Flycam: destructive style

I thought this would never happen to me and I have been so fortunate ever since I bought my first 'pro camera', a Sony PD 150 around 10 years ago; but now my Sony EX1-R smacked into the pavement, cracking the handle and opening up the electronics inside, exposing it to dust, moisture or worse...
First damage assessment: top record button doesn't function, LCD screen is off-level, viewfinder is cracked, zoom-controller kaputt.
On the positive side: I can still shoot video. Both the other record button and zoom lever function 100%...

The camera and bag flew out of a crate on my city bike when I hit a pothole in the road and basically got crushed under its own weight. (It didn't even occur to me I was insured against damages until a passerby asked me about it... I always bought insurance against theft but it's a complete gear insurance.)

Timing is not too great: I have a 2 camera shoot coming up in a few days. Maybe this is a Higher Force telling me to start shooting professionally with my Panasonic GH2?

CRACKED HANDLE

CRACKED HANDLE, RVERSE VIEW

CRACKED VIEWFINDER

CRACKED HANDLE, OTHER SIDE

 

MY BIKE WITH CRATE

Superb, free tutorials on Color Correction in FCP X

This appears to be the week of the freebies: free editing software, free FCP X tutorials and now some really great free Color Correction lessons for FCP X. Color Correction and Color Grading, I should say.
This colorist, Denver Riddle (great name!), has produced an 11 part video tutorial to correct and alter the look of your footage. I watched two so far and his videos are clean, concise and attractive. The fact that they are short also really works for me. Tutorials longer than 7-8 minutes make me feel drowzy and want to 'escape the classroom'... Call me superficial or lazy but I can't help it... Denver Riddle's approach is perfect for people like me. Take a look and judge for yourself.


05. FCP X Color Grading Tutorial: Setting Exposure from Color Grading Central on Vimeo.

Nice Lady does Nice Job! on SmallHD DP4 review

What a relief to hear a lady do a technical review. Gadgets and electronics seem to be an exclusively male universe so hearing a nice lady from Nice Lady Productions do a review on the SmallHD DP4 monitor/electronic viewfinder is refreshing!
Obviously I wouldn't even mention it if Nice Lady was Nice but ill-informed. But that's not the case. She seems to know what she's talking about.
I've been looking at a new monitor for use with my DSLR. My Lilliput monitor is not for use out of the house,  I want to be able to judge exposure on my monitor and I want peaking. So the hunt is on for a monitor that has these features. I've zoomed in on two monitors that fit the picture: the Zacuto EVF and the SmallHD DP4. They're both quality products, from what I've seen and heard. But I really like the extra screen-inch compared to the Zacuto EVF. Ever since I'm wearing reading glasses, I can use every inch I can get...
This video makes me lean towards the SmallHD DP4. Nice Lady is very positive about this little device. (you're not affiliated to SmallHD, are you? And I know I shouldn't be asking but... I tried finding a photo of Nice Lady to see if she's Nice-looking as well... but to no avail... Can we see what Nice Lady looks like- please?)


SmallHD DP4 Monitor Review from Nice Lady Productions on Vimeo.

(who wants to) turn your iPhone into a DSLR

 If you own an iPhone 4, you can use this crazy adapter to mount your lenses and get incredible quality photo and video. At least that's the idea. This is so silly. If I am going to bring one or more lenses, I might as well bring my camera body and blow the iPhone to smithereens, quality wise.

I mean, I am a gadgetfreak, and I have a soft spot for fruitcakes, non-conformists and everyone who thinks 'out of the box'. So I like the fact that this crazy idea has materialized. But can you imagine going through the trouble of mounting the adapter, attaching the lens, bringing a tripod (to get that steady shot, especially with your nice telelens), taking the shot, breaking down your gear and uploading the photo (because that's the main advantage over a DSLR). It goes against anything that mobile photography stands for: quick, lightweight, unprententious, painless!
Not to mention the fact that you can't even answer a phonecall. I can just imagine missing out on that big assignment because that 100mm lens prevents your ear from reaching the speaker... Try explaining that to your client.

3 hours of free FCP X tutorials

If you're not charmed by the Beta edition of the free editing software Lightworks or you bought Final Cut Pro X in a whim (like me) or you just like to nose around in this new software, there is some pretty extensive training for the software that won't cost you a penny!
Izzy Video has produced a series of video tutorials that will get you familiar with the basic functions of FCP X. 26 chapters in all! The tutorials are clear and to the point and make me want to go and use the software. For $37,- you can download 2 GB of practice material so you can edit along with Izzy but you can manage fine without them. Great work, Izzy.

The free alternative to FCP? (or Premiere, Avid...)

Now that many of us are forced to learn new skills to edit video, the market is completely open again. Delve in and learn FCP X? Move to Adobe Premiere? Switch to Avid? No matter what decision, FCP users are going to have to spend some money and start from scratch. We can start all over again and there really is no compelling need to even stay with Apple hardware...
But do we really have to pull out are wallets again? Maybe not. I'm surpised I haven't heard about this before but there is some amazing open source (ie FREE!) editing software that has very professional features. It is called Lightworks and it has been used by a professional editor on the magnificent 'The King's Speech', a film that was nominated for an Oscar and Bafta award. 

