Notes On Video

Best DSLR Rig For Fast Pace Shooting And B-Roll | DSLR Video Shooter Shooting using a monopod, and he also points out this  Benro monopod that's $199 and very similar (like a copy of) the Manfrotto monopod (which is $239 through August 31 ) Keep it Simple My Friends – Don’t over complicate your setup. If you don’t use 4×4 filters don’t setup a matte box, if you don’t need a ton of power don’t mess around with battery grips etc. Your goal should be to keep removing gear until you can’t remove anymore. K.I.S.S. Shooting Video in the Wild: What You Should Know Before You Go | Rae-Anne LaPlante | Zacuto 2. Be one with your environment If you spend enough time shooting outdoors, you’ll notice how living things interact with each other in their natural environment. If you are videotaping wildlife, you’ll want to understand how your subject communicates with it’s’ environment and other species. Is it a prey or predator? Hands-On Review: the New Rokinon 16mm Wide-Angle...

Tonight :  August 22nd BOSCPUG: Zack Arnold (Burn Notice), Philip Hodgetts, Ben Consoli If you're in Boston, come to the BOSFCPUG meeting! Featuring a special conversation with ZACK ARNOLD, Editor (USA Network's BURN NOTICE) Zack will join us to discuss his "interesting" career path as well as his editorial work on this hit TV show. PLUS! Final Cut Pro X Workflows: Multi-Cam with Filmmaker BEN CONSOLI Lumberjack with PHILIP HODGETTS & GREGORY CLARKE Field of View 5D Mark II vs. GH3 vs. BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera | CheesyCam For anyone looking to adapt non-MFT Lenses (without a speed booster) to the BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera, here’s what it will look like through a full frame Canon 5D Mark II, Panasonic GH3, and BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera. NeedCreative Podcast |  Ep. 58 - Lighting Maroon 5 (With Matt Guminski and Philip Hodgetts) Episode 58 is all about lighting live concerts for Maroon 5, Neon Trees and More. Ben Consoli of BC Media ...

Today’s Video Cameras Can Do it All, But Do You Want Them To? | Redrockmicro Blog Subtitled "Why Optical Filters and Matte Boxes Still Matter in the Digital Age" this is a great look at filters and matter boxes and things from Tiffen's MPTV Filter Group Consultant Carey Duffy. Graduated and Attenuated ND Filters A variant of ND filters are graduated and attenuated filters, which cut down the amount of light in a specific area. This is typically used to cut down the bright sky so the exposure is more even between the action on the ground and the overhead light. Graduated ND goes from some ND to clear, whereas attenuated filters have a graduated ND across the entire filter, never going to clear. Raw video on the Canon 7D – Super 35mm raw for under $1000 | EOSHD Because the 7D has a parallel processing architecture, it is lagging behind a bit compared to the other cameras in terms of Magic Lantern development, but it has certainly caught up leaps and bounds in the...

My Final Post....  | Red Forum Jim Jannard says he will stop posting and be less of the face of RED because of the stupid people on the internet. I wish him well in his new mission of not dealing with stupid people. I assume he will no longer be using the internet: With the release of the Dragon sensor... I have finished my mission. I am done posting. I will no longer be the face of RED. Mercifully, Jarred will take my place and he is worthy times forever. Jarred is me... only 30 years younger. My final thoughts...I have done my best. I saw a fatal flaw in the camera industry. We did our best to address it. I will now sink into the background, I hope with my reputation intact. I will work on the future of digital cinema... behind the scenes. “Is that a Blackmagic in your pocket or are you…?” The evolving camera review!! | Philip Bloom Philip has started a blog about his experience with the new Blackmagic Cinema Pocket Camera . First he had some problems with SD car...

(ltor) Canon 16-35mm, Rokinon 35mm, Rokinon 16mm, Sigma 18-35mm I’ve never really done a lens test. When I’m buying lenses, it’s usually based on the focal length(s) I need, and on price. Usually it’s price that’s the biggest determining factor on which lens I buy. With that said, I’ve found myself with two lenses to review; the new  Rokinon 16mm f/2.0 ($479) and the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 ($799) . I'm particularly interested in the latter as one of my favorite lenses is the Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 , which is twice the price. That f/1.8 is mighty appealing, though of course, at 16mm the Canon is slightly wider, and it is a fill frame lens. These lenses are for APS-C sized sensors and are not for full-frame cameras. They work fine with cameras like the Canon 7D or Sony NEX cameras, but won't work with the Canon 5D Mark III. Also, the Rokinon 16mm is the "still" lens version of the Rokinon; they only just announced a Cine version, which is currently being offered in...

