Parc Entertainment - A Video Production Company - Birmingham, AL

This year’s Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival is rapidly approaching. If you’ve never had the opportunity to attend, I would highly encourage you to do so. The caliber of submissions gets higher every single year, and this year marks Sidewalk’s 10th anniversary (so you know there’s going to be some special stuff).

As always, Sidewalk will soon be airing promotional commercials to garner interest in the festival. What’s special about the promo this year is the fact that I had the opportunity to work on the shoot as Director of Photography. Filament Artists produced. The 30-second spot was filmed with Alabama talent and Alabama crew, right here in Birmingham. Hopefully it will further highlight the talented filmmakers and the growing film production market here in our community.

We shot the commercial with the Panasonic HVX-200 in DVCPro50 format at 24fps. To read more of my insights into this particular camera, check out two previous posts, “First Impressions” and “Some Considerations.” I won’t give away anything about the commercial’s concept. You will just have to wait until it airs. There’s a possibility that the spot will also screen before each film in each venue during the festival. But ultimately that’s a call left up to the good folks in the Sidewalk office. Until then, look for the commercial on WBRC Fox6 and Bright House cable.

I came across this video while surfing through my usual blogs. It’s a great little tutorial on how to get professional-looking dolly shots for your video without the use of a dolly. I just might utilize this technique the next time I’m shooting in a tight location and don’t have the space for a dolly and/or track.

Video Cam Super Trick! - video powered by Metacafe

A big key to doing well on the set of a production is learning the lingo. If you can learn the names of each item on the grip truck then you are well on your way. If you can master the little nuances of coiling cable correctly, setting up lights, working with combo and c-stands, and placing wedges under the dolly track to keep it level, then you are well ahead of the curve.

I always get quizzical looks when I’m preparing to place a gel on a light and I ask for a C-47. Those same people look even more confused when someone on my crew hands me a simple wooden clothespin. Inevitably I am asked the question, “Why do you call a clothespin a ‘C-47?’” Well, legends abound as to the exact origin of the term “C-47″ (there are a few theories in this Wikipedia article), but the one I have heard the most often says that in the early Hollywood studio days the designation “C-47″ was added as a line item to the production budget to make it sound more official so budget managers would approve their purchase. It was a way to get quick approval for purchasing a lot of clothespins and it was also a good way of padding out the budget to cover unforseen miscellaneous costs. And by the way, you should always use wooden clothespins when on set because they don’t conduct heat. A plastic one will melt over time, ruining gels and the barn doors to your lights.

I came across this juicy little website yesterday — FreshDV. If you work in DV, HDV, HD (anything video) either as a professional or a hobbyist, you will love this site. It has an RSS feed, so you can subscribe to their blog. They have tutorials on topics like calibrating a light meter, working with Adobe Production Studio, and how to find financing and distribution for your film projects. They also have reviews on the latest gear, videos from conferences like NAB, and a podcast. I’ve already started listening to one of their recent discussions on the Sony EX1. This is a great site with a wealth of information. If you’re in to video, you need to check it out.

Since I purchased my DSLR back in January I have been uploading pics to Flickr as quickly as I can take them. It’s nice to be able to get back into photography after such a long hiatus. I haven’t really been serious about it since my college days. Photography is such a great exercise in cinematography. When shooting film or video, every frame should stand alone as a great still shot. That’s something to keep in mind next time you’re out on a shoot.

Every DP (Director of Photography) needs a good camera package at his disposal, but assembling one usually takes a lot of time and a lot of money. For smaller production houses with less capital, getting the camera package together usually means getting it a la carte. Yesterday a friend of mine from Filament Artists turned me on to Zacuto - a one-stop-shop for camera package sales and rentals. They bundle some of your favorite prosumer gear (HD and SD) with specific accessories to fit your shooting needs. You can rent, purchase, or rent-to-own. A quick glance at their website will show you that these guys rent and sell some serious gear. And they recognize and cater to the various needs of the cinematographer.

