a climbing video with these will end up most likely giving you that “home video” look. A good way to start if you already have access to your dad’s, but if you are looking for broadcast quality, check out the next level.

• 3 chip “prosumer” cameras are what most climbing movies are being shot on. They are high quality, rugged, compact, and very flexible to all kinds of shots.

I used a couple of Sonys for years: a VX2000 for my “A” camera, and a PD150 for my “B”. The VX2000 is an amazing cam. If you can find one of these used with not too many hours on the heads, get it. You can find them occasionally on Ebay for around $1400 or less. 

(digression: if you haven’t bought anything off of ebay, you need to know that the place is full of criminals. Check out the seller’s ratings, read the customers comments. Don’t buy from anyone with less than a perfect feedback rating, or with less than 20 positive comments. You have very little recourse if you get robbed)

If you are going this far to get a good solid camera, I recommend a new one. B and H in New York is one of the best supply houses in the US (Bhphotovideo.com) or I also like EVSonline.com. Tell them what you plan on doing, and they can guide you through the rest.

I use the Panasonic DVX100a, which is a 24p camera, meaning it shoots 24 frames per second, instead of interlacing 60 lines of video per second. It gives the footage a richer, “film” look that doesn’t look like the evening news. You can get one for $3400 or so.

The next category up is full on pro level stuff. Beta cams are 10,000 and up, HD cams can be 30,000 and up. Film cameras like Super8 or 16mm aren’t terribly expesive, but the film, processing, editing is pretty expensive and technical compared to DV. Plus, you will waste hours of film just learning the basics.

Q: Okay, I got a camera. Now what? 

A: Find something to shoot. Not close personal friends with Fred or Klem? Chris doesn’t owe you any favors? Your local choss area isn’t that photogenic? Find the strongest kids in your area and follow them around. You never know who the next child prodigy will be. When I first shot Sharma in the VRG doing the FA of Necessary Evil, he was a relatively unknown kid from Santa Cruz with mostly plastic climbing under his belt.

Some fundamental tips with shooting (which I learned by shooting hours of shit footage):

1. If you are shooting a steady scenic or a wide full shot, use a tripod.

2. Get to know the manual settings in your camera, starting with the exposure levels. Classic rookie mistake is leaving it on auto and having both the shade and the sun look like hell.

3. Frame your shot. Try not to cut off your climbers hands and feet.

4. Practice shooting. Be harsh with critiquing your own stuff.

5. Never shoot into the sun. it will look bad.

6. Get mutiple angles of what you are shooting if it is possible. It will give dimension to the shot when you edit.

7. Get a wide establishing shot, a medium full shot as a “master” shot, and close ups on points of interest (sick moves, shit holds, eyeballs bugging out on high top outs)

8. Be prepared to not shoot anything good. It happens. Be patient. Your climbers may ba having a bad day, the conditions may suck, holds might break, someone may get hurt, your batteries might die, your camera could jam.

Come back again later with good light, strong, fit and motivated climbers, fresh motivation, better laid plans. This stuff isn’t easy. 

Q: I shot some sick footage, and I am ready to edit this bitch. What is the best way to cut it up and mash it together?

A: If you’re a PC guy, get a copy of Adobe Premiere. There is a Pro version as well, and I understand its really good. I’m a Mac guy, so I am using Final Cut Pro. You can pretty much to anything you might need to do with this. Good software will set you back in the range of $500 to $1000.

Q: So I have  good software, and I am ready to go. I want to use the new 50 Cent track for the video, and lots of fire effects. I think this thing will sell millions! Any suggestions?

A: First, using music in your video that you don’t have right to is illegal. Unless you are just showing your friends and family this masterpiece, you will need permission. This is one of the hardest things about making a climbing video. Get used to it. Rights for music can go anywhere from free to thousands of dollars a track. Start emailing labels, you never know what you might get.

Fire effects? Do it. Star wipe? Absolutely. Personally, I try not to use every plug in effect in the palette, because if the content is any good, you don’t need it, and if your content sucks, no special effects can save it.

Editing tips:

1. Be ruthless. Things you think are brilliantly funny may be just another inside joke for you and your friends. Cut it. Remove anything that does not help tell your story, even if it looks great.

2. think of the big picture. Does the video have a beginning, a middle and an end? If not,, is the action so sick that it can stand on it’s own?

3. Edit to your music. Try to line up the action with the beats, or vice versa. It can be pretty powerful when they work together.

Q: I just wanna show all my online geek friends how cool my new problem is. How do I do it?

A: Get a website. Learn enough about doing this to upload your video to it and link it to the world. Get a book, its not that hard.

You will need to compress your video to a manageable size, so get a program like Cleaner. General file size rule of thumb is 5 megs per minute for high quality 320x240 video at 15 frames per second.

Q: I think I can make enough money from this thing I’ll be able to fund my trip to New Zealand this summer. What do I do?

A: Well, once you decide how much you want to sell it for (based on how much it cost you to make and duplicate, plus factoring in the market price for similar videos) take it to your local shops and ask them to carry it. They may only take 5 copies off of you, but it’s a start. If people seem to love it, try sending it to big shops. If enough people like it, you may have a hit. Set up a website to sell your video from, try to get your friends to send everyone they know to go buy it. You may eventually end up with a big global distributor, a film tour, autograph sessions, festival invites, gold medallions, helicopters lined up for your next project…

 Then you’ll be really glad you didn’t buy that $399 single chip miniDV camera from BestBuy.

WRAP UP

Basically, this is a serious endeavor, and the more you learn, the better your production will be. Study up.

Good resources:

www.2-pop.com

www.dvinfo.net

www.dvxuser.com

www.dvmoviemaking.com

http://www.dvshop.ca/dvcafe/dv/beginners.html

Online Gear Shops

www.bhphotovideo.com

www.evsonline.com

www.adorama.com

Like someone once told me: Its like trying to take a drink from a firehose.

But in the end, you just gotta pick up the camera, hit the little red button, and start shooting.