Notes On Video

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera It seems that the BMPCC is finally arriving - in limited quantities to Instagram and Twitter accounts near you. Speaking of Blackmagic, their new page for the Production Camera 4K looks an awful lot like an Apple product page (and that's not necessarily a bad thing!)  Order yours for $3,995 ... Day 1 of 25: James Ponsoldt and The Spectacular Now | Scott Macaulay | Filmmaker Magazine A new, occasional column here at Filmmaker, “The Shooting Schedule” looks at film production through the prism of a single shoot day. I peruse a film’s call sheet and production report and ask the director questions solely based on what I see there. How to Option a Book for Film Adaptation |  Robert Zipser | Filmmaker Magazine Hollywood has loved books ever since the days of silent films. It always will. Sometimes you will hear grumblings from studio executives and producers that acquiring motion picture and television rights to books costs too...

Ep. 56 - "Pure Logic" (With Dot Bustelo, Alex Gollner & Mike Trigg) | NeedCreative Podcast Lots of interesting stuff about Logic Pro X in the latest NeedCreative Podcast, as well as some pre- Final Cut Pro X 10.1 talk: Episode 56 is all about Logic Pro X! Ben Consoli of BC Media Productions talks to Dot Bustelo, Logic Pro expert and trainer. Then Alex Gollner (Alex4D) comes on the show to talk about how Logic Pro X works with Final Cut Pro X . We also cover all big news in the production world including a short chat with Mike Trigg, Chief Marketing Officer from Hightail, to discuss the strategy behind changing YouSendIt's name to Hightail. Final Cut Pro X is faster! | Philip Hodgetts A collection of quotes about Final Cut Pro X: I turned to the director and said, ‘why do YOU think we have achieved so much in such a short time?’ He said, ‘I think its because its so visual, you really fell like you are in it’. No compromises | Zeiss Interesting piece a...

On August 8th, 1969, a very famous photo for a very famous album cover was taken. The following video is a nice little salute to the subject of that photo: Why don't we do it in the Road? from chris purcell on Vimeo . A lyrical portrait of one of London’s most peculiar tourist attractions - a humble pedestrian crossing in 
St John’s Wood. But this isn’t any ordinary piece of street furniture, a 10 minute photo session back in the 
summer of 1969 saw to that. A couple of weeks after Neil Armstrong took his giant leap, theBeatles took 
a few short steps across Abbey Road and the rest is history. Roughly timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' first recording session at Abbey Road Studios, this quirky short film explores a tiny part of London that is, in the words of narrator Roger McGough, suffused with a sort of magic.'Best Super Short' - NYC Independent Film Festival... 'Best Documentary' - UK Film Festival

Can you do serious work with Magic Lantern? | Red Shark That's a question I've been asking myself, now that they are hinting at RAW capture with the Canon 7D....should I? Unfortunately, this article probably won't really answer the question for you, just give you some things to think about: First of all, let's get rid of the idea that because the ML software is running on Canon's hardware it must be reliable, because the moment you install a single byte of "alien" code on a third-party's product, all the testing is completely invalidated. In a sense software like ML's would be treated by the original manufacturer as one giant bug. Andrew Ellard on Writing for Film and Television | Filmmaker Magazine I really enjoyed interviewing Andrew for Filmmaker . I'm not sure it comes through in the interview, but he's an energetic and enthusiastic guy: There’s a lot of good advice out there but often it’s the same advice wearing a different...

First ProRes files from the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera released | EOSHD John Brawley has released a few ungraded ProRes files from his card, shot with the Pocket Cinema Camera and SLR Magic 35mm F1.4. Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera – First Impressions | Dan Moran | Mixing Light I have to say I’m very impressed with this camera. The images John has shot are beautifully sharp and even in a difficult lighting situation I can’t see any issues.  DSLR Shoulder Rig: A brief history of the shoulder-mounted video camera | DSLR Solutions I remember when I first heard about DSLR cameras getting video capabilities. At the time, I owned a Panasonic DVX100 and I was not sure why anyone would want to capture video with a DSLR when they lacked the much-needed features only available on professional video cameras. Nikon Quietly Getting Some Love in Hollywood | DoddleMe It was rather quiet, in fact, we barely noticed when the news came out a few months back.  But...

