Video teaching

Wow, what a well-described approach Molly offered! Thanks Molly – all great ideas there. Your description of having ONE instructor as lead and coordinating the others as assistant coaches is key. Yes, it requires discipline and ego suppression from some of the instructors (who may be as highly-qualified or more than the chosen lead) -- but for the student on the receiving end, it will come across as a much more coherent bundle of digestible information. I’ve participated in this type of format many times, both as lead and as helper. And I believe that the approach is sound, as evidenced by the universal improvements shown by students. It rarely leads to confusion because all students hear the same material at the start (assuming it’s correct info, presented logically). Whether rotation of helpers is possible will depend on how much time is available in the session and how many topics are to be covered in that time.

I have some advice for Sam on videotaping. Being able to see clearly depends mainly on CONTRAST. If you want to see what the rod is doing, then you have to make it as different from the background as you can. If you want to see what the line is doing, ditto. After struggling for one winter trying to video up here (probly 1993 or 4), I discovered that I could really see the flyline in this one Anchorage School District gymnasium. What was different about it was that they had a large mural of a dark sky with the Northern Lights on it. I’m colorblind, but I think it was either a VERY dark blue or purple (almost black). I had on a Cortland 333 “Strike Indicator” flyline, which has alternating black and white bands maybe 18 to 24” long each. When video’d against that backdrop, it was like a strobe sequence which was the most beautiful and enlightening thing I’d ever seen. It absolutely re-inspired me and I was off to the races filming everything I could think of casting-wise. Someone (Lefty, Bill G?) once described wrapping your rod blank with Teflon tape to make it stand out against a dark background. Same idea. Contrast, contrast, contrast. I think shooting something light against a dark background (with LOTS of front lighting) is easier to see upon playback, than if you have a dark rod/line against a light background. But that’s just me…

Regards,
Troy Miller

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Advice from Guy Manning:

you have a Sony camcorder of any model it has what is called “Sports Mode”. In this mode, though it is still recoding the same number of frames per second, it is using a much shorter exposure time for each frame. I believe it is about 1/2000 of a sec. Using this mode will help to stop the line and rod but will not completely solve the problem. Part of what is happening is that the line diameter takes up such a small part of the pixel that it may not be recorded, instead what is behind the line is recorded.

A few things to try:

1. Use a Sony camcorder in Sports Mode, other cameras probably won’t have this capability

2. Find a dark background and shoot against it.

3. Choose an oblique angle to the caster so the whole back/fore cast is seen from just off the casters view.

4. Buy a hi-definition video camera (pro-sumer models) with variable shutter speeds, this is going to be expensive though.

Guy Manning

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Peter Minnick has a suggestion on where to get some information on video techniques:

Macauley Lord really has covered this videotaping topic extensively. He recommends a dark background such as a hedge to better highlite the flyline on video....I suggest contacting him for more input and references on this topic....Peter

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From Mack Martin on using video technique of sufficient quality to see the fly line for teaching:-

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Mack... Thanks! I remember well the time we did that video study to try to challenge the concept of the loop forming exactly at RSP... Your setup included a dark (black) night, black background and a carefully designed light system in addition to your rather sophisticated camera and computer readout system... For a non photo guy, I was impressed to say the least.

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Walter Simberski of our Group has invented and patented many things. This one is in line with our discussion:

Regarding Sam’s questions on video cameras:

You are probably already doing all this, but:

Think of the background behind the caster – a darker background provides much better contrast.

Really try and avoid shooting upward into daytime sky.

The best light of the day is usually morning or late afternoons.

If available I usually try and shoot with a thick row of green trees behind the caster, I’ve also used a dark two-story wall.

Use a tripod to steady the picture

Hopefully some of this helps, in terms of cameras almost all the newer 3 chip cameras deliver a very high quality picture.

John Bilotta

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From Ally Gowans:

Hi Gordy,

For anyone using video or photography to look at casting there are a few simple rules.

Make sure that the line contrasts with the background. A dark background is generally good.

Use a highly visible (contrasting) line.

Ensure that the light is coming mostly from behind the camera to illuminate the line.

Don’t try to capture 120 ft casts unless conditions for line visibility are perfect because the line will simply not show up and the caster will look like a dwarf.

Use as little line as possible for illustration purposes; it will still look like a huge distance in the picture. (Check out the famous Rio Line advert where the angler with a double handed rod appears to be casting and enormous amount of line by dividing the rod length into the line length).

For video you want as much light as possible and as fast a shutter speed as possible. Normal video frame rate is insufficient for high speed action; you need to have a much higher rate of frames per second for detailed analysis.

For photographs very high shutter speeds can reveal instances when the line position is unbelievable!

Video may be helpful for explaining to students.

Good instructors often diagnose faults at 100 yards and sometimes instructors lacking experience stand too close to their students and only get part of the picture. So “stand back in amazement”.

Best wishes,

Ally Gowans

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Thoughtful messages from Michael Jones:

To reply to this thread, I have two immediate observations for the postings listed:

For Molly: We are finding that 'feeling the cast' is as important as anything to reach the 'breakthrough point' for the student. Do not be afraid to say less, give direct instruction, and have new students cast with rods that are 'loaded' with heavier lines to augment the 'feel'.

For Jim Laing:

Video cameras are proving to be instrumental tools in teaching casting, but only when used appropriately; by this, we mean: HIGH CONTRAST of line to backdrop, be it orange or white, against a dark backdrop. I have seen excellent video analysis shot with pine trees setting a dark backdrop behind the caster. Also, consider light conditions and light direction, so that the prevailing light is illuminating the line/rod/caster to emphasize contrast, and therefor: the cast. Having a remote control of the camera is also really helpful, as it allows the camera man to review and edit the shot to produce only the most important shot: 'the mistake made'.

When showing a student a video analysis of their casting, I ask first: "What do you see?" rather than "This is what I see." This moves dialogue in a more positive direction, and allows the student to explain what they see, and helps you to correct/diagnose what is actually happening in a more meaningful and helpful way to produce immediate change.

Michael Jones