Notes On Video

The following press release was sent out by Blackmagic. I've seen some footage and write-ups about Rush and it sounds like it could be a pretty good movie... Blackmagic Design today announced that Company 3 in London has used DaVinci Resolve for color grading Ron Howard’s F1 racing biographical action film “Rush.” “Rush” portrays the exhilarating true story of two of the greatest rivals the sport has ever witnessed, drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda. Set against the sexy and glamorous golden age of F1 racing, "Rush" follows the two drivers as they push themselves to the breaking point of physical and psychological endurance, where there is no shortcut to victory and no margin for error. After a catastrophic crash during the 1976 German GP at the Nürburgring, which could have killed Lauda, he returns to face rival Hunt in their pursuit of the World Championship. Anthony Dod Mantle was the film’s cinematographer, and he presented Company 3’s senior colorist Adam ...

Perfect lenses are coming soon - but would we want them? | RedShark News And now, we are starting to see things that really did look like magic a few years ago, and one of them is the subject of this article: digitally correcting lens aberrations so that you end up with a better image that you could expect through optics alone. A day in the life of a 3D artist | CreativeBlog Actually no, the life of a freelancer is fraught with the dangers of missed deadlines, angry clients, an ever increasing workload and non payments. So why do it? Why not remove the stress from your working life and go corporate. The Camera's Cusp: Alfonso Cuarón Takes Filmmaking to a New Extreme With Gravity | Vulture “We are not editing our life. It’s only when we remember our life that we edit it. Alfonso is interested in this point of view where the audience’s point of view integrates with the characters’ point of view in a way that there are no interpretations. It’s more pure.” KEEP YOUR E...

MXL FR-500WK Wireless Mic for Videographers I wasn't even aware that MXL, who makes a variety of inexpensive mics, had a wireless mic system available specifically designed for videographers. But here's the MXL FR-500WK and at $399.95 , it's $99 cheaper than Sony UWP-V1, which is $499 . I haven't used the MXL, but I love the Sony UWP-V1; I've had it for a few years, an it just keeps working with little problems (except when the battery leaked a couple of weeks ago!) Would I buy the MXL instead of the Sony? I might, though having one unit I'd probably buy the same again just because I'm familiar with it. I did notice that the FR-500WK receiver has a built-in speaker...I personally don't think monitoring at the receiver is a good idea - better to monitor what the camera is actually recording - but that might be useful for DSLR users who can't monitor from their camera and are trying to diagnose issues during setup. You can read a short review...

GoPro has announced new models of their Hero line that are smaller and offer improved image quality, though rumors of 4K at 30fps proved incorrect; the new Black model goes to 15fps (up from 12fps on the current Black model.) Most people will probably want to shoot in the Black's 2,7K mode. GoPro also announced new accessories including a new LCD Touch BacPac, new Battery BacPac, and a variety of new mounts. Availability is quoted as "limited" at the moment. Features: HERO3+ is 20% smaller than the HERO3 and it features a lighter housing that's waterproof to 131' SuperView video mode allows you to capture an immersive wide angle perspective Auto Low Light mode intelligently adjusts frame rate for improved low light performance The HERO3+ features 33% improved image sharpness and reduced distortion The HERO3+ features faster built-in Wi-Fi for enhanced connectivity to the included Wi-Fi Remote and downloadable GoPro App The HERO3+ provides 25%...

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera Review – Part 1 – Worth the hype? | EOSHD So the big companies will need to catch up with the Pocket Rocket or lose us. Even Panasonic who are not so shy of implementing useful features for filmmakers on the GH2, GH3, need to up their game when it comes to image quality because the Pocket Cinema Camera with ProRes (let alone raw video) is simply far superior to 8bit compressed footage from a stills sensor that has to throw a lot away in the downscaling process. Back focus, focus, and the Blackmagic Cinema Camera with EF mount | MKE Productions When Blackmagic designed the BMCC, they designed it to match with Canon’s cinema lenses.  These lenses are pricey, and made to much more exact measurements than Canon’s photo lenses, even their L series.  Most of the high-end lenses with EF mounts have very precise focus marks on the barrel.  They stop at exactly infinity.  Then, they released it to the public, and realized that certain ...

I attended part of the Hacking Arts conference at MIT over the weekend. It was an interesting series of presentations, a lot of them focusing on creating - and taking advantage of - social media audiences. There was also an interesting panel on film distribution via the internet. More on that later. Digital Bolex was also there. The following is a short presentation that Elle Schneider , Creative Director at Digital Bolex gave. An interview I did with her should be posted to Filmmaker Magazine later today.