Friday 28 May 2010
Thursday 27 May 2010
Fitness Video
Recently i have been working on a fitness video with an english tennis association coach, its very interesting to do this as its completely different from previous work i have done. Its not exciting shots or any sort of visually intensive effects. I like the fact this is literally shoot quick edit done, money in the pocket.
He has hinted at more work in the future on a project which would be far more exciting, an animated mixed martial arts video........watch this space....
He has hinted at more work in the future on a project which would be far more exciting, an animated mixed martial arts video........watch this space....
Friday 14 May 2010
Oh man
DIY DSLR Wooden Shoulder Rig from Jonathan Clifford Bergqvist on Vimeo.
This is love and engineering, shame i dont have a workshop full of tools or a highly skilled dad (sorry). The thing of interest is the methods of focus with the handle being a twister motion allowing focus .
SteadiCam
550D Canon T2i Camera Stabilizer from emmagination on Vimeo.
For £100 you don't expect that much, one of the best things (also a hindrance at times) is the lightness of the 550d/T2i. This means that its not as hard to weight on a rig like this designed for smaller cameras. I will seriously think about this seen as it looks to produce some nice effects.
Offset Shoulder Rig
$20 DIY DSLR Shoulder Mount Rig - Offset from emmagination on Vimeo.
I am unsure what to do about this due to how this seems to be an option which has parts which are easier to source locally, i think this may be a better option seen as i can aline the camera directly up with my natural eye-line.
DIY Shoulder Mount
DIY $20.00 Dollar Shoulder Rig Camera Support from emmagination on Vimeo.
For my 550d i want to make a shoulder mount, the price of buying one is too much for my current status. I began looking at homemade options and stumbled across this little cracker, i need to find a builders merchants or hardware store near by but when i have the parts away i shall go. This will begin my equipment store which i plan on building throughout my career.
Filming Techniques
Field of View
The Field of View (FOV) is the angle described by a cone with the vertex at the camera's position. It is determined by the camera's focal length, with the shorter the focal length the wider the FOV. For example, for a 35mm lens the FOV is 63 degrees (wide-angle), for a 50 mm lens it is 46 degrees (normal), and for a 135 mm lens it is 18 degrees (telephoto). A wide angle lens exaggerates depth while a telephoto lens minimizes depth differences.
Transitions
In film or video scene consists of a sequence of shots. Each shot is made from a different perspective and then they are joined together. The joining together of the individual shots to make a particular scene is accomplished through transitions.
The transition may be from one camera angle to another camera angle or from one camera to another camera. When you do transitions as a CG animator you are fulfilling the role of the editor, whose task is to put together a set of individual shots into a scene. One technique that film editors use is to focus on a particular element that is consistent between shots. This can be a physical object or it can be a compositional element such as a motion, color, or direction.
The simplest transition between shots it is a straight cut, which is an abrupt transition between two shots. Another type of transition is called a fade, in which the overall value of the scene increases or decreases into a frame of just one color. For example, a fade to black may indicate the end of the sequence. When one scene fades out as another scene fades in this is a dissolve. These dissolves are used frequently to indicate a passage of time. For example, you might have a shot moving down a hall and then a dissolve as it moves into a different part of the building.
Another type of transition is when one scene wipes across the frame and replaces the previous seen. Wipes can move in any direction and open one side to the other or they can start in the center and move out or the edge of the frame and move in. Wipes are very noticeable and best not used often.
Camera Angle
The camera angle helps to determine the point of view of the camera. This is very important since viewers have seen much TV or film and this has conditioned them to interpret the cameras "eye level" as containing meaning. Viewers expect the camera to show a level horizon. If the camera is not then it appears sinister to them. The cameras height above ground level and its angle in relationship to the ground should reflect real-life. A birds eye or worms eye view is unnatural and draws attention to itself. This may be all right if there's a reason. However, it may detract from the content of the animation. Something that is a problem in CG. is that the ease of moving or putting a virtual camera anywhere may lead to excessive use of inappropriate camera angles.
