First "Pro" Job, would really value your advice!

[DayRaven]

Hi guys, I've until now been proudly and strictly amateur, and really learning for the sake of learning and the enjoyment of the process. Recently, a friend of mine has started his own business and it has been going really well for him. He is going to an expo, and has asked me to attend, to shoot video of the event. Normally I would have said no straight away for any number of reasons, but, this guy has gone above and beyond for me and my family in recent years - to put perspective on it, he has, without question or complaint, or recompense in any form took my learning disabled son out every week for over a year when I have been bed bound with illness, and built a log cabin for me in my garden - so I owe this guy big time.

He hasn't got the budget to pay anyone, in fact, I am helping to cover accomodation for his team, so me being there isn't taking away the chance to get a pro in to get better results than I can achieve. He understands that I am not experienced or professional, he obviously knows my health and emergencies with my son may cause me to be unable to attend or stay and is still happy for me to try, which is why, I said yes.

Obviously I want to do the absolute best job possible, but, I'm a overawed by it all. Firstly, the expo has a press accreditation application, but I don't know if that's appropriate for me, also it allows members of the public attending to "snap away as long as you don't sell the photos for any purpose" , but doesn't mention the exhibitors, presumably the rules for the public apply at a minimum.

Secondly, I have an equipment list which isn't going to do me many favours, this kind of work wasn't on my radar when I was getting my kit together. I have manged to beg/borrow/steal the following which I think will be a suitable kit to take:

Cameras:

A Sony a6300 & NEX 7 C/Y adapter, C/Y Speedbooster, C/Y Zeiss 35-70, C/Y Zeiss 80-200, 50mm f1.8 OSS. I have two Sony batteries, one brand new, one that came with the NEX and has seen years of work along with a year of storage, but seems to be working just fine. I also have two relatively unused off brand batteries.

For the above cameras, I have two 256Gb Sandisk Extreme 95MB/s cards, also an adapter for the go pro's card below, that accomodates the NEX 7's video without a hitch

A Canon XA10 that is barely used but been in storage for years and is in an unknown working state, no cards etc

A go pro hero 4 silver and a metal housing which solved it's plugged in overheating problem. I have a sandisk extreme 64Gb card for it.

Sound:

A Shure Lenshopper with the built in recorder

An AT875R with Rycote Softie

A Shure MV51

A Zoom H4n

Very good (for music) earphones

Stabilisation:

A Gitzo tripod

A Sirui Monopod with feet and ball joint, which seperates into a normal monopod and a little ball jointed tabletop tripod

A manfrotto 502 head

Lighting:

Two large and one small cheap and nasty LED units

Computing:

A surface pro 2 with a 1.5Tb external HD

iphone with it's camera and app ecosystem including a surprisingly accurate enough light meter.

 

Italics indicates gear I have been promised by a reliable person, but, as always, until it's in my hand's I can't be certain I will have it

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The Plan

Day 1 - setting up, Im going to take the go pro and a6300 w. lenshopper on the monopod, NEX-7 to hand (spare in case of failure, photography), and just document the team setting up the stand. The go pro will do a time lapse while I get cool and interesting shots of the process

Day 2 - Trade. a6300 + monopod. I'll spend this time around and about the expo getting interesting shots of other stands, interesting people, interesting locations within the center itself, the signs etc. This is the teams most imortant day and I don't want to be there putting them off or being a nuisance to the people they are hoping will become customers. I'll have some of the product and will hand them out to people to hold while smiling for a photo - models and notable attendees - if they will allow me to take them and my autism doesn't turn me into a puddle of antisocial water, and again if they are willing, a few signed products.

Day 3 - Public. Go pro in an unobtrusive corner, a6300 on monopod, nex to hand. I'll be hovering around the stand, getting shots of the great unwashed being, hopefully very enthusiastic about the products and the team being pleasent, lovely people.

Day 4 - Public and tear down - Another Go Pro timelapse of the teardown and more public shots admiring the product

Evenings - Candids of the team (go pro, a6300) and a few more formal "interviews" (MV51, tripod & lights)

Obviously if the Canon is is good working order, I will be using that in place of the a6300 with the AT875R mic, the a6300 with become my backup and photography and the NEX will stay in the bag.

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So, what do you think? Am I mad to even try, have I overlooked anything important, am I overthinking this way too much, will I get kicked out?

