I decided to take a dive off the deep end and just post something I've done. Unfortunately I didn't have complete creative input on this one, I shot and worked on some of the editing. I did shoot the whole thing and provided some direction for the talent, but they weren't actors, and I didn't come up with the situations.

So yea...I really thought it came out well. The music video is to the song Temporary Insanity by The Weekend. We sent them a link just for kicks and giggles, still waiting to see if there's a response...

Anyway, thought I'd show if off here, get some comments. I'd love to hear any and all comments, but focusing on the cinematography is directly related to me...so ya.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG06r8oI-Lw

http://67.55.33.36/jdvideo/downloads/temp_insane.mov (Right Click/Save As)

Enjoy.

Great song, Daniel! Are those kids signed yet?

What equipment was used?

A GL-1...that's it...and whatever you see on screen... It was a heavy overcast day, really really nasty to shoot in...I think the picture came out okay. Played with the exposure controls a bunch...

[EDIT: Well, if you want to get technical, it was edited on a Dell Inspiron 9100 laptop with Adobe Premiere Elements 1.0. My editing software is SOOOO behind the times...]

Fun song. My best suggestions are to use more wide shots and more tight shots, too many medium shots just get ho-hum pretty quick. Also, since you dont have access to a camera that does 24P, try the faux progressive mode of the GL1 or use some higher shutter speeds, especially when you are outside. It will give you a little more "pop" and less of that live news look. Also, try white balancing to light blue, it will give you nice warm color.




ash =o)

Do tell about this faux progressive mode...I'm not terribly familiar with the GL-1, it was the only camera available on loan from the school.

And I'm also not up on white balancing to anything but...uh...white :) Generally that works well, but I guess on those drab overcast days, where all the colors are muted anyway.

We toyed with the idea of changing the saturation a bit in post, but decided we really didn't have time, had to get it turned in, etc.

My only defense against the ho-hum medium shots is that we only had one afternoon to shoot it, people who didn't want to act, and a frustrated cameraman (ahem, me) trying to not yell at the "direction" (quote placed on purpose...) for not planning it out better. So yea, basically my fault...

I wanted to shoot more coverage on all of the locations, especially the "band sequence" that was supposed to pervade the entire video. The problem was, neither of our two females wanted to lip-sync...and all we had were a guitar and keyboard (the drums, etc, were supposedly going to be there...I never saw them...).

The guitarest was half decent...the keyboardist was a joke (hence, only 1 second of screen time). So out of almost a good 5 minutes of "band footage", what you see is about all there was usable :) Or you'd just see lots of guitar...and that looked silly.

The GL1 has a mode called frame mode, many people like to focus on it's technical flaws (slightly reduced resolution) but for most people, it wont matter one bit. It will give you a more film like look.

White balancing to light blue or even light gray can give you nice warm colors. Bumping the shutter gives you that "crispy" look which is great for tight shots of instruments or intense performance stuff.




ash =o)

White balancing to light blue or even light gray can give you nice warm colors. Bumping the shutter gives you that "crispy" look which is great for tight shots of instruments or intense performance stuff.


Wrong. Gray is neutral. In fact 18% Gray is perfect for a neutral white balance. If you wish to trick the White balance to create warmer colors, then place a small piece of CTB gel over the lens when you WB or use a warm card, or just WB as normal and color correct in post.

Daniel, the biggest lesson you can learn from this video is to concentrate on what you are doing and try and do your best. You can't blame the cast, the director, the weather (overcast weather is actually good for shooting video) or anything else. I've never done a single shoot where the material couldn't have been improved by an 'if only'. You've got to work with what you've got.

Keep shooting, the video showed some promise.

Liam.

Okay, never having bought them before, where would I find CTB gels? I know my school has a few, but they are picky about using them for student projects, I figured they were expensive...

And thx for the comments/suggestions :)

Wrong. Gray is neutral. In fact 18% Gray is perfect for a neutral white balance. If you wish to trick the White balance to create warmer colors, then place a small piece of CTB gel over the lens when you WB or use a warm card, or just WB as normal and color correct in post
Liam.


Not wrong at all... we are talking 1/3" CCD cameras here. Also, most kids posting here dont have any idea what a CTB gel is. For the record, it means, color temperature blue, which can help correct lighting or white balance in certain situations.

The Canon cameras respond dynamically to white balance and balancing to grey and balancing to white will give you very different looks. For warmer, I suggest a light blue.


ash =o)


PS Daniel, if you search you will find a thread where someone posted the effects of balancing to different colors in pretty simple to understand terms

Not wrong at all... we are talking 1/3" CCD cameras here.
I don't think the size of the CCD has anything to do with the laws of physics.


The Canon cameras respond dynamically to white balance and balancing to grey and balancing to white will give you very different looks.
This is very misleading. The only difference between white and gray is the luminance level. Point a camera at a white card, hit auto-exposure and you'll get gray.