Need Creative Podcast   Episode 57 is a celebration of the Music Video artform! Ben Consoli of BC Media Productions is joined by Stephen Gottlieb, founder of VideoStatic.com A website dedicated to music videos and their creative community. We talk about the current state of the music video industry, the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards and how you can become a better music video director or producer. Guest Post: Building a Story’s Foundation … One Board at a Time | Hollywonk Using the Amazon Studios Storyboard tool: Jeanne Veillette Bowerman is a screenwriter, columnist, and co-founder of #scriptchat, a weekly gathering of writers on Twitter. Amazon Studios asked her to try Amazon Storyteller, a tool that lets you turn your script into a storyboard (like hers). Here’s how it went: Story Structure: The Art of the Dilemma | Script Mag When I came to the recognition that having a strong dilemma is the key component of the setup in each story arc, my perspective opened up...

(SR5) New NEX-FS700R and NEX-FS700RH camcorders to be announced soon too | Sony Alpha Rumors Practically no details about a suspected enhancement/replacement for the Sony NEX-FS700 . Using Lens Files | Sony Community Doug Munro has posted a lengthy forum post about creating lens files for the Sony F55 : First we setup the Flares. Flare refers to how some of the light coming through the lens bounces around causing and overall increase in the brightness level this causes the blacks to get lifted from the zero point  and the flare adjustment brings the blacks back to zero. This is done by shooting a properly lit grey scale chart, you then using a WFM set the lens exposure an set the green flare adjustment so that the 2 black chips are at zero then overexpose the lens by one stop. Shooting Documentaries with Sony's NEX-FS700, PMW-F5, and PMW-F55 | Sony Professional USA PRO | Vimeo In this Cine Gear 2013 presentation, Cinematographer David Leitner discusses his experi...

Traveling with the Sony F55 | Sony A post by Gavin Rawlings about shooting with the Sony F55: I remember the first shot I filmed with the F55. It was at the top of the largest sand dune in the Simpson Desert; Big Red. The environment just leant itself to being filmed in 4K. I combined the 4K shooting with Canon’s 30-105 light weight zoom and the F55 produced some remarkable imagery Upcoming Adobe Webinars Create a distributed production pipeline with Creative Cloud Thursday, August 22, 201310:00 AM - 11:00 AM US/Pacific Controlling Time in Adobe Premiere Pro CC and After Effects CC Thursday, August 29, 201310:00 AM - 11:00 AM US/Pacific TECH: Complete Guide to Aerial Photography & Video |  chase jarvis Helicopter safety. It is critical that you understand how to navigate your way safely in and around this machine. There are two hard and fast rules that all helicopter people live by when it comes to helicopters: 1) Never walk around the tail-end of the ...

TOM AKERMAN TALKS ABOUT THE BEACH CAPTAIN, SHOT USING MAGIC LANTERN RAW ON A 5D MKIII | NewsShooter Been curious about using Magic Lanten? This piece is great because it's a detailed interview with someone who has actually used it, and had some concerns about it too: When the team announced they had cracked silent imaging, and that RAW video was on the horizon for the 5D mkIII, I’ll admit, even with my prior use of the firmware, I didn’t exactly jump straight on board. My mkIII was my primary source of income, and for it to break or malfunction while using an alpha build, no matter how small the chance, was not an option I could afford to take. And if you've been tempted by Magic Lantern, their latest claim: 14 stops of dynamic range is - to me - more intriguing that shooting RAW. Magic Lantern cracks “dual ISO” on 5D2 and 6D for 14 stops of dynamic range | Planet 5D It seems that Sony does have a "lens camera"; basically a lens with a sensor inside it ...

Hollywood’s Biggest Bang for Its Buck | Economix | The New York Times This is fascinating: The genre with the biggest box office R.O.I. was actually documentary, with domestic box office returns averaging 12 times the original production budget, and global returns at nearly 27 times the original budget.  VIDEO: ARE ALL NEUTRAL DENSITY FILTERS CREATED EQUAL? TRUE ND SAY NO | News Shooter Interesting piece about Neutral Density filters: Like most people I have never really taken the time to look into how ND filters shift colour, so the results were quite surprising. While a lot of modern day video cameras have built-in ND and IR protection even these can produce a certain amount of colour shift. Say Hello to Rec. 2020, the Color Space of the Future | Wolfcrow Rec. 2020 is the designated color space for ultra high definition TV, or UHDTV, in both its variants: 4K and 8K. It gets its name from the standards classification: ITU-R Recommendation BT.2020. Rec st...

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...