Light Up Your Shoot: Tips for Finding Great Locations for Video Interviews"

I’ve made some lighting and background mistakes over the the last 28 video interviews or so! They were often caused by having only a short time to check out the location and only minutes to set up the cameras, lighting and sound and prepare the person being interviewed or filmed. Here are some of my tips I’ve learned over the 3 seasons I’ve worked with STORYHIVE on. They work great for photoshoots as well!

If you can scout locations: Look for locations that offer a variety of lighting options, including natural light and artificial light. Consider the time of day you will be shooting and how the light will interact with the subject and background. Look for interesting backdrops such as murals(you must get a release if you use a mural), architectural features, or nature.

1. Check for permits: Make sure you have the necessary permits or permissions to shoot in the location you have chosen. Some locations may require permits or have restrictions on photography or videography.

2. Utilize public spaces: Public spaces such as parks, city streets, or plazas can offer a great backdrop for your shoot. Look for areas with interesting architecture, public art, or natural features like trees or water.

3. Look for natural light sources: Consider how natural light will interact with your subject and background. Look for locations with large windows or outdoor areas that offer good natural light. Avoid direct sunlight if possible, as this can create harsh shadows. I had this on one set. There was no avoiding it as there was no other option for the shoot!

4. Be mindful of noise: Consider the noise level of the location you have chosen. Look for areas that are relatively quiet and free from distracting background noise. Avoid shooting in areas with heavy foot, vehicle traffic, or overhead fan/furnace noises as this can be disruptive to your shoot.

5. Test the location beforehand: Before you start your shoot, test the location to make sure it meets your needs in terms of lighting and backdrop. Take some test shots or record a quick video to ensure that the location works well for your project.

By following these tips, you can find great spots for your photoshoot or video interview that offer ideal lighting and a visually appealing backdrop.

The Power of Community: How to Find the Ideal Filming Location

We have shot in some great local places around Edmonton! If you are interested in finding awesome locations for a film project I came up with this.

Research the area: Do some research on the area you're interested in filming in. Look for places that are visually interesting or unique, and consider the cultural and historical significance of the location. You can also check local news and social media to get a sense of the community and any recent events that might affect your shoot.

1. Engage with local organizations: Reach out to local organizations such as cultural centers. These organizations often have a wealth of knowledge about the community and can help you identify potential locations to film in (we used a cultural centre in our season 2 of voices!).

2. Ask for recommendations: Ask locals for recommendations on places to film. This could include shop owners or other community members who are familiar with the area. They may know of hidden gems or lesser-known locations that would be perfect for your shoot.

3. Attend community events: Attend community events such as festivals, or fairs. Not only will this give you a chance to experience the community firsthand, but it can also be an opportunity to scout potential filming locations. Make sure to ask for permission if you plan to film during the event.

4. Respect the community: When filming in a community, it's important to be respectful and mindful of the people and places around you. Make sure to obtain any necessary permits or permissions, and be considerate of noise and other disruptions. Also, be sure to leave the location as you found it, or even better, clean up any mess or debris you may have created during the shoot.

My thoughts on being a female cameraperson and a director

The lighting is perfect, which I set up myself and compliments the natural lighting in the background. The cameras are rolling and I make eye contact with my talent. What surrounds her is the beautiful architecture of one of the most famous buildings in our city. In this shot, my talent is a woman who is being interviewed. She is one of the most well-known artists in Edmonton, and she is ready to share her story about why she creates. I also have a female makeup artist who was doubling as my grip on set ready to spring into action in case she needs to do anything. As a low budget production, everyone on set, except the sound guy, has to take on many roles. My host/interviewer is also my co-producer and helps me with any additional tasks as they arise. Which can be a lot, on some days, because of my disabilities. But he almost never operates a camera or directs a scene.

I ask everyone if they are ready and my grip clicks the clapboard together so I can line up the sound and video during the editing process.

My host asks “where are you from?” and then that’s when we hear it. A cacophonous noise of yelling, feet stomping, chatter, beeps and other mechanical noises. My co-producer and I look at each other confused. We have the place scheduled for our use for several hours. There must be a group of kids going on a last-minute tour of the building that were double booked in .

