Thanks for watching - BT

New Short - Longboarding the Laboratory (Hard to soft light example)
 

Sequel to the screen grabs I posted last week of myself and friends longboarding a place we call the Laboratory. It's 8 floors and very smooth and very empty.

We had excellent sunlight for the first part of the afternoon, and then had a very nice sunset to shoot in the evening.

hope you like it:

Skating the Laboratory on Vimeo

If Vimeo is stuttering too much, (it was for me) there is a youtube link as well: YouTube - Skating The Laboratory

New Short Sneak Peak
 

The following is another episode of my production diaries where you can see some clips of my upcoming narrative short as well as a sneak peak of the final product. Everything was shot with a Canon XH-A1 and Edited with Final Cut Studio.

Originalcrush Production Diaries #5

cool stuff. are you doing any color correction in Final Cut? or using any presets during shooting?

Yes, I use the 3-way color corrector in FCP to crush the blacks and increase the white levels. I just like high contrast.

Interview footage
 

Some interview footage I shot with the true color preset found here.

http://www.w5digital.com/Site/The_On..._Constant.html

A1 shooting at 24f.

Any comments or critiques are appreciated.

thanks,

Mike Watkins

Political message?

no politics
 

Theme of the documentary is leaning towards the inevitability of change and how different age groups respond and deal with change.

I'm not a big proponent of political agenda...unless asked for my opinion, then look out :p.

thanks for viewing.

Mike Watkins

Ducks - videodoodle
 

Hello,

Felt like videodoodling this week and decided to film ducks in the park.

Hope you like it.

Ducks on Vimeo


"Videodoodling is the art of creating pointless and totally random footage."

New short film TEASER
 

Called "Sota la sorra" (Underground)
Canon XHA1 Panalook 2

Sota la sorra /Teaser/ on Vimeo

short movie from an old town
 

Short movie from the visit of the old town Trebon (Europe, The Czech Republic).
There are some big lakes, the old sepulcher of the Schwarzenberg family and the nice nature.

8min, wmv 1280x720, 4,5Mbps, 275MB

http://www.videoproduce.cz/images/Trebon_navstivenka .wmv (clear pause)

Nice to hear your comments (please sorry for my poor english).

short movie from an old town
 

Nice short film. What preset and other specifications did you use?. Thanks.

Sorry but I don´t speak english very well, too.

Culzean castle
 

hi folks, looking for constructive advice, critisism, thoughts good or bad on my first video posting.
feed back on shot composition , colour correction etc all welcome.
This was filmed at culzean castle in Ayrshire Scotland last week it was the first dry day for weeks after all the flooding we had.
Shot with Canon XH-A1 using 25p captured with cineform HD at 24p and edited in Sony Vegas 8 using Magic Bullet looks.

its posted on exposure room

Culzean Castle By john estcourt On ExposureRoom

Thanks for reply.

I use my own preset (gam normal, set -1, ped -3, knee low, color gain +15, color phase -1, CMX 1, all others 0), sometimes I use polarizel filter (clouds).

John, this is classic stuff - though it really speaks for itself I could just imagine a voiceover in a rich Scots accent describing the castle, its history and the grounds and woodlands. You have a good eye for composition and there are some cracking shots.

Some may require a more obvious story line but I was happy just to look at this superb footage of a familiar location. Technically I thought it was very good but if anything I wondered if the eighth scene (rack focus castle to leaves) was a wee bit redundant after the seventh (rack focus leaves to castle). Mind you, after watching it again it looks fine. Some critic I am.

It made me wish I lived in Scotland for a short while till I got real.

Hi Colin, thanks for the positive comments.
Yes your right about lack of a story line I suppose I didnt really have one in mind as I had so much fun filming as the weather/ sun light was almost perfect. I was supposed to be there for a couple of hours but I ended up there well into the afternoon..oops
This was my first attempt at this kind of film and having watched some of Philip Blooms work felt inspired to try it myself..
Yes a voice over would be good but my obvious English accent would probably not fit in with the beautiful Scottish location I am so lucky to live next to.
Thanks again,
john

small changes ...

http://www.videoproduce.cz/images/Tr...avstivenka_fin .wmv (clear pause pls.)

Pie Night Video
 

This is the first time I've used the A1 for something like this. Normally my cam is film only, but this I just HAD to film haha. 24f, 1/48th, 12db gain. The room was pretty dark, I'm surprised what the camera pulled off.

Enjoy!

NFBC Youth Group - PIE NIGHT! on Vimeo

http://www.praisepictures.com/pienight1.jpg
http://www.praisepictures.com/pienight2.jpg

Time Lapse Test
 

I bought my XH-A1 a couple of months ago and haven't really had a chance to use until now. This is my first test. Shot from my apartment window, overlooking Clark and Diversey streets in Chicago. Excellent camera!

