The consumption of media in the palm of my hand :My thoughts of the android and smart phones

As I sit back ,against my bed and just speak into the phone which is capturing my thoughts and putting it into my blog it's quite amazing how a little, pocket size machine can have me connected to the world. For production it's become a blessing. I get updates on new jobs, I keep in touch with my online community and get emails from clients. Bloging with a phone is ok,I perfer my keyboard.With this in my hand im a force to be recon with. Android is way better then an iphone. 3 years ago I wanting an iphone beacuse so many of colleagues had one and I was stuck with a crappy text phone. The internet was so slow, no way I could see the full HTML like I with my current phone. Another disadvantage that my old phone had that my current one does was video. If you have a demo video on YouTube and no laptop, then how is anyone going to see your work? With this smart phone its only a click away. I couldn't afford geting an iPhone and hated at&t plan. But now a good android smart phone is quite affordable and it works almost with every phone network ( I have a Metro PCS plan). And because this phone updates me on new gigs it pretty much pays for it self. See, I know that a smart phone is only as smart as the person using it.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Celtx: the Screen Writing Tool that you must get

Like any inspiring video/ film maker, I've got stories to tell. Typing out your vision on the key board is long and some times pain staking process. Trying to type a script in the proper format isn't a walk in the park neither. Here a sample Link to how complicating a script is supost to be broken down. Now there are Screen writing programs out on the market that can help you get the proper format and help you move faster in your long journey. The one most widely recommend screen writing software program is Final Draft. For what I've read it is the "it" program for pro screen writers. Now the price of this program is around $200 dollars, which is not bad (i'd say its quite a affordable) but If your like me you're always trying to save and find ways around spending your money. Lets keep them pockets full, shall we. Once again I searched on the web and came a cross Celtx. Celtx is an amazing program with so much to offer, not just a script but a pre- production planing. The software it self is pretty easy to understand, with samples storys of Wizard of Oz and War of the Worlds. Celtx can help you to create a schedule of production, organize storybords, create a lighting outline of your set and add Mp3 audio notes. Not only does it help to write screenplay for feature films but aslo for theater and comic book script. All this goodness and for zero payment. Thats right!! you read it, its free for Windows and Mac. So if you want unleash that award winning story, try Celtx.








Here a video of Celtx at work:

Testing out my blogger app

Hey everyone. Marry Xmas from my new android phone. This is going to be my new way to stay in touch and my readers updated on Vid Production Group progress.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Sundance is DEAD. And a revolution is coming.....

Dragon: A tool for the lazy screen writer

This might be good for screen writers who could just talk out a scene. I know sometimes my fingers can't keep up with my brian, so this might be an good way to express my thoughts with out being caught up in if this sentence sounds right written up. More then that It could help in moving along these blogs faster then I can type them. The windows version of this program is cheaper then the Mac one, which sucks for me. Id still say that this might come useful for production.

Video sample of wedding, shot with the T2i.

Here is the wedding video I shot in mid November. I film and took pictures with the Canon 550D/T2i and shot it in 60fps. The Slow motion scene turned out great, even tho its a bit shaky at times. I really need to get me a steady cam to move at lot smoother but this is alright for a demo.The intro was made with Apple Motion and the video was cut together with Final Cut pro.

IPad vs MacBook Pro: Whats better for filmmaking?

As of recently, I've have come to the realization that I need a mobile computer.NO DUH?! Ive' been wanting a laptop to check for emails, look up new jobs and keep track of everything from my bank account to my Facebook on the go. A Mac book pro would be ideal for video production but lately I've been looking at the IPad as a useful tool, on and off set. Though I know tech people will argue with me that the Mac book pro is way better then an IPad, which I agree it is,but I can see the benefits that the IPad brings from the creative side of film making. While there are lots Cons then Pros to the IPad, such as no USB or SD card input, not able to run two apps at the same time and limited hard drive storage (bigest one is 64GB). These were things that turned me off of the IPad. It's awesomeness turned to crap. Pretty much the IPad was more for the care free consumer who just was hang back read,draw, go online and watch movies. But then I saw the new apps that people have created for filmmaking and production. The four apps that has caught my eye are the Scripts Pro app, ProPrompter app, Color app and Movie Slate. Scripts Pro is a script writing program (costing $5.99) and a cheap alternative to the Pro programs such as Final Draft which is $200 bucks worth. ProPrompter is a teleprompter program where you can type up your talents lines and let it scroll down as he/she reads it. I can't tell you how many times I wish I had a teleprompter to move along the production. The last app is the MovieSlate app, which is a digital slate for production. This seems to be the very popular for DSLR filmmakers in some youtube videos but to be honest rarely seen one on a set. The one app that really sparked my mind but couldn't find it anywhere was the Color Correcting Application that works with Final Cut Studios Color.This colors wheel platform is usually a pro dash bord with rolling wheels that effect contrast, saturation, and tone and cost thousands. With this app it could make coloring more easier and incline to experiment. Its pretty cool, though I have not seen the app on iTunes yet. This list I found has more apps: 22 Filmmaking Apps for IPad and IPod. Here is an article from NoFilmschool.com which goes in to the iOS of the IPad, IPhone and Android. Either way, MacBooks are the winners because it has all the inputs you need,bigger hards dives,and compassed to store and edit,where as IPad lacks. Im sure Steve Jobs is working on it.
Here are some video of IPads apps for film/video production:

Photos with couple: Canon T2i

Wedding Photos Shot with T2i

Here are som samples of a wedding I shot with the Canon T2i. Coming soon, I'll have a video demo up.

