Quick Links

NeedCreative Podcast Ep. 1 - Check 1, 2 | AnticipateMedia | Podcast
Boston based filmmaker Paul Antico and musician Jason Sidelinger have started a new weekly podcast about filmmaking, audio, and the creative process. Their first effort is online now and includes a  discussion about audio and microphones. Well worth checking out:
The NeedCreative Podcast is a weekly podcast catering to the independent digitally-powered Creative, with a focus on photography, filmmaking, music creation, and sound engineering among other audio and visual arts. Your hosts come from a varied background in Media production, and will expore all manner of topics each week from gear to story to the inspiration and passion.


My Love Affair With The Sony F3 | Adam Shanker | Crews Control
Adam writes a love letter to his Sony PMW-F3:
The F3 encourages creativity. I can set the camera to shoot in slow motion or in quick motion. The push/dial on the side of the camera easily gets into this mode, and I can dial in specific frame rates very quickly. There are standard and angle shutter options, as well as a slow shutter, which can be dialed up or down for desired effect. One of the greatest things about getting away from tape cameras is the upgraded single frame and intervalometer features.


Sony Handycam NEX-VG20 | Jeremy Stamas | CamcorderInfo
A review of the Sony NEX-VG20. It gets highs marks for performance and features, though scores only a 1.3 in usability [the Russian judge is marking hard again!- Ed]:
The interchangeable lens system on the VG20 is definitely the camcorder’s greatest asset. But having this feature also exposes some weaknesses. For example, the camcorder has no zoom lever (you can only zoom with the lens ring), and some of the auto controls don’t work as quickly as they do on more traditional camcorders. Still, we are impressed with the VG20’s simple design and light (for an interchangeable lens model) package. The button layout is simple and uncluttered, the hand strap and right-side grip are more than adequate, and all of your most important features are accessible on the fly.


Paint it Black? : A Look at David Fincher's Color Palette [PDF] | Juan Hernandez
| Fincher Fanatic
An article in PDF format about the look of David Fincher's movies:
David Fincher has been labelled all variations of a 'prince of darkness'. Perhaps rightfully so, as his movies mostly are crafted with a signature color palette (the colors and tones used throughout a film) which consists of dark tones, mostly green and blue. Beyond aesthetics, why does Fin- cher shoot his movies this way? Because it looks cool? Or is there an addi- tional layer of meaning to the colors in his films?


@brawlster | John Brawley | Twitter
‏John continues to post about the development of the Blackmagic Cinema Camera:
Seems BMD are listening. Extra WB settings. Originally 3, but now there's 3200, 4500, 5000, 5600, 6500 and 7500k!


Zeiss CP.2 without the price tag? A look at cinema modified Zeiss ZE lenses
| Andrew Reid | EOSHD
A company is offering a cheaper version of Zeiss's lenses by repackaging the ZE lenses in a shell that resembles the CP.2 lenses; which is interesting because the CP.2 lenses are themselves a re-shelling of the ZE lenses:
Cinematics have started offering ‘film lenses’ which are Zeiss Compact Prime copies – cinema modified Zeiss ZE (Canon mount) full frame lenses at up to one quarter of the price of a real Compact Prime. Optically they remain the same as standard ZE but as you can see from the image above a CP.2 style housing is added (left) to create a “CT.2″.

This includes gearing for a follow focus, T-stop marks instead of F-stop, cinema standard front thread size as well as a stepless aperture ring.


Changing the Audio Mix in Adobe Premiere Pro from the Keyboard
| Richard Harrington | Blog
Quick tip on adjusting audio level:
A popular shortcut in Final Cut Pro is the ability to increase or decrease audio levels with a keyboard shortcut. The closest you can come in Adobe Premiere Pro is a little customization.


Free Template for Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Encore
| Richard Harrington | Blog
Richard provides links to Adobe Premiere Pro, Encore and After Effects templates:
When Adobe shipped Creative Suite 6, they left out several important files. The products included several awesome templates, presets, and more for titles, DVD menus, and animated text.


Digital Colourist Rob Pizzey – Making The Grade | movieScope
Interview with color grader Rob Pizzey:
The grading session for Quantum of Solace saved the production company significant time and money. There was a week to set the looks for the various visual effects scenes in the film. Because of weather, there was no way the shots could be matched in camera and it was assumed that additional VFX time would be required for sky replacement. However, we managed to balance at least 80 per cent of the shots using the Resolve, saving considerable VFX budget.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sony GV-D200 review

Image
Sony GV-D200 I've been using a Sony GV-D200 deck to transfer old Video8 and Hi8 tapes. Some of these tapes are over twenty years old, and no longer having a Hi8 camcorder that worked I was concerned that if I didn't do something about transferring them to a more modern format soon, I might never be able to. While Sony no longer make camcorders that use these tapes - that I know of - Sony does still sell the GV-D200 deck (or Video Walkman, as it's sometimes labelled.) They also offer the GV-D800, which is almost identical but adds a small LCD screen for about $120 more. I didn't think I'd need a screen since I was using this to capture to the computer, but you will need an external monitor when you first set it up. Physically, the device is small. At 5 7/8" wide, 5 3/8" deep and 2" high, it's the smallest video deck I've encountered. I used to have a Video8 deck that I thought was small; and it was twice as deep and twice as high. The t...
Read more

Response: Which iPhone to Get?

Image
In response to my iPhone musings, I got the following reader email which actually sums up a lot of my second and third thoughts too: You might have a point about the fancier camera, but otherwise I would buy the smaller model. Its screen is about the same size as that of my Nexus 4, and I don't feel at all like it limits me with a too-small screen. But I do sometimes stretch to get my thumb the reach to the other corner of the screen. It is plenty big for a phone. A phone is a pocket thing. (Well, in my case it lives an ancient REI soft sunglasses case that I have on my belt.) Ubiquitous, handy, convenient, almost always with me. Small is crucial for all of that. Certainly a large screen is cool, but you need a place to put it: don't break a fundamental feature of a pocket phone by getting too big. That is what your small tablet is for. I have my phone with me almost always. I have my Nexus 7 tablet with me nearly as much. The bigger screen is great, yet it fits in some...
Read more

Should you buy the Sony NEX-FS100 Kit Lens?

Image
The Sony NEX-FS100 is available in two configurations: B & H : NEX-FS100U Camcorder only $4,999 B & H : NEX-FS100U (with 18-200mm lens) $5,599 But what does that extra $600 get you? It get's you this: Sony 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Zoom Lens for NEX Camera This lens is also available separately for $799.99, so at $200 off you'd think everyone would be jumping on it. But not so fast... In his article about switching from the Canon 5D Mark II to the Sony NEX-FS100 , Paul Antico  at Need Creative says of the kit lens: 7) Its 18-200 F3.6-6.3 kit lens absolutely sucks and should be avoided (thankfully, you can order it without one) [ 1 ] But is it that bad? At B & H 's site, 43 reviews give it an average of 4.6 out of 5 stars. That's not a bad rating, though many of these people are using it for stills, and the most common complaint noted is how large and heavy it is. Of course this feeling of size would be exacerbated when you put it on a tiny camera ...
Read more