Notes On Video

No idea how long this is going to last, but you can get this Canon lens for $734 at Amazon (It's normally about $1,150) This lens is popular with some video shooters for because of it's Image Stabilization, making it good for traveling shots. Amazon :  Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Lens for Canon EOS SLR Cameras

The Changing Shape of Cinema: The History of Aspect Ratio | Vimeo A very interesting history of aspects ratios, including where 16:9 came from: The Changing Shape of Cinema: The History of Aspect Ratio from FilmmakerIQ.com on Vimeo . Kickstarter is coming to Canada - later this summer MC 7 is out! What Avid won’t tell you about Spanned Markers | ProVideoCoalition So, one of the features I saw demonstrated at NAB in April that I thought was pretty cool was Spanned Markers. Markers or Locators (as they used to be called) have always simply provided a mark on a moment of time – a specific frame. But I have often felt that it would be very useful to mark a SEGMENT of time, like an in to an out point, for example. New plugin developer Lawn Road launches two products for Final Cut Pro X | fcp.co First is Color Precision a $49 set of ten plugins (there is no price on the website), well five really that are presented as both effects and titles in the pack. The plugin...

CineEurope: Sony Claims 4K Is Now 'Mainstream' | The Hollywood Reporter "4K is now 'mainstream,'" asserted David McIntosh, senior vp at Sony Digital Cinema, during the company’s CineEurope press conference on Tuesday. “The movement over the last year is very clear,” he said of the technology, referencing not only the company’s 15,000 installed 4K projectors, but its latest production gear and new Ultra HD (4K) TVs. Don’t Expect Things to Get Better for 3D | Home Media Magazine Let me make clear, right away, that I am not faulting the content side. I think our industry handled the advent of 3D quite well. For those who bemoaned, and now want to blame, the lack of product, consider this: 3D was never meant to be a whole new viewing experience, like Blu-ray Disc or, before that, DVD. Rather, it was always intended to be a selective experience, one that is not universally applied. Which Camera for Which Genre? Five Questions for D.P. Timur Civan | Mi...

Up Coming Events Canon C100: Best Kept Secrets  |  Rule Boston Camera | Boston Wednesday June 26, 10am - 12 noon Canon’s Ryan Snyder shares best-kept secrets of the C100 with an in-depth, hands-on demo of this affordable, high-performance camera plus a special look at the compact Ninja 2 Recorder from Atomos, ideal for capturing HD while doubling the color resolution.10am to 12n Sony Pro Day with the PMW-F5 CineAlta 4K camcorder  | Adorama | New York City Wednesday June 26, 2-6pm Adorama, 42 West 18th Street, NYC The hands-on training will give attendees a chance to experience the full capabilities offered by the Sony PMW-F5 camera and new Sony PVMX300. Create Now: Ask A Video Pro Webinar Series  | Adobe | Webinar Thursday, June 27, 201310:00 AM - 11:00 AM US/Pacific In this Ask A Video Pro Series, learn what's new in Adobe Creative Cloud and get tips and tricks on using new tools and services to create for video. Join these interactiv...

An Introduction to Buying Used Lenses | Jeff Guyer | Digital Photography School I know we all love the excitement of opening new boxes from B&H and Adorama. It would be a mistake, however, to avoid well-cared-for lenses just because they’re previously owned. Nikon, Canon, Tamron, Sigma and the others spend a great deal of time and money researching and producing lenses which are made to last. Adobe Software Moves to the Cloud: What Users Need to Know | Michael Murie | Filmmaker Magazine Adobe Creative Cloud, the latest update to the Adobe application suite of programs, was released last week. This release marks a major change for Adobe away from a “purchase” model to a subscription model; if you want the latest versions of their applications you must now pay a monthly fee to use the software. Behind the Lens: Tom Burstyn Shoots Defiance | Creative COW I got onto Defiance through line producer Clara George. She and I have done a lot of work in the past -- we did a...

Why British film is all kitsch 'n' sink | Mike Figgis | The Guardian I'm pissed off with the British film club because once again I turn to Hollywood to make my next film. I made a film last year in London, ended up financing it with my producer out of our own pockets after being turned down by the BFI for both budget and post-production help.  Why video color changes on different monitors and programs | Technicolor Usually you don’t alter the gamma of an image because when using sRGB in your computer’s monitor setting and in your camera, it automatically sets the gamma to 2.2. This gamma value is used in a viewing environment that mostly exists in an office environment – meaning reasonably bright. The problem arises if your client watches the video on a TV or a theater: it will look too contrasty and you need to apply a gamma correction. Rule of thumb: you should color correct in the same ambient light situation as your client is watching the video. Cannes Lion...