It is still Beta, and you have to register before being able to download. For the moment it is Windows only but if you run bootcamp (Os X and Windows both installed on a Mac) that shouldn't be a problem. I just downloaded and when installing it one of the first options was to use the FCP keyboard layout as default. That made me feel welcome! Here's the first in a series of tutorials (by the same producer) that gives you a nice idea how the editing software looks and performs.

Try out sensors and field of view

The list of sensor sizes for DSLR's and videocamera's just keeps growing and growing and it may be hard to decide what sensor best fits your needs. Because: how do all these different sensor sizes affect the picture you're shooting? We all know that the bigger the sensor, the better in low light and the better the ability to get shallow depth of field.
But how about field of view? How much of this beautiful landscape do I get in the picture when using a camera with an APS-C sensor (Canon 550D/T2i/60D/7D) compared to a camera with a Micro 4/3 chip (Panasonic GH2) when using a 50mm lens? And at 20mm or 100mm? Well, here's the tool to find out for yourself. Choose a camera, choose a lens and see what the result is.

FCP-instructors on FCP X

I accepted an invitation from the College of Multimedia in Amsterdam to attend an informative meeting on FCP X. The College of Multimedia is a certified Apple training center, giving courses in the Final Cut Studio suite applications. (Luckily for them they also teach Adobe and Avid, among others)

The meeting took place yesterday. There were a lot of men and one woman, aged 70 plus(!). The instructor started out by saying that he did not represent Apple, he did not develop the new FCP and that we should not shoot the pianoplayer. He was like us, he assured as, and had gone through the same cycle of anger, frustration and disbelief. But then he started to take a look at FCP X and came to the conclusion that it wasn't all bad, that Apple developers had actually thought about this product! (duhh) "They just shouldn't have called it Final Cut Pro."
There was a sadness about the presentation. He was the last of the Mohicans. From a seasoned FCP trainer he has been stripped to an absolute beginner. Of course his mouth said maybe it wasn't all bad but the rest of his body and presentation spoke a different message. His colleague, who was also attending the meeting, was in a much worse state. As a teacher of DVD Studio Pro and Soundtrack Pro, the news of the applications being discontinued hit him like a hammer: "I am out of a job..." From one day to the next, his expertise was obsolete.
The unforgiveable thing was that Apple didn't even notify CMM to tell them about the new FCP X. They found out because students called them: "I have a course in FCP starting next week, will it be FCP 7 or X??" They were dumbfound. Nobody at the college had been prepared to answer that question...

The runthrough of FCP X features was informative. The group of FCP dinosaurs asked questions and most of them were answered. My last question was: "Are there any advantages to being a longtime FCP-user, when learning FCP X?" The answer, as Apple likes to call it, was 'revolutionary'.

Do try this at home!

I was talking about the 10.000 viewer challenge a few days ago and here is a video that has completely crunched these numbers. Yesterday around 4 pm I looked at this clip and there were 4500 views. As I am writing this, the counter has hit 122.500,-!
This video also completely exceeds the requirements I set for the challenge: this is lots, lots of work... I'd be curious to hear how long they prepared for this succesful run. Judging by the cheering at the end of the video, it must have screwed up quite a bit before they pulled this off.
You must be positively nuts to get this thing together. And very creative. Perseverant. Plus you need a lot of gorilla pods. We need more nutcases like this in the world! Do try this at home- and share it. (thanks, Neal, for the tip!)

Philip Bloom tests Birger mount

Looks to be a really great solution that many have been waiting for. If you own Canon (EF/EF-S) lenses you most likely cannot use them on any other camera than a Canon camera. What a shame!
But the Birger lens mount allows you to do what otherwise would be impossible: control your aperture on other camera's. Not only that, it also allows you to focus. And looking at the video, it does a great job of pulling focus.This is not a 15,- eBay adapter and don't bother looking for clones. The basic adapter starts at US $1285,- 

How come that everything that Philip Bloom produces looks nice? Even a short test in his kitchen with a nerdy electronic device is pleasant to look at. How does he do that? It's not just his knowledge or expertise, but also the very fact that he shoots these things from his kitchen, the aesthetics of the video, his good looks, pleasant voice and preoccupation with comic and action figures ;-). But enough praise for mr Bloom- take a look at this informative video.

