Another week down in pre-production and we still have so many things to do before our trip. We are still reaching out to contacts and finalizing our film schedule. We are still doing research on people and locations that we are going to visit. First, we discussed Laon and the locations and people we are going to visit. Knowing this information will help our film crews perform to the best of their abilities. Next, we discussed landmarks and points of interest in Paris and Laon,  like the Laon Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower. We then went over what was the best way to get to those locations. Lastly, we talked about restaurants and other locations that we could use during our leisure time. Even busy filmmakers need a break from time to time.

After the presentations, we went over more equipment that we are going to use for the documentary. This time we focused on the Canon 5D Mark III and the Sony A7 III  that we are going to use for b-roll. The 5D and the A7 are known for their incredible picture quality so we plan to take advantage of that. The last piece of equipment we talked about was the DJI Ronin S Gimbal. To put it simply, the Ronin is a motorized stabilizer that is used to keep the camera steady as the camera operator is on the move. The rig is portable and easy to use. We broke down into groups so we could get a closer look at this equipment. 

The last and most important thing discussed at the meeting was Media Management. This stage is important because without good media management, we would lose track of all our footage and we might lose some footage altogether. The teams also learned to keep footage organized by formatting our SD cards. By doing this we know for sure what footage is for what day. Organization is important to any film and making plans for our Media Management just gets us more prepared for our trip. 

Do you or someone you know keep bees? We want to hear your story! Pace University’s Pace Docs crew is in the process of producing a documentary about Urban Beekeeping, the latest in a series of award-winning environmentally and culturally relevant documentaries from our department. Contact us at paceudocs@gmail.com. And follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tik Tok for more content!