Arizona shooting: Memorial to Tucson victims from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

How do you cover the aftermath of an event as terrible as the Arizona shootings? In my time I’ve covered a lot of disasters and tragedies, but it really doesn’t make it any easier when the next one comes along.

I had been covering the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas for the Guardian’s tech site when the shootings happened, but as their scale became clear my editors decided to divert me. With no flights available it was an eight hour drive to Tucson. Running through my mind all the way there was the question: how could I add anything to the wall-to-wall, saturation news coverage that I knew the networks were providing?

I determined to make a video report that was not simply repeating TV news. Instead of using the regular TV format of a reporter questioning local people and then giving their ‘view from the spot’ I opted to try to create something more intimate. I wanted to give the people of Tucson more space to say what they wanted about the events.

The following morning I joined the gathered Tucsonians and assembled media for the moment of silence, led by President Obama in Washington. Outside the hospital, where a makeshift memorial to the victims had formed, people were standing, reflecting.

Immediately after the silence there was a rush of reporters and camera crews trying to speak to people about it. I decided to bide my time and wait for it to quieten down so that people could expand more on what was going through their heads as they tried to make sense of events. I then approached people and asked if they could hold my Zoom H1 audio recorder while they talked to each other and myself. Because the Zoom H1 is so small and light no-one seemed to mind holding it, or got distracted by it in the way that fitting a wireless lav on them would have – they just seemed to carry on being themselves and not acting for the camera. This technique also gave me good sound and allowed me to be discreet, filming using a 24-105mm IS lens. The camera was a 5DmkII fitted with a Zacuto Z-finder and a Redrockmicro Running man rig. I love this setup because it is lightweight and mobile but still allows me to keep the camera very stable. Audio from the recorder and the camera was later synced using the marvelous Pluraleyes software.

I also wanted to give a more cinematic feel to my shots so I turned to the Kessler Cineslider and Oracle controller, which I had just received from Eric Kessler to use at the CES show. I had been planning a short video of all the gadgets and the flashing lights to show off the Kessler slider’s amazing movements – instead I put it to an altogether more sombre use. I combined it with slow motion to form my intro sequence of the gathered crowd and the tributes. Shooting on my Tokina 11-16mm lens and a Panasonic GH2 I tried to convey the sadness. I’m still testing the GH2 but the one thing that has struck me so far is just how good slow motion looks when you use the cameras 720p/50 mode slowed to 24 or 25p (mine is a PAL model). It appears to be much sharper than the image I am used to getting with my Canon DSLRs – the downside is that the smaller Micro 4/3rds sensor really doesn’t have the beautiful shallow depth of field look of my 5DmkII footage.

Setting up the Kessler Cineslider and Oracle controller in Tucson

I hope the resulting piece manages to capture the people I filmed in an honest way and at the same time combine it with a cinematic style. I will let you be the judge.

When it comes to DSLR video and gear Vincent Laforet is a man you should take seriously. So when we were together at PhotoCine Expo last year and he recommended I take a look at the Really Right Stuff (RRS) quick release system – I took note. After some research I went and ordered a complete set of RRS clamps and quick release plates for all my cameras, tripods and Kessler Pocket Dolly.

The new Redrockmicro RRS1 release plate adapter

Redrock Micro have just released what looks like a super solid adaptor designed to make the RRS clamp system work with HDSLR rigs. It takes the Really Right Stuff B2 LR II quick release clamp and puts the DSLR at the correct height for other rails-mounted accessories like Follow Focus and Mattebox. Brian Valente from Redrock Micro previously showed me a prototype of this system and I’m keen to get one for my shoulder rig.

I have to say Vincent was right when he recently blogged that “Really Right Stuff plates are the single best plates for my money – whether you’re shooting stills or video.  We mount everything with them – cameras to handheld rigs, tripods, shoulder mounts, technocranes – you name it.  Fast, easy, and dead solid.”

Originally designed for stills, this system is very secure and I can quickly change from one set-up to another with ease. Because I often run multiple cameras at the same time it’s a key component of the way I shoot.

I had been using the popular Manfrotto 394 quick release system for a year or so. It worked OK but I wasn’t 100% happy with it. The problem I found with these plates was that they are quite large and can sometimes move a little when on the camera, especially with a large lens or shoulder rig.

The Really Right Stuff solution is based on the Arca Swiss system and comes in two parts: A range of quick release clamps which fit on your tripod or rig, then a snug fitting custom dovetail plate for each camera. These plates have a lip on each side which prevent it from moving at all when mounted to the camera.

Regular RRS plate with 'lip' to stop camera movement

A Really Right Stuff L-bracket on the 5DmkII

In addition they also make a second version for many cameras that is L-shaped. These were originally designed to let you put the camera upright, but for video have the added advantage of protecting any HDMI, shutter release or audio cables attached to the camera – a huge bonus for run and gun shooting. I have these mounted on my 5DmkII cameras and really like them.

