Gear Kit for the Traveling VJ

Posted March 21, 2018

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Our friend, and very successful VJ, Bob Krist, makes documentary films for National Geographic, among others, and has won lots of praise for his work. You can see some of Bob's work on our site and see how he tells amazing stories in video. Most of what makes Bob's work so amazing is his storytelling skills, but on top of that, every image that he puts on the screen looks absolutely gorgeous. Each one looks like a still that could be in a coffee table book of beautiful photos around the world. Bob has many years of experience to guide his production and looking at his images you'd wonder what gear he uses to get such great footage. Luckily for us, Bob has put together a video for Desktop Documentaries showing us his gear and the results may surprise you.

Subscribing to the method we teach here at TheVJ.com, Bob is a one-man production crew, traveling the world with his equipment and telling stories about the people he meets and the places he goes. When working alone it is important to make sure that you aren't bogged down by gear. You can easily bring too much gear and not be able to make the video you envision because you are constantly trying to keep track of your gear. Bob's video shows that you can do a lot with just a couple of cameras and lenses.

The truth is, and no offense to Bob (he makes amazing videos that look stunning), that you can get almost the same results with just your smartphone. The top phones on the market now (iPhone, Pixel, and Galaxy) shoot at 4K, with stunning colors and low-light capabilities that can rival almost any DSLR out there. Additionally, you can edit on them, record your voice-over, and distribute to the web without having to move anything off of the phone. So if you are looking to start producing work like Bob's, but don't have the money for a kit like his, then you may be able to achieve just as much with just the phone in your pocket.

See more of Bob Krist's videos on Vimeo.

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