The Salt Company at DVinfo.net

Bryon Akerman · December 28th, 2006, 10:46 PM

This is a lesson from a DVD discipleship series that I am producing. We did a three camera shoot and I am hosting along with the future Mrs. Akerman. I designed the set and we shot it in my parents garage. I made the whole set (minus the TVs...I swiped those from the parents also) for about $500.00. My main Camera was a XL1-s with the manual lens and my B camera was a Small Sony. My C camera was a XL1 with a Wide Angle Adapter on it. We had one teleprompter that we were reading off of...and while, I wrote the Lessons, Michelle never saw them until she showed up... yep, she's amazing. Anyways, there will be 36 lessons total 1 for every day of the week except Sunday, and will last for 6 weeks. It is to help new Christians understand our faith and answer some very common questions. The topics range from how reliable the Bible is, to who Jesus really is, If God is good, why do ba things happen, and what exactly is the purpose of the church.

My friends, who helped me shoot it, are editing it on FCP, and all of the Color Correcting and imaging is Magc Bullet. I'm topping it off by De-Interlacing it and adding a Vignette.

Please give me some feedback on what you think.

http://homepage.mac.com/akermanprodu...eSharing2.html

The dowenload takes about 3 mintues on Cable, but if anybody has a site that I can host it on temporarily, that would be great, also!

Much Love!
Bryon Akerman <><

Bryon Akerman · December 29th, 2006, 10:17 AM

wait for it.....wait for it...... bump .......there it is....

Alex Sprinkle · December 29th, 2006, 10:31 AM

Bro, great idea! And "Congrats" to the two of you if I'm reading that right. I really like what you're doing, but I must warn you there is a glitch in the video about 4 and a half minutes in, when Michelle says, "...you had a debt. You acquired a $4 debt the moment you took..."

What program are you using for the backgrounds? Is that in FCP and I'm unaware of it?

Bryon Akerman · December 29th, 2006, 11:44 AM

That must be from where I down converted it to fit it on the web. When you say, background, what are you referring to? Are you speaking of the lower third? The Lower third is actually a Digital Juice, but I colorized it make it a blue color.

Thanks for the feedback. it is MUCH appreciated

Bryon Akerman · December 29th, 2006, 12:22 PM

Please give some feedback!

Bryon Akerman · December 29th, 2006, 03:05 PM

Could I get som e more feedback from you guys..... appreciate it.

Thanks!!

Alex Sprinkle · December 29th, 2006, 03:06 PM

Yeah, the background in the lower third. Very eye catching. One thing that kept pulling my attention away throughout it was the graphic that appeared to the right of the lower third that kept appearing abruptly. Maybe because I'm ADD, who knows.

Bryon Akerman · December 29th, 2006, 03:14 PM

It actually looks better in the original green, but of course, it wouldn't go with the whole theme.

I could have been around the whole "look" of it for so long that I don't really notice the logo....but...who knows....

Steven Gotz · December 29th, 2006, 03:55 PM

You did a great job with the material. You'll notice some heavy breathing into the microphone at about 8:38 and on into the rest of the clip. I think it was you bowing your head and exhaling heavily. Just be more careful.

You may notice that thinking on your feet is hard. I highly suggest that you script all of the prayers as well as the sermon. It may seem to be better on the fly, but it really isn't. Not to the viewers.

Bryon Akerman · December 29th, 2006, 10:12 PM

Yeah, the breathing comes from tilting my head down, while I pray. I have yet to send it over to my audio guy for sweetening, so He is going to work it up a bit for me. What do you guys think about the set and lighting? I used a basic 3-point light system with a couple of light boxes up front...1 on a 1000watt and 1 on a 650 watt. The key light is actually a 650 with a filter over it... I did that because I wanted it a bit warmer. I used Gutter screen for the pillars with 150 watt halogen work lights on both ends with colored filters to give them their look. The bulbs are simple medium base clamp work lights with the clamps and the silver bowls removed. The boxes are actually my equipment cases for some of my gear. Again, by the time I got my teleprompter, new mics, additional camera, and so on out of the way, my budget was about gone. So, for $500.00 and some freebies, I think it turned out okay...

