Page 288 - The ROV Manual - A User Guide for Remotely Operated Vehicles 2nd edition

any documentation package is a set of prolific notes documenting the entire operation from start to finish so that as few items as possible are left to guesswork or memory. Field notes, as well as audio annotation, complete the video content and report, allowing a stand-alone document that can “tell the whole story.”
As an anecdote to professional technique, consider the freefall photographer. At a parachuting school in the southern central United States, a service offered to customers included freefall video and stills during each tandem skydive. With each new videographer, it took time to learn the new skills of video documentation over and over again. It was a case of having to teach skilled skydi- vers how to be competent cinematographers—the first few camera runs had the cameraperson with the head-mounted video camera jerking his/her head in all directions with occasional filming of the customer. Not only was the video unacceptable to the customer, in most instances it made the customer airsick just viewing the film.
The same problem applies to underwater photography. Video documentation with an ROV sys- tem is a case of an ROV technician being required to learn the skills of a cinematographer. It is important to understand the status of the underwater location under investigation. Thus it is critical that an image documentation of the area/item be made that properly orients the viewer while main- taining his or her interest. All of the principles of land cinematography apply to filming underwater.
Experience gained during prior projects with some of the legends in the underwater photography business is invaluable. These legends included still photographer David Doubilet, the incredible cave cinematographer Wes Skiles, and the man whose accomplishments form the textbook of mod- ern underwater photography, Emory Kristof, who became famous working for National Geographic. A few of their rules of thumb are listed below:
• Get as much footage as possible—it can always be edited.
• Keep the camera/submersible stable and still. When taking a mosaic of a subject area, stay on
the starting shot for a few seconds, slowly pan from left to right (the direction in which a book is read), and come to rest on the ending shot. Hold the ending shot still for a few more seconds and then move on.
• Go from macro (to get a situational reference) to micro. If going into a structure, get as full a view as possible. Then go to specific items.
• Some ROVs have a camera zoom function. Try not to use the zoom function too frequently while filming, since it makes for poor subject content.
• Vary (and get as many of) the camera angles of the items being filmed as possible. It gives the capability to paste together a full video mosaic of the subject.
• Video is about gathering information in the form of moving images. Get as many close-ups as possible of the item being filmed, along with varying distance/frame content, to enhance the information.
• The job of the cinematographer is to gather image quality and content. It may be better for the operator to do the navigating and allow an observer/supervisor to direct the operation to assure full content, much like the director on a movie set directs the camera operator. In practically all instances, it is best to have a separate note taker to assure proper documentation of the project. Attention to detail is essential.
• Upon encountering an item of interest, leave the item in frame and count to 5 before slowly panning to the next item.
10.7 Video documentation 277