Hello! Just getting into the DV world! Just purchased a GL2 along with some basic peripheral devices to get things started.

Interestingly, I have my first video project!!! It's for the hospital where I work (I'm an ICU/CCU staff nurse). . . . in other words, it's part of my job expectation with regards to "healthcare education" (I'm on "education track" as a staff nurse and we're supposed to do healthcare-focused educational projects for the community.)

The focus of this particular project is recruitment (sp?)of males into the nursing profession. This includes de-stimatizing the many misconceptions of the "Male Nurse" and debunking the many myths of the Nursing Profession as a whole. And. . . . . it's geared towards 8th grade males. . . . . It's not my idea, I just do what I'm told.

Well. . .

To make a long story very short. I would like to incorporate stock DV footage if possible. One scene will involve an 8th grade boy having a snow-boarding accident while going down a steep ski mountain. The boy will end up in the hospital where he will come in contact with many male nurses in various nursing specialties.

I don't want to take my new GL2 camera down a ski slope. . . in the snow. . . and risk breakage. Would prefer to use pre-existing footage instead.

Any place on the web where I can either down load fairly good quality stock footage or purchase (hopefully for a bargain price) DVD license-free stock footage? (Am I making sense?)

The specific stock footage would be a snowboarder having some kind of accident.

Even if I can't find this specific footage, it would be cool knowing where I may find other stock DV footage for future projects.

Thank you in advance.

Ted Fiebke, RN

I just typed in the words "stock video footage" on one of the search engines which resulted in at least a half dozen companies that offer stock footage. . . for a fair amount of $$$$$.

Does anyone know of any way of obtaining video stock footage that doesn't cost $$$$$? Am I dreaming?????

Yikes! (I did say that I was new to this video thingy. . . .)

Cheers! :)

Ted

What you are looking for sounds awfully specific for stock footage.

Take your camera to the slopes. I just got back with my PD150 from Colorado. Had no real problems. I have some good snowboarding shots. I don't think I have any good wipeouts though. Haven't captured the footage yet. I'll let you know.

Rick

<<<-- Originally posted by Rick Spilman : What you are looking for sounds awfully specific for stock footage.

Take your camera to the slopes. I just got back with my PD150 from Colorado. Had no real problems. I have some good snowboarding shots. I don't think I have any good wipeouts though. Haven't captured the footage yet. I'll let you know.

Rick -->>>

I'm also thinking that I just may have to go to the slope and hope to catch a wipe out. . . or at least stage one (don't really want anyone to get hurt!).

I work for a small rural hospital nestled in the Massachucettes (sp?) Berkshire Mountains where there are plenty of ski resorts. The other day I was working in the ER (I normally work in the ICU/CCU, but it was closed that day. . . no patients!). That evening I must of cared for about 3 different people who were involved in snowboarding accidents (all with sprained and/or broken wrists which are common with snowboarding accidents).

I'm JUST discovering the world of stock video footage. . . TODAY! As I type this message!!!

Well. . . it most certainly seems to be a costly venture purchasing stock video footage!

Please share your experience(s) with searching, working with, paying-for, stock video footage. I will read and learn.

Ted

Ted,
As you've discovered, stock footage worth buying is not cheap, at least as compared to free. But from a producer's view it is cheap when compared to wrangling-up a union crew to shoot one minute of footage. So you see the pricing is value-based from a professional standpoint.

Does it have to be snowboarding? Why not skateboarding? Find some kid with a skate board and pay him $10 bucks to fake a accident.

Be sure to get a proper legal release before hiring some kid to fake an accident. Otherwise you're just asking for serious trouble.

Ken Tanaka: Yea, I know. Your point is well learned. Just seemed like a cool idea using "already filmed footage" of someone having a snowboarding accident rather than risk getting my new GL2 camera accidently tossed in the cold, wet snow. (That last sentence just doesn't sound too compassionate, huh!) I'm already thinking of ways on how this particular "action" scene can be safely filmed. . ummm. . . for both the "actor" and the camera. (There, that's better!)

Zimvg304: Skateboarding would work just as well, quite frankly. Unfortunately, the deadline to have this small production finished is April 1st of this year. And, unfortunately, we've got to work with what we got. . . which is a lot of snow! :(

I just want to say that I really appreciate your feedback. I didn't know what to expect when I asked this question. I also want to say that I am having so much fun just learning the whole process of video production! ! ! A long time ago I studied film composition. Twenty years later I'm actually fulfilling a very, very old dream. I'm savoring each moment of learning. . .which, right now, includes posting these questions and reading the responses.