HDSLR and Reality web shows: Good or Bad for production ?

HD DSLRs has become a hit in the video production world and why wouldn't it. They are small, weight less cameras that have full HD quality and have cinematic depth of field. I find more media online that has been shot on these revolutionary cameras and its seem to be growing. Still there is no denying that there are a lot of limitations to the camera that might not work for all production. I even forget at times that I am not working with a traditional digital video camera but a photography camera with the bonus feature of HD video. Lets take reality shows for instance. Just last week I was part of a production that was using the Canon 7D camera and H4n Zoom sound recorder. The program was a sort of decretive designed show for the web. The host and producers came down from Los Angeles and had four day for the production. The crew was small, probably there were 5 of us in total with only two camera man and me as PA/sound man. I've worked sound department before as Boom operator and had previously worked with H4n Zoom.They used two 7D cameras to cover the action. It was run and gun at times and with some sit down interviews by the host and contest winner.
I have a lot to cover so I will start with obvious issue of sound. Although there are XLR adaptors for the DSLR you still have get around the automatic gain that is recording sound for the video. The H4n is a audio recorder with XLR input has an SD card format. Perfect portability to recored sound with as we had the talent mic with a lavalieres. At times it was hard to keep up with all the action when it came to sound. We did not slate or unitedly synced on recording at times because of the rush of get the shots and real moments. I sort of had to watch the camera men as they were doing their thing and recording when they were filming and stop when they weren't. I was able to monitor the levels on the H4n but with no mixer I couldn't bring the sound the down when it peaked or filtered out noises. One of the producers, who worked as both 2nd camera man and editor of the production, assured me sound would be alright as long as it was being recored.
Zooming in and out of different shots is common in a run and gun productions. Watch how some reality show are shot and you see what I mean. One of the things I've noticed with the DSLR cameras is the adjustment to light when going from a close up to a wide. Since these DSLR cameras work best with automatic white balance, I am guessing that is has something to do it. As an editor myself, I can see the pain it could cost in post when color correcting but I also know you can cut around it.
Another issue in filming was the camera has a limitation of recording time. 12 minutes is the maximum time to record before the camera cuts off and you have to record another clip. The constant use of the record mode tends to heat up the sensor as well, causing the camera to shut down in the middle of the take. When comes to these types of shoots, you got to be constantly rolling. Timecode is usually set up on the cameras so they can synced up in post production but the DSLRs dont have that option.
I like a light weight cameras, most major shows are shot with these heavy cams that can be a strain on a camera man. But when your shooting with DSLR you do not have a counter balance to the camera unless you had some rig. With out one you're basically just holding on to the lens and getting shaky shots. During one day production when we did a walk and talk down the Design District in downtown Miami, there were issues in getting a stable shot. We only had a mono pods and Manfrotto Fluid head tripod.
The digital card age has made uploading footage a breeze but there are more risk in losing footage if its not properly backed up. Tapes were a pain to processed but at least there were a solid source of where your media is kept. If your hard drive crashed and you need the footage back , you always have your tapes. With digital cards, if you lose it and didn't have a back up then you are screwed. This happen to our production when one producer lost an hour of a interview. We had to go back and film it again and lost time.
Are all these things worth the headaches. The final videos was going to be 8-10 minutes long and this production was intend for the web. Maybe it was just fine for web but it's still not intended for this reality kind of production. I think it's perfect for movies, music videos and commercials. Production with plenty of pre planing. Reality is a mix of planing and free styling, at least that is how I view it. I am glad to see these cameras are being used more and more and I hope the technology evolves.

Solution to Slow motion: Using Cinema Tools

I've talked about the difficulty of geting that cinematic slow motion with the DSLR cameras (I own the 550/T2i) when using Final Cut Pro. It seem that the solution would have been to get Twixtor and shell out a couple hundred bucks. For a poor filmmaker or video producer such as myself, spending more money is never a good solution to a problem but I have great news. A friend of mine told me it was possible to get that slow motion to my 60fps 720p footage by bring it in to Cinema Tools (part of the Final Cut Studio program). Now I personally hardly use Cinema Tools... Actually I've never really use it. Although I've come to learn a lot of what Final Cut Pro Studio has to offer, Cinema Tools is a complete stranger to me. But if this stranger can get me the look I want without me spending a dime, then I welcome that stranger with open arms. I searched online and found a tutorial on how to go about this, thanks to help of Creative Cow. I couldn't believe how easy it was thru Cinema Tools to get slow motion, it worked like a charm. Although you can get the great results with using Cinema Tools, Twixtor has more control over the speed of the footage, making the motion of the footage as slow or fast as you like. So If youre a Final Cut Pro user and on a budget, Cinema Tools is the way to go.