Desperate Eve on Vimeo

How did you that? I can't figure out how to do a time lapse with the A1.

Also did you color grade that shot, or was that a preset?

I was teased.

The colors and composition looked great to me.

I have no idea what the project is about, but it looked nice.

The time lapse was created in Final Cut Pro. I manipulated the speed of the clip. No presets used. CC in After Effects.

Tokyo Police Club at UCLA
 

Another Short Promo
Shot on the xha1 and CC with MB Looks in AAE

Tokyo Police Club at UCLA on Vimeo

http://session08.com/PHOTO/TPC_pic_resize.jpg

I'm assuming this is synched with the studio track. The drums seem off or something. It looks great though. What Magic bullet settings did you use?
BIll

The colors look great. Was that a MB preset of did you come up with the settings on your own?

My 3 cents worth of:

1. there was very little video of the lead vocalist singing. Very unusual for a music video.

2. I felt somewhat dizzy after watching the clip. In my opinion there was a bit too much camera movement.

3. I don't know if the "sweat-stained-armpit-shot" was the most flattering for the band but it put a smile on my face.


Overall, very nice job. I enjoyed watching the clip.

Train Approaching
 

Just got my XHA1. Shot a couple of things today. Kinda overcast here in Western PA, so the shots aren't as colorful as they could have been.

Here's one of them:

Approaching Train on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

What system are you editing on? I could see you boosting the saturation a bit and crushing the blacks to get some more color out of this footage.

TP Demo Reel
 

Hey guys this is my new 2008 demo reel. All the footage was shot on the canon xh a1
MySpaceTV Videos: TP Camera Reel by TP Film Page

Winds Day
 

Bboy Cypher Battle in HD
 

Cypher Battle : M. BrysONE vs Jon Squared on Vimeo

Just uploaded it so it may be a few minutes. Shot in 1080i60 HDV @ 1/30 shutter. Using a Canon XH-A1. First time importing into prores with these new settings I found. Worked out great. Able to edit and view in real time. Haven't done much HD editing and this workflow made things VERY easy to manage.

Capturing HDV Into ProRes Via FireWire | Moviola ? Training for Avid, Apple & Adobe | Production & Post Production Rentals & Sales | Los Angeles, Hollywood, Burbank

Thanks for watching :)

Horrible clip...but need some things answered.
 

YouTube - MJD Talk

Sorry, for the horrible editing (it was done in 20 mins in FCP, and I laugh at the music loop myself) and I am sorry for the language.

Basically I had just gotten the A1 during the time of this shot and as wondering why it looks so god damned awful? It was on full auto mode but still this looks worse than a lot of footage from much cheaper cameras.

I havent got a chance to test my camera out with new presets and taking more control of the settings, but would like to ask anyone out there...why do you think it came out that bad?

slomo...but not so good
 

This was shot at 30p and frame rate of 60, slowed down to 66% using just FCP. I guess I need to shoot a higher frame rate? This was a ballet rehearsal for upcoming Nutcracker performance...

Rehearsal By Jeff Nelson On ExposureRoom

What do you mean "30P and frame rate of 60"? If it's 30P then frame rate is 30. Generally it's best to shoot 60i and de-interlace. BUT having said that, the clip looks pretty good to me, what are you seeing that's wrong with it?
Steve

Dear Jeff,

Did you use 30p with a shutter speed of 60 (1/60th of a second)?

If yes, then you could help your slow-mo by using a shutter speed of 120 (1/120th of a second) if you have enough light.

I agree with Steve, I would recommend shooting 1080i60 if you know you are going to use slow-mo, or just want to keep your options open.

Thanks, guys. Yes, I meant shutter speed of 1/60th. The ghosting or motion blur doesn't look too great to me. I'll try raising the shutter speed and maybe 60i. Thanks again.

Without realizing it you answered your own question. You had the camera on full auto. That means auto gain, auto iris, etc.

This camera is not designed to be a point and shoot camera. Instead, just like professional still cameras, to get the best quality, you need to control it manually. Auto gain, for example, typically adds a ton of noise to the picture unless lighting conditions are perfect.

To start with, turn off auto gain, auto white balance, auto iris.

Go into the settings and set your low gain setting to -3

Then practice getting video with these settings and you'll soon be able to get some amazing footage.

There is a lot of information in this and other forums that will help understand this camera better.

Good luck

ditto... and ditto

Premiere Pro CS3 on OSX. It was a fairly overcast day.

"New York New York"
 

Had a good afternoon with the family in New York City this summer. It was a little hazy but for using full auto, 24F I'm very pleased. Carried it all day (shoulder strap) and it really was ok. All free hand shots, this camera make shots easy.

New York Summer Afternoon 2008 on Vimeo

Overcast / hazy makes every things look washed out, almost out of focus. Maybe a filter? I only have a UV filter.