My gratitude and respect to you all . . . .

Ted

<<<-- Originally posted by Chris Hurd : Be sure to get a proper legal release before hiring some kid to fake an accident. Otherwise you're just asking for serious trouble. -->>>

That never crossed my mind! Ironically, it's the hospital I'm working for . . . as a nurse. . . that's "producing" this video project. This issue will need to be discussed! Healthcare professionals are really weary about getting sued! YIKES! !

Ted

(Please know that I'm not getting paid for this. It's considered part of my staff-nurse job expectation to do some kind of educational project for the community!)

Ed (or is it Ted?):

"I'm already thinking of ways on how this particular "action" scene can be safely filmed. . ummm. . . for both the "actor" and the camera."

Ahh, therein lies the magic and chicanery of editing! Making the audience think they see something that they really did not see! I guarantee that you can build an absolutely bone-breaking, jaw-dropping "accident" sequence with no fall harder than the one you take into bed each night, and not a drop of moisture or scratch on your camera! No lawyers involved, either!

Ken brings up a superb point about editing. Recall one of the most frightful sequences ever in film history, the "shower scene" in Hitchcock's "Psycho." At no time did the killer's knife ever contact the victim's body on screen -- yet you *thought* you saw it.

Don't show it -- imply it. Not only is this approach powerful, but it's economic as well.

Thanks, folks! Got a few ideas brewing on how to go about making that scene seem "horrific". . . but be as safe as lying on the ground.

Ted

Search snowboard(er) on the site and you find several threads with plenty of active snowboarders. I'm sure in the next day or two several will pop in here and post the availability of someone falling on a snowboard that they have filmed.

So here is how your edit looks.

Cut one: stock footage of snowboarder (possibly falling)

Cut two: snow flying up and a snowboard high in the air (remember it's 8th graders, make it look dramatic)

Cut three: "injured" boy laying on ground moaning while buddies in background come running. Lots of background audio, man what a crash... did you see that?... Wow, is he OK? Somebody get the ski patrol.

Cut four: boy being attended by ski patrol coming off the mountain.

Cut five: ambulance doors close and the ambulance leaves with siren blaring.

Piece of cake, you can do that.

Jeff

PS: Shoot lots of cut-a-ways

Sorry, but what are cut-a-ways? Just a normal cut between two shots?

Thanks.

Yes, basically that's correct, Scott. You build-up a "sequence" with a series of clips "cut" into each other. The actual term "cut-away" often refers to a short secondary shot that's placed within more primary clips as either (a) a transitional medium to enable you to move between primary shots smoothly, or (b) an emotional medium. For example, in the case of this snowboarding accident, Ted might interject short (15-20 frame) cut-aways of peoples' reaction to the accident; nothing sells the sequence like the human face.

Hi Scott,

Cutaways are little filler pieces which you use to insert between other shots. In editing, you "cut away" from the main action to these little shots, for a variety of reasons. You can compress time, hide mistakes, and avoid costly faked snowboarding accidents by using cutaways.

A couple of good cutaway shots for the sequence we're discussing here would be: horrified expressions of onlookers, close-up of the victim's face prior to impact, a wild point-of-view "swish pan" across the sky, sunglasses landing in the snow, or... blood in the snow... ewww. You get the idea.

You shoot these elements separately at your convenience, and then cut away from the main action to these little bits during editing, to jazz things up and at the same time avoid staging an elaborate fake accident. Hope this helps,

Gotchya. Thanks Ken and Chris!

And I'm thinking just how well thought out this little project has to be in order to work correctly and seem believable.

When you're "composing" your script (let's keep to the "action scene" of a snowboarding having an accident), how involved is your script writing? Jeff Donald gave one example of how one snowboarding action scene can be shot. Do you guys write your scripts that detailed? Would you write all the quick "cut away" pieces within that detailed script?

OR. . .

Do you "ad lib" the scene? In other words, do you have a basic idea in mind as to what you want . . . a scene with lots of quick cuts showing the snowboarder, crowd reactions, etc . . . and film all of these shots and splice together the scene during the editing process?

I ask you this because I want to be as prepared as possible when it does come time to start shooting this project.