A look at the Birger AF100 Canon Eos mount from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

8mm footage from 1940

Filming has been a family tradition. And this film shot (mostly) by my grandfather in 1940 testifies to that. Actually, this was one of the few times he was filmed himself because he rarely let others touch the camera. Below you see him sitting with his baby daughter on his lap and his son -my father- behind him.
My grandfather was know to carry his camera on every vacation and daytrip. I'm sure he drove his wife crazy, always pointing camera's at them and fiddling with equipment and gadgets. I follow in that tradition...
My grandfather died in 2001 at the age of 97. My father, who is now 76, is the little boy in the film trying to get his father's attention away from his baby sister.
The camera that shot this film is now in my possession. There is more footage that may have some historical value: my grandfather's sister died in a concentration camp and . I have been trying to get developed. But the only company that still does this -a small US shop- doesn't answer my emails. I'll bring the reel to the US this summer and see if I can get it developed there.

8mm footage from 1940 from Filmersblog on Vimeo.

The 10.000 viewer challenge

Numbers can be fascinating, but they aren't everything. Actually, they can be quite silly. The highest ratings don't necessarily represent the best quality- they usually represent average taste. It's the power of the masses. Take the News of the World: one of the best selling newspapers in England. But it's pulp (non-)fiction.

If you want to make something extraordinary, it's best not to think about money or big numbers. Many great projects would have never been made if the motive was high ratings or commercial succes. On the other hand, because something is a succes, it doesn't make it bad or tasteless. Quality and popularity can live in the same house...

Ok, so far a few thoughts on succes, numbers and quality...

I want to start an experiment: I challenge myself (and you, if you'd like to join in) to produce a video that can generate 1.000 viewers in a month, 10.000 in six months. Vimeo and YouTube views combined. I will be a total slut for numbers. The ratings are the objective- not the content. Anything goes. (except for porn and violence, that's too easy) In my case, I have limited capacity/time to produce popular video. I am nearly consumed by my work, family, documentary and blog. How can I produce something that doesn't take up heaps of time and will generate a lot of traffic? I have a few ideas. As the blogger says: I'll keep you posted!

Review: Slik Pro 700DX

I've been using my new Slik Pro tripod now for more than two weeks and I've been shooting quite a lot with this setup, having a really good time.
I wanted a new tripod because I had been bicycling around town with my 550D or GH2 using a very lightweight Velbon tripod to shoot video. But the plasticky Velbon is really a photo tripod, only good for static shots and it doesn't have a bowl head for easy leveling.
I already owned a Fancier 717AH head (also known as Weifeng) that I bought to use with my Konova slider so all I needed was a set of legs. I decided to complement the head with the Slik Pro 700DX tripod legs and added the Manfrotto 438 ball leveler because I really wanted the speed and convenience of quick leveling.
For portable use this combination has really proven itself. First of all (and maybe most importantly), it has taken away my reluctance to go out and shoot because I needed to tug around a heavy, impractical tripod.

One armed bandit

This looks to be a nice single arm DSLR support rig: all aluminum and stainless steel, modular, lightweight and at $89,- very reasonably priced! I don't see a camera plate for the quickrelease plate so I'm curious how that works... I hope they don't charge 50,- just so you can mount your camera ;-)
This system has only been on the market for a few months so I'm curious about people's experiences. It's called the MagicRig which comes pretty close to Magic Spider Rig from GiniRigs. 'Magic' seems to be the 'magic word' when picking a name for a camera accessory. How about something more original, guys?

Panasonic GH2 hacked!

It was a matter of time and the time is now: the GH2 has been hacked. Programmer Vitaliy Kiselev has just got to work on the new firmware. Obviously it's still in Beta but he has managed to get these functions -at least partly- working:

• the 30 minute clip length limit being removed (for PAL versions)

• a PAL / NTSC menu function

• new audio bitrates

• AGC selection

• 720/25p, 1080/25p, and 1080/60p (the latter two currently freeze the camera)

If you want to be a Beta tester or want to help out with the development with a donation, here is the place to do so.

Exciting times- this is going to turn a great camera into a killercam! Power to the People! (didn't I use that slogan for a post a few days ago..?)

FCP X training

Ripple Training's Steve Martin

VS

Larry Jordan's Larry Jordan Training

I'm in dire need of Final Cut X training. I've managed to edit a quick, experimental piece in the program but to say I tackled the program is a bit of an overstatement... I'm now dealing with Events instead of FCP projects, although the term 'projects' is still used but it's part of an event. In the old days you could have dozen of versions of one sequence but now you can only have one sequence within a project. Why? Also, I cannot save my projects manually because FCP does that. I don't trust that. When I try to move stuff in the timeline it keeps jumping back by itself. It must be the 'magnetic timeline'- turn it off!

Ok, I'm being silly, stubborn and stupid and trying to force FCP 7 habits into FCP X. It will never work. Face it. And you don't want to figure everything out by yourself, you're not good at that. Buy training.

Basically there are two options:  Larry Jordan's FCP X training at $99,- for 11 hours. Or Ripple Training for FCP X at $39 for 5 hours. I am tempted by the much cheaper pricetag from Ripple. Isn't 5 hours of training enough? Ken Stone gave it a good review, too. But Larry Jordan is very good with tutorials and FCP. And he has a hypnotic voice. It's 11 hours of training- you can never get enough training with a new program, right? So I'm undecided...

Focus in post!

