Shooting for 4 days straight at DVinfo.net

Damian Clarke · August 12th, 2008, 06:15 AM

I have a friend who wants to play poker for 4 days straight at a college campus. He wants me to record this as a record attempt.
I was asked about streaming it live, but I could just imagine the headaches with that not to mention the cost...
So to simply film this non-stop, I am thinking I would need to have my FX1 going to a laptop with external storage or something. But 4 days! I'm trying to get my head around how much storage space I would need and the best codec to encode on-the-fly to. I don't think my laptop could handle H264 realtime...
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated ;)

Stefan von Halenbach · August 12th, 2008, 07:08 AM

Please don't do this. It is a stupid idea and you can get crazy with so much sleep missing. There should be plenty of other things you can do to get into the book of records.

Stefan

Frank Simpson · August 12th, 2008, 08:17 AM

Not only is it a weak premise to begin with, I very seriously doubt that any "officials" would accept a video submission as evidence. (Although not easy, such things can be faked!). If they want to set this record, and for the life of me I can't imagine why they'd want to, there would likely have to be an official on premises during the event to verify. This seems to be the way they do such things.

It seems like an awful lot of work to make an exceedingly boring video...

Robert M Wright · August 12th, 2008, 09:16 AM

I won't comment on the merits (or lack thereof) of doing this. Two 750GB hard drives could hold 4 days of HDV video.

Gary Nattrass · August 12th, 2008, 11:00 AM

As said a pretty boring video project but it may be fun to do a time lapse over the four days and compress the final video into something that is watchable.

Maybe four days into four mins might be about right!

Damian Clarke · August 12th, 2008, 12:23 PM

lol yes I think it is stupid myself, but being for a friend I felt obligated to offer my services. That's a good point about an official needed, I will pass this on. Hey, I might get out of this yet...

Brian Drysdale · August 12th, 2008, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damian Clarke

lol yes I think it is stupid myself, but being for a friend I felt obligated to offer my services. That's a good point about an official needed, I will pass this on. Hey, I might get out of this yet...

I know someone who made a one hour documentary about him having nothing but Guinness for a week. It got into a few film festivals.

You really have to have something more than just not sleeping for 4 days and shooting a film. I believe Capt. Tennant who was in charge of the evacuation of the British Army at Dunkirk, hardly slept from 26th May to 2nd June. There has to be something more story wise to make it stand out.

Damian Clarke · August 12th, 2008, 02:57 PM

well on receiving more details, they have the approval of Guinness and are abiding by all the rules etc. It is being done for charity also, so there's some of the story side of it.
Now, down to recording this...I still need more details on exactly what they want to make out of this. I presumed at first that I was to record it as it happened start to finish in which case I thought recording straight to a laptop since I don't want to change 100 tapes on the hour every hour.
Now if they want it condensed down to a documentry style story then that would indeed make it much more appealing.
Sorry to be a bit sketchy with the details, kinda got it landed on me recently and very briefly lol

Bill Thesken · August 12th, 2008, 03:15 PM

capturing straight to the drive would also save the heads from overuse

Bill Davis · August 13th, 2008, 12:11 AM

I agree with the majority that thinks it's nuts to record 4 days of 30 frames a second video.

Plus there's simply no need.

If you MUST document the insanity, use an intevelomerter and set up either a camcorder or a digital still camera to record a single frame every 30 seconds. This will do precisely the same job (documenting the continuous play) as opening the shutter 30 times a second and will save you 18000 frames of useless dreck every minute you document.

At the end, instead of 96 hours of crushingly boring footage, you'll have about 23 minutes of crushingly boring footage.

But ironclad proof that the knucklehead was no place other than in his poker seat for longer than 30 seconds over the 4 days.

Colin McDonald · August 13th, 2008, 01:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Davis

...But ironclad proof that the knucklehead was no place other than in his poker seat for longer than 30 seconds over the 4 days.

OK, we have to know - how does he manage to attend the small boys' room if he is playing poker non-stop? Is he allowed a wee (sic) break now and then, or does he have to keep playing poker with one hand? Or there again, maybe some technology from NASA is employed?

These days, I wouldn't last 4 hours.

PS And would it be different for a game of c**p?

Damian Clarke · August 13th, 2008, 05:00 AM

LOL, well he has a hole in the seat and a bucket underneath...just kidding!
I have just been informed that the website is up and running so more details are on there...and yes I agree he is barking mad, but it's for charity too and people have done a lot stranger!
http://www.pokerplayingmarathon.com/index.html

Bill Davis · August 14th, 2008, 03:54 PM

IIRC, the Guinness Records folks have some kind of guidelines for endurance records of this kind and I believe they allow for certain breaks, not just for the bathroom, but for getting up and moving around to promote circulation, etc.

You should reference their web site and find out what's officially allowed for breaks and what the other "rules" there are for documenting this kind of thing.

Then I'd use the camera for shooting stuff that's actually interesting - rather than trying to record the whole shebang.

Good luck to all.

Ervin Farkas · August 15th, 2008, 07:33 AM

Page 3 of the official Guiness rules posted on the above referenced website is clearly describing how to videotape; based on that, you don't have to record non-stop. Just make sure there is a clock visible at all times, you can change hard drives at break times. Then make a short video, real speed at key moments and time lapse in between.

Also make sure you keep the coffee cup in frame - I'm curious how much Dave will end up drinking!

