One piece of software I find invaluable in my acquisition work (recording the interviews for movies101.org) is Adobe's OnLocation. Rather than spending time here explaining it, look for yourself on the Adobe site: http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/onlocation/OnLocation[/link]

Ditch the Lowel Tota. Get anything fluro or HMI. Hot lamps that fail everytime you move them and medical work just don't go together.
We've removed all incandescent lights from our inventory and never looked back. Several guys shooting medical footage including in ORs use our fluros, the hospital staff love them, the camera loves them too. There's an improvement to be had in camera performance from using daylight over incandescent lights also.

Aside from that, what are you doing for audio??

Bob.

You tell me, Bob... what am I doing for audio? Wired lav? Wireless lav? I don't have a grip, so I really can't use a boom. What are your thoughts?

He says they'll hire out the stage so that may not be an issue unless he sets up a voiceover booth.

Rob Mack

Deleted

You could use a boom with a boom holder, using say an AT4053 mic, but this still requires some skill. Better to use wired lavs.

Audio-Technica AT899s sound very nice and are optimum cost-wise, but you also need a decent micpre with 48V phantom, and may I suggest a built-in optical limiter.

The latter will eliminate any square waves from getting into your camera, and you won't have to have a guy on a board carefully riding the pots to avoid clipping.

Will you need a 0.4x wide angle (superwide) adapter?

Greenscreen background?

I really agree on using daylight fluorescent lights also, get a couple of small ones too for hairlights and such. Camera CCDs render better at higher color temperatures and people feel better in it, and of course it will be cooler.

Will you need a teleprompter? I like PrompterPeople's products (I have a PP Broadcast 17), and they have inexpensive fluros too (which I haven't used).

C-stands can be used for so many things, I prefer Matthews C+ stands as being the most flexible (figuratively speaking) in use.

Sandbags are a safety issue, orange keeps the klutzes away but I find them too distracting visually and prefer black.

Some kind of dolly would really enhance production values also, even if it was just a skateboard dolly (assuming you have a smooth, level floor).

You asked Bob but i'll butt in with some cents worth.

Grips don't hold booms since they aren't audio people, but they will loan the audio folks a stand to set a boom on for interviews.

It's a little unclear what your requirements will be but I can kind of go back to what was done at Kaiser in Oakland. I used to do a lot of work for them.

Kaiser had 3 or 4 edit suites, a VO booth, a machine room, a secure storage room for gear to be sent out on location, and a smallish stage with light grid, electrical distro, dimmer, attached storage for lighst, flats, props. The stage had a track for drapes. The stage also had an attached engineering room.

It sounds like you don't need the stage but you want to have gear to send out on location. Breaking it down into categories you need to deal with:
--edit suites
--location camera kits
--location sound kits
--location lighting

The sorts of hospital related shoots I would do for Kaiser and others would range from corporate communication, community outreach, medical training (new needlestick prevention tools, for example), and surgery. The type of shoot varies so you want to have broadly useful gear.

Beyond a certain level of production you need to hire out the crew and gear. You may not have enough gear to deal with lighting a ballroom, or to do live feeds of surgery across town to a hotel, and you shouldn't expect to.

I don't have the time to make recomendations right now but I thought categories might be helpful, and people can expand on those ideas.

Rob Mack

Really agree with what Rob is saying. Without knowing:

a) What you're shooting.
b) Where you're shooting.
c) Some idea of budget.
d) Some idea of crew size.

You'll get all manner of suggestions, many of which will be very well intenioned but useless. I could certainly recommend some lights and audio gear for a one man crew but they might be too expensive for your budget or unsuitable for your needs.

If you've got the money the Zylight Z90 is a uber usefull light that's very small, can run off mains or battery, doesn't melt talent, can be any colour you want. A set of three would be a killer bit of kit if money was no problem. Disclaimer, we're their local agent.

For audio, a Sanken CS3 is a killer mic at a killer price too, it'll work indoors and out. At the uber cheap level we've got great mileage out of a Samson boundary mic for round table discussions.

But if you've got to move all this stuff yourself lets not go overboard or it could become a good thing the hospital has oxygen on hand :)

So give us some more clues. Including is your footage for commerial sale, internal use only etc.