Does adhearing to a well detailed script that includes all actions, cuts, fade-ins, fade-outs, "cut aways" (am I missing some terms here) make for a better flowing video? Or does shooting tons and tons of footage and splice together the scenes work as well?

During my "film-music composition" college days . . . oh 20 years ago. . . I remember how detailed a record we were required to have on our short film project. All cuts, all dissolves, all significant dialogue, all significant sound effects were recorded down to the frame of the film. By the end of this process, you really KNEW that film! Then out of that very detailed record of events we began the process of composing the music.

When you script your video projects, do you get as detailed with all of your shots?

(I hope my questioning is clear.)

Ted

The real key to a successful project like yours is pre-production, pre-production, pre-production. One hour of pre-production work saves me an hour of shooting and two hours of editing. Pre-production is scouting the location (where will the sun and shadows be?) a very through script (much more detailed than what i wrote) a detailed list describing every shot your going to take, and for a scene like the snowboarder I will probably add 6 to 8 cut aways as I work. You can never have too many cut aways. The extras have saved my a** in edit many a time.

If you just go out and start shooting, I can guarantee you'll have problems. Shadows in the wrong spot, background audio that is too loud, missed shots, hours of footage you never use, to name a few. Do your pre-production, stick to it, and everything will fall into place.

Jeff

Ted,
Now you've discovered another mystery: why movies cost so darn much to make!

As drug packaging instructions often begin, "For best results ..." plan your shooting to the greatest degree possible.

I would envision this accident sequence being no more than 2 minutes, probably closer to 90 seconds. But a shot script of this sequence could easily consume 2-5 pages depending on how detailed you waant to make it. But the whole process begins with the sequence's concept, which is similar to telling a story verbally. It should have a beginning, a middle and an end.

I would start with a few establishing shots showing where this takes place.
- Panoramic shots of the hill/mountain
- Wide shots showing skiers and snowboarders gently sliding down the slope. Sound: ambient sounds of children squealing with fun, etc. Just turn the camera on and record 10 secs of ambient sound near the slope.

Now to develop the story:
- The camera catches a hot-dogger moving a bit faster and more recklessly than the general crowd.
- Close-ups of this fellow's body with cut-aways to his board biting into the snow hard, kicking up spray.
- Cut aways to other skiers starting to take notice of this fellow. Maybe show a mother moving her 6 yr old out of the way.

Kaboom:
- Hot-dog starts to lose control. Close-up of his face, which changes from a tongue-wagging grin to wde-eyed fear.
- Hot-dog loses balance. Falls backwards. Close of of his head and shoulder toppling backward.
- Close up of his snowboard biting deeply into the snow. (Message: this baby's stuck!)
- Close-up of his leg twisting in an odd direction (as compared to the visual position of the snowboard shot)
- Close up of hot-dog's face in grimmace as he screams in pain.
- Cut-away to onlookers in horror.
- Wider show of hot-dog sliding face-down down the slope for a few feet.

The results:
- Medium shot of hot-dog lying face down, his board slides past his limp body. (Nothing say's dead or seriously injured better than a face-down shot)
- various shots of ski patrol coming to his aid

etc, etc.

Whew, I'm tired!

I think you get the idea.

The art of film making is very, very detailed. It's all in the details and preparation. Just like composing great music!

So. . . .I have my work cut out for me! And I take the challange with a welcomed smile! :) Because some of the best music that I've ever composed was when I wrote down every note, every dynamic marking and every articulation that was to be played by the musician.

Cheers! :)

Ted

I actually have some footage of myself and a friend that I shot on Hi8 while we were snowboarding a few years ago. There are a few wipeouts including one that has the cameraman wipeing out! I was snowboarding and filming at the same time (it is hard to navigate through the viewfinder while you are snowboarding as I found out). I haven't looked at the footage in a while but it was really quite fun to make. Most snowboarders are easy to get along with and they tend to all hit the same "kickers" so if you ask one where the popular spots are you could just set up there and shoot all day. Someone is bound to wipe out soon, or you could do like me and ask a less experienced rider to try a jump that is out of their league and then film it. It is pretty funny. (sorry Tim if you are reading this).
Stock footage can get costly, especially if you really want it.

Ed,

Send me an e-mail. I may have some footage that might interest you.

Rick

ogrish.com is a very sick site (not for the faint hearted or easily offended)

They have footage of real accidents, deaths etc.