A good idea is to observe existing film and video and to determine how far above ground level the camera is for a particular scene and use that information. For example, in a wide-angle shot the camera is usually in position of a viewer sitting down. In close-ups males are usually shown from just below eye level and females from just above eye-level. Placing a camera at the eye level of a standing person actually appears too high most of the time.
Camera moves
There are several fundamental camera moves that were developed right after the invention of motion picture cameras and are still used today. Using a virtual camera you can make almost any move, however, it is still a good idea to use these real world moves. These moves include the following:
Panning and Tilting
For both of these shots the camera is stationary and rotates in a horizontal (panning) or vertical (tilting) plane.
Panning is used to follow a moving object or character, or to show more than can fit into a single frame, such as panning across a landscape. It is also used as a transition between one camera position and another.
Inexperienced operators may pan too fast and caused an effect known as strobing. This is also a problem in CG and is called tearing. This can cause motion sickness or cause the illusion of motion to be broken. For example, for an animation at 30 fps, the number of frames needed for a 45 degree pan would be about 22 frames for a quick turn or 66 frames for a casual turn.
One way to avoid strobing is to use scene motion blur when rendering. This blur is done by sharing information between frames. Note that this is a scene motion blur where a scene shares information from the prior and next scenes. This is not the same as object motion blur.
The same motion considerations about panning are valid for tilting.
Dolly and Tracking shots
A dolly is a small wheeled vehicle, piloted by a dolly grip, that is used to move a camera around in a scene. A dolly shot is a move in and out of a scene, i.e., the movement is parallel to the camera lens axis. A tracking shot is a movement perpendicular to the camera lens axis. The key to these shots is to have realistic motion. The motion can be judged by looking at how fast humans move and then how many frames it would take to realize this motion. Examples of motion at different speeds are given in the table below.
Miles per hour Feet per second Number of Frames to move 10 feet at 30 fps
Casual stroll 2 2.9 102
Average walk 3 4.4 68
Brisk walk 4 5.9 51
Average jog 6 8.8 34
Average run 8 11.7 26
All out sprint 12 17.6 17
Car 30 44 7
It is also important to have realistically smooth starts and stops in your shots.
Crane or Boom shot
This is when the camera moves up or down, as if it were on a physical crane. The same considerations for panning and tilting apply for crane shots.
Zoom Lenses and the Vertigo Effect
A Zoom lens has a variable focal length and so camera "moves" can be made without actually moving the camera. Professional cinematographers use the zoom very sparingly and generally prefer to move the camera. Amateurs love the zoom and can create some very nauseating motion by combining zooms and rapid pans. A zoom changes the angle of display so spatial relationships also change.
In the movie "Vertigo", Alfred Hitchcock took advantage of this feature to create a what is now known as the vertigo shot. This involves synchronizing the movement of the subject with the zoom so that the subject is always the same size, but the background changes.
Depth of Field Effects
Real cameras have a depth of field, i.e., only part of the image is in focus at anyone time. The depth of field is a function of the lens length with short lenses (wide-angle) having a large depth of field and telephoto lenses have a small depth of field. Many CG cameras have an infinite depth of field, i.e., everything is in focus, and this looks unnatural. More advanced CG systems have cameras that emulate real lenses this way.
One way to change the center of attention in a scene is to have one object, e.g., in the foreground, in focus, with the background out of focus. Then an object in the background is brought into focus, with the foreground object now out of focus.
The Field of View (FOV) is the angle described by a cone with the vertex at the camera's position. It is determined by the camera's focal length, with the shorter the focal length the wider the FOV. For example, for a 35mm lens the FOV is 63 degrees (wide-angle), for a 50 mm lens it is 46 degrees (normal), and for a 135 mm lens it is 18 degrees (telephoto). A wide angle lens exaggerates depth while a telephoto lens minimizes depth differences.
Transitions
In film or video scene consists of a sequence of shots. Each shot is made from a different perspective and then they are joined together. The joining together of the individual shots to make a particular scene is accomplished through transitions.
The transition may be from one camera angle to another camera angle or from one camera to another camera. When you do transitions as a CG animator you are fulfilling the role of the editor, whose task is to put together a set of individual shots into a scene. One technique that film editors use is to focus on a particular element that is consistent between shots. This can be a physical object or it can be a compositional element such as a motion, color, or direction.