Bob.

Most audio kits include a boom and a standard cardiod mic of some sort. I've never seen an audio guy show up with just lavs and if they did I can't imagine them being asked back for another job.

Besides, at this point you're coming up with a list and prices. Put it on the list and you can cut it. Don't put it on the list and you have a harder time supporting the purchase next year because you said you didn't need it.

Put everything on the list, present it, then cut it down to the budget. Let them know you understand about the budget, you just want it on record.

Rob

Nice thing about hospitals is the floors are hard and flat. Easy to roll on. Glad to see a cart is already on your list!

Kaiser also had a van with a cargo barrier behind the second row, and a lift gate on the back. The gate on a van is a pain but the barrier was a good thing and the van still seated 5.

Plan to go anywhere, not just hospitals.

Rob

Off the top of my head, not in any particular order, and not implying or denying all or some of the following here's some back office stuff to consider:

Check all insurances

Check with your Health and Safety on your kit

Check with any local legal requirements on kit

Check for any clashes with medical and IC Unit requirements.

Check security and storage facility

Check and have local fire unit sign-off on any electrical and biohazard materials: Lithium batteries; Floros . . . . just have them agree and sign off.

Check power supplies and UPS options.

Check links to internal LANs for medical and non-medical records/graphics.

Signage for your unit - people NEED to know where you are. Much overlooked in hospitals! Tell me about it . . .

Comms for internal and near-to exo comms - wireless! Paging?

Any external/access to trucks and parking?

Really REALLY get to know your health and safety officers!!!

what exactly do you plan on shooting?

in my time i've shot everything medical from open heart thru to pharm company drug promo's. every area requires somewhat different equipment, not to mention skills.

without specifics you could follow the expert advice give above, spend a great deal of money on audio and lights, etc., be prepared for anything, and find yourself in the theatre, gowned up with just a camera and tripod, and perhaps a ladder, and NO audio or lights required.

alternatively, if it's keyhole surgery, a dsr11 / m15 deck would be more appropriate....

leslie

Even in surgeries I've been asked to bring in a handheld light to shine into a cavity. Does wonders when doing facial reconstruction and you need more light to shine under the face that's being lifted off someone's head. Surgical lights are just too spotty.

For the Kaiser example, the stage and post production facilities are all in a separate office building. They don't keep it in a hospital building and are probably wise not to have us going in and out of a working hospital all the time.

Rob Mack

The depth and breadth of your answers is astounding! You all can really get into the nitty-gritty of a question. Thank you, thank you for all of your responses!

However, I'm looking for more basic things. Naturally, I am intelligent enough to think about what I need to complete my initial equipment order... and I'm confident I will need to order more things as time goes on. What I was hoping to get from this gang (and it may be too basic for the experience level of this forum) is a list of 'things' I need to purchase for shooting... and editing in my office. Here's an example of responses I was hoping for:

- XLR cables
- cord ties
- floor mounted shelving
- track lighting
- accessory bags
- extension cords
- batteries
- extra blank tape
- gaffer's tape
- etc., etc.

Think of this as buying a house and having to fill it with 'stuff.' Obviously, we can all think of a bed, couch, etc. But what about salt and pepper? A mop? Sponges? These are the things we use everyday. That's what I need. Everyday things to fill my new shooting/editing outfit. Remember, I have NOTHING and need to spend $10,000 to fill it with the general stuff we ALL need to produce videos.

I will be a 1-man operation, working out of my current 15'x15' office in the hospital. I will produce testimonials, employee and patient education pieces, talking head videos, training, video news releases, commercials for the patient television network, etc. I will not be shooting heavy duty medical stuff often... if at all. My hospital wants the capability to produce high-quality, in-house videos that we normally wouldn't produce because of cost.

Thanks, all.

Your description helps a lot.

