Whats New? Here an update and video.

Its like I can never find the time to blog about these things. So much to to tell, I'll try to keep things short and sweet. In the passed few months my DSLR rig has grown and turn in to a filmmaking beast. The rig now comes with shoulder mount, a new 17-85mm lens and 7'' inch HD screen. Its a bit getting use to but I was expecting that. I've done some test around Wynwood/ Art District and have recently shot some BTS (Behind the scene) of photographer Joseph Evans. The following video is a sample of the BTS I shot one early morning with Mr. Evans and a Model( who's name escapes me at this moment.)

I color correct the video using Lucas Visual FX's Lighting Kit and a bit of Apple Color. The full video will be out soon.
More videos coming soon.

So what if Im sick? I can still cut...New T2i video

I've worked a lot these past few weeks. Theres been so many DSLR production happing in South Florida, I am thinking Florida has become "The Independent Film State". Small DSLR budget films, like "Chlorophyll" directed by Barry Jenkins and an 80s Horror Slasher music video by director Lucas Leyva, has inspired me to go out and shoot. I went with my friends, Alex and his cousin Eli, around Miami. We did some film test.I used two lenes, a 28mm and FD 50mm. Tried out the new DSLR rig as well. I tried make a music video out of it, I used the music by Dj SpyRock.

T2i Test: Miami/ music video 2011 from Felix Alvarez on Vimeo.

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:

New Jag35 test w/Apple color

So this is my second video working with the Jag35 pro. Im shooting with my Canon Vixia HG20. As you can tell its a bit shaky because im trying to manually focus and see what the hell im doing on the screen. Never the less, I think there are some great shots I got from the Jag35 and in this one I touched up in Apple color. Check out the video and let me know what you think.