Notes On Video

C300 | Rodney Charters | Vimeo Rodney Charters shot this video of Drew Gardner and Lan Bui talking about the Canon C300 while shooting at the Billingsgate Fish Market. The BTS video was shot on the iPhone 4S . How To Make Money From Moving Image: Producing & Others | El Skid | Wide Open Camera Another article from El Skid about making it in the movie business, this time about being a Producer: Producing is a skill all of its own and should not be considered the default fall-back for those who weren’t really good enough to direct. I’m really not very good at it, I’m way too nice to people and don’t negotiate prices properly. In fact I suck at producing. Which is bad really since about 90% of the work I do carries a producer/director credit. What I like is putting projects together, pulling all the elements into place so that it can happen. The budget and the operational side I’m just not interested in, which is why I prefer to hire a production manager to take care of al

Case Study: Rampart | HD Magazine A look at the workflow for the Arri Alexa used on the movie Rampart : “This was one of the first; if not the first; feature films to use the SxS module to shoot directly to ProRes 4:4:4:4 files,” notes FotoKem Vice President Mike Brodersen. “We did quality tests that showed the format holds up beautifully with no obvious compression issues. The images are recorded in Log C, which allows the full dynamic range of the Alexa to be captured even on relatively ‘lightweight’ media. The ease of media management and the lighter files, without the need for a big recorder or tethering, was important to Bobby in this case.” The Importance of Sound and Where You Get it From | Mario Feil | Zacuto Zacuto has been posting articles on audio lately, the latest on using music in your videos: 1-Man-Composer: I work with friends who design music by themselves with Logic or Cubase. Stock instruments and sounds are already included with these programs. They have ev

B & H is offering the Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS II at $1,974, that's $400 off. The offer appears to run through Jan 7th. It's a really nice - if rather large and expensive - lens.  -  Ahh, if I only had the money....

Redrock sent out an amusing little card this year. I particularly like the microTape spelling out the greeting...

Senior Director of Professional Engineering and Solutions at Canon, Larry Thorpe presents this powerful new camera tool offering quality and innovation at an affordable price. Join us for an overview of the C300 followed by Q&A. Boston Rule Camera 395 Western Avenue Boston, MA 02135 Thursday, January 5. 6:00 to 8:00pm • Pizza and Beer Space is limited. RSVP events@rule.com

Part 1 now live!! The Christmas mini shootout with the C300 (pre-production), F3, FS100, hacked GH2 and more!! | Philip Bloom | Blog Philip has posted the first part of his Canon C300 comparison, with some interesting conclusions: Bang for buck the clear winner was the GH2 with the Driftwood hack but this is purely on resolution. The F3/ C300 are damn close to each other and the FS100 not far behind. Part 2 moves onto skin tones and low light where the camcorders come into their own. I also take a look at how well each of the internal codecs hold up to colour correction and grading. Shootout reveals Panasonic GH2 resolution at Canon C300 level | Andrew Reid | EOSHD Andrew Reid at EOSHD looks at Philip's results and rates the cameras from best ( C300 and GH2 ) to worst ( AF100 and Canon 7D ): Although that is not the full story. For example I prefer gradation, tonality, colour and shadow areas in my 5D Mark II footage to the GH2. Stuff shot on the 5D looks great on a pl

I saw the Tintin movie - in 2D - the other night. I went in optimistic that it would be a good evenings entertainment; unfortunately, that wasn't really the case. In the interests of full disclosure: I was never a reader of the Tintin books. Though I was aware of them - and had glanced at them once or twice years ago - they never grabbed my attention. So I really knew very little about Tintin at the beginning of the movie, and came out knowing very little more. Tintin is also bring distributed in 3D (stereoscopy), but I won't be talking much about that as I only saw the movie in 2D. I will note that when watching the movie in 2D there was never a point where I felt "this is a stereoscopic set-piece" - a scene that was obviously composed to create the maximum stereoscopic effect. I've always found those scenes a little annoying in stereoscopic movies, and I even noticed it in the recent Hugo , so points to the producers for not doing that in Tintin .[ 1 ] Bu

5D Mark III Sooner Than Later [CR2] | CanonRumors Now the rumors say sooner rather than later on the 5D Mark III . But don't be surprised if it changes again! Barring another manufacturing problem in Asia, count on the 5D Mark III being announced around the end of March or early April 2012. Don’t Hold Back Your Art | Ron Dawson | Dare Dreamer The next two posts are sort of similar. This one is an argument for putting yourself out there... Do you know what’s so ironic about my initial feelings regarding this video? It has a sound bite by designer Rick Anwyl of Sonandsons.com (the presenter the day the video was shot) saying how each of us is unique and special, and that we each have something to give. He goes on to say “Find your voice. Be confident in who you are and what you do.” I guess I need to pay more attention to my own work. Under The Circumstances: The Phrase That Means Nothing & Everything | El Skid | Wide Open Camera ....and this post argues that you sho