I would be extremely grateful for any and all advice, ideas, guidance and wisdom. The expo is in May, so I have time, and I can afford to invest £500 or so, but that's only justifiable if it will be useful to me for what I actually use my cameras for - short films & family stuff!

It's worth pointing out, that gear that I have (or have access to) which I'm not taking includes:

A BMPCC in a decent rig with sigma 18-35 with a tilta follow focus and a z finder pro, big external battery, 5 internal batteries

A Phillip Bloom Slider of unknown length (but almost certainly won't be the shortest if the guy who will lend it to me is anything to go by)

Beyerdynamic M99 with cloudlifter, NI komplete Audio 6

A bunch more lenses and adapters for the e mount

A metric tonne of mounts for the go pro.

 

Cheers!

[Huuow]

stop worrying about your equipment.. it´s fine  ..ask yourself of the legal status of the project.. where will it be shown.. filming people in public for commercial is.. well.. not excatly legal.. at least not in my country.. and remember that every sound you hear.. if there is music somewhere in the distance.. you have to license for that right of use... I´d advice get in contact with the expo, you probably need a permission..  and also make up the story you want to tell.. don´t just hold your camera on things 4 days long.. good luck, do it and enjoy your learning curve

[tupp]

Don't over-think this job.  You are not shooting "Lawrence Of Arabia."  On the other hand there are a few things to consider in regards to how trade shows work and on how to optimize the video coverage for your client.

 

First of all, do not contact to the trade show management directly about anything.  As an exhibitor, your client is a paying customer of the expo, and he is the one who should deal directly with the show management on all matters.  You are not with the independent "press" -- you are hired by an exhibitor, and he will probably get you an exhibitor's badge.  I have been to a few trade shows, and I have never heard of trade show management prohibiting an exhibitor from shooting his/her own booth.  So, unless this expo is the "Anti-Paparazzi Con" or the "Paranoid, Secretive Espionage Agencies Con," don't sweat the lack of official permission to shoot.

 

Secondly, your idea of shooting a time lapse of the booth set-up is nice, but keep in mind when choosing your camera position that things move around a lot and unexpectedly appear and disappear during a trade show set-up:  fork lifts; man lifts; push carts; carpet (will eventually cover any bare concrete that you see); signs (erected from the floor and hung from the ceiling); and, of course, big, opaque booth walls will appear.  You might have to move your camera out of the way at some point.

 

It is probably wise to shoot some live coverage in your client's booth during set-up, but most of that footage will probably be dull, so there likely is no need to spend the entire day shooting set-up.

 

The first day/morning of a trade show is usually the most active and exciting.  Your client will probably want some shots of his booth full of attendees.  So, be ready to shoot at the start of the first day.  Don't get too big with your rigs -- be nimble so you don't miss anything.  A camera with a zoom lens and a monopod are probably all that you need, perhaps along with a shotgun mic plugged into your separate recorder (the camera sound will grab anything off-camera).  Look for interesting/positive interactions.

 

Be mindful that the last day is usually the slowest (that morning might be good for sit-down interviews) and that, at tear down, most exhibitors want to pack up and go home.

[mercer]

I work in the trade show industry and everything Tupp said is correct. Also, don't be afraid to record people in your client's booth without their permission. Your client is renting that space and during that time, it is their property. You have every right to record people who enter their property... Just don't overthink it. Or worry too much about it  

Even though it seems to be a camera friendly show, during set up, you may want to refrain from recording other exhibitor's booths. A lot of these people are exhibiting products for the first time and they can be leery about unknown people standing in front of their booth, during set up and recording their material. 

As far as equipment... What you have is fine. The majority of hired videographers that show up at a trade shows have either a monopod or a small steady cam with a shiny Canon camera attached. So good 1080p is more than enough. And most have either a rode video Mic attached and plugged into their camera, or no mic at all. If you plan on doing floor interviews, just get a decent lav and plug it directly into the camera, or a recorder, your Shure will be perfect for this. Pick up one of those cheap Audio Technica or Azden lavs and you should be good to go. Just remember not to get in the salesman's way. You should be a fly on the wall and most of the time, not even in the booth and filming from the aisle with a small footprint. Don't bring too much gear because there will be nowhere in the booth for you to store it and you don't want to have to lug around a bunch of gear you don't need. Also, remember it will be warm in there, so dress accordingly. Show management and the convention center look for any way they can save money, which usually means turning the AC off every night and putting it back on a half hour before the show starts. With all of the lights and people, it can get pretty toasty.

