 Hello everybody, I'm Nishanga Bortaka, I'm a psychologist by profession, and we trained ourselves in this video making, and we've been doing this since 2007. And as Peter said, we've produced 500 movies since. And I have 20 minutes to talk about the gear that we're using, interviewing techniques, and framing and composition, which is impossible. And I always want to tell too much, so I still have like 60 slides for 20 minutes, so I will jump through some of the slides, and maybe it will make you curious, and you will come to these trainings to know what the slide was about. But I think, when we talk about the gear first, we can play this what's in my bag kind of YouTube video thing, you know you have these what's in my bag things. And I will talk about and show you the gear that we have here, which is more like a professional or more sort of professional gear. But we also, this is how it looks like when I prepare to bring this stuff here, I put everything down on the ground to check that we have everything. And at that time we had that big camera, it was very heavy, and now we have a smaller one. But we also started with a consumer small camera, and you can also start with your iPhone and everything, that's what you're going to use now. The most important thing is always the content and not the quality. But since this is what we work in and this is what we do full time, we would like to do it as good looking as possible, but that's secondary to the actual content. And we had this kind of camera and it was very heavy, and like the new fashion in filming is to use these DSLRs because they make really good quality films. So you can get yourself such a camera, but it's also quite expensive. But it makes such a good quality movie with this nice Polka, it's called Polka, those things, the lights. And also Obama is using these cameras, so they're very common. And the good thing is that those cameras have big sensor sizes, which makes the image better. I don't want to go more in detail about that, but the problem with them is that they look like a Christmas tree if you put everything on them and it's very heavy. So we are very lucky to have this kind of camera and we like it a lot. It's like that DSLR, but it's a video camera and you can change your optics on it, so you can take them off and put them on. And different optics will have different image quality and texture to them and they look even better and more film-ish. And this handle is an old photo flash handle and it's good to grab the camera with it. And yeah, we're not talking about these. So you can spend a whole lot of money on these lenses and you develop a certain lens last. When you want to have the new lens and the new lens. And then you suddenly find yourself watching lenses on your computer at night, which is a bit too much. And yeah, it can ruin your relationship. So you bring a tripod with you and you can see that tripod. Try to go for a small tripod or a lightweight tripod. What we do is that we go to these old photo stores where they sell these old photo machines. And there you can grab these old ones and they are lightweight and they are pretty good quality. But you can also have these big ones. Don't buy it because it's very heavy and you have to carry it around. About microphones, there are different types of microphones. And the main point is that you have shotgun mics to put on your video camera. And there you can record the sound that is just in front of the camera. So that's what a shotgun mic is good for. And you also have the clip-on microphones which are like this. This is a receiver and then you have also this that you put on your subject. And then you clip on a small microphone so you can shoot from a distance. And you can make your interview like that. And it records only a certain part which is close to the mouth. And you can also use these handheld microphones which are good when there's big noise. You can filter out the big noise around so it's good in a concert or in an area like this. If you saw us we were filming with that because it doesn't matter whether they're talking into another microphone over there. Because then you can put it close and you can record it properly. And it makes sense to put on windscreen if you're outside because otherwise the wind will blow into the microphone. So that's a good tip to do. What we always bring with ourselves is here, this recorder which is recording right now. The good thing about it is that you can put it out here and you record the really decent sound. And you can also plug in chords into it. And you can bring three kinds of chords. Anyway I'll show those chords later with you. So you can plug into these machines at these conferences so you can pick up the proper sound. And you don't have to rely on your camera's sound. So it makes sense to bring with you an external audio recorder. You also should bring batteries with you. Of course monitoring the sound is always very important. So bring earphones with you because you never know whether the phone is ringing in it or not. So that's very important thing to do. If you're very rich you can buy that kind of protector. If you're not that rich you can just bring an umbrella. It works pretty well. And we are not rich but we had some money so we bought that one. And the problem with that was that we were filming St. Petersburg. And it was cold and it was raining. And I was walking around with it and the camera was warm. And the water condensed inside on that plastic part