Sometimes when you’re on a shoot, the first day can be the hardest. Everyone is trying to get familiar with the locations, the client, the gear, and with one another. The demands of loading, unloading, and transporting gear can become relatively quick and easy, but it takes time for the crew to develop a good system that is both safe and efficient. It might take some time to get into the groove.

Today marked day one of shooting a promotional video for one of my clients. This current job is very exciting. First, the client is easy to work with - always a plus. Second, the project involves not only the promotional video, but a series of four TV spots. Two of the spots have been completed and approved, so over the course of this week and one week in March we hope to get all the footage necessary to complete the final two commercials and the long format piece.

Even though my crew and I had worked for this client before, we still fell victim to the first day quirks. The first incident occured at the very first location. As we were unloading the gear I was telling one of my crew members that I brought along a different monitor, because the video connection on my previous monitor went bad. As soon as I finished mentioning the new monitor, the hand truck (upon which all of our gear was stacked), collapsed and the monitor went tumbling end-over-end across the parking lot. The housing was scratched and chipped, but it still worked.

Just before lunch we found ourselves shooting in a large industrial building. We tucked the gear aside before breaking for lunch, but I wanted to take the camera with me. We were half-way out of the building when I realized I left the camera behind. One the guys on my crew ran all the way back to get it. We loaded it in the car and took off for lunch. Upon returning from lunch, we walked back into the industrial building and had almost reached the location when I realized I left the camera in the car. Again, we had to run all the way back to get it.

Just before wrapping out of the industrial location, one of my crew members went to unplug one of my lights from a cube tap breakout box and received the electrical shock of his life. The jolt literally burned a small chunk of skin off his middle finger, resulting in a large, bleeding sore. He rushed down to the infirmary to get it bandaged.

While he was gone to get medical attention the rest of us wrapped the gear and took it out to the car. It was only then did I realize that my wounded grip still had my car keys. We had to wait for him to return so we could load up. When he finally arrived, he had so much gauze on his finger he had to keep it straight out. He was giving people the finger for the rest of the day.

Hopefully the rest of the week will pass without a major incident.

I finally got a first-hand look at the Red One this past Tuesday night. Some guys from Dead Workers Party came down from Huntsville, bringing with them their latest aquisition - the Red camera. As of this writing, the camera is technically still in beta testing, but will soon go into full production. They guys from Dead Workers Party spoke briefly about the camera, technical specs, workflow, and issues they’ve encountered thus far.

The Red One represents the latest in digital video technology and an advancement in video resolution. The gap between film and video just got a lot smaller and already filmmakers are flocking to this camera because of its extreme versatility, and incredible image reproduction. The Red One has been the center of much hype over the past several months and industry professionals are lining up to get their hands on this thing. In fact, if you want to purchase one, the waiting list is now several months long.

The Red is basically a camera body, allowing users to build their own camera package, much like a film camera. It runs off of a computer hard drive, so it behaves in much the same way. You have to boot it up when you want to use it, and everything is stored in a 320GB hard drive (which stores about 2 hours worth of footage). You can also shoot to compact flash cards, although each card only holds about 4 minutes. The great thing about the computer-based interface is that the camera will always be up to date with the latest technologies. It is constantly adapting. Users can download updates from Red, then program those updates into the camera. I think that it certainly adds plenty of shelf-life to the camera.

The resolution of the Red is incredible. It shoots at 4K and 2K (4K being the rough equivalent of 35mm film and 2K the rough equivalent of super 16mm) meaning the footage is incredibly deep, incredibly large, and incredibly awesome. You would have to “down convert” to get the footage into a 1080i or 1080p workspace. The Red shoots in a RAW format, and anyone who is a digital SLR user understands the advantages of shooting RAW images. Shooting in RAW gives you an uncompressed image, allowing almost infinite manual control over image manipulation, like color correction, hue, saturation, brightness, contrast, etc. The Red is rated at an ISO of around 320, so users should light their scenes accordingly.

