Highlights vs. Arlington

Jackson Basketball Highlights - 2.19.09 vs. Arlington (Playoffs) from Matthew Robertson on Vimeo.

Spent pretty much all of yesterday doing this highlight.. I graded in color and had a ton of problems with that, but all in all i'm happy with how it came out.

Product Review: Cavision Shoulder Support

Here is the Product I Am Reviewing

Cavision Shoulder Support (RS1580S)

Overall Product Rating: B

The Good: Nice stability, portable, fairly good price, adjustable, modular design,

The Bad: No riser plate, no quick release system, does not fold up completely compact, awkward to get camera on and off, does not have a stand, no 35mm adapter support, not balanced

I had seen this product originally by a member of hv20.com and it peaked my interest. I researched it a little bit and decided it would be a good fit for my canon hv20, especially because I do a lot of sports work, and it would give me the look and feel of a higher end ENG type camera. When I first opened it up, It took me about 20 minutes or so to finally understand how to put it together. It didn't come with any instructions but rather a bunch of parts and tools thrown in there. After I finally put it together I started playing around with the configurations and found it to be pretty nice. You can customize it to any size of body type and even adjust it quickly for shots. It is easy to mold into the shape you want, simple unscrew the clamp and move then screw back to the desired position.

It is pretty light weight, however that comes with its flaws. It has no balancing system whatsoever so it is somewhat top heavy since that's where the handle, rods, and camera rest. Its not a huge problem, but it does make it somewhat less unstable than it potentially could be. In filming three basketball games with it, it does give good stability and portability, however I wish it would fold up smaller. You can fold it so the handles go down and fold it somewhat into itself, however the shoulder module cannot be folded.

Now one issue about this that really bugs me is the exclusion of any type of quick release. Every time you want to put on and take off the camera, you have to screw it on (sometimes really tightly) and off. This can be critical in sports videography if you need to screw it off quickly (say for exchanging batteries or fixing something) and its quite unacceptable. It also bugs me that there is no way to rest it on the ground without it tipping over. Overall this is a decent product for the money ($174.99) however there may be better options out there.

Shooting Tip #1

Something that I have found to be invaluable for me is to make sure I "prep" a tape before I start recording. ALWAYS record at least 15 seconds or so of just black tape. It will make capturing alot easier. When you have a clip that starts at the very beginning of the tape, FCP usually needs at least 6-7 seconds to get the playback starting and cued up and then capture. This will prevent you from losing footage that you need to capture. Its a simple trick but will save you headaches when editing! Also, if you are doing interview work, try to capture at least 0:30 sec of room tone. You can use this to fill in spots and patch up your audio when editing it. This is easiest done with a program like Soundtrack Pro which comes with Final Cut Studio

Highlights vs. Stanwood (HD)

Jackson Basketball Highlights - 2.11.09 vs. Kamiak (Playoffs) from Matthew Robertson on Vimeo.

Not too much to show here, it was a pretty ugly game, but its highlights nonetheless..

Game Tonight vs. Arlington

There is a game tonight at 8pm at Henry M. Jackson High School. I will e filming from the court, expect big things, Kingma is back! The Stanwood game should be done by today, it's more editing than usual, so it is taking a little longer.

-Sent from my iPhone

Highlights vs. Stanwood Coming Soon

Be on the lookout either today or tomorrow for the highlights from Tuesday's Playoff Game vs. Stanwood. I filmed on the court and my friend Dwight Patton was able to bring along his Sony PMW-EX1 and shoot some great footage. There will be some behind the scenes stuff as well as the radio broadcast to go along with it!

Gametime Pack

First post! Welcome to my blog! My name is Matthew Robertson and I do freelance various video projects. I shoot a lot of sports and now I'm shooting for my High School's basketball team. I thought it would be cool to share what I take when I shoot my games. Here is what I usually take with me:

View large picture here

1. Quantaray Camera Bag
2. Jansport Backpack (All Gear goes in here, although accesories and camera goes in camera bag, which then goes in jansport backpack for easier transportation)
3. Cavision Shoulder Support
4. Hoodman H-300 LCD Hood with 2x Magnafier (Highly Reccomended!)
5. Litepanels LP-Micro w/ Gels
6. Rode Videomic
7. Extra Rode VideoMic bands
8. Cool Lux Hotshoe Extender
9. Shot List w/ Pen
10. Rode Deadcat (for videomic)
11. Lens Wipe
12. Athletic Tape
13. Electrical Tape
14. Tiffen Filters
15. Flash Bracket (Videomic Goes Here)
16. Batteries (x5)
17. Canon Hv20 w/ Fotodiox 43mm Lens Hood & Ivrb's Focus Ring
18. Wallet (for getting into away games, buying concessions, safety backup, etc)
19. Tapes (x3)
20. Grey Card (18%)
21. 62mm Rubber Collapsable Lens Hood (for Wide Angle)
22. Merkury Innovations .45x Wide Angle (52mm)

So many times in the past I have ran out of battery, not had enough tapes, forgotten something, so now I make sure i'm completely covered. For example, if it is something critical such as a bettery I make sure I bring 4 or 5 becuase you might have forgot to charge a few the night before, lost one, etc.