News From Here & There
Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul | SellingYourFilm
This eBook by filmmaker and consultant Jon Reiss and inbound marketing strategist Sheri Candler is available in several formats, and is free - in some of those - until October 1st.
How to best use twixtor for extreme slow motion | Salomon Ligthelm | PhilipBloom.net
Guest blogger Salomon Lighelm explains how to get the best results from the software Twixtor, both during shooting, and in post. He also notes that he thinks it works best in After Effects:
Sony FS100: Shooting Outside | Brandon Vincent | Blog
Brandon documents his experience shooting an outside event with the Sony NEX-FS100. After noting that the lens he used for the day "was a piece of garbage" he goes on to report that the days shooting gave him a new perspective on the detachable handle:
Optimising the Sony NEX 5N for cinematic video | Andrew Reid | EOSHD
While he still prefers the image from the Panasonic GH2, Andrew quite likes the Sony NEX-5N, and offers his suggestions for image settings. He starts out with either the Sunset or Portrait Creative Styles, and then adjusts the Contrast, Color and Sharpness.
Monopod battle : Sachtler vs Manfrotto | Orange Wedding Films | Vimeo
A short video review comparing the Sachtler S2005-0001 Soom Tube [$467] and the Manfrotto Monopod 561BHDV [$299] monopods. Apart from the price differences, there are a number of features he likes about each one; he prefers the head on the Sachtler, but likes the base of the Manfrotto monopod, and that it's smaller and can retract to a smaller size.
IN THE CUT: The Dark Knight by Christopher Nolan | Jim Emerson | IndieWIRE
A look at the editing of an action scene in The Dark Knight. As interesting as this is, I'm a little hesitant to ascribe the problems in the editing and sequencing to the lack of skill of the Director and/or Editor. Rather, I suspect it's what happen when you have finite budgets, complicated sequences, and the necessity of making small or major changes after the sequence has been shot.
Buy the Citizen Kane Blu-ray | Fred Kaplan | Slate
Kaplan argues that the new Bluray of Citizen Kane is a startling improvement over the previous DVD release, partly because the original DVD was over-cleaned - removing not just dirt but also film grain - but also because the film was redigitized from better source materials. The new release adds a new depth to the film:
Amazon: Citizen Kane (70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]
[$39.99]
Amazon: Citizen Kane (70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition)
DVD[$31.99]
HOT ROD Magazine Action Camera Shootout | Hot Rod Magazine | YouTube
HOT ROD has posted a video on YouTube comparing four action cameras; the GoPro HD Hero, Replay XD 1080, Drift HD 170, and Contour HD 1080p.
The Replay XD 1080 really seemed to perform the best in the tests; it "won" the exterior sunlight, interior and night shots, while it probably came in second in Wind Noise Reduction. The Drift seemed to perform the worst in most categories, though it's exterior video seemed very colorful - over-saturated - asnd some people might find that appealing. The Contour image quality may have been a bit better than the GoPro, but the audio from the GoPro seemed better than the Contour.
I might have given the interior shot to the Contour because it didn't over-expose the exterior parts of the frame, but the Replay definitely performed well in all categories. The full report will appear in November's Hot Rod.
Note: I own a Contour.
This eBook by filmmaker and consultant Jon Reiss and inbound marketing strategist Sheri Candler is available in several formats, and is free - in some of those - until October 1st.
How to best use twixtor for extreme slow motion | Salomon Ligthelm | PhilipBloom.net
Guest blogger Salomon Lighelm explains how to get the best results from the software Twixtor, both during shooting, and in post. He also notes that he thinks it works best in After Effects:
Consider using an aspect matte to hide warping. I often use an aspect ratio of 2.4:1 in my work as a lot of my warping happens at the edges of my shots, thus a matte will hide the really bad sections. One instance of this was a shot in the short of mine called [Fo'tis'ma], where my good friend Franzwa is taking off from a ledge [Its the tight - slightly angled down shot at 34s]. The warping on his hand was REALLY bad – especially because the shot was rather tight and he was coming down at such a pace. It was because of that shot not working at 16:9 that I decided to make the whole piece 2.4:1
Sony FS100: Shooting Outside | Brandon Vincent | Blog
Brandon documents his experience shooting an outside event with the Sony NEX-FS100. After noting that the lens he used for the day "was a piece of garbage" he goes on to report that the days shooting gave him a new perspective on the detachable handle:
I’ve avoided the side handle that attaches to the camera because of how horribly cheap it feels. I wouldn’t trust it with anything heavier than what normally attaches to the camera but since I knew I’d be running light I thought I’d throw it on and give it a chance. I really had no other choice anyway.He also notes a problem that appears to be caused by the Fotodiox Nikon F mount adapter that he was using.
I was immediately surprised by how well it worked.
Optimising the Sony NEX 5N for cinematic video | Andrew Reid | EOSHD
While he still prefers the image from the Panasonic GH2, Andrew quite likes the Sony NEX-5N, and offers his suggestions for image settings. He starts out with either the Sunset or Portrait Creative Styles, and then adjusts the Contrast, Color and Sharpness.
Monopod battle : Sachtler vs Manfrotto | Orange Wedding Films | Vimeo
A short video review comparing the Sachtler S2005-0001 Soom Tube [$467] and the Manfrotto Monopod 561BHDV [$299] monopods. Apart from the price differences, there are a number of features he likes about each one; he prefers the head on the Sachtler, but likes the base of the Manfrotto monopod, and that it's smaller and can retract to a smaller size.
IN THE CUT: The Dark Knight by Christopher Nolan | Jim Emerson | IndieWIRE
A look at the editing of an action scene in The Dark Knight. As interesting as this is, I'm a little hesitant to ascribe the problems in the editing and sequencing to the lack of skill of the Director and/or Editor. Rather, I suspect it's what happen when you have finite budgets, complicated sequences, and the necessity of making small or major changes after the sequence has been shot.
Buy the Citizen Kane Blu-ray | Fred Kaplan | Slate
Kaplan argues that the new Bluray of Citizen Kane is a startling improvement over the previous DVD release, partly because the original DVD was over-cleaned - removing not just dirt but also film grain - but also because the film was redigitized from better source materials. The new release adds a new depth to the film:
the Blu-ray reveals the slight differences in lighting that impart a visual mood to the different narratives: some starker, some warmer, some more intimate, some more hollow. These contrasts were muffled, flattened out, in earlier versions. This is a more richly emotional Kane.In addition to using new source materials, this edition was digitized at a "4K" scan—4,096 x 3,112—rather than the 1920x1080 scan used for the original DVD.
Amazon: Citizen Kane (70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]
[$39.99]Amazon: Citizen Kane (70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition)
DVD[$31.99]HOT ROD Magazine Action Camera Shootout | Hot Rod Magazine | YouTube
HOT ROD has posted a video on YouTube comparing four action cameras; the GoPro HD Hero, Replay XD 1080, Drift HD 170, and Contour HD 1080p.
The Replay XD 1080 really seemed to perform the best in the tests; it "won" the exterior sunlight, interior and night shots, while it probably came in second in Wind Noise Reduction. The Drift seemed to perform the worst in most categories, though it's exterior video seemed very colorful - over-saturated - asnd some people might find that appealing. The Contour image quality may have been a bit better than the GoPro, but the audio from the GoPro seemed better than the Contour.
I might have given the interior shot to the Contour because it didn't over-expose the exterior parts of the frame, but the Replay definitely performed well in all categories. The full report will appear in November's Hot Rod.
Note: I own a Contour.
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