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Just “Blog-Bookmarking” a great written tutorial:

• http://www.dvvideo.com/learn/dvPrimer/creating.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1nl-LFwziI&feature=related

• MC 5.0
• User and Beta-Tester experiences.
  • They like the (fairly new) Smart Tool
  • AMA is useful for producing on-set rushes and quick edits
    • They mention a Mac (..Book?) being used on-set, taking footage from a P2 card.
    • They show a card from a DSLR being plugged into a Lexar outboard card-reader.
    • {? I wonder if subsequently they ingest/import it in “traditional” fashion, e.g. to take advantage of media management and to minimise risks of obscure issues down the line ?}
  • 01:50 shows Steven Sprung, ACE Editor (Dispatch, Entourage). He looks a bit like me.
  • More than one editing-suite scene shows a graphic tablet being used.
  • [02:12] shows some track labels/assignments.
    • It can be instructive to see how others do it.
  • [02:14] et seq: Smart Tool
    • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VP4mGI5K6Q&feature=endscreen&NR=1
      • This gives a great brief intro to what it does / how to activate/deactivate it.
      • Also Link Selection. (what’s that? links media that are in separate tracks?)
  • [02:14] Audio
    • e.g. level meters on each track
    • Track-based RTAS effects etc. are useful to help indicate to the sound department approximately what the editor requires artistically
  • [03:48] Editors (can be) on set 12-14 hours/day might also take work home on laptop.
  • [03:39] Graphic tablet shown as part of edit suite. Which one is it? How useful?
  • [03:59] Matrox MXO Mini enables use of a standard TV as monitor, including calibration tools (what kind?).

I serendipitously discovered a forum website for Michael Bay, the Executive Producer of Transformers and Producer of Pear Harbour, amongst others.

It has a Film-Making and Movie Discussion forum.  What I’ve so far skimmed through suggests its more for film fans than film makers, but it does give production news/snippets/oddments and draws attention to trailers and makings-of movies, so who knows, maybe there’s more to be found in there.

Some budget CGI-inclusive YouTube Makings-Of  e.g. for battle video game vids /ads by Freddie Wong (FreddieW), that were drawn to my attention:

• Google: [freddiew]
• http://vimeo.com/13557939
  • Simulated 1000 fps video from a Canon 7D at 720p60 (60 fps), frame-tweening by Twixtor.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPMx86wXaKY&feature=related
  • “Splinter Cell” battle-game advert produced in an extremely short time, by a group famous for doing just that.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_626131&feature=iv&src_vid=zcjG_UxatDA&v=Zo5-XpQ5Jkk
  • “Battlefield 3″ game TV commercial, whose production involved the same group as above but this time with bigger sponsorship/budget hence pro movie equipment like Arri Alexa.
  • The making-of:
    • http://www.youtube.com/watch?src_vid=Zo5-XpQ5Jkk&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_228948&v=zcjG_UxatDA
  • The background:
    • http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/12/19/battlefield-3-trailer-created-by-freddie-wong/
• Freddie Wong with Fighter-POV via GoPro on Crash-Helmet
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyCyzB0CedM
    • Future First Person Shooter
    • (They act just like in a video game - poses, stacatto movements…)
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?src_vid=CyCyzB0CedM&annotation_id=annotation_461640&v=VjtQEG4rWd4&feature=iv
    • Behind the Scenes - Future First Person Shooter
• The Crying Gamer
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbxRp6Dg_VQ
    • The Crying PC Gamer
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?src_vid=YbxRp6Dg_VQ&annotation_id=annotation_690222&feature=iv&v=JKFXX3BAf5w
    • Behind the Scenes - Crying PC Gamer
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_233046&src_vid=JKFXX3BAf5w&feature=iv&v=6dueI-MFxLY
    • Crying Gamer - VFX Breakdown
    • (This one’s good because it explains a bit about planning and CGI/Reality blending techniques etc.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=dkb6EWyefgI&NR=1
  • How to Fall Under an RV
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV-gnh1En6E&list=UUDsO-0Yo5zpJk575nKXgMVA&index=6&feature=plcp
  • Battlefield 4 Trailer, once again by Freddie Wong

Movie recommended to me (haven’t seen it yet):

• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405336/

This is a dark-sci-fi (good, I like those) with observations on the post-catastrophe balance between security and freedom/rights.  The cast involves numerous famous actors, encouraged into roles beyond their normal types.

The film was drawn to my attention by someone (Matthew Roberts) with whom I was discussing the process of movie critical/constructive feedback and consequent reworking.  Apparently the above movie was a case in point:   An early (and unripe) version of it was initially screened in Cannes, resulting in some negative feedback but also support.

The moral of this story (about that film):  feedback can be priceless.  The consequent partial re- write/shoot/edit of that film, subsequently released on DVD, arguably elevated it to “one you have to see”.  Thanks Matt, I’ll check it out.

I want to shoot a brief film exercise, ideally in misty early-morning conditions.  How do I go about finding a mist-forecast?  Aha! (and Oho!)  Find an Aviation Weather Forecast, because pilots and airports care about visibility. The following seems simplest and best for my purposes (given I am near Alton in Hampshire, UK):

• http://www.xcweather.co.uk/forecast/alton
  • This Forecast weather table (by date and time), in its “Weather” column, includes a very obvious “Mist” icon when applicable.
  • Warning: There is more than one “Alton” in the UK, it is necessary to select the required one, which is not the default.

Job (finding out when the next mist is due) done!

