Josh Thacker (Director/Creative) and Brian Slater (Editor/Creative) were named the first winners for their short movie “Job Security” above. I very much look forward to working with them at the end of the contest - their entry - and frankly all of the finalists entries were outstanding.
If you’re interested in participating in the contest or submittind for Chapter 3 of “The Story Beyond the Still Video” contest, those entires are now being accepted through March 22, 2010. For rules and submission instructions, click here.
Here’s what I told the Vimeo community about this first series of entries: (more…)
I just completed an HDDSLR project that involved shooting stills and video at several locations across the U.S. The shoot was commissioned by Greg Sylvester of VSA Partners a well known agency that has a wide range of corporate and commercial clients. Our goal was to produce an annual report that would live both in print and digitally on the web as both stills and video segments. While this was by no means a “small shoot” it still lives in the mid-level sized corporate shoot in my book - this is no means what I would bring to an editorial shoot for example.
Given the level of interest in this new technology - I though that readers might appreciate a slide show of images that show what such a production might entail in terms of gear. Please note that over the next few weeks I will be going over the gear that I used in this production on this blog in detail - so please hold all of your gear questions for now.
I can image some of the reactions to seeing (or trying to find) a Canon HDDSLR buried under all of this gear. ”Why in the world would one go through this?” - someone might ask. Why not get “x” camera. Well the long and short of it: the LOOK of these cameras is incredibly unique - the video coming out of these camera looks incredibly close to 35mm motion picture film (see image 13 in the slideshow for a good example of what separates this breed of cameras from the others.) Pulling off a similar production with a 35mm film of system would be significantly more time consuming and expensive - there is absolutely zero doubt about it. And don’t forget: the way these cameras perform in low light - also separates them from the competition. So there absolutely is reason behind all of this madness. I had to mention this because I sometimes catch myself asking the very same question… and then I see the results on screen and all doubt is removed. (more…)
It was great to be interviewed by Rob for his site - I check Rob’s blog daily and it was one of the main 2-3 sites that convinced me to start blogging myself a little over a year ago. When Rob initially started his blog - he remained anonymous and posted some incredibly insightful and frank details about the print industry from a true insider. Eventually Rob left his position as Director of Photographer at Men’s Journal - and he has continued to post very insightful posts ever since. I highly recommend you follow his blog.
First that Apple was going to release an iPad/iSlate.
My second prediction is that 2010 would be the year of the HDDSLRs - one in which finding their full potential with the help of other partners would lead to incredible developments.
2010 will indeed be seen as the coming of age of HDDSLRs.
Today Zeiss showed the very first “Compact Prime 2″ Cine Lenses that will mount on HDDSLRs. In fact these are quite versatile in that they come ready to accept both and EL (Canon mount) and PL (Cinema standard) that can be switched on the field w a Tor-X screwdrivers. (Although Zeiss recommends you have them do this.)
I’ve had chance to get my hands on this series and I immediately fell for them - I have also been promised a chance to test them out soon -I’ll be sure to share the test with you on this blog within the next few weeks.
The optical quality is excellent. More empirical test coming on that soon. But the main reason pros and advanced filmmakers will flock to this series relate to the ergonomics and practicaliy of using this lens on a just about any production. You will find that the optics have been re organized in this lens - but that it will perform very similarly to your ZE set. The main difference is that only the very best optics are chosen for this series vs the ZE lenses. The second key point is that the aperture blades comprise of 14 blades vs the ZE series with 9 - therefore you can expect a much more beautiful focus falloff..
At this point they are releasing a set of 8 Compact Primes at NAB 2010 and making them available for sale in May. A set of 6 will retail for less than $20,000. You can of course buy lenses independently at a higher price. Zeiss will be making the announcement as to which specific series of lenses they are releasing.
So what’s the big deal? Well for once this is the first series of PL lenses that Zeiss has produced in history that covers the full 24mX36mm sensor - EVER…
All others covered he Super35mm format… This is therefore a good long term investment it seems. This should also put an immediate halt to people removing their mirrors and drilling into their mirror boxes to use these lenses.
Lastly - this is the first lens that I’ve received - that I CANNOT WAIT TO USE!
Why? My 1st AC/Focus Pullers will love me. When the lens it says it’s focused a .38 meters - guess what - it is!
Set your marks - and if you and your actor hit their makes - you’re tack sharp.
Stu knows filmmaking. Stu knows directing (he collaborated with me on Nocturne and graded the short as well.) Stu knows special FX. Stu rules - and he’s a wiz not only at producing films- but also on the post process. Stu was the senior visual effects supervisor on The Spirit and others for example… and I check his Prolost blog daily.
