The light is fading; the client is waiting... efficiency on set is always at a premium. Speed and ease of setup is especially important to me because most of the time I’m working alone, without a sound engineer, grip, or production assistant. My clients don’t want me to spend two hours setting up, but they do want me to pay attention to them. So tools that help me maintain the highest quality while focusing on them are game-changers. Here are five of them.
Number 5:
A boom pole holder. I know this sounds really slight, but I love how easy this is to use. I used to just put my boom directly into my grip head, but then I was always worried that the grip would damage the pole if over-tightened. Which it did on occasion. It became a balancing act between tightening it enough to hold the pole, but not enough to damage it. And if you’re not using grip heads, they’re awesome in terms of simplicity, strength, and reliability. When you add the simplicity of the boom pole holder, you’ve got a professional, streamlined process that lets you focus on other things.
Number 4: Tripod. I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this one, because when it come to a speed tool, it doesn’t matter what kind of tripod. You should buy the tripod that best fits your needs and the style you shoot. But what I have found is HAVING the tripod there gives me a portable table to place my camera, freeing up my hands to do other work without worrying about my baby getting dirty or trampled. This means I try to bring a tripod even when I know there won’t be any tripod shots. I’ll just bring a small portable one. Even a mini, table-top tripod is helpful if you have to travel light.
Number 3: Arca Plates. Now it doesn’t have to be Arca, they are high quality quick release plates that are a little less expensive. The key here is to buy an abundance of them and use one system across all of your equipment. I have Arca plates permanently attached to my tripods, gimbal, and cage, allowing me to move the camera around with a minimum of fuss. The permanent plates mean I can move my camera from tripod to a fully balanced gimbal in about 30 seconds, and to a cage in about 10. $40 bucks in Arca plates will save you hours in the field.
Number 2: Xume filter holders. Now these are kind of pricey. I’m honestly surprised that there aren’t inexpensive Chinese knock-offs of the Xume, because they can’t cost much to make, they’re simple, and very useful. The annoyance of filters is that they take time to put on, especially if the threads on your lens or filter get damaged. If you’re in a hurry, it’s sometimes easier to crank up the shutter speed to keep your aperture setting, but that’s just not optimum. If you’ve watched my Tilta Mini Matte Box review, you know that I also use these for my matte box, too—though with the caveat that you have to be gentle with it attached, and not all of the magnets are equally strong.
In the Xume system, you need one attachment for your camera lens, and another for your filter. I’ve got holders on the three lenses I use the most, and on two filters. The lens attachment is about $35, and the filter attachment is another $15. This means I’ve dropped roughly $135 into this system, but I have to say it’s been worth it for me. The one bummer is that it can be difficult to get your lens cap back on, depending on the style and the individual cap. They sell lens magnetic caps, but that’s another 15.
Number 1: The number one thing that speeds up my workflow on set isn’t sexy, it’s not going to impress my client or getting anyone excited. But this one tool speeds up my workflow more than any other, and saves me from headaches in the field: it’s how I pack my bag. It’s not about a specific technique, it’s about always packing it the same way, or as close to the same as possible. This means I always know exactly where my tools are. I can grab them quickly, I can pack them quickly because I’m not trying figure out their best placement, and I can also see that they’re packed at the end of the shoot.
This is really about good prep, and that principle applies to a number of things that can speed up your workflow and raise the quality of your work. “Prep”… is scouting your location before the shoot date so you can strategize the setup and what to bring. Prep is getting your client prepared before they show up. Prep is knowing the sequence of events so you can have the right tools ready. It’s a shot list for a narrative piece, or a storyboard if that helps you understand the set-up better. It’s coordinating your crew if you’re lucky enough to have one. And all it costs is the time it takes to do your prep.
Now there are a number of other things that help speed up my workflow: wireless mics, like the Rode Go are great, though wireless systems always come with a slightly degraded sound quality compared to a wired system. Dual recording is a must for solo operators like me.
