Callbox has released a Tutorial dvd that teaches users how to maximize shooting with a DVX100 and editing in Final Cut Pro. The tutorial is taught by Noah Kadner. If you use the 2-pop forums, you will have surely seen his name or even recieved assistance from him. Topics include: Output for 35mm Film, Cinema Tools, SDI vs. Firewire Capture and, of coure, Advanced Pulldown Removal. Priced at $75.
Ok, so I really quite like Children of Men. Partly because it is one of the most convincing films I have seen in a long time, in more ways than one. With other films, I sometimes doubt what I am witnessing, in due part to visual effects that are simply unnatural, for lack of a better word. However, in Children of Men, the implementation of CG and special effects is nearly seamless and unidentifiable, undoubtedly in due part to the overall fluid nature of the film. Nevertheless, CG is there, and this fxguide article does a great job in highlighting how special effects studio Double Negative handled implementing CG into several of CoM's key (and long) scenes. Ordinarily, visual effects artists deal with source footage in several second cuts, but DNeg was faced with compositing shots that went for up to nine minutes. The article also has great technical details regarding the camera rig used during the infamous car chase scene. Very enlightening stuff here. (Here's hoping for a feature-loaded DVD release.)
Creating a timelapse movie can be daunting especially when you will be committing lots of time to your subject. A distracting side-effect that distorts the time-lapse illusion is flicker, such as parts of the scene that are lighter or darker in each frame. Granite Bay software has an informative guide on what causes flicker in time-lapse as well as cures to fix it. They even have a free Deflicker plugin for Adobe After Effects or Premiere because sometimes you can do everything right and still wind up with flickering footage. 
I've been meaning to post this for a bit now, but things have been a bit hectic lately. Anyway, our friend Richard Baguley over at camcorderinfo posted the results of his poll on video formats. He asked readers to vote on which format they will consider when buying their next camcorder.
Shooting good footage can be a challenge under normal circumstances. Add the elements of shooting underwater, big ol' spearguns and the occasional shark and I won't be signing up for your project. But the crew of Speargun Hunter, a 13 episode series airing on The Outdoor Channel, had to deal with all these issues. They shot the series with a Sony XDCAM HD PDW-F350 and used a Sony Z1 for all the underwater footage. For more details check out this article on the series, plus this interview with the creators.
An upcoming documentary, The Truth About Elvis, takes an in-depth look at the conspiracy theory that The King lives. director Dan Bliss wants to separate the film from tabloid fodder, and make sure people the style and imagery of a true and earnest documentary. To do that, he's enlisted the help of the Panasonic AG-HVX200.
Matt and Kendal have an excellent video review of a car camera mounting system from VFGadgets. Installing the device didn't seem to induce much confidence from them because of the give and the cheap plastic bolts. But when they did use it in a shoot, the mount worked. I have to admit the results were better than what I would have hoped for from what is a prosumer piece of equipment. Also check out the resulting video from the test, it is better a lot of specs I have seen.
Beefy babies, happy heads, condor brackets, oh my! If none of these terms sound familiar, you might need to start spending more time on a film set. Production crews have their own special set of equipment lingo that will probably baffle the uninitiated, but the Griptionary should ease things a bit with its big set of production slang terms and their meanings. Handy!
This German website (translated) compares two similar Sony's HDV offerings. The FX7 is the newer version of FX1. There are quite a few differences between the two cameras. The biggest difference is the FX7 1/4 Cmos chip vs FX1 1/3 ccd chip. The site has plenty of stills and some video from both cameras.
I posted a while back about the advantages of remote lens controllers. EventDV has a look at some more advanced (and more expensive) models of remote camera control systems. Some of these systems, like the Grizzly Pro, allow you to control up to 3 remote cameras and motion heads. I've covered several live events with 2 cameras and this system would've come in very handy. My current procedure is to use my feet to move between cameras, which is sometimes not easy to do without drawing attention. For me, assistants are the way to go. They have the added benefit of helping you carry all the gear.
Filmmaker Stu Maschwitz, author of the (should be) newly released book, The DV Rebel's Guide: An All-Digital Approach to Making Killer Action Movies on the Cheap was recently interviewed on Filmmaking Central. Maschwitz discusses some of his own filmmaking background, and delves into inspiration for writing the guide itself, and what readers should expect. The book's obvious goal is to help producing polished action films (as is clear by the title), but the guide seems to focus more on elements of post-production and easily creating polished visual effects with After Effects. Anyone intrigued by the book should give this interview a listen.
If you shoot lots of interviews you know that each one comes with its own set of challenges. If you travel to the subjects location you have to worry about how you will present the interviewers questions, getting shots of both parties, lighting, surroundings, audio, etc. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's a nightmare. Well one solution might be to do all your interviews with greenscreens then make them look however you want in post. In this article that's just what they end up doing. Heck, the interviewer isn't even required to be on location because they setup iChat so he can ask the questions while the subject answers into the camera. The interviewers part is all shot at another time and tweaked in post. The article is interesting and with everyone so busy these days it's certainly hard to get everyone in the same room at the same time. This is definitely something to keep in your hat to pull out when you need it.
You may have read or been told that if you physically back up your camera and then zoom in to your subject you will create a shallower depth of field. It's a well known technique that appears is technically incorrect. Walter Graff performed some tests and writes up a great explanation of what is actually going on when this technique is used. The DOF does not change, but the softer background we see just gives the illusion of a shallower DOF. So, does all this really matter as long as the technique gives you the look you want? Maybe not, but you should definitely read his explanation and check out the example he has posted. Understanding little tidbits like this makes us all better shooters.
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