Then we see the group and they are not a group of kids. They include a woman leading a group of 12-14 adults. Their leader looks at me, looks at the respected artist and looks at my makeup artist. Puts her nose up and walks through my set and commands everyone to walk through as well. People look nervously at the host (who is sitting) and the sound guy, then to me behind the camera and stomp through. I’m in shock, unable to react. The person being interviewed asks them to be careful of the cords and the cameras.

I rush to the cords plugged into my new camera to keep them in place in case they snag a cord and damage plug in as they charge by. I had only saved and scrimped for that camera for 4 years.

No big deal.

I have my other camera sitting off to the side and I give it a sad look, hoping that my other baby won’t end up on the floor. I spent that morning carefully polishing the lens and the viewscreen, remembering all the great places we have been together. But I’m only able to help one.

Would this have happened if 3 of the 5 people on set were not women? No, I don’t think so.

I had to look it up and see how often there were women in this type of field. It turns out it’s a pretty rare thing.

An article from 2018 by Emily Geraphty, writes about this exact thing, about the lack of seriousness she receives on set as a female camera person.

I’m always one of those hopeful people that just think, “well maybe they didn’t notice the cameras, lights and the sound guy holding a boom stick over the person being interviewed. It has nothing with me being a female in charge on a film set.”

But, when my co-producer even holds my camera, whether it’s off or on, in the 100 or more times we have been out filming for YouTube, our other docu-series, short films, personal projects or any photo shoots people are careful to stay out of his way and even go to him to ask if it’s okay if they walk in front of the camera while promising they will be fast.

The moment I hold or am touching a camera. I get eye contact as someone stomps through my set. Perhaps it’s an unconscious bias such as I’m just holding the camera for someone else like my co-producer.

As of September 2022, an article from Vanity Fair stated only 20% of cinematographers were women in both narrative and documentary films in 2021–2022.

I have seen no other sets where filming and directing have been done by women, or a set where the women outnumber the men behind the scenes, to see if this happens to them as well. But that’s the problem. There are few places to see if they are treated the same. I’m hoping in the future there will be a significant amount of women who decide to enter these careers, because the industry at all levels is missing out on a portion of talent who can give a different perspective at all levels of creation and have their voices heard and, perhaps resonating to the women taking part as viewers as well. Places

I’m excited to see, though, that there are companies who support emerging and established creators. These companies are taking this issue to heart and making a positive changes in the industry, by encouraging and actively seeking inclusiveness. Communities like STORYHIVE who is creatively connected by TELUS. This is why I am grateful to STORYHIVE, who actively engages with people of diverse backgrounds and skill levels, and I’m grateful to be included in their community as one of the funded creators. By having these types of supports in the community it allows women to explore what they thought wasn’t possible and to try something they thought may have not been attainable because of biases from others.

copy and paste

article https: //www.glamour.com/story/this-is-why-you-dont-see-more-women-behind-the-camera

article https: //www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/09/women-still-underrepresented-behind-the-camera-in-indie-film-world

Want to know more about female filmmakers and the importance and history of women in film? you can check out this great article here.

https: //www.rockandart.org/female-filmmakers-importance-history-women-film/

Happy New Year - 2023

Let’s see what happens! That’s my motto for my life and I’m going to continue with it in the New Year!

2022 was a huge and different year for us. This year was also an enormous learning process as I navigated a newly diagnosed medical condition and explored the creation of my first full season with STORYHIVE (I did a previous shorter season the year before, which is available on TELUS OPTIK TV On Demand). I have wanted to do a variety of arts since I was a child. I’ve always had big dreams. When I started noticing changes in my health during late 2018-2021, with already previous health conditions, I knew I had to work towards my dream of expanding my visual arts work and storytelling to include more film and share the work and stories of other artists. I’ve always been a prodigious reader. I have written short stories most of my life and I wanted to go further with that. The fear of having the idea and then not being able to do it, because of health, puts a fire under my feet and causes me to learn and try new things weekly.

This has now caught on to my husband and partner, Tanner.

