What DSLRs Need to Become a True Camcorder Replacement

"Oh, how times have changed. Just two short years ago, I was shooting on a Panasonic HVX200, previewing my footage on a Marshall monitor, and using a G35 lens adapter in order to achieve depth of field. These were wretched times in which one was forced to make a choice between quality and speed. On one hand, if I was trying to capture beautifully focused footage with a shallow depth of field, I would inevitably be running around like a chicken with his head cut off just trying to get my shots in the limited time my clients gave me. With all of the accessories hanging off my camera, it was not only awkward to carry, but difficult to manage as well. On the other hand, I could go out with just my HVX in hand and get some average shots with little hassle; with the caveat of never being able to know if I was truly in focus. It was a very difficult choice to make, but with my perfectionist tendencies, I found myself siding with the latter leading to numerous headaches and many near heart attack moments.

Fast forward just two years and we now have the dawn of a new age shining on us. The age of the DSLR, or digital single lens reflex camera. Instead of wild camcorder rigs like the one I was mentioned above, it is now possible to get the same depth of field with better resolution, frame rate options, and light sensitivity than even some HD camcorders have. Plus, all of this can be shot on a Compact Flash card which can easily be bought at your choice of any big box retail store. I say all of this as a result of having used a DSLR this past week to shoot some clips for a Videomaker Instructional DVD called Basic Editing. In the segment I’m working on, I wanted to make a mock commercial showing the benefits of small town life. What I came to find out was that shooting compelling and aesthetically pleasing shots with this camera was easier than I ever thought possible. Not only did I have a huge amount of frame rates, ISO’s, and f-stops to choose from, but I was also to easily focus my shots even with a high amount of depth of field.

However, filming with the DSLR was not a perfect experience for me. There were a number of annoyances that were constantly throwing off my style. First off, it was real hassle to have a static live view screen that was not able to pop out from the camera body. Over the years I’ve been filming, I have grown accustomed to being able to pop out a viewfinder from my camera and while holding the handle get very low to the ground, or above the ground shots. Without the ability to do this, I felt limited..."
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"A Christmas Snow" Wraps Filming

Each day they have been producing a Director’s Diary Video with Tracy Trost the Director of “A Christmas Snow”. Very educational and fun videos!

Lots of interviews with Cast and Crew!

...and great Behind the Scenes info too!

You can watch all the videos on the movie's Facebook page here!
www.achristmassnow.com
www.facebook.com/AChristmasSnow

Courageous - Synopsis

Four men, one calling: To serve and protect.

As law enforcement officers, Adam Mitchell, Nathan Hayes, and their partners are confident and focused. They willingly stand up to the worst the world can offer. Yet when they take off their badges at the end of the day, they face a challenge that none of them are truly prepared to tackle: fatherhood.

While they consistently give their best on the job, good enough seems to be all they can muster as dads. But they're quickly discovering that their standard is missing the mark.

They know that God desires to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, but their children are beginning to drift further and further away from them. Will they be able to find a way to serve and protect those that are most dear to them?

When tragedy hits home, these men are left wrestling with their hopes, their fears, their faith, and their fathering. Can a newfound urgency help these dads draw closer to God ... and to their children?

Courageous is the fourth release of Sherwood Pictures, the moviemaking ministry of Sherwood Church in Albany, Georgia. Their first release since FIREPROOF, the No. 1 independent film of 2008, Courageous joins Facing the Giants and Flywheel in touching and impacting lives through heartfelt stories of faith and hope.

Moviegoers will again find themselves crying, laughing, and cheering—sometimes simultaneously—as they are inspired by everyday heroes who long to be the kinds of dads that make a lifelong impact on their children.

Protecting the streets is second nature to these law enforcement officers. Raising their children? That will take courage.

Courageous ... honor begins at home.

In Theaters 2011 - CourageoustheMovie.com

Donut Summit

A very creative take on health-care reform!

What does the debate over health care reform have in common with Southern hospitality? Stuart Shepard relives his Bible college quartet days in his Stoplight^® commentary. - Click Here

Canon adds 24p to the 5D Mark II

In the 18 months since Canon announced the Canon 5D Mark II, you’ve written, you’ve called, you’ve left comments here and on Vincent Laforet’s blog. You politely but firmly harrassed Canon personel at trade shows. Perhaps most significantly, you put your money where your mouth is and bought 7Ds, showing Canon that 24p is even better than Bokake.

It delights me to no end to read these words in a Canon press release:

Developed following feedback from photographers and cinematographers, Firmware 2.0.3 further enhances the EOS 5D Mark II’s excellent video performance. The addition of new frame rates expands the camera’s video potential, providing filmmakers with the ability to shoot 1080p Full HD footage at 24fps (actual 23.976fps)—the optimum frame rate for cinematic video. 25fps support at both 1920x1080 and 640x480 resolutions will allow users to film at the frame rate required for the PAL broadcast standard, while the new firmware will also change the 30fps option to the NTSC video standard of 29.97fps.

Read the full press release at dpreview.com.

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Brewing Design

Creation of a coffee label with Von R. Glitschka.

I had shown this label to twitter users a while back after I got shipped some printed samples and was asked if I'd deconstruct how I went about creating it.

Well that is what this blog post is all about. So grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the post.