and suddenly drops started to collect inside and started to drop. So we had to stop. So better just go for an umbrella. It's much better. Yeah well you can bring these lens cleaners with you. There's also like it makes sense to have such a headlight like the one that you see on top of that camera. Because in dark environments you can light your subject pretty well. It can be very annoying to light it from very close but it helps a lot. And you should have a computer to edit your video on. And you should have these external drives that store your footage. And like one cat can store up to 500 gigabytes of footage. That's my cat. And so these are the three kind of cords that you should have with you. An XLR, an RC and a jack cord. If you have these then it would work. And also if the technician is helping you then you're doing good. And then you can record good sounds. Now let's go to sorry for being so fast but I only have 20 minutes. Let's go to framing and composition. Of course in poor light the quality of your video will be worse. So you should try to light it properly. Don't film against the sun very much. Because if your subject is here and the sun is in the back it will be a silhouette. So it will be dark. So try to avoid that unless your intention is to do that. So you can cover out, you can make it not recognizable. So you can disguise that person that way. What are like just the basic thing about framing and shot sizes. You can make your subject small and you can close in very closely. So normally when you're doing interviews, normally your shots will be like this medium shot and this medium close up. Because that's what you're most used to and that looks good. When you're making interviews you shouldn't go too close. That would look weird and it would be too intimate and too close. And also in editing you would have trouble with that. When you're making a shot like this or like this, in the editing you can always zoom in more. But if you do it like this you can zoom into the eye. Unless you're very artistic. And short angles, you normally shoot from the eye level. So not from below or from above. That's the standard thing. If you want to make a propaganda movie with someone very strong then you film from below and if you want to look down on someone then you film from above. Normally you try to set your camera to the eye level. And of course you can move around with your camera. Which is commonplace. You can move around like this. You try to move from your full body because then there's less shaking. And you can use, well unless you have this you have to walk. But that's also very hard to use. Like a glide cam or a steady cam. That makes it very stable. But if you bend your knees a little bit and you move with it like this then you can hold it pretty steady. It just requires a little bit of practice. It makes sense to bend your knees when you're moving. So then you can move like a tang. One good tip about using the zoom is that you always want your subject to be in focus. So one good way to do that is to if you have a zoom up take to zoom in on something on the eye, set your focus and then zoom back. And you can be sure that you have proper focus because if you're just setting the focus here maybe you don't see really the details. But if you zoom in a little bit then you see the eye much more and you can zoom out. So that's one very useful tip that we're using. Now one important thing with composition is that there's something called the headroom. This is the space above the head. And you have to be careful with it. He looks really small if it's too big and this doesn't look good if it's too small. So you should just get a sense of what kind, how big headroom you would need. But it should be just a little headroom over there but not too little, not too much. And as you're zooming in then you're cutting the head more and coming in. And there's one thing that helps you a lot which is called the rule of thirds. When you divide an image to three equal parts and put the important things on these lines or in the crossings usually that makes a good composition. For example here this woman, this is the sea level. And for example here this couple is on this crossing. It makes it more harmonic. It makes it look nicer. For example this image you don't really see but this is the sea level. And you put the subject in here so you don't put it to the center. And often you put the eye of the person, eye level on this line. So if you keep this in mind it helps you a lot. Also there's something called lead room which means that there's always more space in front of the person in the direction where they're looking. And when there's a subject moving you should put a little bit more space in front. Because that makes it natural. If she would be here it would look weird and as if she's pushing the frame out. So always leave more room in front of the person in the direction where they're talking to. And now you know the basic things like lead room and head room and rule of thirds. That's basically what you need to know about framing and composition. Plus set the focus sharp by zooming in on something. And now you go to an interview place where you try to find a quiet and well lit place. Maybe you unplug the refrigerator because I think it's a rule that if there's a refrigerator it's silent and when you start filming then it will start to buzz. So maybe you should try to think about it. You can also turn off the phone. We always forget to turn off