I’m not sure how I would - or could - pull this off, I don’t think I have the outreach, influence or even the spare-time it might require to see this through - but, regardless, I wanted to share the idea and see if anyone out there reading had any thoughts, here it is: I want to take the 64 Days Production Journal, and replace each photograph with an artist’s representation. For example, say someone took the photograph above and remade it with acrylic paints; or maybe - being it that it doesn’t have much color to begin with -they used charcoal pencils to draw Larry behind all the tiny raindrops; or maybe they used paper cutouts to recreate the original photograph… it could be anything really, whatever the artist was comfortable with.  So… what do you think? 
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I’m not sure how I would - or could - pull this off, I don’t think I have the outreach, influence or even the spare-time it might require to see this through - but, regardless, I wanted to share the idea and see if anyone out there reading had any thoughts, here it is:

I want to take the 64 Days Production Journal, and replace each photograph with an artist’s representation. For example, say someone took the photograph above and remade it with acrylic paints; or maybe - being it that it doesn’t have much color to begin with -they used charcoal pencils to draw Larry behind all the tiny raindrops; or maybe they used paper cutouts to recreate the original photograph… it could be anything really, whatever the artist was comfortable with. 

So… what do you think? 

Source: mikeambs

There were a few days while on the road filming that were perfect for running the camera non-stop; the road wouldn’t be busy with traffic, the landscape was flat but interesting and subtle, the wind was calmer and less prone to catching the jib like a sail, the road itself was smooth and had few to no potholes; when those conditions were ideal, I would place the z1u on our van-mounted 25 foot jib-arm, hit record, and drive. I would spend sometimes 2 to 3 hours sitting on the top of the van recording everything I found interesting. Some days though, the light would change drastically due to cloud cover and, well, my being inexperienced in these matters, I would set the camera to auto-exposure. 90% of the shots recorded on auto-exposure worked out fine; the z1u didn’t adjust constantly and any shifts in light were slow and hard to spot due to the camera moving along at 20 miles per hour. But! I have one shot, one shot that I love so much and because the auto-exposure jumped suddenly on me, I’m having a hell of a time smoothing the shot out in FCP. I could use some help.  The entire shot runs for about 80 seconds, the first 50 seconds and the last 28 seconds are perfect, when run through smoothcam they feel calm and seem to float along through the landscape… but 2 seconds are giving me a headache; the exposure jumps brighter and then brighter and then back down to where it was before any jumps, and because of this, smoothcam shifts the image around as if the camera was punched hard from the side.  Currently, I’ve run the clip through Motion and using two separate tracking points, have gotten some, not all, but some of the violent shifting to go away, my next step is to bring it back into FCP and run a new smoothcam on it before doing some key-framing of the lighting. But I’m not confident this is going to completely correct my mistake. So, I was curious if anyone reading has experienced anything like this before, and how they went about fixing the 2 or 3 problem frames? 
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There were a few days while on the road filming that were perfect for running the camera non-stop; the road wouldn’t be busy with traffic, the landscape was flat but interesting and subtle, the wind was calmer and less prone to catching the jib like a sail, the road itself was smooth and had few to no potholes; when those conditions were ideal, I would place the z1u on our van-mounted 25 foot jib-arm, hit record, and drive. I would spend sometimes 2 to 3 hours sitting on the top of the van recording everything I found interesting.

Some days though, the light would change drastically due to cloud cover and, well, my being inexperienced in these matters, I would set the camera to auto-exposure. 90% of the shots recorded on auto-exposure worked out fine; the z1u didn’t adjust constantly and any shifts in light were slow and hard to spot due to the camera moving along at 20 miles per hour. But! I have one shot, one shot that I love so much and because the auto-exposure jumped suddenly on me, I’m having a hell of a time smoothing the shot out in FCP. I could use some help. 

The entire shot runs for about 80 seconds, the first 50 seconds and the last 28 seconds are perfect, when run through smoothcam they feel calm and seem to float along through the landscape… but 2 seconds are giving me a headache; the exposure jumps brighter and then brighter and then back down to where it was before any jumps, and because of this, smoothcam shifts the image around as if the camera was punched hard from the side. 

Currently, I’ve run the clip through Motion and using two separate tracking points, have gotten some, not all, but some of the violent shifting to go away, my next step is to bring it back into FCP and run a new smoothcam on it before doing some key-framing of the lighting. But I’m not confident this is going to completely correct my mistake.

So, I was curious if anyone reading has experienced anything like this before, and how they went about fixing the 2 or 3 problem frames? 

camcorders vs dSLR cameras

An email via Brian Van Peski

I was hoping to pick your brain briefly. I’ve been thinking about new gear and was considering dropping my current SLR and Canon HF S10 and going for a Canon t2i that shoots HD video. Have you ever considered moving towards a DSLR-centered setup as opposed to the Canon HF S10. If so, what are your thoughts on the matter? That DSLR footage sure does look nice… 

It was funny timing that Brian sent this question when he did, Erica and I had just talked that morning about the T2i. Personally, I’m on the fence about moving away from camcorders to video-capable dSLRs. I suppose, on the one hand, I would much rather use the Canon XL H1A, either on it’s own, cause I think it produces beautiful images, or if I wanted to fancy things up I could additionally use my CS-1 shotgun and the SG blade adapter; but, on the other hand, I believe it doesn’t matter what you shoot on as long as you’re happy with how it looks. And not in a fine-toothed-comb tech specs kind of look, but just, when you look at it, do you like it. 

Be that as it may, I think for the time being I might be letting go of my HF s20 and kit because Erica and I will be able to upgrade one camera, maybe a 5d mark II, and have it be beneficial to us both. 

I’m not crazy about the idea of never having auto-focus at my disposal for more casual shooting, or having to use an external monitor half the time just get a decent look at what I’m pointing at. If I can afford it in the future, I’ll likely stick with traditional cameras, like the HF / XL series with SLR / mini35 adapters. I just like the way they feel in my hands better. Not to mention, it annoys me that with dSLR cameras I can’t record a shot longer than 10-12 minutes, that proves to be a real pain in the ass when it comes to documenting live events or interviews. Still, they do produce nice images. 

I shared this email discussion here because I think both Brian and I need some convincing one way or the other - anyone reading have something to add?

Source: mikeambs

Thinking about opening up a public mindmap to shape, discuss and structure the film’s roadmap. It would most-likely, at least in the beginning, be focused into three areas: 1) the film, 2) outreach, 3) funding. Would this be something any of you would take interest in?

Question: If Amanda and I set-up a “reblog this video” update here on Tumblr, and each week, during our Kickstarter campaign, we randomly picked an awesome person who had reblogged said video, giving them an FToM t-shirt with a handful of buttons, stickers and love, would you file that away under: good idea?
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Question: If Amanda and I set-up a “reblog this video” update here on Tumblr, and each week, during our Kickstarter campaign, we randomly picked an awesome person who had reblogged said video, giving them an FToM t-shirt with a handful of buttons, stickers and love, would you file that away under: good idea?