The simplest transition between shots it is a straight cut, which is an abrupt transition between two shots. Another type of transition is called a fade, in which the overall value of the scene increases or decreases into a frame of just one color. For example, a fade to black may indicate the end of the sequence. When one scene fades out as another scene fades in this is a dissolve. These dissolves are used frequently to indicate a passage of time. For example, you might have a shot moving down a hall and then a dissolve as it moves into a different part of the building.
Another type of transition is when one scene wipes across the frame and replaces the previous seen. Wipes can move in any direction and open one side to the other or they can start in the center and move out or the edge of the frame and move in. Wipes are very noticeable and best not used often.
Camera Angle
The camera angle helps to determine the point of view of the camera. This is very important since viewers have seen much TV or film and this has conditioned them to interpret the cameras "eye level" as containing meaning. Viewers expect the camera to show a level horizon. If the camera is not then it appears sinister to them. The cameras height above ground level and its angle in relationship to the ground should reflect real-life. A birds eye or worms eye view is unnatural and draws attention to itself. This may be all right if there's a reason. However, it may detract from the content of the animation. Something that is a problem in CG. is that the ease of moving or putting a virtual camera anywhere may lead to excessive use of inappropriate camera angles.
A good idea is to observe existing film and video and to determine how far above ground level the camera is for a particular scene and use that information. For example, in a wide-angle shot the camera is usually in position of a viewer sitting down. In close-ups males are usually shown from just below eye level and females from just above eye-level. Placing a camera at the eye level of a standing person actually appears too high most of the time.
Camera moves
There are several fundamental camera moves that were developed right after the invention of motion picture cameras and are still used today. Using a virtual camera you can make almost any move, however, it is still a good idea to use these real world moves. These moves include the following:
Panning and Tilting
For both of these shots the camera is stationary and rotates in a horizontal (panning) or vertical (tilting) plane.
Panning is used to follow a moving object or character, or to show more than can fit into a single frame, such as panning across a landscape. It is also used as a transition between one camera position and another.
Inexperienced operators may pan too fast and caused an effect known as strobing. This is also a problem in CG and is called tearing. This can cause motion sickness or cause the illusion of motion to be broken. For example, for an animation at 30 fps, the number of frames needed for a 45 degree pan would be about 22 frames for a quick turn or 66 frames for a casual turn.
One way to avoid strobing is to use scene motion blur when rendering. This blur is done by sharing information between frames. Note that this is a scene motion blur where a scene shares information from the prior and next scenes. This is not the same as object motion blur.
The same motion considerations about panning are valid for tilting.
Dolly and Tracking shots
A dolly is a small wheeled vehicle, piloted by a dolly grip, that is used to move a camera around in a scene. A dolly shot is a move in and out of a scene, i.e., the movement is parallel to the camera lens axis. A tracking shot is a movement perpendicular to the camera lens axis. The key to these shots is to have realistic motion. The motion can be judged by looking at how fast humans move and then how many frames it would take to realize this motion. Examples of motion at different speeds are given in the table below.
Miles per hour Feet per second Number of Frames to move 10 feet at 30 fps
Casual stroll 2 2.9 102
Average walk 3 4.4 68
Brisk walk 4 5.9 51
Average jog 6 8.8 34
Average run 8 11.7 26
All out sprint 12 17.6 17
Car 30 44 7
It is also important to have realistically smooth starts and stops in your shots.
Crane or Boom shot
This is when the camera moves up or down, as if it were on a physical crane. The same considerations for panning and tilting apply for crane shots.
Zoom Lenses and the Vertigo Effect
A Zoom lens has a variable focal length and so camera "moves" can be made without actually moving the camera. Professional cinematographers use the zoom very sparingly and generally prefer to move the camera. Amateurs love the zoom and can create some very nauseating motion by combining zooms and rapid pans. A zoom changes the angle of display so spatial relationships also change.
