Help me selecting hardware (and software?) for Family Interviews with relatives

[Carlos R]

Hello, LTTF

I regret not doing this’s earlier. I immensely regret it. I kept postponing doing the whole thing with my grandparents, for months, maybe years. In July of last year I sorta started it by randomly starting to record one conversation with my Grandpa. It lasted for a little over an hour, and I kind of forgot I even had it on my cellphone. He past away two months after that talk, at the age of 92. That was probably of of, if not the, last conversations I had with him. 

I’m not wasting any more time. Come these vacations I’m going to town on interviewing my grandmothers. I wanna have recording of their voices, their images, their histories and their stories both for my own sake and for those of my family — present and future. 

I have rough ideas on how to go about this process, but I need guidance. What do you recomend I get? Of the top of my head I’ll need some decent camera and microphone/recorder setup. Maybe a tripod? Lights? When I said “rough ideas” I might’ve been exagerating my knowledge. I’ve had a phonecall with one of my Grandmothers just now and I’m a little bit heavy with emotion. I just fell I really need to capture their beings, their love, and I need to do it soon. And I don’t know what equipment I’ll need to do it. Or that matter, I don’t know what software I’ll need. I have no idea how to even go about editing it all after I’ve captured it. But that’s the easiest part, I suppose. More labor intensive, but easier, less time sensitive. If you could point me in the direction of the software I’ll need and some decent online tutorials/courses on operating them as well as the aforementioned hardware, I’ll be tremendously grateful. 

 

If  any of you feel the need or desire to similar recordings/interviews with your relatives, please, for your own sake, don’t push it from your thoughts. Time, I learned, painfully, is merciless. 

 

Thanks you all in advance. 

 

 

PS: as I’m asking about video and audio and software I wasn’t sure where to create this thread. Hopefully I’m in the right spot. 

[AkiraDaarkst]

Unless you want to invest big, just get a good camcorder.  And you can edit in something like the free version of DaVinci Resolve.

[cc143]

provided you have a half decent phone you could use that and save the money, unless you'd like to buy a camera anyway for future projects or to have one around, in which case what you'd look for would be something that can do well in this case as well as other scenarios. 

 

I wouldn't take too much time regarding lighting, just conduct the interviews in a well lit room in daytime with the blinds open. 

 

Regardless, unless you specify your budget and add more to what you need, what use you want to get out of it, then I don't see why you'd spend big, although from what you're saying above, you are thinking of quite the production. 

[Carlos R]

I have no idea on budget. I don't know what I should be aiming for. 

I'm willing and wanting to invest in making this something that won't feel dated in twenty years. I mean, no More than the inevitable. 

 

I suppose audio quality is much more important than video, when it comes down to it. 

 

I'm entirely clueless here. I don't even know what budget would be reasonable. Guessing I'm ok with spending a thousand bucks? 

Its something I really don't want to skimp on.... 

 

but it then maybe that's a low figure to aim for? 

 

 

[AkiraDaarkst]

35 minutes ago, Carlos R said:

I have no idea on budget. I don't know what I should be aiming for. 

I'm willing and wanting to invest in making this something that won't feel dated in twenty years. I mean, no More than the inevitable. 

 

I suppose audio quality is much more important than video, when it comes down to it. 

 

I'm entirely clueless here. I don't even know what budget would be reasonable. Guessing I'm ok with spending a thousand bucks? 

Its something I really don't want to skimp on.... 

 

but it then maybe that's a low figure to aim for? 

 

 

So whatever you invest in now, do you plan on using them for anything else in the future or just to record conversations with your relatives?  I don't see the point of spending a lot of cash to buy something that will no longer be used once you're done filming what you want.  A better alternative would be to rent gear and use them for when you need them.

 

It makes sense for someone who works/plans to work with video production (either as a hobby or as a profession) to invest in a few thousand dollars worth of gear, it makes little sense for someone who will just film conversations with his family and be done with it.

 

$1000 gets you like a half decent camera and lens, but wouldn't cover stuff like a good microphone or sound recorder.  This is assuming you want something better than using a handheld camcorder setup.

 

The country you live in must have some rental shops where you can rent a DSLR or a camcorder video kit.

 

If you want a recommendation for a nice kit you can use, look for something like a Canon C100 to C300 or Black Magic Ursa Mini or Sony FS5 kind of kit.  With these cameras you don't really need external audio recorders, whereas with a DSLR if you want good quality sound the audio must be recorded externally.  

 

With the rental kit, make sure it comes with either a shotgun mic (something along the lines of a RODE NTG2, NTG3 or NTG4 or equivalent from another brand like Sennheiser, Sony, Shure, etc.) or a lav mic kit (can be either cabled, long, or wireless and Sony, Shure, Sennheiser, Lectrosonics makes very good ones though for your needs something like a Sennheiser G3 system would be more than enough).

 

You can even rent the necessary tripod to hold the gear, ask the rental shop for a couple of lights if you need them though you can also use sunlight/ambient light wherever you are filming if you know how to control/modify the light.

 

Alternatively you can save yourself some trouble and spend money on hiring a local DOP or production house or just a camera operator to do the filming while you concentrate on the conversations with your relatives that are going to be recorded.  After ask him/her/them to provide you with the files so you can do the editing yourself.   Of course this will be more expensive than the cost of renting gear but depending on duration or scale of the project it could be cheaper than spending like $5000-$10000 on gear that you will also need to learn how to use properly to make the most out of it.  If you hire someone to do the filming, hopefully they'll have the necessary gear and the knowledge/experience to do the job.

 

As for editing, you can start out using the free version of DaVinci Resolve 14 which is a fully capable editor with certain limitations compared to the paid version or you can fork out money to buy the studio version or buy FCPX if you have an OSX computer or go for Adobe Premiere Pro.

 

Where to start out is planning, the gear are just tools that help you get the job done.  Planning how you want to shoot, edit and produce are the more important things.

 

Twenty years is far down the line to be able to predict where we will be in terms of screen resolutions and filming resolutions (likely we'll be at 16K res or something close give or take).  So if you want to have some reassurance that what you filmed now will still look pretty decent in twenty years, film in the best resolution and most detailed file format possible and keep them backed up (can't 100% guarantee file formats will still be compatible though).

[cc143]

3 hours ago, AkiraDaarkst said:

 

exactly that. Alternatively, I see a lot of kids now days who are actually quite serious about photography and video from a very young age and look to build portfolios. If you have a friend or acquaintance who fits the description, that would be a great solution, you'd be paying much less and you'd be helping them out as well. 

 

Also keep in mind that renting is a great way to get great quality without investing a huge amount, but, the learning curve for a beginner to start recording on a c100 would be immense, and editing won't be that easy either. I would probably find someone that fits the description above and get them to do the work for you, although at that point you will be paying whatever you'll be paying for the video alone, production will probably be great, but still.