Need glasses? Soft lens? Accidentally bumped a button on your camera? Forgot your follow focus? Or you just don't have the slightest idea what or whom to focus on in the shot? No problem! Focus in post. Science fiction? Yes! But not for long, according to the guys from Lytro, a company dedicated to the development of a new type of camera that can calculate light coming from all directions. It's like having 3D-RAW video and it will allow you to manipulate focal point and depth of field in post production.
Absolutely crazy! And wonderful! I want one but only after I see it to believe it! In my opinion the promo video is off-target (should have waited for a Lytro camera!) but here you go.

Power to the people

CineCrowd is the first Dutch crowdfunding platform and my partner and I have talked to them about our documentary 'I am Innocent'. CineCrowd saw the trailer for our film and believed that it's ashame that this project is not finished due to lack of funding. CineCrowd wants to invest its efforts and network to enable the realization of this feature documentary.
After we met with CineCrowd it was decided to start a campaign to raise funds for our film as soon as possible.

2 portable jibs on the way

I finally ordered my 4 foot jib and ordered one for loyal blog-follower Neal as well. Since I am going to the US this summer I was considering buying it there and saving extra shipping $$$. On the other hand, I know it's called a portable jib but I reckon it's not that portable that I'd want to carry it around for weeks on my roadtrip along the East Coast... So I asked about shipment to Holland. It's $53,- to ship to Europe, which is $35,- more expensive than if I would have bought it in the States. However, when I teamed up with Neal-the-loyal-reader from Holland and combined shipping we were able to cut costs by another $12,- a piece.
So our order is in and when my jib arrives next month, I'll be just around the corner (Florida) from where it's sent...

3D: a new perspective

Electronics manufacturers have been prepping us quite a while now for the new generation of electronic equipment: 3D camera’s and TV’s. For us filmmakers this has considerable consequences: how do you shoot (for) 3D? What do you need, how do you prepare? En what to consider when on the set?

But the first question should be: do I even want to shoot in 3D? Why? What is the added value of 3D?

I recently saw the animated film ‘Cloudy with a chance of meatballs’ in 3D with my kids.  At first I was somewhat amused by the flying fastfood all around us but to say I was heavily impressed…  except for some visual trickery, what did it really add to the experience? You see one flying meatball, you’ve seen ‘m all and I found myself being increasingly annoyed by this repetition.. It certainly did not compensate for the equally annoying 3D glasses you have to wear all during the show. But the glasses will soon be history, I understand, and maybe 3D is the unavoidable future, just as HD replaces standard definition.

No sleep, no shot

Yesterday I had a job shooting a timelapse of a huge party tent being set up. I had to be somewhere 130 kilometers away at 7 AM. Which meant that I had to leave the house at 5.30 AM. Not my best time of the day...
So I go to bed early and at 11.45 PM, just after I fall asleep, I am awakened by a phonecall. The tent guy calls to say things are moving faster than expected. Could I be there at 5 AM?
So suddenly I have only 3,5 hours of sleep left and that idea keeps me wide awake. The more I look at the clock, the more awake I become. This stresses me out so much that sleep is completely out of the question. At 3.15 I get up and arrive at the place at exactly 5.01 AM. And what do I see? A big white, nearly completed tent! They started at 4 but didn't bother to tell me... All I can do is set up my camera and film them raising the last post of the tent. I feel utterly useless and am cold and hungry. And just as I think it can't get any worse than this, a giant shower pours from the sky over me and my camera. I have arrived in videoproduction hell...

ALL THAT'S LEFT FOR MY TIMELAPSE

Cool DSLR app

Don't you just love this idea- and this iPhone app looks great, too.
For 8 bucks you can buy yourself the Swiss Army knife of DSLR-shooting. (although certainly not limited to DSLR's). Main features:

• Electronic Slate
• Viewfinder
• Daylight hours
• Shot log
• Depth of field calculator
• Spirit level

There's more in-depth information at the website. It's a Beta-release; on the website a few functions are mentioned that may behave 'erratically' but the developer seems to be serious about fixing these issues. It's to his credits that he mentions the shortcomings.

Everything you always wanted to ask about FCP X...

but were afraid to know... Apple posted a page on the most asked questions about FCP X and about what they are planning for the future. They also posted a nice overview of the 50 most important features of FCP X. How kind of them!
(by the way, the response to my post yesterday about 5 kilo's of FREE FCP TRAINING BOOKS has been overwhelming. But no one wants to be photographed?!)

This picture is not just gratuitous sex aimed at luring you to my blog. (although it helps!) This is the result of googling for pictures on 'FCP X' and using the 'Large' filter! There were more scarcely clad ladies but this one appears to be the most X in my view...)

Free! 5 kilo's of Apple Certified Training

Anyone interested in a vintage series of Apple Pro training books? Five volumes including Motion, Color Correction, Optimizing your FCP system and Advanced Editing Techniques. Hundreds of highly informative pages, each book including a DVD. New price between $400-500! I'll throw in the unforgettable Final Cut Pro 4: time-saving tips and shortcuts from the pros, just for the hell of it.
There's only one 'but': you have to collect them at my place and agree to have your picture taken for this blog! Alternatively, the whole lot will be donated to the Apple Museum of Brutalized Applications.