Stu has also worked on Red Giant’s software’s Magic Bullet Colorista (which is a pretty rockin’ grading suite - especially if you don’t already own Final Cut Studios’ grading software Color) amongst other things as well and I think his latest blog post is not to be missed by anyone who is interested in grading. (For still photographers - “grading” is the word video/film folks use to refer to what we call “color correction” or “toning.”
And since I’m plugging Stu to death - I might as well mention that he’s also one of the judges on the Canon & Vimeo film contest “Beyond The Still.” We’re looking to announce the top 5 finalists within the next 48 hours for the first chapter of the competition… stay tuned for more on that here soon.
Lastly - if you’re looking into getting into grading your video - I’ll point you to one of the best resources to learning Apple FCP’s Color software - here at Ripple Training. Best $100 you’ll spend in terms of making your video look exponentially better in my opinion…
Also - Bron has a blog that I just became aware of that is worth checking out - I’m a huge fan of their Para Soft lights.
Thursday February 11th 2010, 3:37 am
Filed under: Software
For those looking for a more elegant workflow to use your Canon HDDSLR footage with Final Cut Pro - Canon and Apple have announced a new plug-in for Final Cut Pro - named: EOS E1. The plugin is set to appear on Apple’s website - although the link doesn’t yet appear to be live…
The plugin is designed to import video from the following Canon’s DSLRs: The EOS-7D, the 5D MK II, and the 1D MK IV.
The plug-in will support FCP’s Log and Transfer dialogue, which lets people select and mark in and out points on their video before copying it off-camera. At the same time, people can add custom metadata such as Roll, Scene, Take information during the ingest process, and begin editing work before all clips have been transferred. The plug-in will be a free download for owners of Final Cut Pro 6 or later. Users may note that this plugin has many of the same features that I mentioned earlier here in a previous post.
I have not been able to confirm as to whether or not this plugin will be supporting timecode - timecode based on the camera’s internal clock that is to say - not “real” timecode of course. You should note that you can sync multiple cameras to a computer via USB…
Seeing these first videos coming in is a real pleasure - they are fantastically done!
I know quite a few of you are still busy at work on your entries.
For those of you that haven’t taken the plunge yet:
YOU HAVE FIVE DAYS LEFT TO ENTER
Relatively speaking - that’s an ETERNITY - so if you’re debating whether or not you should enter - go for it!
Relative to what?
Well I found out that the Canon 5D MKII existed on a Friday afternoon a little over a year ago…
By 4 p.m. I was walking out of the Canon HQ with a prototype that I had begged, borrowed and practically stolen from them.
The very next day - at almost precisely 4 p.m. - I called “Action” on the first shot of “Reverie.”
That’s 24 hours notice.
We shot the short over two nights and delivered it the next day fully edited.
72 hours start to finish…
With “Nocturne” - I had 72 hours notice from the time I received the camera - and the time I landed back in Los Angeles from Atlanta - and called “Action” with my two other co-directors Stu Maschwitz and David Nelson.
So as far as I’m concerned : you guys have a LOT of time to still get into this.
If for some reason you can’t make it… you have 6 more chapters (and chances) to enter over the next 6 months.
But I don’t know about you - but sitting on my behind has never really ever gotten me anywhere…
Speaking of getting going - here is a quick video clip from this past week - using an awesome toy from the guys at Filmotechnic USA here in California. Shot with the Canon 1D MKIV - this is but one of a few dozen (hundreds!) of shots that day with the crane all over downtown Los Angeles - more details to come on this shoot in the upcoming weeks!
Saturday February 06th 2010, 3:04 am
Filed under: Workshops
I wanted to make sure you knew of an upcoming workshop that I am preparing for in Dubai in a little over two weeks from now - The Gulf Photo Plus workshops.
I will be working with a group of students in and around Dubai to produce a series of short films/spec ads with the latest HDDSLR Cameras and accesories from March 1-6. I’ll be bringing my entire bag of tricks (as much as I can get on a plane without getting killed with excess baggage charges!) in terms of gear - from RedRock Micro, Marshall Electronics, Viewfactor, Bogen, IDX, Microdolly, PortaJib, Zeiss and on and on…
I will be joining 11 international world class photographers who will be teaching photography and video workshops and delivering seminars during the 6 day event. Joe McNally, David Hobby (The Strobist), Joey L, Melissa Rodwell, Zack Arias, Bobbi Lane and more more will be sharing their expertise in what promises to be a pretty awesome week.
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