Many people may not know, but Tanner had a project a long time ago in which he interviewed bands from all over the world and reviewed music. He was deeply passionate about sharing their stories. I didn’t know until much later, after we had met and he decided on a business degree, that he had wanted to pursue journalism and writing as well as create visual arts. This makes the work we are doing now deeply and personally important to us. We are both very passionate about capturing and sharing these stories with everyone! You never know how long the window of opportunity will be open, so if you have been thinking about trying something or applying for something, I encourage you to just try it this year! The worst that could happen is being told no or having a project fail, but what happens if it works out?

I am hopefully optimistic that I can work with my newly diagnosed medical condition and treatments in 2023 as I create both my second full season and my short film, among a variety of other exciting projects. It took me the entire year, but I am now better able to predict what will make my condition worse and avoid those situations as best as I can. Some are easier, like not carrying items, stress, going to very loud events, or getting too little sleep.

I am truly grateful for the opportunities STORYHIVE Connected by TELUS, the EAC, the CCA, and the EHC afforded me over the past two years. Tanner and I also really want to thank every participant in our series. You are all amazing! We are sincerely grateful for you and want to wish you the best in 2023! All episodes are now available on TELUS OPTIK TV ON DEMAND.

I am also really grateful that everyone involved was so understanding and accommodating as I learned to work with my new diagnosis while learning how to create my second docu-series and first community focused series. There were times Tanner nearly had to carry me out because I almost could not stand by the end of the interview. But now, with what I know about the condition, I can avoid most of the major flare-ups.

For season two, we again have an absolutely amazing lineup of extremely talented Edmontonians and have actually filmed the first episode recently! The artists are ones whose work you may have seen around the city and / or possibly the type of artist you are curious to find out more about what they do and why. The second season is tentatively scheduled for a mid-2023 release and Tanner and I are so excited to work on this and share it with the community.

Advice on finding someone to do contracts to film your series (low budget series).

This is something I would 100% recommend doing, but it wasn’t as straightforward as I had hoped it might be. When we first started researching which lawyers handled film industry contracts, there are only a select few who do. I thought I would just make a short list, call for quotes, and make a selection. So I began with that in mind but soon found that many of them would not call us back at all, but I am very persistent so I kept calling until I actually got through. I even talked to one higher profile lawyer on this lunch break! I soon found, however, that regardless of the size of the production or the relative risk involved with the shoot, the cost to get these boilerplate contracts filled in was going to be anywhere from $1500-3000! This was not a viable option for us as our budget was very small, but we still felt strongly we should have the proper contracts in place. Eventually, I was able to contact with a local lawyer who called me back and was willing to offer some free advice upfront, too. This lawyer could provide us with contracts at a much lower rate, compared to the others, and they were not of a lower quality. One thing we learned during our meeting with the lawyer is that they cannot represent two separate film groups or people at the same time who are working on a project together. The reason being is that if there is a dispute between the parties, they can’t, of course, represent both of them at the same time. One other thing I had encountered during our research was that many of the attractive looking online legal forms were strictly for the US and not Canada.

Importance of choosing a good location: What I have learned from season one of Crafting a Career in the Arts

1)     Make sure there is enough natural light. If you don’t have lights, natural light is the best way to go. However, you have to be careful with it because it changes as the clouds move, the time of day, etc. When we shot in the Royal Alberta Museum, there was an enormous wall of windows with tones of natural light which was amazing, but the tradeoff for that space was the sound. It was such a large space that the speakers’ voices were somewhat lost and there was an overhead fan system which disrupted the footage as well. When we shot with Leela, the clouds changed the light constantly in her home. The best solution for the Royal Alberta Museum, would have been to put a damper on each side of Glen and use a lavolier. Unfortunately, we were allowed 1.5 hours to do everything!!! That includes get B-roll, do retakes, set up the equipment and pick a spot. To do things different with LeeLa, I would have closed the curtains and just used artificial light, but we didn’t bring enough lights with us.

2)     Make sure there are no hidden sounds. This is huge and will make a MAJOR impact on your postproduction editing times and results. When we shot with Daelen’s Forge we didn’t realize there was a low frequency sound coming from a hot tub, which was on the other side of the wall. This sound created a constant buzz/hum throughout the whole interviewer! Sometimes it will would also kick in a bit louder as well. When we shout at the Royal Alberta Museum there were so many considerations regarding lighting, locating plugins and placing the subject no one noticed the fan running way up in the rafters but it made a big impact on the sound quality later and lead to a lot of extra editing.