For some basic tuition on WB, try here:
http://www.warmcards.com/wb101.html
http://www.mediacollege.com/video/camera/white-balance/
I hope that helps,

Liam.

Now that that's over, lol, what's this about frame mode, I see the setting on the camera. What specifically does it change? Framerate? I'm too afraid to switch it without asking :P

I don't think the size of the CCD has anything to do with the laws of physics.

This is very misleading. The only difference between white and gray is the luminance level. Point a camera at a white card, hit auto-exposure and you'll get gray.



Liam, your communications on this board are fairly abrasive, I suggest you approach this as a community. Also, remember, many of the people on these boards are still learning, they dont need to be taught a lesson or pontificated to, they need practical advice.

18% Grey is something that mainly comes up in still camera world. I never referenced that. I am giving this kid PRACTICAL advice that he can understand. I can tell you that WB to grey, white, light blue, light green, etc. will give you very different looks.

I speak from the voice of experience, you would be hard pressed to find anyone on planet earth who has shot as much DV as me.

Daniel, frame mode is faux progressive mode on the Canon cameras. I would recommend you try it out. The only reason to avoid it is if you are shooing something that will be transferred to PAL which is probably unlikely. Try setting it to frame mode and bumping your shutter to 120. I think you will like the look.




ash =o)

Liam, your communications on this board are fairly abrasive, I suggest you approach this as a community. Also, remember, many of the people on these boards are still learning, they dont need to be taught a lesson or pontificated to, they need practical advice.

There's no need to make this personal. I'm just trying to offer clear and accurate advice. I'm sorry if you feel my writing style is abrasive, I was badly educated.

IMO your advice about balancing to white or gray is misleading, particularly to newbies because if someone carries out a correct WB procedure pointing their camera at white or gray won't make a blind bit of difference; after hitting auto-exposure the white card will look gray and the gray card will look gray.

Don't take my word for it though, here's some excellent tuition;

http://www.internetcampus.com/tvp018.htm

I speak from the voice of experience, you would be hard pressed to find anyone on planet earth who has shot as much DV as me.
I really hope this is irony.

Ultimately, if my opinion is not welcome here, I won't give it. I was just trying to help...

Cheers,

Liam.

Calm down guys, lol.

Can't we all just hug and get along?

Calm down guys, lol.

Can't we all just hug and get along?
I'm up for a group hug.

Cheers,

Liam.

It is all semantics, I was giving practical advice that if someone was there that had a grey shirt on, he could balance to that. I was not giving technical advice.

As far as irony, not sure what you mean but I have shot DV since the day the VX1000 was released in the US in 1996. I have shot well over 5000 hours on the DV format alone since then.

No need to split hairs, I think Daniel has some info to help him.


ash =o)

So why would anyone not use the "frame" mode if it's just fine for everything except transfering to PAL, which isn't something I plan on doing anytime soon. So...why would I use the regular mode anyway?

Thx.

<<So...why would I use the regular mode anyway?>>

There are many reasons not to use Frame mode all the time; some applications don't call for the 30P (or "faux-30P") look, which is very different than 60i or "regular" mode on the GL1/GL2. The technical as well as abstract differences between 60i/24P/30P/frame mode have been discussed many times on these boards, so a little searching will dig up good discussions.

There are no rules but there are certainly established conventions, and while you don't have to follow them it can help you to be aware of them.

My suggestion is to shoot lots of footage in both modes, look at it, and note the differences; it'll become clear that different modes and different frame rates lend themselves to certain things.

So why would anyone not use the "frame" mode if it's just fine for everything except transfering to PAL, which isn't something I plan on doing anytime soon. So...why would I use the regular mode anyway?

Thx.


The regular mode will give you that live news, soap opera, look. This is good for many things, sports, live music, events, etc. but the progressive mode gives you a different feel, like you are observing something that has already taken place. 30P is much more subtle than 24P however. Just try it out, I bet you will like the look.



ash =o)

I've shot in 60i and 24p, never 30p though. And I know exactly what you mean about the "soap-opera" look. Long before I ever knew anything about filmaking, there were a trio of films in a trilogy, and it's obvious they got more budget as they went on. I honestly can't remember what they were called (I recall them being decent though...)

The first one looked like a soap-opera, and I never thought anything of it until I saw the second one. It just "looked" different. That's how I tried to explain it to people. It looked "different". lol

Of course, nowadays I've experimented and seen a lot of footage from everywhere and have a handle on the differences :)

So the "frame" mode is, simply, a 30p mode? Interesting. I will check it out and see how I like it.

Of course, I rarely use the GL-1, it's just the most easily accessible camera to me. I more often use a DVX100b (which I'm fond of...) and we actually have one day of shooting under our belts on some Sony 1080i HD cam...not sure which one.

I'll be sure to post this latest short when it's finished, but we have one more weekend of shooting then who-knows-how-long to edit, score, and do post work on it.

Anyway, thanks for the comments guys :) I really do appreciate it.