Beauty of Bokeh

A first experiment in defocus. Edited in... tadaa FCP X! Hard to say anything about it because I just delved in. It's a completely new and unfamiliar program... Will say more about it once I get to know the app. Definite iMovie feature: exported my timeline straight to Vimeo. But do I like that? The export editor is limited and I have no idea where the QT file is on my computer?! Or has my creation merely been absorbed by The Cloud?
But back to bokeh. It's just as hard to get a consistent bokeh as it is to get accurate focus!

Soft Summer in the City from Filmersblog on Vimeo.

7UP in the USSR

I'd like to mention a documentary series that ranks high in top documentaries of all times: the 7-up series. The idea is simple: follow a group of children from the age of 7 and revisit them every 7 years. Take children from various social backgrounds and from different parts of the country and ask them about their dreams, their fears, their passions, struggles and daily lives.
What you get is a extremely personal and confronting portrait of a people and a nation. With every 7 years added to the series, the project becomes more interesting because all the (unfulfilled) dreams and (unexpected) developments have a history we know of. Once we meet people as children, you understand and sympathize with them as grownups.

New: Camera pants

It's sunday, I have an incredible hangover, I visit my mother and she gives me these (swimming)pants. The upside is that I have a subject for my blog. The downside is that I'll look like a freak the entire summer... Love ya, mom, thanks.

I did it - FCP X is mine

I have to say, much of what is missing in FCP X, I really won't be missing. I don't work in a complex editing environment. I hardly use third party software. I am a one man band. I don't work with tape. My current FCP system is not stable. I want that lightning fast 64-bit rocket speed. I like new stuff. Lots of reasons to take the plunge. And then I read this, which tipped the scale in Apple's favor. I think Apple will deliver the goodies (for me, at least). In the meantime, this setup will work fine for me.

(One more thing: who says it's only €240? You're not going to leave out Compressor and Motion so it's actually €320. (or US $400))

Mailbox: Slik Pro 700 DX tripod

I received my Slik tripod today that I was very much looking forward to. My Manfrotto 525P kit is just too bulky and heavy when riding my bicycle around town to shoot video. (or the occasional photograph)
Besides, I already had a Fancier 717AH video head and only needed an extra pair of legs to have a second tripod for events and video registrations.
I bought this from a US eBay seller and got slapped with €30 VAT and import taxes when the courier delivered at the door. As a business, I get the VAT back (€20) and the import tax I can deduct later on but still... this was the first time in years I had to pay for importing gear. I had practically forgotten about these taxes! It's probably because it's the biggest piece of gear I have imported in years.

(e)X Final Cut Pro?

This hurts. A lot of bad stuff has been written about the new Final Cut. And rightly so. It appears Apple has said goodbye to professional video editing environments. There's just too much to neglect. No backwards compatibility with 'vintage' FCP, no multicam editing, lousy compatibility with other postproduction software, no professional external monitoring, no way to customize media organization, no capture from or to tape (aside from firewire), the list goes on.
And yet... FCP could still be for me. I am a one man band and almost exclusively deliver finished projects, quicktime files. I just signed up for an informative meeting around FCP X, to get the nitty gritty from the pro's. I am unsure whether to buy: should I go Adobe Premiere, AVID?

The world has changed. FCP is no longer the realm of video professionals. It belongs to the masses. A revolution is about to take place. What will happen to all the usergroups? Los Angeles Final Cut Pro User Group? L-AVID-UG? LA-AP-UG. Or the more generic LA-VIDEOEDIT-UG? The base of these groups may very well disintegrate. Macvideo? Will it lose its following? The Mac has lost its exclusive, cutting edge image. It aims for the Big Numbers. If financial success is a measure, then hipster Mac has become the new nerdy Microsoft...

Final Cut Pro X hands-on!

The first video's are starting to appear where people are actually using FCP X. I just watched one and I am excited and disappointed at the same time. Excited because it's new, fast and full of good stuff... and disappointed because I feel iMovie users will be faster at editing than I am with my 10 years of FCP experience...

We got 'm!

FCP X is here to download. €239,99 We got a new Compressor (4) and Motion (5) as well. 39,99 each. Friendly numbers...
I'm scared: 10 years of FCP experience means nothing anymore! I want to download and install and get to work but maybe it'll be weeks before I can even finish a simple assignment. Help!!