3)     Making sure to constantly check the camera settings etc when shooting in natural light. Because natural light changes continuously and throughout the day you will want to be sure to continually make sure your exposure settings are adjusted appropriately.

4)     Make sure the background scene is interesting. Of course, it is not always possible to get an amazing location, but being creative with angles or the features of the space can make even a dull location look more visually appealing.

5)     Trying to fit your camera gear in small spaces, to stay true to the subject. This is a major challenge when shooting interviews in the subject’s space. You will not only need to plan ahead to bring your most effective and compact gear but also leave extra time ahead of the shoot so you can rearrange the space to be camera ready. Some of our onsite shoots required us, with the participants’ permission of course, to almost completely empty the room we were shooting in as the space was so small we couldn’t fit anything else in at all!

5 of My Favourite Moments from Shooting the First Season of Crafting a Career in the Arts

1)     Shooting with my husband! This project was a lot of work, but it made everything way better to work on every shoot with Tanner. We had a great time interviewing each participant and scouting out the locations for each scene.

2)     Meeting other artistic people. Doing season one of this series, Crafting a Career in the Arts, provided an amazing opportunity to meet in an intimate setting with a variety of other local artists to hear their stories and their advice.

3)     Capturing the stories of other artists. It was an honour to capture the stories of the artists we worked with. Both Tanner and I found it inspiring to hear their advice and to listen to their stories, so far, unfold.

4)     Realizing how much support is available to artists from our community. Often it can feel like there is no one else you can think of to contact or that the assistance available is simply all used up, but this just isn’t true! There are so many people in our community who are ready to jump in and provide help or advice. Most of them are just a phone call away!

5)     Shooting Edmontons beautiful natural scenes. Edmonton has so many beautiful areas it was kind of hard to pick where we wanted to shoot! It was also pretty to “over” shoot or get distracted by going for a walk while we were out as well. I always feel so lucky that I have the opportunity to film here!

Why does it help for me to be a visual artist, who sells their work, and filmmaker?

There are many films and docuseries out there about artists. My husband has seen many and I’ve seen even more! One key thing the filmmakers who are not professional artists tend to do is to leave out is the empathy towards the artist. They often portray the artist, featured in the series, just going out and successfully completing their job/contract/work. There may be a few minor bumps along the way, but typically it doesn’t really capture the truly difficult, and often discouraging, nature of the artists’ vocation.

The struggle of being an artist and selling your work is monumental. To share your work and convince people it’s just as nice and as well made as something you can find in a store is something only an artist understands.

I try to capture the difficulties in the first series of Crafting a Professional Career and it’s why I included the community resources. I didn’t know about many of these resources when I first started selling my work. Often when thinking about selling your work as an artist, you may not think of it as a business and may not approach places like the Alberta Women’s Entrepreneurs, which is a not-for-profit organization who helps women’s businesses succeed. I had seen they had offered a free build your business plan workshop, years ago, and I signed up to go. Unfortunately, it was one of those days where I couldn’t go because of having “no spoons left” that day, so Tanner went for me. The help the AWE provided changed my way of thinking about how I sold my art and how I structured everything I did. By being a visual artist, who is trying to earn a living making art, and a filmmaker who wants to share the stories of other artists experience, as well as my own, I’m better able to understand the struggles an artist faces daily. Because I understand the difficulties artists face first hand, I know how I can offer advice or assistance to try to help alleviate their pain points I had when starting out. I am also in the position to ask the questions of organizations and community supports that I had when I was starting out, but didn’t know where to go on behalf of upcoming artists. In turn, I include the answers in my film projects so new artists, or those feeling a bit lost, can refer to it and hopefully find some sort of guidance to point them towards the resources they need. In my series, I ask the featured artists for their advice so I can share it with new artists as many new artists would not have access to more seasoned artists or may be uncomfortable to march up and ask them for a bunch of advice.