Douglas Trumbull, Natalie Wood's Last Director, Returns With Sci-Fi Project | The Hollywood Reporter The innovative filmmaker, inventor (Showscan) and Oscar recipient's new 10-minute project was made in 4K 3D and at a high frame rate of 120 frames per second. (By comparison, The Hobbit was made in 2K 3D at 48 fps. And James Cameron’s high frame rate test from 2011 went as high as 2K 3D at 60 fps.) How Douglas Trumbull Made a 4K Film in 120 fps Stereo 3D | Studio Daily Trumbull shot with Canon C500 cameras in a 3D camera rig from 3ality and recorded raw data at 120 fps. Live-action elements, including actors, were shot in front of green screens in Trumbull's studio for later compositing into 3D environments. WE BET EVERYTHING ON FCP X – HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED | Gabe Cheifetz | CrumplePop In the two years since FCP X was introduced, there has been what FCP.co refers to as “The Plugin Explosion.” With a running start, and thanks to FCP X’s remarkable Effects archi...

Adobe Photoshop CC Has Already Been Pirated In Just One Day | FStoppers If true, that didn't take long: With the constant need for validation and continual updates through the cloud, many felt it would be difficult to pirate something that requires constant contact for it to stay updated. However, it took no less than a day for pirates to get around it. Adobe beats profit expectations, mulls subscription changes  | C|Net Adobe Systems beat analysts' profitability expectations by 3 cents per share in the second fiscal quarter, ratcheted its Creative Cloud subscriber total up 221,000 to 700,000, and is considering new measures to mollify those who don't like the subscriptions, the company said Tuesday. Adobe CEO admits need to 'tweak' Creative Suite's cloud-only policy | The Register "While we will still continue to offer CS6 on a perpetual basis, the feedback from our community is important, and we are evaluating additional options that will h...

5 Things I Learned at Alex Buono’s Visual Storytelling Tour | Jon Connor | Kessler University Lighting is such a crucial part of filmmaking. It’s also one of the most neglected and misunderstood. Watching shorts Alex shot as the DP of the SNL Film Unit, then having him show us why he chose to light things a certain way and then watching as they lit the scene in front of us as he peppered in practical tips and tricks while simultaneously fielding any questions we had was worth the price of admission alone. How To Bring a Cinematic look to a Small Budget Commercial, part 4 | Ryan Walters | Zacuto Part 4: Story-boarding On A Small Budget Before I begin story-boarding, I will either create a formal shot list, or I will have a rough idea in my head of the shots I need to tell the story. Then when I visit the location, with the script in hand, I will begin the story-boarding process using yet another iPhone app, Artemis. Product Advisory for the EOS-1D X & EOS-1D C | CanonR...

10 Lessons on Filmmaking from Director Alejandro Jodorowsky | Filmmaker Magazine 5. Be present, all the time. There is no difference between preparation and being on set. When I am filming, I am completely there. In every moment you are making a picture, every day, every hour, I am a hundred percent there. UPDATE - Free Webcast: The Anatomy of a 4K Feature | ProVideoCoalition Join us on June 27th at 11:00am PDT for this free webcast 4K is on the tip of everyone's tongue…but just how feasible is it today? Join us for a re-broadcast of a "How we make movies" event from RED Studios, Hollywood. Recorded in front of a live audience, Director Jeremy Torrie & Gary Jackemuk, colorist and DI Artist, discuss the benefits and challenges of creating a 4K workflow for their film, Path of Souls, while adopting the latest technologies to finish the film remotely. Filmmaker picks a copyright fight with “Happy Birthday” | Ars Technica Filmmakers and TV producers have l...

Lynda Obst: Hollywood’s completely broken | Salon I'm not sure everyone has stopped buying DVDs to steal the video online. Some of us just bought a lot of their favorite old movies, and then stopped buying when nothing interesting came along: There it was. Technology had destroyed the DVD. When Peter referred to the “transition of the DVD market,” and technology destroying the DVD, he was talking about the implications of the fact that our movies were now proliferating for free—not just on the streets of Beijing and Hong Kong and Rio. JVC launch a 4K camera with Nikon mount which gets almost everything wrong | EOSHD The sensor – the size of 1.25 inch is no-man’s land territory for lenses. Smaller than Micro Four Thirds but larger than Super 16mm, it conforms to no common video standard at all. It’s also completely unsuited to the photographic Nikon full frame lenses JVC requires you to mount on it. It isn’t suited to DX glass either. JVC ANNOUNCE JY-HMQ30 4K LARGE SENS...