Sexiest topic on earth(not): lens adapters

SALESPERSON DEMONSTRATING C MOUNT ADAPTER

no-brand, well machined

(too) simple design

Ok, so it's not the most sexy topic in the world: adapter rings. An adapter is an adapter is an adapter, right? A simple piece of metal designed to connect two otherwise incompatible connectors. Yes and no. On the one hand it's supposed to do just that: connect two alien bodies. (it's getting sexier already...) But on the other hand: even simple little devices can vary enormously. Since yesterday I discovered some adapters are far more superior than others, even though they cost a lot less than some of their counterparts.

thicker metal, better grip

it works, but not great

Comparing the C mount to micro 4/3 adapters from Camdiox and a no-name one from this seller, I noticed that the no-name is much better machined, uses thicker metal and, perhaps most importantly, the outer ring has a very nice 'grip-design' that lets you attach and detach your lens with ease. It's the difference between disposable design and craftmanship. At US $8 including shipping this ring is highly recommended. I give it 4 stars: **** (out of five- always leave room for improvement...)

grip and thickness difference

Small camera for Big Jobs?

I'm still holding off to shoot a commercial assignment with my Panasonic GH2. The reason is as simple as it is silly: appearance. Many clients still like -demand!- big camera's. And they distrust small camera's. I have heard people talk in derogatory terms about 'that small camera', 'that photocamera' and other nasty references to what people consider to be 'unprofessional equipment'. I have seen beautiful footage shot with the 5D Mark II, much more impressive than what I could do with my EX1R, but the one thing that stuck in their minds was that 'the guy worked with a really small camera...'. An ignorant remark perhaps, but it's the reality of working with certain clients.
I think a matte box will do an adequate job of impressing clients that require so... Well, in combination with the Gini rig, follow focus and an external monitor that I already have. But the matte box wouldn't just serve cosmetic purposes. I think the convenience of a matte box for adding and removing ND filters would be a great plus. A matte box is a simple system designed to hold filters and reduce flare. But looking at their prices you'd think you are buying high tech space constructions. Looking for a solid Chinese or Korean alternative but even the simplest design goes for well over 100 dollars. And that doesn't even include some rod-mount option. So if anyone knows of a quality, budget mattebox with rod-mount- I'm open to suggestions!

FCP 7 to FCP X

This is going to be a Pain in the Butt for everyone but there's no escaping this one: a complete reinstall of the OS and (editing) software. Before you master FCP X you may want to keep a copy of FCP 7 to get those quick jobs done... quickly.
Here's a tutorial on how to keep multiple operating systems on one computer and 'Make a seamless transition' from (Snow) Leopard and FCP 7 to Lion and FCP X.

Budget portable jib

This looks like a great jib at a very reasonable price. I just asked about their shipping costs to Amsterdam but if it's too much I may add it to my 'US gear shopping list' when I visit the East Coast this summer!

Portable 4' Video Crane Samples from Olivia Speranza on Vimeo.

When disaster strikes...

...continue to work and pretend nothing is wrong. Last night had very bad karma. I was suffering from a bad headache that lasted for 2 days and had barely slept the night before. And when you're tired, you slip. I discovered that I forgot my quick releaseplate (at home, attached to my Canon 550D) just before we were about to shoot a group of people interacting. Four hours of panning and zooming without a tripod? Disaster. My partner gave me a roll of duck tape and I taped my EX1 to my tripod. It's a heavy camera so it took a lot of tape! It was sitting all crooked but by turning the Guide Frames on in the LCD screen I was able to level the camera by eye, using the walls and windows in the background to match the horizontal lines. Far from ideal, but it worked.
After about 3,5 hours of non-stop shooting, disaster number 2: my partners Sony A1 broke down. It refused to close when changing tapes... it jammed, blocked and stayed that way whatever we tried. We looked like a battlefield: one crooked, one broke. Disaster never seems to travel alone.

Outta Space!

To boldly go where no man has gone before...

SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR FINAL LAUNCH from Northern Lights on Vimeo.

Mailbox: Russian Helios 44-2

I just couldn't resist when a Russian made Helios 44-2 came along, a 58mm f2 lens, and I bought it for 20,-
I took it outside to play for a few hours and shot this footage of raindrops in the park. I called it 'dewdrops' because it sounds better ;-)
Unfortunately I couldn't fit my Fader ND filter on the lens to be able to shoot wide open. Most of it is actually almost closed at f16. From what I've seen and read, you get some really funky bokeh with the Helios- which isn't too apparent here. Shots came out nice though and the lens is pretty sharp.

Shot with the Panasonic GH2 and Helios 44-2

Dewdrops from Filmersblog on Vimeo.

3 million viewers in one year

I've been watching my 10 year old son, who's developed an addiction to Lego Star Wars animations on YouTube over the last few months. To my surprise, he doesn't watch trailers or excerpts from the original Star Wars trilogy but prefers to look at the simple (or sometimes not so simple) Lego figure animations.
I though it was so funny that he was fascinated by all these amateuristic, homemade video's but I soon understood why he liked them so much: because it was part of his experience. He has the same action figures and star ships and can recreate that world. Which he does: hours and hours a day. I encourage him to make stop-motion films or at least make photographs and share his creations with likeminded peers. So he can accomplish what I can only dream of: reach over 3 million 600 thousand of viewers in one single year!