How can I be an artist and filmmaker when I have invisible disabilities?

I noticed when talking to other artists and crafters, it can be a hard sell to tell them I make videos as well, and try to get them involved in my projects. I started making videos on YouTube (we are almost at 500k views!), with my husband hosting them and providing input, because I didn’t know where to start.

Yes, there are film schools and groups out there, but I couldn’t go the traditional route. It’s mostly because I have an invisible disability, and the days or weeks where it can be tolerable or terrible and it’s totally unpredictable. Because of that, it can be weeks where I don’t leave the house and I have no choice but to learn things from home.

I can’t commit to showing up to volunteer for others’ films or go to a school that teaches these types of things on a daily or weekly basis. What TELUS STORYHIVE offered was an accessible option to those who really wanted to make video and film, and the traditional route was not an option.

They provide mentorship, one-on-one advice, training and a massive group of people who have solved the problem I need to solve or we can use a group mentality to solve it.

For the first series, I had major problems with my health. My mentor from STORYHIVE helped me along the way and made sure they did not leave me behind. How many schools would do that? Unfortunately, people with some sort of health issue need to work on their own schedule. They can get the work done, but may have a schedule that able-bodied people are not used to. For me, I usually feel better in the afternoons and evenings and not a lot of schools or businesses are available at 6 pm. 

I firmly believe people can be good at and capable of doing multiple careers in their lives and at the same time. The adage of “only doing one thing and doing it well” is terribly outdated and no one really does that if you think about it.

People who are photographers, tend to be social media experts, entrepreneurs and take on many other hats while being in business. While at an event, over the weekend, I met so many people who did multiple jobs. One was an MLA and Film critic. Those are both pretty enormous hats to fill, but if you have more than 1 passion, why not go for it?

Media Post- My Lloydminster now

I was asked to give a couple of words and a behind the scenes photo for a press release for STORYHIVE. I knew I was one of several creators who were asked for our thoughts on STORYHIVE. So I was pleasantly surprised to see the photo Tanner took of me, in the Royal Alberta Museum while interviewing Glen Nipshank, and my thoughts on VOICES 1 mentioned.

Here is the article if anyone wants to check it out and I included the photo Tanner got of my behind the scenes. He went for more of an artistic look to show the camera as the main focus.

https://www.mylloydminsternow.com/53828/local-connections/telus-storyhive-voices-2-0-open-call-for-local-lloydminster-creators/

Copyright Tanner Wilson-Skrocki 2022 at the Royal Alberta Museum

BTS shooting Scenes Around Edmonton Part 1

We went all over Edmonton looking for classic Edmonton scenes! Of course we had to get the scenery around the Muttart and the beautiful Walterdale Bridge, but there were “Edmonton” scenes everywhere to enjoy!

Top 5 Mistakes from shooting Season 1 of Crafting a Career in the arts!

1. Not checking for hidden sounds - like a hidden hot tub! Always check for hidden sounds, double and triple check to make sure there is nothing hidden around a wall or heavy curtain.

2. The Royal Alberta Museum graciously gave us a spot for interviewing an artist. However we were not equipped for such a large wide open space (it was right in front of the momma and baby mammoths!). For sound we should have used a lavalier attached to the H6 Zoom recorder and created a padded barrier on each side of the subject so the sound didn’t travel so much.

3. Using two cameras, with two vastly different colour codes - A Canon and Blackmagic. Wow, it took forever to colour match the film to each other, even with the “match colour option” on Adobe Premiere.

4. Not booking enough time with the subject of the interview! Often we needed an extra hour to caption B-roll and the interviewee only was available for 3 hours at a time. What we should have done was come back an additional day, if it was possible, to capture more footage.

5. Not capturing a long enough sequence for b-roll. I usually let the camera record for 20-40 secs, HOWEVER, often the first 10-15 seconds are unusable because my hand is shaking so much and often something happens during the recording, such as someone walking in front of the camera or if we were outside a bug getting caught in my hair. I would say the optimal time is over a minute to 1 min and 30 seconds. That way you have many options available for your 10-18 second b-roll spot.

Copyright Amy Skrocki 2022. The spot where we had the interview.