I've got some "behind the Scenes" pictures somewhere. I'll try and find them and post them on here. I stapled blankets to the walls to absorb the sound, and I also had some ISO Foam stapled to the ceiling directly above us. It looked extremely tacky in person, but as long as it doesn't show on camera.... who cares!

Bryon Akerman · December 29th, 2006, 10:15 PM

Oh... one other thing. In some of my other lessons, we talk about praying as just being us talking with God... how it doesn't have to be elegant....or have to be in the "King James" language.. and so on. So, the prayers are the one thing we didn't want to script. We wanted them to have a rough feeling...to show the new christians that if we stumble a bit or are rough withy it...it's okay, because God understands what we are trying to say.

Bryon <><

Bryon Akerman · December 29th, 2006, 11:23 PM

Also, on that page is a political ad I did on a Sony z1U. Corny, but Fun!

In the words of a great philosopher... I ain't too proud beg... so please take a look and give me some feedback! Thanks a million!

Bryon <><

Bryon Akerman · December 30th, 2006, 08:25 AM

I updated the link....

Steven Gotz · December 30th, 2006, 10:39 AM

The size of the clip is too small to really tell how it looks. It seems fine. For real feedback, perhaps you should provide a few stills taken from the timeline at full resolution so we can see what you would see on the TV.

Bryon Akerman · December 31st, 2006, 01:21 PM

Here are some stills from the shoot...

December 28th, 2006, 10:46 PM	#1
Bryon Akerman Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 175	The Salt Company This is a lesson from a DVD discipleship series that I am producing. We did a three camera shoot and I am hosting along with the future Mrs. Akerman. I designed the set and we shot it in my parents garage. I made the whole set (minus the TVs...I swiped those from the parents also) for about $500.00. My main Camera was a XL1-s with the manual lens and my B camera was a Small Sony. My C camera was a XL1 with a Wide Angle Adapter on it. We had one teleprompter that we were reading off of...and while, I wrote the Lessons, Michelle never saw them until she showed up... yep, she's amazing. Anyways, there will be 36 lessons total 1 for every day of the week except Sunday, and will last for 6 weeks. It is to help new Christians understand our faith and answer some very common questions. The topics range from how reliable the Bible is, to who Jesus really is, If God is good, why do ba things happen, and what exactly is the purpose of the church. My friends, who helped me shoot it, are editing it on FCP, and all of the Color Correcting and imaging is Magc Bullet. I'm topping it off by De-Interlacing it and adding a Vignette. Please give me some feedback on what you think. http://homepage.mac.com/akermanprodu...eSharing2.html The dowenload takes about 3 mintues on Cable, but if anybody has a site that I can host it on temporarily, that would be great, also! Much Love! Bryon Akerman <>< __________________ Commandment #11- "Thou shalt Render as thou goest." "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 1:7)

December 29th, 2006, 10:17 AM	#2
Bryon Akerman Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 175	Feedback please wait for it.....wait for it...... bump .......there it is.... __________________ Commandment #11- "Thou shalt Render as thou goest." "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 1:7)

December 29th, 2006, 11:44 AM	#4
Bryon Akerman Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 175	Glitch... That must be from where I down converted it to fit it on the web. When you say, background, what are you referring to? Are you speaking of the lower third? The Lower third is actually a Digital Juice, but I colorized it make it a blue color. Thanks for the feedback. it is MUCH appreciated __________________ Commandment #11- "Thou shalt Render as thou goest." "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 1:7)

December 29th, 2006, 12:22 PM	#5
Bryon Akerman Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 175	Bump Please give some feedback! __________________ Commandment #11- "Thou shalt Render as thou goest." "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 1:7)

December 29th, 2006, 03:05 PM	#6
Bryon Akerman Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 175	El Bumpo Could I get som e more feedback from you guys..... appreciate it. Thanks!! __________________ Commandment #11- "Thou shalt Render as thou goest." "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 1:7)

December 29th, 2006, 10:31 AM	#3
Alex Sprinkle Major Player Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Moore, Oklahoma Posts: 408	Bro, great idea! And "Congrats" to the two of you if I'm reading that right. I really like what you're doing, but I must warn you there is a glitch in the video about 4 and a half minutes in, when Michelle says, "...you had a debt. You acquired a $4 debt the moment you took..." What program are you using for the backgrounds? Is that in FCP and I'm unaware of it?