The promised land of tapeless acquisition

Life was supposed to be all good once tape was abolished and we were all going to the promised land of tapeless acquisition. Well, the acquisition part is mostly good and I'm glad I never have to think about buying tape or worry about running out of tape in the last ten minutes of a theatre registration...

But the convenience of handing over a tape at the end of a shoot and writing an invoice is also history. Because handing over your flash memory cards is a no-no unless you can make a copy at the spot. Which means dragging a laptop and a harddrive to the set, make extra time to copy all the files, hand over the drive to the client and hope you get it back. Not very practical.
My last job I chose to send the files to my clients' server. Upload speed was 50 Kb/s so I was 'lucky' it was only 10GB in files. After 50 hours the upload was finished. My client can't see my work because he needs to send it to his editor to import it into a NLE-system first.
I love tapeless acquisition. It's just that life was a lot easier when I could just hand a tape over to my client.

DIY quickrelease viewfinders

I really like my clone LCD viewfinder. It took a while to figure out a good way to work with it, but ever since I disposed of the metal sticky frame (kept falling off), I was good to go. (With the articulating screen on the GH2, glueing a metal frame on the screen was never an option.) I use it like a jeweler, hanging the loupe around my neck. Whenever I need to check focus or whatever, I stick it on and otherwise its off, out of the way. Especially when you're on the go and want to set up and break down quickly, this is a nice, portable approach. 
Then I saw a DIY video on something I had thought of before but had never seen: using the LCD-protector mounting system to make a 'quickrelease viewfinder'. Great! And for those of us born with two left hands, here's a readymade solution that's not going to break the bank.

A few cents for smooth pans

An oldie but goodie. Never seen it before. Should also great in combination with a slider so you don't get those jerky starts or stops.


Rubber Band Tip from Braxton McCarthy on Vimeo.

A documentary masterpiece

I saw the incredible documentary 'Stand van de Sterren' (Position of the Stars) the other night. It is the last part of a trilogy on three generations of Indonesians: an old woman, her middle aged son and a granddaughter. The maker, Leonard Retel Helmrich, is a completely original and tenacious filmer who has developed a unique way of operating and using a camera. His films have a 'fly on the wall' feel but now 'the fly has left the wall' and circles and flies with & around his subjects. His aim is to shoot a scene with as few interruptions as possible; as one long, smooth shot.
He does this with amazing agility and I believe he has developed special gear to fly high or low and get incredible perspective. Sometimes he approaches the face of his protagonists within inches and, amazingly, they don't even flinch an eye. It's like the filmer and his camera are not there.
Not only his style, but the content of this trilogy is baffling as well: at once extremely personal and dramatic, showing his characters vulnerable, flawed and at all times captivating and intimate against the backdrop of social turmoil and changing times, religious differences and inequality.
This is a film that every film and documentary maker should see, as an example how style and content come together to form a masterpiece.

A bag for my new tripod

fancy but heavy

 

It seems like I'm spending a few bucks more on this tripod than planned... Funny, hasn't that happened before... with other purchases?
But I have to protect my new investment. Can't go around slugging and beating it against the pavement, in and out of cars, on and off my bike without some sort of protection. So I started hunting for a tripod carrying bag and found a really nice, affordable 'Slik' bag, designed specifically for my tripod, but it seems just a bit short for the legs and leveler and head combo. Another downer is that this bag adds 3/4 kilo's to the weight I'm trying to save...
So after a little more research I think I found what I'm looking for. 20 euro's incl shipping.

slim and lightweight

Tripod on the way: Slik 700DX Pro

I went ahead and ordered this set of tripod legs. These legs combined with the Fancier 717 AH video head and Manfrotto 438 ball leveller will form my new portable tripod set, while serving double-duty as a second pair of decent legs for event registration. The set weighs around 4 kilo's, which is a whopping 3 kilo's lighter than my Manfrotto kit. With a maximum load of 6,5 kilo and rising up to 1.90 meter this tripod fulfills more than all my needs.
Strange that these Slik legs are not available in the Netherlands. I decided to order from a US eBay seller for 92 euro's all in, a very decent price for a solid yet light set of legs. Below a guy doing a review who was advised to buy this combo by a knowledgeable photographer who contributes to the B&H photo and video website. My combo beats that by a 100 bucks.

(royalty) free music

Who doesn't need it? A soundtrack for a commercial, a soundbite here, a musical interlude to spice up a clip... When I just started out in this business, I would simply pick a nice tune from my extensive music collection, add it as a soundtrack and everyone was happy... I never imagined I had to pay copyrights for these 3 minute budget productions I was making. But then a client of mine was approached by a copyright organization about the music I used for a video I produced for them.

It just happened to be that I 'composed' it myself in Garageband but it was a warning nonetheless.

Lately I've pretty much exhausted all the Garageband tunes and was looking for something else. A friend and colleague of mine pointed me to this online library where you can find a lot of great tunes, many of which you can use for commercial purposes, as long as you credit the makers. With over 90.000 tunes available -and growing- there must be something for every clip and every mood. Some of them sound more professional than others but if you take the time to explore, this is a very worthwhile place for finding royalty free music for your videos.