I’ve had a chance the last couple of weeks to play with the Sony NEX-VG20 thanks to B & H PhotoVideo , who kindly loaned me a camera (full disclosure: I have to send it back.) The NEX-VG20 is an upgrade to the  NEX-VG10 , and one way to describe this camera is as a DSLR in a personal-camcorder body. Like a DSLR, it has a large sensor (I've read that it's the same sensor as the one in the Sony NEX-5N ),  and supports interchangeable lenses using the Sony E-mount. Like a camcorder, it has a flip-out viewfinder, a very different form factor, and a much better microphone. At $2,199 - with the $600 kit lens - this camera is not cheap, though you can buy it without the lens . Here's a list of things I like about this camera: Body shape: At first the camera just felt wrong in my hands; it wasn’t a small traditional camcorder, but it wasn’t a big body camera either. It was sort of in-between. After a week or so of handling it, I got used to it, and it actually works o

A Year with Large Sensor cameras | Philip Johnston | HD Warrior Philip looks back at the large sensor cameras he's encountered this year, starting with the Panasonic AG-AF100 : My recommendation is to get a prime lens that is f1.4-f1.2 for producing interviews and don’t be scared to give the subject breathing space by shutting down the iris to f2.8 there is nothing worse than a person moving in and out of focus during an interview, 9 times out of 10 you won’t know that till you have started the interview wether they sway back and forth. F65 "Behind the Scenes" | Sony A five minute video on the F65, with an interview with Curtis Clark, ASC. The Sony F65 | Video4 This F65 dealer has put together an information page on the camera. You can find most of this on Sony's page, but it's all in one place here: Some camera manufacturers measure their sensor resolution on the basis of “K,” a unit that equates to 1024 horizontal photosites. So a 4K sensor might ha

Canon C300 review and short film “Le Mont, La Pluie et La Nuit” | Philip Bloom | Blog Philip posts his review of the Canon C300 . Interestingly, he seems to think he will get one, but still keep the Sony PMW-F3 : Things I love about the C300: Size, the amazing image, EVF pretty good, the little lip at the front of the camera, light sensitivity, the onboard codec, the way it works with the Canon lenses, great quality LCD and waveform, actually works great in my hands ergonomically especially with IS lenses. Works out of the box without a rig surprisingly although a rig would be recommended for longer handheld filming. Excellent build quality yet still nice and light. The price at just under £10k for a camera of this spec is amazing. Remember this is not a DSLR but a high powered S35 camera. The need for more cameras…Why? | Philip Johnston | HD Warrior Philip asks Alister Chapman why he needs more than one camera: Now I have the luxury of owning an EX1R for run and gun, quick

Have a safe and merry day!

Low light comparison between the RED Scarlet & Canon C300 | Nino Leitner | Cinema 5D Nino does a low light test with the Scarlet and C300, and finds the Scarlet noisier: 4K sounds vastly superior - it’s 4 times the resolution of 1080p. But apart from the computing-heavy post production, there is one other downside to it: light sensitivity. If the pixels sit densely on a chip, they absorb more light, less resolution leaves more light for the individual pixel. The other part of the reason is the fact that the Mysterium-X sensor inside the Scarlet is now around 3-year-old technology. It’s not the most recent tech anymore and light sensitivity is an area where sensor technology seems to improve exponentially in recent years. RED will be bringing a new sensor to market which is supposed to be much better in low light. DP David Kruta and the Red Epic | Michael Murie | Filmmaker Magazine After seeing Dave talk about the Epic at a recent Rule Boston Camera event, I interviewed

Kessle takes a new stealth approach to Sliders | Dan Chung | DSLR News Shooter If you need to be mobile in the field, smaller and lighter is better: Enter the new Stealth hybrid slider which takes the Pocketdolly’s portability and combines it with drag control and a super smooth rolling precision stainless steel ball bearing wheel system on the carriage. It does not have the crank handle from the Pocketdolly and the overall design is more sleek than previous dollies. It can be used with DSLR as well as larger cameras like the Sony F3 or even some broadcast models. The Latest OS X Lion Hackintosh Recommendations for Video Editors | No Film School Save money, build yourself a Hackintosh: I recently upgraded my machine to OS X Lion (it’s working great), and so I also updated the guide to reflect an easy way to do it, courtesy Unibeast from Tonymac: The guide has been updated to reflect the latest hardware recommendations and OS X Lion instructions. My machine’s currently running