There are some issues with Red Cine, the post-production software and there are concerns about the massive hard drive space needed to store all the footage (the editor from Dead Workers party said that he uses 4TB of hard drive and considers that “temporary storage”). However, the Red One is most definitely going to be THE camera for filmmakers, commercial directors, and other industry professionals.

Although I’ve been in this business for several years, I am never naive enough to think I have learned all I need to know about being a director and cinematographer. I am constantly looking for ways to improve myself, whether by reading books, blogs, or watching other demo reels. I think the latter is most beneficial, because you get the chance to see exactly what other people are shooting. The more I surround myself with knowledgeable cinematographers, the more I will continue to grow in my craft. I think that’s a lesson for all of us, whether you work in production or not. Surrounding yourself with people that are better need not be a feeding ground for jealous competition. Mutual learning can take place. Here are a few things I’m reading to keep my chops up:

Placing Shadows: Lighting Techniques for Video Production by Chuck Gloman and Tom Letourneau. The authors give a crash course on the physics of light and the color spectrum before moving into details on all kinds of lighting gear and lighting techniques. Very informative.

Cinematography.com is a great online forum where you can discuss the craft with other directors and cinematographers.

Studio Daily is a catch-all for all things technical about movie making. There are case studies from Hollywood films, reviews, tutorials, blogs, videos, and information on the business side of filmmaking. I just came across this site recently and look forward to reading it.

Now that I’ve had more experience with the Panasonic HVX-200 I’ve had time to reflect on both the pros and cons of this HD camera. You can read about my initial impressions here. I just recently returned from North Carolina where I was working on a video for the Wake Forest Medical Center. I used the HVX and noticed some things about the camera that should be considered before purchasing one.

First, as a consumer, you should always keep in mind what it is you will be using the camera for. Not every camera is suitable for every shooting situation. For example, the fact that the HVX shoots to P2 cards rather than tape should weigh heavily in your decision whether to use this camera or not. In my experiences with it, I can tell that it was designed with the filmmaker in mind. It isn’t necessarily suited for “run-and-gun” ENG style shooting, because of the frequent need to dump the media. It also isn’t really designed for extended takes, like a sit-down interview. This was the situation I faced while using the camera for the Wake Forest job. Since you use up about 1GB per minute in 1080i mode, I was forced to stop the interview on occasion just to swap cards. That can really interrupt the flow of the interview. It’s nice when you can shoot to tape and allow the interview to run for 60 minutes before stopping.

Second, it’s a good idea to have an AC with you when operating this camera. In the world of film, the AC (asst. cameraman) is in charge of removing the exposed film and then loading a new mag onto the camera. This helps keep the shoot moving efficiently. The same can be said of the HVX. Since you must unload the P2 cards and dump the media, it’s good to have someone on your team who functions as a “digital AC.” He can remove the cards, load new cards, and work on dumping the media while you continue shooting. Everything comes to a grinding halt if you are the one forced to do everything. So, if using this camera, pad the budget to include this vital crew member.

I don’t consider the above comments to be negative. These are simply considerations that should be contemplated before purchasing this camera. I still feel that the HVX is one of the best HD cameras on the market, simply because of its incredible versatility and variable frame rates (of course, that’s the filmmaker inside me speaking out). However, I am frustrated by some operative details of the HVX.

1. When shooting 1080i 24p, 720p 24p, or 720p, 24pn, the frame rate is always reset to 24fps when you power off the camera then power back on. It’s easy to forget to change the speed back to the desired frame rate before rolling.

2. The frame rate is never displayed in the viewfinder. I would like to know, at a glance, what frame rate I’m set to, without going into all the menus.

3. The menus are cumbersome and the navigation buttons on the camera are aligned in a confusing manner.

4. Playback from the P2 cards can be tricky. For example, if you shoot footage in 1080i 24p, then switch to shoot in 720p 24pn, you cannot playback the 1080i 24p footage unless the camera is set to 1080i 24p. This was especially scary for me the first time I used this camera when I tried to review some footage I shot early in the day and couldn’t.

The key to selecting the right camera for you is to simply take one out into the field and start experimenting. I hope these observations have been helpful to you as you pursue better looking video.