the phone but nowadays it doesn't really matter. But it can be a problem. And when you're filming outside it's always better lit. This is very dark but I can read it. And with Peter we're working in couples. So here's the one who's interviewing and relaxing the interviewee while I'm setting up the camera. And I'm the one who's recording. And when there's too many people in the room that can be annoying. So too many attention on that person can be too much. So it's better to be on our own on the three of us or maybe just a few people. Whether he's standing or standing it doesn't matter. You try to find a good place, a good composition and maybe try to put a relevant background. I don't know a library for a librarian. I don't have to say more examples. Be careful that there's nothing sticking out of their head. So sometimes maybe there's a bunny ear in the background. And they can be rather annoying or like a line here with the neck, cutting the neck. So you have to be careful with that. And then you attach the microphone and check the sound. You set your focus. And most of the time you want the interviewee to look at the reporter and not into the camera. You want them to look into the camera when it's a direct message to the audience. Otherwise they look into the reporter. And normally it's better to make a wider shot as I said before than a very close shot because then you can use that later. Try to arrive in time of course for the interview. You may want to ask for consent, on camera consent, that they consent for this footage to be used but we always forget it. Normally they are giving us interviews and we're friends and it's alright. The fact that they give you an interview is a kind of consent. The first question is normally that we ask for an introduction that they should introduce themselves. And that's good for also for relaxing the interviewees. They very likely can introduce themselves so they get confident. And then they start to feel that they're able to do the interview. So it's a good thing to start with that. And always ask open-ended questions so their answers are not yes and no. And also tell them to include the question in the answer so that you don't have to cut in your question. So they have to repeat that thing because if they don't do it you would have to include the question because you don't know what they're referring to. So that they answer in complete sentences. And be careful when you're interviewing, be careful not to say just nod because it gets into the shot. So that's not good. And when you want to hear good arguments you should always ask counter-arguments. Like if we want to make a movie about needle exchange we may ask does needle exchange facilitate drug use? And then they will explain it. But it's also again it's common sense. You want to hear what you want to show. And you try to think with the head of your grandmother or someone who doesn't know much about that topic. So try to explain it as simple as possible without jargon. So try to avoid jargon. And here in this arm reduction community you always hear things like PLHWA who live with HIV in the PBS group said that the MPG is human being or something. And then you don't understand the word of it. So you have to tell them to say the whole thing. And you can even tell them to repeat it again if they said it like that. And at the end of the interview we always ask if there was anything else that we haven't asked or something that is important to tell and we haven't asked. And there are also other short types. So this was the interview part. And there are other short types. One like the best thing in film sense is when you're recording action someone doing something with someone or something. So we had the interview for example we have an interview with the mother who is talking about her child how much she loves the child. And then it's much better if you actually show the mother playing with the child and doing things with the child and interacting with the child as if it's happening as if it's a movie. That tells much more than a simple interview when they're talking about it. So but it's of course harder it takes more time to catch that moment and it requires more follow up and more participation and more relaxation. And we can't always do that but we can sometimes do it and that's always very good. And you can also make so called b-rolls which are kind of shots that illustrate the thing that your subject is talking about. So when you're making an interview about the mother then after the interview you make shots about the child as the child is playing or if the child is not there then you're making shots of pictures of the child. And then you use that as an illustration of what they're talking about so it's more interesting. You can also make b-rolls of the city like here at the conference we went out and made some b-rolls of the city and yeah pictures on the wall a dog or something that makes it interesting. That's the b-roll we call it cut away when you're making shots at the same time when the interview is happening so you're showing the hand or the eye of that person. And you can also make reaction shots which is the reporter so you film the reporter reacting to the interviewee or the audience looking at the presenter for example. And basically that was it about these three topics very quickly. Maybe you have some quick questions in this one and a half minutes that I still have. Any questions? Okay thank you very much. Then we go on to Matt.