Since the video is no replacement for witnesses, it's just an additional evidence tool, and of course, means of bragging later. Contact streaming companies - I'm sure one will be glad to do the feed for free; it's free advertising for them.

August 12th, 2008, 06:15 AM	#1
Damian Clarke Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Lincolnshire, United Kingdom Posts: 95	Shooting for 4 days straight I have a friend who wants to play poker for 4 days straight at a college campus. He wants me to record this as a record attempt. I was asked about streaming it live, but I could just imagine the headaches with that not to mention the cost... So to simply film this non-stop, I am thinking I would need to have my FX1 going to a laptop with external storage or something. But 4 days! I'm trying to get my head around how much storage space I would need and the best codec to encode on-the-fly to. I don't think my laptop could handle H264 realtime... Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated ;)

August 12th, 2008, 11:00 AM	#5
Gary Nattrass Trustee Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Cornsay Durham UK Posts: 1,992	As said a pretty boring video project but it may be fun to do a time lapse over the four days and compress the final video into something that is watchable. Maybe four days into four mins might be about right! __________________ Over 15 minutes in Broadcast Film and TV production: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1044352/

August 15th, 2008, 07:33 AM	#14
Ervin Farkas Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Atlanta/USA Posts: 2,515	Page 3 of the official Guiness rules posted on the above referenced website is clearly describing how to videotape; based on that, you don't have to record non-stop. Just make sure there is a clock visible at all times, you can change hard drives at break times. Then make a short video, real speed at key moments and time lapse in between. Also make sure you keep the coffee cup in frame - I'm curious how much Dave will end up drinking! Since the video is no replacement for witnesses, it's just an additional evidence tool, and of course, means of bragging later. Contact streaming companies - I'm sure one will be glad to do the feed for free; it's free advertising for them. __________________ Ervin Farkas www.AtlantaLegalVideo.com

August 12th, 2008, 07:08 AM	#2
Stefan von Halenbach New Boot Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Frankfurt Germany Posts: 11	Please don't do this. It is a stupid idea and you can get crazy with so much sleep missing. There should be plenty of other things you can do to get into the book of records. Stefan

August 12th, 2008, 08:17 AM	#3
Frank Simpson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Bozeman, MT Posts: 217	Not only is it a weak premise to begin with, I very seriously doubt that any "officials" would accept a video submission as evidence. (Although not easy, such things can be faked!). If they want to set this record, and for the life of me I can't imagine why they'd want to, there would likely have to be an official on premises during the event to verify. This seems to be the way they do such things. It seems like an awful lot of work to make an exceedingly boring video...

August 12th, 2008, 09:16 AM	#4
Robert M Wright Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Minnesota (USA) Posts: 2,171	I won't comment on the merits (or lack thereof) of doing this. Two 750GB hard drives could hold 4 days of HDV video.

August 12th, 2008, 12:23 PM	#6
Damian Clarke Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Lincolnshire, United Kingdom Posts: 95	lol yes I think it is stupid myself, but being for a friend I felt obligated to offer my services. That's a good point about an official needed, I will pass this on. Hey, I might get out of this yet...

August 12th, 2008, 02:57 PM	#8
Damian Clarke Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Lincolnshire, United Kingdom Posts: 95	well on receiving more details, they have the approval of Guinness and are abiding by all the rules etc. It is being done for charity also, so there's some of the story side of it. Now, down to recording this...I still need more details on exactly what they want to make out of this. I presumed at first that I was to record it as it happened start to finish in which case I thought recording straight to a laptop since I don't want to change 100 tapes on the hour every hour. Now if they want it condensed down to a documentry style story then that would indeed make it much more appealing. Sorry to be a bit sketchy with the details, kinda got it landed on me recently and very briefly lol

August 12th, 2008, 03:15 PM	#9
Bill Thesken Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: HI, USA Posts: 622	capturing straight to the drive would also save the heads from overuse

August 13th, 2008, 12:11 AM	#10
Bill Davis Trustee Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ 85260 Posts: 1,538	I agree with the majority that thinks it's nuts to record 4 days of 30 frames a second video. Plus there's simply no need. If you MUST document the insanity, use an intevelomerter and set up either a camcorder or a digital still camera to record a single frame every 30 seconds. This will do precisely the same job (documenting the continuous play) as opening the shutter 30 times a second and will save you 18000 frames of useless dreck every minute you document. At the end, instead of 96 hours of crushingly boring footage, you'll have about 23 minutes of crushingly boring footage. But ironclad proof that the knucklehead was no place other than in his poker seat for longer than 30 seconds over the 4 days.

August 13th, 2008, 05:00 AM	#12
Damian Clarke Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Lincolnshire, United Kingdom Posts: 95	LOL, well he has a hole in the seat and a bucket underneath...just kidding! I have just been informed that the website is up and running so more details are on there...and yes I agree he is barking mad, but it's for charity too and people have done a lot stranger! http://www.pokerplayingmarathon.com/index.html

August 14th, 2008, 03:54 PM	#13
Bill Davis Trustee Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ 85260 Posts: 1,538	IIRC, the Guinness Records folks have some kind of guidelines for endurance records of this kind and I believe they allow for certain breaks, not just for the bathroom, but for getting up and moving around to promote circulation, etc. You should reference their web site and find out what's officially allowed for breaks and what the other "rules" there are for documenting this kind of thing. Then I'd use the camera for shooting stuff that's actually interesting - rather than trying to record the whole shebang. Good luck to all.