Lighting kit (electric)

-Whatever lights you like. typical basic package is something like a Lowel Ambi or Omni kit, but whatever you get should fit on 5/8" baby stands.
-Stingers (AC cords). Typically in the states you'd shoot for 12/3 cables but many people get by with the lighter 14/3. Get a mix of 25' and 50' cables.
-Cube taps. These are little 1-3 adapters to put on the end of a stinger so you can plug in a few lights.
-Gel kits. Get a selection of diffusion, color correction, and party colors. Consider getting rollup bags to keep them in. I have 5 rollup bags: black for Diffusion and ND, Green for plusgreen/minusgreen gel, Blue for CTB, Red for CTO, and a custom multicolored rollup for my party pack (theatrical colors for decoration)
-Spare bulbs if needed
-Alcohol wipes for the bulbs, if needed
----All in all I still like tungsten lights for their economy and versatility. You can't make a flo do what tungsten can do. The down side is that they make a room hot.


Expendables
-Gel kits. Get a selection of diffusion, color correction, and party colors. Consider getting rollup bags to keep them in. I have 5 rollup bags: black for Diffusion and ND, Green for plusgreen/minusgreen gel, Blue for CTB, Red for CTO, and a custom multicolored rollup for my party pack (theatrical colors for decoration)
-Wooden clothes pins for attaching gel and blackwrap to lights
-roll of blackwrap
-selection of tape on a string
---2" cloth gaffer's tape in any color you like
---1" cloth gaffers tape in white,
---1" and 2" black paper tape (paper tape usually sticks to hot surfaces better than gaffer's tape,
---2" photoblack paper tape (this is black on the sticky side too and is useful on window glass)
-Box of long shank pushpins (usually found at art supply stores, the pin is extra long)
-Sharpies of several colors
-ball point pens
-chalk (useful to set talent marks but it's fragile. I have a chalk pen)
-high sash cord or other cotton rope
-bailing wire (just a little, not the whole roll)
-fishing line
-Foam core and show card

Grip stuff
- #1 and #2 Pony clips on a rope
-scissor clips with baby studs to attach to suspended cielings
-sand bags
-gloves
-tools in some sort of organizing pouch
-Duvatyne or maybe a roll of black Visquine to black out windows (the visquine isn't ideal but it's cheap and easy to get at a hardware store, it's just black plastic tarp)
-4 or so extra stands. usually I'd go for c-stands but for a one man band these get heavy so you can get decent aluminum light stands and add:
----4 or so grip heads
----4 or so short grip arms (a little more portable than standard length arms
----A flag kit (18x24 flags are compact. I'd have 2 solids and a single and double net. It's also very nice to get a pair of 24x36 solid flags. You can also make a flag a little bigger by hanging duvatyne off it.

Camera kit
Camera, of course
Tripod, of course
lens tissue, Chamois, canned air
french flag
chip chart or something to use for white balance
Spare bats
Various cables, including enough to get to a monitor that's 25' away or more
Barrel adapters for cables
Spare tiedown screw for tripod wedge plate
Box of tape should always be available if you're shooting tape
Consider a little camera toolkit, maybe include a soldering iron but leave the iron in the office.

The list isn't complete by any means, but maybe it's a start.

Rob

Survival kit 101 ----- nice summary Rob. A lot of very useful ideals from everyone. I would you suggest checking the electrical for grounding and good voltage. Since its likely to have some damaged to shielding cable in the future, check it religiously. If you are by a TV or radio station Antenna, expect some emi issues or if you are by an airport( besides noise), airport radar can create electrical noise. Strangely, railroad trains can create low frequency vibrations thru the ground that can be pickup on the audio. Cellphones have been known to create noise on audio cabling too.

Excellent list Rob!!

To follow up on your "Barrel adapters for cables" suggestion, I'll say to make sure you have audio and video adapters (at least 5 of each) to be able to go to and from all known connectors.
This includes (but is not limited to) BNC, RCA, XLR, 1/4" (mono & stereo), 1/8" (mono & stereo).
Make sure to get male-to-male and female-to-female versions of each kind.
I'd also recommend a few audio matching transformers and a switchable attenuator.
A 15 dB / 20 dB / 25 dB model is very handy in numerous situations.
Shure has an extensive line of these as do other manufacturers.

If you haven't considered it, look into a soft box for your light kit.
There are numerous makes & models out there, depending on your budget.
If you have an electrician on staff (or you're good at this), make up some lighting dimmers.
Get real dimers though (1,000 W. rating) as the regular household ones are not recommended for industrial use.
Along this same line, I'd stick to 12/3 for AC cables, simply because they're heavy duty.