Good Luck!!!

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

I've been to lots of expos in 2015/2016 and everybody is just walking with a 5D or 600D on monopod and a Rode on top. This is the holy defacto standard. They all get their job done and most are even for HD Broadcast! (720p/1080i). Meaning, don't over think it. Take the Sony (either one is fine HD) on a monopod and a mic, then shoot good images. That's it. Be sure to ''include'' the clients and ''cover'' the show well, that's my only advice. 

(BTW being physician/Dr. Saadawi in my real boring life: on your medical status I can help/give some tips/pointers/meds if you have any condition that could even remotely negatively affect you physically from shooting the gig)

[Snowfun]

For peace of mind, might it be worthwhile getting a couple more Sony batteries for the A6300? They are small and easy to carry and their mere presence will be a comfort once you see the battery bars fading before your eyes. Remember a charger too!

[DayRaven]

Thank-you so much for all the replies!! My experience of these events is sorely limited, so I had no idea - I've been binging on other peoples footage all day but what you've written is absolutely gold for me! The con is Bodypower, all about fitness with an emphasis on massive muscles etc, I have a feeling most people will be fine with the cameras, I tend to err on the side of respectfulness, even when unnecessary. And, yes, more Sony batteries is on the list! Hoping to find them for less than RRP though, £50 a go is steep, but don't want to end up with fakes either!

Ebrahim, I've got a nerve condition which results in fibromyalgia, and because I minimise my pain relief, I use a wheelchair to keep my mobility. For this event, because I won't have my son to look after, I'll be able to use the oramorph and that should see me through, and monopods make passable walking sticks! If you have any general tips for filming, at times when I can't use it, I would be really happy for all advice on this as well - I usually have 4-5 hours during school time to use my camera, and I am very motivated, but sometimes the pain or the difficulties in working from a chair just impede me too much. It's my dream to write, shoot and edit a movie, and I'm having a blast teaching myself the techniques and getting out there and giving it a go, but I just don't see a way to get beyond the writing stage at the minute, I don't feel it would be fair to get other people on board with a project, which I can't be sure of being physically up to following through!

[Cinegain]

For batteries I'd get these: http://www.pts-trading.de/patona-premium-battery-f-sony-np-fw50-nex-3-nex3c-nex-5-nex5a-nex-7-p-4945.html .

[Snowfun]

Have you thought about equipping your wheelchair with quick release plates (+/ Manfrotto 143 magic arm kits?) and using it as a mobile platform for your shots? There is no need to suffer excessive pain if mobility is best served by using your chair - so why not optimise that? You could wire it up for external batteries. I recently broke a metatarsal and had to use a wheelchair at airports - I was impressed by how smooth a ride they give (think steadicam). I also used a walking frame (neither foot was load bearing) for a couple of weeks - no tripod required! The event is  NEC not Excel London isn't it? 

[DayRaven]

Just now, Snowfun said:

Have you thought about equipping your wheelchair with quick release plates (+/ Manfrotto 143 magic arm kits?) and using it as a mobile platform for your shots? There is no need to suffer excessive pain if mobility is best served by using your chair - so why not optimise that? You could wire it up for external batteries. I recently broke a metatarsal and had to use a wheelchair at airports - I was impressed by how smooth a ride they give (think steadicam). I also used a walking frame (neither foot was load bearing) for a couple of weeks - no tripod required! The event is  NEC not Excel London isn't it? 

It is NEC.

Yes, I have indeed thought about it - I've loaned my electric wheelchair to a friend in more need while I was bedbound, but when I get it back, it will be my steadycam! The chair I'm using at the moment is a manual and as it's an amazon cheapy, it's not worth the conversion and it's no smoother than walking if I have to wheel myself!

I am wondering if there is value in taking my chair - people definately react very differently to wheelchair users, and that can be a good thing, but can also be a bad thing. Crowds often, for me make taking it more of a burden than it relieves - you'd be shocked how many people lean on it, push it around without my permission (yes, while I'm sat in it!!), forget that it has a bigger footprint than a person standing and snag on it walking past etc. which is why I was considering not using it, but it may open doors for me that could be useful. I'll certainly have it nearby, there's no reason not to leave it in the car