Wednesday, I've got an interesting project, cooking demonstration at a local college-- famous Moroccan chef extraordinare whipping up some dishes, meanwhile the students are preparing the same thing backstage, and voila! At the exact right moment, they swing out into the audience with platters of the delights! Everybody wins, I guess.

So, never having done this before, any suggestions on a handy and/or dandy way to capture an overhead shot of the stovetop in action? I'm think a Sony Rxo II at the end of a long boom arm? Sandbags on the back leg of the mic stand? Comments... constructive criticism... or?

That would work. Of course the traditional big network solution was an overhead mirror (which can also be a versatile thing in bedroom studio too). Buddabump.

Cooking-related consideration: anything you do rig might have to deal with lots of steam/condensation.

I'd do some testing and pick a camera that doesn't fog up when rigged over a kettle.

Chris

and smoke, oil spatter. Will need to test with ventilation system on, in case that affects the direction and spread of steam, etc

If the whole place went up in flames, that would make for some drama...

Will this be a multi-camera job, or single overhead ?

Multi tasking... according to my quick sketch for the day, there's the Rxo overhead, and the other Rxo eye level from the front... my faithful Canon T7 with the telephoto lens for close-ups from way back... my fisheye Wolfang action cam for a bizarre view from tabletop perspective... Canon M200 for the deliriously joyous crowd... and the faithful Polaroid cube, the super-fisheye one, for a "look down on the whole scene from outer space, what fools these mortals be!" shot.

That sounds like you’ve got all bases covered…and with a video switcher you could even produce it as if it were a livestream event !

My guess is you’ll assign most final edit screen time to the face shot describing what’s being done, but you still need the overhead and other cameras for that ‘immersive’ feeling.

If you can justify the purchase of more gear, I give a hearty thumbs-up to the pair of small Rode Go II wireless mics, for this sort of gig (ambient, lapel, whatever…)

https://youtu.be/aD7LOYiqKE8

I did a lot of this at one point. No OH cam rigging, mirrors were used.

Oh God, no! Something else I will try to tell myself I don't really need...!

It’s true, you probably have enough mics that you don’t need them…but once you have them, uses keep popping up all the time !

If I had a few bucks, I'd hire a person (who does boom work for film) to capture what is necessary.

Otherwise, I'd just park a shotgun over the general area, and go on with life.

My studio designer designed the video setup for a local community college's Culinary Arts program. He placed the cameras on the ceiling above the exhaust fans so they would not get affected by steam and fumes or grease. Your idea would work well just get the camera above the area where steam is most prevalent. Best of luck!!!

It's hard not to believe that someday a rolling wave of political correctitude will sweep through and that device will get a new name !&#@*!

insurance is your friend

good idea

Reviewers keep making the point that the Sony Rxo ii isn't an action camera-- even though it can go 30 feet underwater (which gave me faith that the steam and splatter would not do it in!)-- it's more just a normal camera that's tiny and lightweight and sure enough, no chefs were crushed in the making of this movie...

But the thing I consider the most miraculous feature of the afternoon... I was all in a'tizzy about capturing the question and answer session... so, in defeat and desperation I just propped a Sony D-100 up against the wall, hoping for the best... and, as unexpected as it was, but not unusual, in these cases, the best happened. Clear, meet as a bell.

Make sure the camera's batteries will last the duration of the shoot. I've had to resort to an AC powered camera for a long overhead shoot, where the camera just keeps running as long as it takes. Otherwise there's considerable disruption in accessing the camera, inserting new battery, reframing, etc.

Thanks for the warning! I always run these little cameras with battery banks attached... it does kinda ruin the underwater potential, and they're certainly not as inconspicuous, but as you say the internal batteries are not really made for the real world, realistically speaking.

Power is one issue. Storage space is another. The higher the visual resolution, the bigger the files. 4K resolution for a duration of 30, 45, 60 minutes and longer will take a boatload of space. Typical SD cards won't be enough. If the overhead is not the main angle, you might consider using a lower resolution on that angle to expand available time for limited storage capacity.

Well, I'm still living in the paper doll world of 1080, and with that resolution the Sony Rxo ii gives me ten hours of time, so, that would be a breakfast/lunch/dinner/midnight snack show. (256 gb card.)

I do confess to some eye-opening when I go to download the files (unlike some of its brethren, this Sony won't start new files after a certain length, it will just keep going and going) and what? The two hours adds up to FIFTY THREE GIGS? In which world is this possible?