I strongly endorse Rob's suggestion of cloth gaffer's tape.
The silver stuff is OK but it's a real PITA to remove afterwards.
Make sure to get the real stuff and not a cheap imitation.
You might consider a few rolls of 3" or even 4" for taping down cable runs, especially if there's a few of them strung together.

Finally, get yourself a Leatherman (or an equivalent tool). Mine goes with me on every shoot and has saved me (and crew I'm with) more times than I can remember.

Mike

Hairspray, several uses for this stuff.
Towels and/or baby wipes.
Small makeup kit.
Plastic fruit.
Plastic flowers.
Vase, fruit bowl, maybe. Just stuff to dress up a location.
Water.
Cinefoil
Wooden clothes pegs
A few bits of CTB gel
A few daylight CFLs to replace inkies in practical lights.
5 in 1 reflector or 2, a reflector holder.

I avoid taking everything including the kitchen sink. I've got to carry it and too much kit can intimidate the talent unless they're used to it and more often than not they're not.

If you're trying to do this on a low budget because the big production companies are too expensive you have to work smart or you'll end up costing as much as they do or even more. I've got a lighting kit that's good enough for most things, it fits inside a toolbox and I can easily carry it. It's so cheap and small I just leave it in the car. I'm not trying to light a studio just improve what lighting there is at the location, you don't need much. I have a couple of rolls of gaffe tape, I avoid using it, too much time wasted ripping it up after the shoot.

I could fill a truck with gear at no cost, jibs, dollies, tracks, big lights, several cameras etc. I don't. If I was to be shooting a movie, different story, I'd be part of a crew. I've found as a one man shoot the big thing is getting people to 'perform' in front of the camera. The less energy I spend carrying gear around the more I have to devote to the performance.

Bob.

great suggestions, you guys. Details that were too much for me to get into in the middle of a work day. Good teamwork! ;-)

The three inch tape does a much better job of taping down cables, of course. I usually just keep the 2" and double it up if needed just because I've got a ton of crap already and one more roll is ONE. MORE. ROLL. Ugh!

I could wax rhapsodic on the virtues of various types of tape, and taping technique. It's its own type of geekiness.

Someday I should sit down and inventory my modest gear. Then I could cut and paste here.

Rob

Rob

Thanks everyone... great, great suggestions! If you think of anymore, send them my way. One thing I've realized in this process... it's nearly impossible to immediately set up my studio the way it will be in a year from now. I know I'll add to my 'stuff.' I just don't want to be on a shoot and say, "Damn! I forgot to buy _____."

B & H is accepting orders on the new HVR-Z7. The should start shipping in February.

As compared to the Z1 it will have the following advantages:

1/ It will be better in low light.
2/ It records to tape and/or compact flash.
3/ You can replace the stock lens with a wide angle one.

I'm a one-guy operation too (I produce training and promo videos for a manufacturing company). I've learned that in the low-end corporate world, fast and good is much preferred to slow and perfect.

Lighting and grip: a rental house may be willing to go over the gear with you, show you what's what, how everything goes together, etc. Also, consider renting a lighting package -- even if it's just to experiment. They'll likely include everything you need, which will help your list-making.

I've learned (the hard way) that smaller, lighter, & faster is much better when you're going it alone.

For audio, keep it as simple as possible. Rent an Audio Technica or Sennheiser medium to short camera-mount shotgun mic. and experiment with it. If the audio is good enough for your needs, then you're set. If not, then go with a Sennheiser G2 wireless system. If you're doing VO work, consider an Electrovoice Cardinal. My other mics had a huge problem with external noise (AC, phone, paging systems, voices in the hall, machinery, etc.). The Cardinal sounds great, but doesn't pick up these noises.

If you're doing a long talking-head interview, a tripod is great. If it has an adjustable center column, you can adjust the camera's height very quickly. If you're short takes in multiple locations, consider Manfrotto's fluid monopod. I have it and love it.

I recently ditched my Arri fresnel lights in favor of Lowel Pro Lights, which are much smaller and lighter. That also let me ditch my heavy stands for much lighter Manfrotto stands. I also have Kino Flo fluorescents, but for field work I use the Pro Lights.

Sounds like an adventure, good luck!