1. Source Photo
Because I named the roast "Noir French Blend" it goes without saying it needs to have a French flair to the approach. I sourced out this picture which has the Eiffel Tower in the background.

I also picked this image because the contrast was perfect for how I planned on using it too.


Compositing images via Photoshop.

2. Distorting Reality
I wanted the the Eiffel Tower to be a focal point in my composition so if reality doesn't work you do what every fashion magazine does and manipulate reality so it looks better than real.


Converting photo to a halftone.

3. Halftone FX
I converted the photo to a halftone. In a nutshell: Convert color photo to greyscale, convert to halftone by going to the menu image/mode/bitmap. From there you'll have to experiment in order to determine what size of halftone works best for you, it isn't a one size fits all process. Once you have the size nailed down you have to convert back from bitmap to greyscale then copy/paste it back into your PSD file.

If you're still scratching your head after reading the above try this link it might help you? Or my big dot tutorial might also explain this process better?


Halftoned photo integrated into layout.

4. Halftone Integrated
I nest the halftoned photo into my over all layout. Mind you this is screen res so it doesn't do the halftone justice. Make sure to view the larger image at the end of this post to see how the halftones enhance the look and feel of the design.


European Beauty.

5. Romance
I wanted drama in my design. It's Paris so it needed some beautiful romance so I sourced out this photo. Her eyes were captivating and that was what I was after.


Romantic dot gain.

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Click Here to read the full article and all 15 steps!

What Makes A Hollywood Blockbuster?

"Scientists writing in Psychological Science may have the answer. Using the sophisticated tools of modern perception research to deconstruct 70 years of film, shot by shot, the Cornell researchers say that successful movies follow a particular mathematical pattern.

The team of psychologists measured the duration of every shot in every scene of 150 of the most popular films released from 1935 to 2005. The films represented five major genres—action, adventure, animation, comedy and drama. Using a complex mathematical formula, they translated these sequences of shot lengths into "waves" for each film.

Researchers looked for a pattern called the 1/f fluctuation. The 1/f fluctuation is a concept from chaos theory, and it means a pattern of attention that occurs naturally in the human mind. Indeed, it's a rhythm that appears throughout nature, in music, in engineering, economics, and elsewhere. In short, it's a constant in the universe, though it's often undetectable in the apparent chaos.

Results of the study revealed that modern films—those made after 1980—were much more likely than earlier films to approach this universal constant. That is, the sequences of shots selected by director, cinematographer and film editor have gradually merged over the years with the natural pattern of human attention. This may explain the more natural feel of newer films—and the "old" feel of earlier ones. Modern movies may be more engrossing—we get "lost" in them more readily—because the universe's natural rhythm is driving the mind.

Filmmakers probably haven't deliberately crafted their movies to match this pattern in nature. Instead, it's more likely that the relatively young art form has gone through a kind of natural selection, as the edited rhythms of shot sequences were either successful or unsuccessful in producing more coherent and gripping films. The most engaging and successful films were subsequently imitated by other filmmakers, so that over time and through cultural transmission the industry as a whole evolved toward an imitation of this natural cognitive pattern.

Overall, action movies are the genre that most closely approximates the 1/f pattern, followed by adventure, animation, comedy and drama. But individual films from every genre have almost perfect 1/f rhythms. The Perfect Storm, released in 2000, is one of them, as is Rebel Without a Cause, though it was made in 1955. So too is The 39 Steps, Hitchcock's masterpiece from way back in 1935."
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Tips from a Professional Camera Operator

Useful advice to smooth and finesse your moves and tune your viewfinder eye!


"No one taught me how to be an operator. At a young age I found myself drawn to strong compositions in certain TV shows and movies, and I sought to emulate those compositions with my Regular 8mm camera. Over time I learned, through trial and error and the occasional tip from those more experienced than I, how to move the camera predictably and repeatedly.

There’s a lot more to being an operator than skill in moving the camera. It’s a very political job as well. I’ll address some of both aspects in this article." ~Art Adams

TOPICS COVERED:
- Learn the Geared Head
- When In Doubt, Keep Moving
- Half of Operating is Knowing When Not to Move the Camera
- Body Language is Our Friend
- Feedback
- Weight Distribution
- Compositions Don't Have to be Balanced
- Adjust the Camera, Not the Actor
- Walk the Set
- Look Around the Viewfinder
- Focus is Your Problem Too
- Learn When the Rules Don't Apply
- Over-the-Shoulder Shots
- Use Crosshairs and Frame Markers for Reference
- Find the Payoff of the Shot
- Don't Put Yourself At Risk
- A Little Bit of Trivia
- Check Your Space Before A Move
- Learn to Balance Your Head
- Ending a Tough Move

This is a great read for really anyone involved with filmmaking, but camera operators will benefit from it the most! Read the Full Article Here.

Rescue Haiti's Children: Trailer

LeclercBrothers.com

Another Great ADR Session

"This past Monday I braved the wintry Wisconsin roads down to Nate Sisson's sound studio for another ADR session.  It was great to see Molly Kunz (who plays Kate Carter) and her mom Debbie again.  As I've said before, things are much more laid back when recording ADR so it's fun to spend time with the actors in this less stressful environment."  ~Nathan Webster

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