This is one of my favorite video scenes from Retrievers in the Field. I’m a little biased because it was one of the first dog-related productions. I hired outdoor videographer Rick Westphal of Westphal Productions because of his skills with the larger Sony cameras.
He’s gifted with a great eye for animals, and how they behave in a natural setting. He’s also an excellent camera operator on the open water.
What I want to share is Rick’s ability to steady his tracking/panning without a tripod. A steady pan of a heavy full-sized Sony 700 is not an easy task. It takes a strong shoulder and a solid seating, or standing position to pull it off. If you can lean against a tree or other solid object that makes this movement easier, and less likely to shake. But it takes lots of practice.
Rick’s vision of when and where to use depth-of-field was also quite interesting. While Rick and I discussed the scene, he closed down the aperture enough to give the look complete focus on the dog, not the foreground or background.
This is a great example of a camera operator that plans his shots (blocking) before filming the actual segment.
I hope you enjoy this short look at film production on location.
