What's behind the scenes a bonsai (recording) studio

[leatherback]

Hi All,

The more I work on trees, the more I feel like I want to document. At times I really would like to record some stuff in video format to share with others. In my club I often get questions on how I do things. Especially with the social distancing it is hard to just show it to people as you cannot pop by. That, plus the more rural setting means that I am up to an hour away from some of my clubfriends and recording or even streaming seems to make sense.

I am just not sure how to do this. How to put it together.

I work in a small old shed outback. All in all, maybe 3 by 4 metres of space. It is unheated, "ventilated" to the outside air and the place where I do all work, including carving, repotting etc. As a result, the shed I work in is a big ball of dust and mud from repotting, griding, shaking, sifting. Any lights I mount invariable get coated in dust over the course of a year. Working a camera when your hands are muddy is also not ideal.

Right now, I have my camera or cellphone in my shed when I work on a tree and a bucket of water and I wash up, move things around, put up a black piece of board and take a picture. All very cumbersome. Yet I do not really have a lot of space there to make a full studio setup with tripod etc.

Does anybody have experience in this? How do you handle this? Looking forward to seeing your ideas, setups, tips. Also the type of recording equipment, lights etc. would be very helpful..

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Selfie sticks, you either love them or hate them.. But they have a button for recording, and they're cheap, and they can be mounted on stuff. Keep the dirt off of your phone.

Some dollar store LED lights, like those cheap floodlights do very well for video and photography. LED has the benefit that it doesn't screw up your frames like TL and some CFL light does. They're also pretty lightweight and don't get hot, so you can just tape them onto stuff.

If sound quality matters to you, a cheap microphone can help. But it goes into the same phone port as a selfie stick. So consider a bluetooth headset.

Audacity is a great, free audio editing tool. It's pretty straight forward. Back in the days when me and a buddy were doing techno stuff we even pre-recorded an entire "live" show. That is.. If you want to separate audio and video or record voice overs or something.

A couple months ago I found a easy to use free video editing tool that doesn't require a 7 day training course. Just a bunch of buttons that do what you want them to do. I just don't remember what it's called. I'll look it up later today.

I'm just throwing out there what I would do and what I would use. Of course there are a million different ways that would be better.

 

[maroun.c]

Couple lights, behind diffusers or soft boxes, a couple reflectors, experiment with positioning for shadows as well as intensity settings ....
2-3 videocams or dslrs with video capability or even go pros 2 more visldeo cams on zoom and ur set. U might Still need an assistant to zoom in,out and track ur hands or area ur working on as u move.

 

[Eckhoffw]

I’m thinking of Sam Doecke- Aussie bonsai bloke, and his cheap setup.
Its not very slick, but he gets it done without spending loads of money.
+ I think it’s funny the way he’s always checking to see if he’s in frame and the lights are ok.
BTW, LOVE the diagonal brick work!!!!

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Plain backgrounds work best so you can see the tree and what you are working on. Make sure you have soft lighting from numerous sources that eliminates shadows. Tape a square on the floor that you want to be your working space, and place your stand, tree, etc in that square and frame your shot before you start recording. If you aren't going to have an assistant, consider multiple cameras from different angles for wide-angles and close-ups - but make sure you know how to move your work to the camera angle. Again, it helps to tape an "X" on the floor where you have your camera focused, have a rotating stand, and creatively visualize where you are in 3D. In a perfect world, place 3 video monitors out of camera angle so you can see what your cameras are each seeing. Place the monitors by your main wide-angle camera so it looks like you are looking at the viewer when you are checking your shots

Buy a decent boom mike and hang it from the ceiling. Good sound is critical.

 

[sorce]

There is excellent information on the Tube about these things, was just watching a thing about recording for motovlogging.

Sorce

 

[HorseloverFat]

motovlogging.

Juggling Molotov Cocktails?...

Using Dirtbikes to cut down trees?...
...
Motorcycle.. (or motor) ... Video .. logging.. video.. blogging!!

GOT IT! (I think)

 

[cmeg1]

Cool shed nontheless.........I would get a tripod or one of the ones that have the led orbs that change color...(on the cheap)
Walmart in the USA sells vlogging tripods with an included led light orb to change lighting.Also a sturdy adjustable iphone clip comes in package too.
I am sure @MACH5 can help you with this