Canon sent out the following announcement of a firmware update for the C300 yesterday (thanks to Paul Antico) : This service notification e-mail contains important information about your Canon EOS C300 Cinema EOS Camera/Canon EOS C300 PL Cinema EOS Camera. Please note that product service announcement e-mails contain advisory or informational content that may be critical to the proper operation of your product, including safety, update, and instructional messages. Please carefully review the information in this e-mail as it relates to your Canon product. Thank you for using Canon products. Affected Products Canon EOS C300 Cinema EOS Camera Canon EOS C300 PL Cinema EOS Camera Firmware Firmware Version 1.0.9.1.00 incorporates the following additional functions and modifications: 1. Apple iOS6 is now supported when the camera is paired with the WFT-E6 for remote operation. 2. The polarity of the XLR terminal has been modified to improve compatibility with external audio devices. Th...

How to succeed as a creative long term: know your C.O.D.B. | Vincent Laforet Vincent Laforet put together a good guide for calculating your cost of doing business. I think it's a useful and interesting piece for succeeding in the long term . However, I don't know how much use it is to those just starting out. Until you have an established customer base, there's practically no way to know how much income you will have, or how much to charge. C.O.D.B stands for "Cost of Doing Business."    Basically it’s a number that represents what it costs you to operate your business for every day that you work. On a basic level, you add up all of your purchases and expenses to run your business, as well as your salary (I suggest you add your salary, but some people don’t)  and divide that by the total number of days you expect to work each year. 9 Important Insights if You Work in Film | Michelle Brooks 2. Smile - Or at least don't walk around like you hate your ...

Blackmagic sent out a press release with some interesting news. They say that the Pocket Cinema Camera is shipping (though no mention of quantity.) Perhaps more interesting is an astonishing price drop on the original Blackmagic Cinema Camera to $1,995 [ At time of writing the price hasn't been updated at B & H yet ]. That's $1,000 off the original price! Wow. (Either Canon or MTF mount .) Finally, there's a seminar in New York on August 8th. Camera Update The new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera is now shipping and there is a software update for it posted on our web site. There are some new features in the software for the Pocket Cinema Camera. You can now focus by pushing the focus button when using an active MFT lens. This makes it very easy to accurately focus. The focus peaking feature is still there and you enable it by double pressing the focus button. The focus zoom feature is enabled by double pressing the OK button. There will be an update for...

Rotolight sent me a short email (below) and a copy of the statement that they released concerning the recent take-down of a video by Den Lennie (see:  Using a Copyright Infringement claim to shut down the opposition ) With reference to the recent online publicity regarding Rotolight please find attached the official Response from Rotolight. The Statement is also available online:- http://www.rotolight.com/officialstatement/ There will be no further comments. I've reprinted the full statement below. I'm not going to flog a dead horse; I don't think we'll learn anything more by pursuing this particular event, though I don't think it removes the underlying concern that companies can have things taken down because they don't like them. I will add though, that I'm a little bit puzzled that in their statement they say that they received advice advancing the legal theory of having things removed that might be " potentially misleading and unrepresenta...

Sometimes, when you're wading through the detritus that is much of the Internet, it's easy to take for granted what an amazing thing it is. Of course, there are downsides. I'm quite convinced that the Internet will one day prove that there is no original thought. Have an idea? Search for it; you'll almost certainly find that someone already thought of it, or did it. I have a Steadicam Smoothee that works with the iPhone 4 . I used it a couple of times and then put it away and never used it again. Now you can buy an adapter for the GoPro , but I don't have one of those. Today I was thinking, 'maybe I could adapt it to work with a better camera?' Well, of course you can, and dozens of people were already doing that over a year ago . Hardly an original idea! Actually, I'm not that upset to find out lots of other people have been doing it; because now I have something to copy and I'm much more likely to meet with success.. And there is the joy o...

Canon has a new VIXIA MINI COMPACT camera [ Updated ] Canon just sent me a press release for a new camera, which appears to be a GoPro competitor. Unfortunately, no pictures were included , and the link to the camera page on their website - at the moment - doesn't seem to display anything. Clearly, the size, shape and included LCD sets this apart from the action cameras... The VIXIA mini compact personal camcorder features an ultra wide-angle Canon f/2.8 fisheye lens (160 degree movies / 170 degree photos) allowing a user to shoot from unique and creative perspectives while including their surroundings to make their videos and images more interesting. By utilizing the Wide Mode users can give the viewer a full view of their surroundings and then switch to Close-Up Mode to provide emphasis on a particular subject. While in Close-up Mode, users can record a centered 1920 x 1440 resolution image with little distortion. They can also quickly toggle from one shooting mode to t...

