Painting, cameras and alternative tripods

Every year a group of us take a holiday in some pleasant part of the country for the express purpose of the pursuit of Art.

My video camera goes with me with the express purpose of recording that pursuit in a serious and entertaining way. So I take all the necessary equipment - and, in my head, an idea of how I am going to be able to treat this one in such a way that it will be distinguishable from the video of the last painting ho!.

I check that I have everything and that the batteries are charged up. There is so much to remember! Paints, boards, brushes, easel, still camera and tripod. And was that all? On arrival at the farmhouse in Dorset, I checked and, lo and behold, I had left my video camera tripod standing up in its lonely place in the corner of my study! So, no pan and tilt head to steady my shots, just a lightweight still-camera tripod.

At times like this, one has to use all one’s ingenuity. The still camera tripod was
 
 

unsteady in the slightest of breezes and the camera slowly sank downwards - not a required special effect! So, where possible, a wall might come in handy if there happened to be a suitable wall in the right place, or a tree trunk, or the top of a railing - anything that might be there. More often than not, the lack of that tripod led to wobbly telephoto shots, so I kept to wide angles when there was no way of supporting the camera.

The general theme with this type of video does not seem to vary much, except the scenery and the artists are one year older each holiday. I take various shots of artists at work, close ups of the painting in progress and the view that is being painted. This includes myself with the camera supported on a suitable tree stump or whatever Then, at the end, I show all the finished paintings one after another.

At the editing stage there is a shot of the artist followed by his or her paintings lap dissolved from one to another. So it is difficult to vary the films of these

vacations apart from the views. There are different pubs and sometimes something unexpected might happen, such as a group of Morris Dancers that create a special atmosphere. Then there are strange animals such as horses or maybe a cow or a goat. If we are near the sea we will go down and swim if the water does not look polluted or if it is not a shivery cold day!

One of the ladies in our group writes poetry and she creates a poem about the week of triumph, the places we have visited and in particular, about the house and surroundings. So I set up the camera with the tie clip mic on Phyl as she recites to us followed by resounding applause. I find that it is essential to use a chest microphone for this kind of thing; it cuts out extraneous noises and the clapping does not overwhelm the speaker.

Best of luck on your hols!

by John Woolmer