By: Brett Roberts
Equipment Used:
Tech: GoPro HERO4 Black, FeiyuTech G4 Gimbal,
GoPro Mounts: Head Strap, Fetch Mount, Tripod Mount, The 3-Way
Location: Towson, MD ; Shootout for Soldiers Baltimore
Music: Andrew ApplePie – Beach
Notes:
This was one of the most fun edits I’ve been able to put together for Shootout for Soldiers. Working with the Schneidereith family and the Charlie was awesome. From concept to completion we knew we had something great.
The idea of making a feature piece about Charlie came about at the 2014 Shootout for Soldiers Baltimore when we strapped a GoPro on her while she was running around on the field. We made a short edit with the footage, but felt it would be really cool to expand it and tell the full story. When we first came up with the idea, we felt that we wanted to show what life was like as a Rufferee. So we decided to show her in a natural habitat on gameday.
We started shooting in mid June at the Schneidereith house, getting those shots from the yard and the pool. We used a FeiyuTech G4 gimbal to get those really smooth shots while Charlie was running through the yard. For the shots where the camera is on top and under Charlie, we used the GoPro fetch mount. These were certainly the most entertaining shots of the whole piece. The pool scenes were really fun to shoot because I’ve never seen a dog jump so far into a pool. And being able to get the underwater perspective of her swimming after the Frisbee was quite cool.
Shooting during Shootout for Soldiers was a challenge. It was pouring rain. We tried to keep things running smoothly, but it was really difficult keeping water off all the lenses. We ended up getting some great shots from the faceoff X, but since Chalrie, and the rest of the crew were getting tired, we were limited to a lot of full field actions shots.
All of the shots on the dog and the head were filmed in 1440p, while all of the 3rd person and static shots were in 1080. Depending on the shot and how we wanted it to look, we would switch between wide and medium FOV. Most of the shots, unless there was water around, were done without the GoPro protective housing for better audio.
Overall, the piece came together really well. The shots looked amazing. Well the ones without water on them. And the voiceover really portrayed the life of such a unique dog. We are really excited how the edit turned out and can’t wait to see Charlie at Shootout for Soldiers again this year!
In case you missed it!
