Hello fellow XL'ists........

saw an awesome "killer" insect and shot some nice sharp video (stock XL 1S lens)...I usually reserve the insect videography to the EF adapter setup but had only the stock lens mounted when this opportunity arose.....it's a small, 2 minute (2.8MB) file and should take a few moments for DSL or cable surfers...

shot it all today and did a quick edit in FCP3...

www.jewelusions.com/Cicada_Killer.mov

the original footage was nicely captured (manual) with the XL 1S....

...having fun.......

Nature can be a cruel place.... damn. Nicely done! Althought at
moments it was tad to fuzzy due to the compression levels
(can't we all have fibre optic lines directly to the internet backbone?)

Thanks for sharing!

How did you find the only wasp in the Bronx? The cicada had to be from out of town.
I thought it was pretty good.
Bruce

very cool video, like the use of text inbetween the shots, good music for that video also. Did you cut it at home or at the park? If you had a laptop, you could just sit at a bench and cut it there.

That particular scene was shot at a "bird sanctuary" off Tucahoe Road in Yonkers- just 1.5 miles north of the Bronx. But there are tons of cicadas and the likes in the Bronx. I know the Bronx has had a reputation of "crime & violence" but that was in the ole' days- today the Bronx has been revitalized with single family home developement- matter of fact- the Bronx is used as the model for the entire USA in revamping "battered" neighborhoods and is visited by every top politician (even the President) as each claims some form of credit for it's revitalization.
(that was for you, Bruce)

Thanks for the positive remarks....sometimes i just see the XL sitting there and feel the urge to capture "something' on tape....for that moment- that was it.

Having fun in NYC with an XL.

Man, that's put me off my lunch.
Wish I saw that after I ate.

Does make me want to get out and about more with my XL1 though.

no malace intended, it's been over 30 years since the last time i was in the Bronx. and at that, the part I went through was pure city, yonkers was the German section. Glad to hear they're doing a great job on the east coast, which I left 24 years ago. I'll have to go back and enjoy the New York boros I did as a kid.


I still think you short was great!

bruce

Steve,

What did you use for your music score?

FWIW, my cable modem was only able to sustain a 10Kbps download time. I just downloaded a Northern Lights 3D sample movie at 200Kbps so something may be up with your web hosting service.

Greg Matty

P.S. Nice job by the way.

Cool short, Steve. What is about nature that is so compelling? I liked the music, too. It tied the whole thing together!

Thanks guys- the music is actually off an ole' Saga Saturn game my son has- Jurrasic Park (one of those series)- you can rip audio off a Playstation or Saga CD using a Mac computer and export as a 48 MHZ audio file perfect for DV editing....because that was used strictly for that short post and definitely not a profit type thing- it didn't bother me using that audio---but for the record I have the "Digital Juice" editors toolkit coming in- $900 for scapes and music - all royalty free...you guys might want to check them out.

Again much thanks for the responses....I'll try to keep these shorts coming if I find anything interesting worth posting. (I have excellent hawk footage of hawks capturing pigeons, rats, mice- anyone want that posted- )

(Bruce- no sweat- was just trying to give the image of the Bronx a facelift)

Can you elaborate a little on what Digital Juice is? It seems pretty pricey at $900 but it may indeed be worth it.

I own Sonicfire Pro from sonicdesktop.com and it works great. The libraries do get expensive though.

Greg Matty

Cool video Steve!

I feel sorry for the other bug! :(