EOSHD tests the new Magic Lantern Unified on 5D Mark II | Andrew Reid | EOSHD Testing a beta of the next version of the Magic Lantern firmware hack adds high frame rates and HDR: HDR video alternatives between low ISO / high ISO frames and then you blend them in post. Brilliant feature. On fast motion you can get a bit of ghosting, I recommend a faster shutter speed to avoid that. More on this feature on EOSHD soon. Eve Hazelton lighting tutorial two: Using lights around the house to add that extra sparkle | Philip Bloom Blog Eve offers some interesting, low cost, ideas for lighting: #2 – Fairy lights! It’s Christmas. Don’t try stealing them off the tree just yet, but do go bag yourself some in the sale to keep in your lighting kit. We all know Phil loves a bit of Bokeh! and when you are shooting at a shallow DOF with these lights in the background its easy to see why! The beautiful out of focus discs of light can add colour, interest and of course movement (gentle twinkling o

Sony FS100 Prime lens vs Zoom lens | Shawn Lam | Blog Shawn continues his lens testing with a comparison of the Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm f/1.4 prime lens and the Sony SAL1650 DT 16-50mm f/2.8 wide angle zoom lens: I saw a very slight advantage for the prime lens at f/2.8 in both sharpness and contrast but not much of a difference afterwards. The prime was also a bit more consistent when it came to light transmission across the different exposures. I was also interested to see the depth of field differences at the various f-stops. 14 Cameras in one year Part TWO | Philip Johnston | HD Warrior The second part of a look back at 14 interesting cameras released this year: Panasonic HDC Z10000 I first saw this 3D camcorder at IBC 2011 and it had an impressive number of features for the money. 3D is not for everyone but if you are looking at a semi pro 3D camcorder this must be one of your choices. Get Your Free Copy of “Becoming the Reel Deal” | Evan Luzi | The Black And Blue

An Affordable Remote Controlled Time-lapse Camera | Richard Harrington | 3 Exposure Using the ContourGPS camera for timelapses? That's not something I would have thought of doing! The unit is very small (95x58x34mm) and can easily be attached to a variety of mounting points. It’s also super light, weighing just over five ounces. It has good battery life at 2.5 hours, plus you can swap batteries in it for a longer day. For its size, it offers a capable 5 Megapixel Sensor. Book Review: Rotoscoping: Techniques and Tools for the Aspiring Artist | Nick C Sorbin | Renderosity I always been intrigued by rotoscoping; and Rotoscoping: Techniques and Tools for the Aspiring Artist looks interesting: Modern rotoscoping, which is still the same basic concept, is used to create mattes, by which parts of a live action scene can be isolated in order to insert effects, color correct, hide rigs or wires, etc. As rotoscoping is a crucial part of any video production today, so is the i

Four Minutes With ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’ | Gavin Edwards | New York Times Editors Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter with director David Fincher discuss a scene from the movie: To illuminate that job, and the trio’s ongoing collaboration, we asked Fincher, Baxter and Wall to break down a four-minute sequence that occurs early in “Dragon Tattoo.” The narrative set-up: The journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) is visiting the aging industrialist Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer), who is asking him to investigate a decades-old mystery involving his niece Harriet. Blomkvist agrees to listen, reluctantly, though he is determined to catch his 4:30 train. And ... action. Nela | Sebastian Wiegärtner | Vimeo Oh my! This is probably the first baby video shot with the Canon C300 ! Short film about my baby girl Nela, which I shot on her first day on planet earth (18th December 2011). Love my girls Eva, Annabelle and Nela. x Camera: Canon C300 Pre Production Model C-Log 720/

DIY Indie Air Cannons | Realm Pictures | Vimeo Very cool little tutorial video showing how to create a practical effect explosion with an inexpensive air canon. They are also offering some other tutorials: For a tutorial on how to create your own DIY compressed air cannon like the one shown in the video, along with 9 other action tutorials, skip along to our KickStarter page and pick up the Indie Action Pack! The Ultimate Guide to a Camera Assistant’s Toolkit | Evan Luzi | The Black And Blue Another interesting article at The Black And Blue about putting together a toolkit: For me, I started out working heavily with the RED One on feature films. As such, my initial toolbag purchase was catered towards that kind of work. Nowadays I have been working a lot on commercials that use DSLR’s. Many of the tools I had acquired to work with the RED don’t have functions while shooting with a DSLR. On the flipside, many of the basic tools I have work in both types of gigs. Build A Jib F