The RRS L-bracket protecting audio and HDMI cables

I’ve also modified my Redrock Micro Running Man nano rig so it uses a RRS plate for quick mounting.

Redrock Micro Running Man rig modified with RRS release system

Here’s a short video from Really Right Stuff about the system.

By Matthew Allard

The recent trend in TV news has been that of quick turnaround of materials, often at the expense of image quality. But if your pictures are poor, you might as well just listen to radio news. While there will always be a demand for speed, it is good to see that some people are still concerned about quality images. This year, Al Jazeera has taken a major step forward in the promotion and use of high quality images. A new show called “Frames” has debuted and will run 2-minute character-driven short pieces at the end of long format documentaries. They are shown not just online but to a global audience on TV and are mostly shot on DSLR cameras.

Al Jazeera has been among the pioneers using DSLR cameras to shoot news stories and programmes. The first news story solely shot with this technology aired on the station back in September 2009. Since then there have been many more and the flagship programme “Fault Lines” – a 30-minute show covering the United States and South America, which airs twice a month – is now shot almost entirely on DSLR.

Slowly, other international news networks are catching up and beginning to introduce the technology.  Mark Phillips from CNN saw some of my works and went out and bought a Canon 7D after examining mine.  When he shot an episode of CNN’s “Heroes,” the impressed Atlanta head office responded fast and got more people shooting this show on DSLR.  Sky News and the BBC have also started shooting on these cameras in small amounts.

Hopefully, more and more organisations will take note of the creativity made possible by DSLR and try to encourage quality images. With so many changes in technology and the rapid improvements of small cameras capable of capturing amazing visions, there’s reason to be optimistic this trend will continue.

In the meantime, here’s more about Frames in Al Jazeera’s own words:
“Al Jazeera is constantly evaluating the way that our audience digests our news and programmes. As such, the internet has become a powerful broadcasting medium for us. But not just for us. Thousands of talented filmmakers, armed with now-affordable filmmaking equipment, have been given a platform to host quality, short-form content and show it to the world. The idea of Al Jazeera Frames was to tap into this pool; to give outstanding storytellers a greater platform; to grant them a higher level of exposure than they would otherwise get from rival broadcasters and video-sharing sites alone. We’re breaking down the traditional model of acquiring and commissioning films, and showing-off new, gifted filmmakers at every opportunity. The key is the short-form. Frames pushes short-form content to the forefront of documentary broadcasting. In an online video age, where shorter-form stories are now the most watched and most engaged-with forms of content anywhere, people have less time for traditional longer-form documentaries. Al Jazeera’s Frames capitalises on this phenomenon, bringing quality, socially-minded DSLR shorts and animations to our audience. Frames was the brainchild of Omar Khalifa, a DSLR filmmaker in Al Jazeera’s documentaries department.”

About Matthew Allard, Aljazeera Senior Field Cameraman, Kuala Lumpur:
Matt has been a Camera/Editor in TV news for 20 years, previously working for both Channel 9 and Channel 10 in Australia. Twice Network Ten Australia’s cameraman of the year as well as being a Walkley Finalist for outstanding camerawork in 2006 (for coverage of the Cronulla Race Riots) and a Logie Finalist for outstanding news coverage 2006 (Bali 9). He has covered news events in more than 30 countries, from major sporting events to terrorist bombings. Based out of the Kuala Lumpur broadcast centre in Malaysia he is an avid user and follower of new technology, shooting stories on HD broadcast cameras as well as new Canon DSLR’s.

Danfung in Afghanistan with 5DmkII and Glidecam custom rig (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty)

Huge congratulations to photojournalist turned filmmaker Danfung Dennis for winning the top prize in the Documentary Filmmaking category of the Sundance festival awards. He also scooped the World Cinema Cinematography Award for Documentary Filmmaking. His film “Hell and Back Again” was shot on the 5DmkII and follows the story of a Marine fighting in the Afghan war and his subsequent rehabilitation.

The film is also a big win for DSLR video for journalism, proving that you can bring a cinematic aesthetic to real world events. All the clips I saw in an early edit looked absolutely amazing. I’m sure it looked even better on the big screen.

Hell and Back Again clip from Danfung Dennis on Vimeo.

According to the Sundance festival blog, Danfung dedicated the award to the fallen, with the words: “This is for those that didn’t come back”.

Regular followers of this blog will remember Danfung told us about how he filmed it using a 5DmkII and a customised Glidecam attached to his bullet-proof vest. You can read the original post here.

Below is a short video where Danfung Dennis talks to Eric Hynes about his work.

Danfung Dennis: Reverse Shot Talkies #26 from Reverse Shot on Vimeo.

For more on the documentary check out the film’s website here.
There’s also a review from Variety here.
I’m pretty sure this film will get a wider release now so more of us can get a chance to see just how good it is.