Sony’s Sub-$10,000 PMW-300 Is the EX3′s Successor | StudioDaily Sony announced the PMW-300 camcorder, refreshing its XDCAM line-up with a semi-shoulder mount camera that uses the same EX-mount interchangeable lens system as the PMW-EX3, meaning both 1/2-inch and 2/3-inch lenses can be used. And it adds the broadcast-friendly 50 Mbps MPEG HD 422 codec to its recording options. Behind the Scenes of the New Sony 4K Commercial | Sony Blog If you’ve seen the spot, you know this was no small production. But what exactly does it take to create something like this? As it turns out, it takes 4 days on location and a whole lotta people. Our team selected Miranda Beach in New Zealand as the main set (ironic, since our Cinematographer on the job is Academy Award Winner, Claudio Miranda. No relation). First impressions of the F55 | Sony Cinematographer and hugely influential blogger Philip Bloom got his hands on the F55 back in April and immediately set about making a short film ...

Saturday, June 15th @ High Output Studios, Massachusetts Coffee & Bagels 9:30 AM / Seminars 10:00 - 12:00 Noon  RSVP & Tickets: Working Methods Seminars Learn how brands work with agencies, producers, filmmakers, and content creators to create unique and engaging work in today's multi-platform media landscape. The seminar will also explore product placement in feature films, television and web content - and the rights and clearances involved when featuring products in a production. SPEAKERS & PANEL Eric Korsh - VP Brand Content, Digitas Arestia Rosenberg - Senior Content Producer, Hill Holiday Michelle Ferullo - Product placement specialist for feature films and TV. Moderated by: Margie Sullivan - Executive Producer, Redtree Productions

Tuesday was the Finale of the Boston 48 Hour Film Project . From something like 80 films, the final list had been winnowed down to 14 films. I'd already attended one of the six original screening nights, so statistically I should have seen at least two of these films, but I'd only seen one of them before. There were some great videos. The winner " All for Knot " was a great piece of acting, shooting and editing, and three or four of the other movies were almost as good. All in all, pretty impressive. Below are some of the best entries (unfortunately, I couldn't find a couple of other movies I wanted to include.) Anything from The2ndAct on Vimeo Behind the Scenes of "Love Hurts" from Ben Pender-Cudlip on Vimeo .

Adobe Premiere Pro CC and GPU support | Adobe Also, some customers may be aware that in the past there was a not-so-secret way of enabling non-supported GPUs by the ‘hacking’ or removal of a text file. This is no longer necessary in Premiere Pro CC. As long as you have a reasonably modern card with at least 1GB of VRAM, you will still be able to enable that card in the Project Settings dialog. TYLER STABLEFORD TALKS ABOUT HIS MOVE TO VIDEO, NON-PROFIT WORK AND THE FUTURE OF FILMMAKING | News Shooter Photographer, cinematographer and director, Tyler Stableford, like many others, started shooting video in 2009 after the release of the EOS 5D mkII. Over the last three years it has completely changed his business and landed him some big name clients but he’s still a storyteller at heart. I met up with Tyler at this year’s NAB show for a brief chat about his work. New Rokinon 16mm f/2.0 Wide-Angle Lens for APS-C and Micro Four Thirds | B & H Photovideo Rokinon has announc...

Zacuto C-Shooter Hands On Review | Erik Naso A review of the ($949)  Zacuto C-Shooter for Canon EOS C100/C300/C500 Cameras: The Canon Cinema EOS cameras are the most ergonomic camera I have used. So why use a rig for them? Well for a couple of reasons. If your trying to shoot ENG style then holding a camera with no rig can get fatiguing really fast. Try interviewing someone for over five minutes holding the C100 up without a rig.  Amazon Storyteller: A Sort-of-Free Storyboard Tool | Michael Murie | Filmmaker Magazine On the face of it, it’s surprisingly easy to get started. The tool displays the script in a panel on the left-hand side. Click on a line of the script and the tool creates a new storyboard frame.  “Have You Been in Jail Recently?” Chris Doyle on How to Be a Cinematic Artist | Allan Tong | Filmmaker Magazine Doyle always carries this mindset when he handles a motion picture camera. “You see some words [in a script], and it says, ‘It’s ve...

A little rain in my Pocket | John Brawley John takes another look at the  Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera , which is expected to ship at the end of July. Using the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera with native m4/3 lenses I moved around pretty easily and unobtrusively.  Yes. The camera did get wet.  I tried to keep it dry, but it was inevitable. I shot mainly at ISO 1600, but the first few clips were shot at 800. BMCC prores test footage | Alex K Lin | Vimeo The Blackmagic Cinema Camera (the original, not the upcoming 4K ) My take on it is that the BMCC certainly has its own look. I think although Canon has avery mainstream and popular color matrix, rendering beautiful blushy skintones, the BMCC has very naturalrendering of skintones and film mode makes you start coloring with a nostalgic desaturated look... Product Review: Zynaptiq Unveil | Larry Jordan Can you remove reverberation? Maybe with this plug-in: As I was researching last week’s ...