December 29th, 2006, 03:06 PM	#7
Alex Sprinkle Major Player Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Moore, Oklahoma Posts: 408	Yeah, the background in the lower third. Very eye catching. One thing that kept pulling my attention away throughout it was the graphic that appeared to the right of the lower third that kept appearing abruptly. Maybe because I'm ADD, who knows.

December 29th, 2006, 03:14 PM	#8
Bryon Akerman Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 175	lower third It actually looks better in the original green, but of course, it wouldn't go with the whole theme. I could have been around the whole "look" of it for so long that I don't really notice the logo....but...who knows.... __________________ Commandment #11- "Thou shalt Render as thou goest." "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 1:7)

December 29th, 2006, 03:55 PM	#9
Steven Gotz Trustee Join Date: May 2002 Location: Clermont, FL Posts: 1,520	You did a great job with the material. You'll notice some heavy breathing into the microphone at about 8:38 and on into the rest of the clip. I think it was you bowing your head and exhaling heavily. Just be more careful. You may notice that thinking on your feet is hard. I highly suggest that you script all of the prayers as well as the sermon. It may seem to be better on the fly, but it really isn't. Not to the viewers. __________________ Steven Gotz http://www.stevengotz.com

December 29th, 2006, 10:12 PM	#10
Bryon Akerman Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 175	Yeah, the breathing comes from tilting my head down, while I pray. I have yet to send it over to my audio guy for sweetening, so He is going to work it up a bit for me. What do you guys think about the set and lighting? I used a basic 3-point light system with a couple of light boxes up front...1 on a 1000watt and 1 on a 650 watt. The key light is actually a 650 with a filter over it... I did that because I wanted it a bit warmer. I used Gutter screen for the pillars with 150 watt halogen work lights on both ends with colored filters to give them their look. The bulbs are simple medium base clamp work lights with the clamps and the silver bowls removed. The boxes are actually my equipment cases for some of my gear. Again, by the time I got my teleprompter, new mics, additional camera, and so on out of the way, my budget was about gone. So, for $500.00 and some freebies, I think it turned out okay... I've got some "behind the Scenes" pictures somewhere. I'll try and find them and post them on here. I stapled blankets to the walls to absorb the sound, and I also had some ISO Foam stapled to the ceiling directly above us. It looked extremely tacky in person, but as long as it doesn't show on camera.... who cares! __________________ Commandment #11- "Thou shalt Render as thou goest." "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 1:7)

December 29th, 2006, 10:15 PM	#11
Bryon Akerman Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 175	Oh... one other thing. In some of my other lessons, we talk about praying as just being us talking with God... how it doesn't have to be elegant....or have to be in the "King James" language.. and so on. So, the prayers are the one thing we didn't want to script. We wanted them to have a rough feeling...to show the new christians that if we stumble a bit or are rough withy it...it's okay, because God understands what we are trying to say. Bryon <>< __________________ Commandment #11- "Thou shalt Render as thou goest." "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 1:7)

December 29th, 2006, 11:23 PM	#12
Bryon Akerman Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 175	Looking for Feedback...help a brother out.. Also, on that page is a political ad I did on a Sony z1U. Corny, but Fun! In the words of a great philosopher... I ain't too proud beg... so please take a look and give me some feedback! Thanks a million! Bryon <>< __________________ Commandment #11- "Thou shalt Render as thou goest." "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 1:7)

December 30th, 2006, 08:25 AM	#13
Bryon Akerman Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 175	I updated the link.... __________________ Commandment #11- "Thou shalt Render as thou goest." "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 1:7)

December 30th, 2006, 10:39 AM	#14
Steven Gotz Trustee Join Date: May 2002 Location: Clermont, FL Posts: 1,520	The size of the clip is too small to really tell how it looks. It seems fine. For real feedback, perhaps you should provide a few stills taken from the timeline at full resolution so we can see what you would see on the TV. __________________ Steven Gotz http://www.stevengotz.com

December 31st, 2006, 01:21 PM	#15
Bryon Akerman Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 175	Image Stills Here are some stills from the shoot... Attached Thumbnails __________________ Commandment #11- "Thou shalt Render as thou goest." "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 1:7)