Monitors on set worth it?

Conner Kent

Conner Kent

I have a film that I am producing and I will be filming at a boxing ring and schools. I was wondering if it is better to have like a small 7" monitor for filming on location or a bigger one? I currently have both but what would I end up using more? For playback since i am Directing and Acting in it tat is why we are doing playbacks I was going to use a LCD T.V. I have a LCD T.V. the size of a regular desktop monitor would this be good enough for me the cameraman and some assistant directors to get a good idea of how it will look? Or should I just stick with and watch the playback on the 7" monitor. Any advice is great-fully appreciated!:)
 
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I'd say work with what you have. The bigger monitor will allow you to check focus a little better but if it is easier for you to bring a smaller monitor then I'm sure that will work fine enough too. A few years ago I used an old 16 inch CRT television as a monitor. The color/lighting you see won't be exact based of calibrations but it will still give you a good idea of what your shooting.
 
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You won't have a lot of fun with the large desktop monitor, unless you're setting up permanent camp for the camera.

If the camera is being moved frequently, or plain hand-held & on to next shot, you won't have the time to use the desktop monitor... especially if you're hopping in & out of frame to check the takes.

cameraman and some assistant directors
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Just what do your "assistant directors" do? :hmm:
 
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J_Ruzicka said:
I'd say work with what you have. The bigger monitor will allow you to check focus a little better but if it is easier for you to bring a smaller monitor then I'm sure that will work fine enough too. A few years ago I used an old 16 inch CRT television as a monitor. The color/lighting you see won't be exact based of calibrations but it will still give you a good idea of what your shooting.
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thanks for the advice bro :)
 
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Zensteve said:
You won't have a lot of fun with the large desktop monitor, unless you're setting up permanent camp for the camera.

If the camera is being moved frequently, or plain hand-held & on to next shot, you won't have the time to use the desktop monitor... especially if you're hopping in & out of frame to check the takes.



Just what do your "assistant directors" do? :hmm:
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I see your point but what if the monitor is so thin and light weight it would not be a problem moving especially if it''s on a fold table that can be moved quick to? I also have a 100ft. HDMI cable which eliminates most moving and the cameraman can move very far as-well. So in most cases that would work but what do you think about it now with my setup? I'm curious and thanks for your advice :)

BTW my AD's do their normal roles and whatever else needed but they also share my vision and some may be able to point out some things I cannot see right away
 
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Conner Kent said:
I see your point but what if the monitor is so thin and light weight it would not be a problem moving especially if it''s on a fold table that can be moved quick to?
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You're going to assign people to setup & breakdown a table, and carry a monitor, and re-route electricity? If you have the spare standby crew for it, go for it.


I also have a 100ft. HDMI cable which eliminates most moving and the cameraman can move very far as-well. So in most cases that would work but what do you think about it now with my setup?
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Dude, if you want to leave a 100' trail of cable out so your cameraman can move freely, I hope you have some good insurance coverage. You'll be needing to assign a full-time crewmember just to wrangle the cable connecting the camera to the desktop monitor if you're moving 10 feet away. Going up to 100 feet away, and trailing a cable that far... might as well tape that cable to the floor, but that would defeat the whole point of mobility...

Just stick the 7" on the camera cage, if you plan on having the camera move around.


BTW my AD's do their normal roles and whatever else needed but they also share my vision and some may be able to point out some things I cannot see right away
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smiley_mystery.gif
 
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Zensteve said:
You're going to assign people to setup & breakdown a table, and carry a monitor, and re-route electricity? If you have the spare standby crew for it, go for it.




Dude, if you want to leave a 100' trail of cable out so your cameraman can move freely, I hope you have some good insurance coverage. You'll be needing to assign a full-time crewmember just to wrangle the cable connecting the camera to the desktop monitor if you're moving 10 feet away. Going up to 100 feet away, and trailing a cable that far... might as well tape that cable to the floor, but that would defeat the whole point of mobility...

Just stick the 7" on the camera cage, if you plan on having the camera move around.




smiley_mystery.gif
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DAMN! I never knew that or thought about the chord getting tangled I thank you so much for pointing that out! So if I stick with the 7" monitor for the whole production will it be okay for me to watch playbacks on it will it be good enough to see the details? Also it sucks cause I would need a lot of batteries which are expensive considering it only lats 2 hours and we plan on doing maybe 6-10 hour shifts.
 
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All productions need lots of batteries. Comes with the territory. That's the price for mobility. I'd rather have an AC (or in your case AD?) swapping batteries out every couple hours than have to find somewhere to plug into power constantly.. and have someone wrangling a power cable....

A 7" monitor is fine for watching. Most productions only use 7 or 8" HD monitors unless they have a dedicated vision village setup. Even then, you're only getting 17" HD monitors until you move up into high budget Hollywood type setups. For maximum mobility, you don't want anything bigger than 7 or 8".
 
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jax_rox said:
All productions need lots of batteries. Comes with the territory. That's the price for mobility. I'd rather have an AC (or in your case AD?) swapping batteries out every couple hours than have to find somewhere to plug into power constantly.. and have someone wrangling a power cable....

A 7" monitor is fine for watching. Most productions only use 7 or 8" HD monitors unless they have a dedicated vision village setup. Even then, you're only getting 17" HD monitors until you move up into high budget Hollywood type setups. For maximum mobility, you don't want anything bigger than 7 or 8".
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Thanks I think I'll stick with that! I mean the batteries for the portable monitor are not like AA or some cheap stuff like that the batteries cost like 40-70 bucks its ridiculous so unless someone knows a 7-8" monitor that takes cheap batteries then it would be hard. But if I have to I gotta dish out 200 bucks and but a couple but just in case before I do that does anyone know monitors like that, that use cheap batteries?
 
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