I need some legs

SILK PRO 700DX legs

I've got a head, so that's taken care of. I've also got a ball leveler, thanks to a good tip from Neil, a loyal reader. Now I just need a nice set of legs. After doing a lot of reading and clicking, somewhere along the line I stumbled on a set of Slik Pro 700DX legs for US $89,- That's a price I can live with, especially considering the raving reviews.
These sticks are very hard to find in Holland and if you do, they are 2 to 3 times the US price... Maybe another purchase during my trip to the States this summer..? The only doubts I have about this tripod is the weight: 2.7 kgs for the legs only. If I add that to my fluid head and ball leveller, won't it match my big Manfrotto kit in weight? There must be something lighter, I don't mind if it only carries a few kilo's. But carbon is way out of my budget... Any ideas anyone?

Sex sells

I just watched the latest episode of this informative series by Larry Jordan & Co on 'sounddesign' ie the importance of adding layers of sound to create an extra dimension -or extra dimensions- to your film. I have a great deal of respect for Larry Jordan and have learned much from his tutorials on FCP and the entire FCS over the last years. But the 2 Reel Guys don't cut it for me.
I have to start out that content-wise I have nothing but praise so that's not the issue. Larry and his partner are knowledgeable and the topics covered are relevant.
But I cannot help feeling that I'm looking at two very nerdy schoolteachers who talk too much and really like to listen to themselves. And they use too little examples to clarify their points. And when they do, it's pretty lame: a cheapish highschool theatre setting with overacted dialogue. (Or is it a joke? I couldn't tell.) Everything screams 'zap me outta here'...
Yes, watching this episode is like being in high school all over again: when can I get outta here? But just as it was in high school, sex saves the day. Larry introduces the biggest set of tits and suddenly I'm all eyes and ears! Tell me, Larry, and look me straight in the eyes, was this girl a lucky break or was this 'n old trick of the trade..?

Review: C mount 4-12mm Tamron 1.2

Here's a kid who's made a nice, thorough video review of this C mount lens on the Panasonic GH2. Also interesting information about using C mount lenses in general and surveillance lenses (such as this Tamron) in particular. Only critique I have is that there's no link to a seller of this lens! (he mentions he bought it for around 90,- but didn't say where)

Special offer: DVD Willem + book for 15,-

A few years ago I made a film, my first feature documentary, about a Dutch artist called Willem van Malsen. In Dutch the film is called: 'Willem, een duivelskunstenaar'.

The literal translation would be something like 'Willem: a devilish artist'. But the word 'duivelskunstenaar' in Dutch has several meanings: someone who is a master in his trait, a sorcerer. In relation to Willem it has even more meaning because he had a devilish/dark side to him. First off, he was funny as hell but it was it was the (d)evil in him, his substance abuse, that ultimately killed him at the age of 65.

These are the first 6 minutes of an intimate portrait of an irresistible, gregarious individual and wildly versatile talent through the eyes of some of his best friends, family members and colleagues.

This film was selected for the Nederlands Film Festival and was broadcast by the AVRO (public broadcasting) in 2008.

'Willem: een duivelskunstenaar' from Imagine Video on Vimeo.

The DVD plus a special edition sketchbook by Willem can be ordered for 15,- excl shipping for a limited time. (month of June) To order, please send an email to info@imaginevideo.nl

Biking in Belgium- no filmpost!

Just finished 120 km in the Belgian Ardennes and driving back to
Amsterdam, wasted and satisfied with my performance. Two things on my
mind: bath and beer!

great deal on a DSLR-bag

Late last year I bought a LowePro Slingshot 102AW for a decent price. I had (and still have) a LowePro backpack for DSLR and laptop and love the quality of their products. The Slingshot seemed ideal for running (biking) around with a DSLR, extra lens and tripod.
But the design never really worked for me. I used it a few times but it never became a love affair, to say the least... I want to be able to quickly have access to my camera: open a velcro flap and that's it. I wound up using an old Sony mini-camcorder bag and the LowePro disappeared in a closet. But the camcorder bag does not hold an extra lens and LCD viewfinder. So I decided to look for a new bag; a shoulderbag that can hold 2 extra lenses and a viewfinder, plus an extra compartment for cards and batteries.

Now I've always liked Crumpler bags. I like their look, the padded, waterproof nylon and thick shoulderpad. And one eBay seller had the right Crumpler bag for the right price: the Messenger Boy 8000 for 45,- incl shipping. That's less than half of what they charge in a store here in Amsterdam. UPS delivered it blazing fast; the very moment a lady stopped by to buy my LowePro Slingshot. The nice thing about the Crumpler is that it is much more versatile than the Slingshot: it holds a DSLR but also my Sony EX1-R videocamera. And take the dividers out and you have a regular messenger bag. I think I love this bag...