Indiesonar interviews Charysse Tia Harper about the making of her currently in-production documentary Panomundo: "We’ve been fortunate enough to borrow equipment from crew members and friends from our past shoots. However, I have a Lavalier mic and a Nikon D5100, and Keith has acquired a Canon 60D." NPR's POV blog has an article for those just starting out:  Tips for Making Your First Film : Choosing a Topic, Interviewing Like a Pro, and One Aspect of Filmmaking That’s Often Overlooked Choosing a TopicIFP: You have to go with your gut on this one! Whatever makes you happy, piques your interest, inspires (or enrages!) and activates is probably going to appeal to someone else. When you put passion into a project, others can see it. This makes them excited about the work too! First test's of Canon 70D footage aren't that spectacular . Johnnie Behiri has posted an initial test with a beta copy of this camera, and the footage: " At present time there i...

Back in April Vincent Laforet started tweeting and posted about a new device he'd used that would be a "game changer" and would shake things up in the industry as much as the Canon 5D Mark II had. He said that this was the first thing since the 5D Mark II that he felt was as important, and added "I have a hard time imagining the day where I won’t be using it on a shoot." The device was, of course, the  MōVI , a "revolutionary" camera stabilizer. The footage was certainly impressive, but at $15,000 for the M10 (they have a M5 that will sell for $7,500) I found it difficult to see this as a game changer for the majority of the video production industry. I just couldn't see a lot of indie or corporate video people spending that much money for a video stabilizer. And while the shots were pretty impressive, a regular Steadicam shot - done carefully - is pretty similar, and probably just as effective. But, now there seems to be a dozen or s...

How often do companies try to suppress information using copyright takedown claims? That's what I was wondering yesterday. Here's another example reported by Ars Technica ; KTVU, who had that unfortunate incident with the pilot names on the Asiana Airlines crash attempted to suppress the video by posting take down claims on YouTube. It seems they gave up after a day or so...(you can't suppress the really big stuff.) Kickstarter Project Canceled After Dude Spends All the Money | Gawker This is interesting; guy makes $120,000 and blows it all on...well we're not too sure exactly on what, but he's given up on the project. I thought this response way interesting. I wonder what the results are for Kickstarter projects: Michael Scott ‏@DorkmanScott I've backed 23, 22 of which succeeded; to date received rewards from 2. RT @E_MARSTON of the 4 i've donated to i've gotten one postcard. Meanwhile, Backstreet Boy Nick Carter is raising money on IndieG...

Den Lennie has posted a story on Facebook about a short video review he posted on Vimeo getting taken down due to a Copyright Infringement claim from one of the manufacturers in the test. What's disturbing is that in the thread of the post, a representative from the company actually seems to admit that they made the claim because they didn't like the results, not because of any copyright claim. In a first message they state " We just feel that the test was not fair or representative of our product ," but in their second post they state: You are completely right, we should have just contacted you directly to arrange the re-test rather than acted via Vimeo, please accept our sincere apologies for that. We of course have no issue at all with you posting the results of the re-test all we wanted was just to ensure the test was representative , there was nothing more to it than that. This is, frankly, shocking. While the internet is a sea of copyright infringement,...

Completely un-video related, I just ordered a Yamaha StagePas 400i . [ We're getting the band back together-Ed]  I was looking for something simple and light weight for vocals and guitar amplification. I nearly went with a mixer and powered speakers. Getting a dedicated mixer might have been the better choice if we had larger - or any - aspirations, but simplicity and lightness seemed the way to go. The 400i is a new model; the previous models (the 300 ) were considered good for what they were, but the effects were criticized a lot. Yamaha re-engineered the effects in the 400i , so I'm hopeful they are useable. You don't get a lot of choice in effects, but again, we're looking for simplicity. Back to the video stuff Canon has a 50mm f/1.8 IS coming? CanonRumors reports that maybe Canon has a 50mm f/1.8 IS coming. Canon currently has three 50mm lenses; the $125 f/1.8 II , the  $399 f/1.4 , and the $1,439 f/1.2L monster. CanonRumors wonder if it will replace...