Examples highlighted by Matt:

• Elevated
  • The movie:
    •  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWcbj7ksqwE
    • http://thedemoscene.tumblr.com/post/281033080/elevated-by-rgba-tbc-if-you-are-interesting-in
      • Found by Bing: [elevated rgba presentation]
  • How it was made
    • http://iquilezles.org/www/material/function2009/function2009.htm
      • Includes a document (pdf) explaining the process and subprocesses and and illustrating their results.
• Chaos Theory
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfuierUvx1A
    • Has some nice bits e.g. the “3D Cube / Borg -Rooms flythrough”
• Fairlight Cncd Agenda Circling Forth Breakpoint 2010
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON4N0yGz4n8
  • Found by Bing: [agend fairlight]

Some issues I have experienced, and some answers from various sources:

• At least when played on a laptop, motion seems juddery.  Can’t quite put my finger on it, but it’s as if the frame rate is uneven.
  • Appears to be due to playing a 25 fps video on a 60Hz refresh-rate display device (my laptop’s screen).
    • I did an experiment, panning around a garden (in daylight)
      • Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/31929495 (30 fps) and http://vimeo.com/31930183 (25 fps)
      • The version filmed at 30 fps plays far more smoothly, presumably because no frames are dropped due to the screen refresh-rate.
    • Conclusion: for online viewing of naturally-lit pans, 30 fps is best (consistent: record, edit and display) , even in PAL regions.
  • Try increasing the shutter-time.
    • I did an experiment, panning around a garden (in daylight)
      • Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/31929495 (30 fps) and http://vimeo.com/31930183 (25 fps)
      • Slowing the shutter from 180 degrees (1/60 sec) to 360 degrees (1/30 sec) did not affect the smoothness of the pan, however it did cause an irritating blur to the (panning) image.
    • So when the background is the subject, don’t do that !
    • On the other hand, when following a moving object, holding it stationary in-frame, long shutter time can produce a pleasing background motion blur, diminishing background clutter and suggesting speed.  Might be a problem (I guess) if object includes movement such as flapping wings.
• What’s the best speed for a pan?
  • Typically 3 to 5 seconds
  • Don’t pan over too great an area, especially of a nearby object, especially if the middle portion is uninteresting.
• Begin and end with a few seconds of static (static shots i.e. locked-off camera).
  • Cutting from a static sometimes better when first few frames up to half a second are static (pre-pan)
• Tip:
  • For a stills camera: “Use a shutter speed between 1/8sec and 1/125sec depending on the subject’s speed and distance,”
  • For a video camera, I tried a range of shutter speeds from 1/25 to 1/60 and it made little difference to motion smoothness, the main factor was the chosen fps (on a laptop, 30 fps recording gave better smoothness than 25 fps recording)

  (more…)

As an assignment for an on-line video course, I shot some B-Roll footage in an interesting garden.  While shooting, I was “hassled” by a lovely poodle called Ivy.  She appeared so much (uninvited) in front of the camera I decided to give her a starring role!  Hence it is now ”her” garden.

I just posted it on Vimeo, at http://vimeo.com/31813882davidesp/ivysgarden

Repeating the text Description at Vimeo:

This light-hearted and whimsical journey through an english country garden and back, occasionally accompanied by our fluffy hostess, Ivy, is my response to a film-course assignment, simply to record some B-Roll footage.  It sort of acquired a life of its own, partly because some of the clips fitted together, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle (that no-one designed) into some sort of mini-stories, and partly because the selected musical accompaniment turned out to reflect the various moods that emerged from the initial rough-cut, so in the end it became the editing back-bone.  Serendipity.

It was shot (on a Sony EX3) over a few hours, during which the (typical British) weather varied while I occasionally made way for handymen and joined in the moving about of furniture etc.   So not an entirely controlled situation then…

Please excuse the occasionally shaky camera shots of Ivy, not originally intended for use (she just kept getting in the way, demanding attention), but I couldn’t resist…and now the video even bears her name!

The musical accompaniment is what I believe to be titled “Introduction et Etude Brillante” (”Réveil des Fées”), which I purchased from the Vimeo Store under the title “Introduction er Etude Brillante”, which I assume to be a typographical error (until anyone advises otherwise).  It’s by Giovanni Sgambati. I didn’t realise at first it was also titled “Réveil des Fées”, but that’s great, because the owner of the garden has a thing about mystical fairy worlds, as you will see from her various statues etc.

According to ArtsMusic [http://www.artsmusic.de/Complete_Piano_Works_-_Vol4/topic/redline/shop_art_id/224/tpl/artsmusic_article_detail], Giovanni Sgambati (1841-1914), was considered as the most important Italian pianist of the 19th Century and was close friend to Wagner and Rubinstein.

Anyway, I hope the beautiful sights and sounds amuse you.  And that goes from Ivy too!

Oops, this is one post I left in “Draft” too long.   It was about the weekend before last…

Spurred on by Den Lennie’s tutorials on shooting B-Roll, I grabbed the camera (EX3) and filters etc. to have a “play” in the garden, shooting stuff to edit together into a pleasant sequence of some sort.

The intention was to present the floral aspects of the property in an elegant easy-going fashion with occasional quirks like my girlfriend.  While shooting, the dog (a toy poodle) kept pestering me for attention, because obviously the only important thing in the world is playing ball.  It seemed best to “go with the flow”, so I assigned said canine a principal role.

This turned out to be a 4-hour shoot (with interruptions) of about 150 clips total duration about an hour.  It took another 4 hours at least (with interruptions) to ingest, catalogue and convert the clips (into MXF, for Sony Vegas) and probably about 8 hours of editing, plus a little further shooting etc.  In an ideal world there’d be no need to grade, but in reality some tweaks were necessary for continuity, especially since the lighting (sun/cloud) conditions were very changeable.

Hopefully I’ll  get it finished soon,along with the rest of my backlog, which now includes a Diwali corporate event and wrangling / editing my own version of a music video in good old faithful Final Cut Pro 7.