In the movie "Vertigo", Alfred Hitchcock took advantage of this feature to create a what is now known as the vertigo shot. This involves synchronizing the movement of the subject with the zoom so that the subject is always the same size, but the background changes.
Depth of Field Effects
Real cameras have a depth of field, i.e., only part of the image is in focus at anyone time. The depth of field is a function of the lens length with short lenses (wide-angle) having a large depth of field and telephoto lenses have a small depth of field. Many CG cameras have an infinite depth of field, i.e., everything is in focus, and this looks unnatural. More advanced CG systems have cameras that emulate real lenses this way.
One way to change the center of attention in a scene is to have one object, e.g., in the foreground, in focus, with the background out of focus. Then an object in the background is brought into focus, with the foreground object now out of focus.
Thursday 13 May 2010
Crew Members
Employer: Invictus Media Limited
Location: Manchester, Northwest
Duration: ongoing, starts immediately
Payment is on a lo/no/deferred basis.
Invictus Media is an up and coming Manchester based media and production company searching for talented people to be involved in new and future projects. We are currently developing short films, features, television, music videos, webcasting, radio and promotional/corporate videos. Initially the work will be unpaid with a view to taking selected people on a freelance commission basis. We are looking for anyone from students and graduates to amateurs and anyone with a desire to work in the industry and the passion to prove it.
We are looking for all kinds of crew positions, such as,
Directors
Producers
Writers
Director of Photography
2nd Assistant Director
Camera Operator
Script Supervisor/Continuity
Sound
Editors
Grips
Runners to name but a few. Obviously there are more positions to a crew but listing them would take us too long. We are also looking for talent, so feel free to send us your showreels.
Successful applicants will be invited to our office to have a sit down with the managing directors for a one to one.
We look forward to hearing from you all.
Apply to: Gina Smith
This is more in an area which is useful, manchester is very close on train and would be easy to commute to. The fact the pay is non is a bit confusing but i would hope they intend on having some form if it is a permanent position.
Location: Manchester, Northwest
Duration: ongoing, starts immediately
Payment is on a lo/no/deferred basis.
Invictus Media is an up and coming Manchester based media and production company searching for talented people to be involved in new and future projects. We are currently developing short films, features, television, music videos, webcasting, radio and promotional/corporate videos. Initially the work will be unpaid with a view to taking selected people on a freelance commission basis. We are looking for anyone from students and graduates to amateurs and anyone with a desire to work in the industry and the passion to prove it.
We are looking for all kinds of crew positions, such as,
Directors
Producers
Writers
Director of Photography
2nd Assistant Director
Camera Operator
Script Supervisor/Continuity
Sound
Editors
Grips
Runners to name but a few. Obviously there are more positions to a crew but listing them would take us too long. We are also looking for talent, so feel free to send us your showreels.
Successful applicants will be invited to our office to have a sit down with the managing directors for a one to one.
We look forward to hearing from you all.
Apply to: Gina Smith
This is more in an area which is useful, manchester is very close on train and would be easy to commute to. The fact the pay is non is a bit confusing but i would hope they intend on having some form if it is a permanent position.
Film Production - £1,000 for 2 days work
Region: London
Job Type: Production Management, Broadcasting/Transmission, Senior Editor, Camera Technician, Series Editor, Head of Production, Director/Cameraperson, Graphics & Design, Directors, Cinematographer, DV Camera Operator, Key Grip, Management, Media & Digital, Studio Director, Post Production Manager, Executive Producer, Production Co-ordinator, Series Producer, Jimmy Jib Operator, Assistant Editor, Writer/Storyliner, Camera Assistant, Producer/Director, Post-Production, Junior Production Manager, Production Executive, Senior Producer, Edit Assistant, Edit, Grip, Production Assistant, Camera Supervisor, Broadcast Engineer, Assistant Producer, Camera, Camera Operator, Managing Editor, Junior Production Co-ordinator, Series Director, Editor, Craft Grades, Broadcast Assistant, Edit Producer, Production & Editorial, Production Manager, Senior Cameraperson
Genre: Commercials, Factual, Competition, Documentary, Broadcasting, Corporate, New Media
Start Date: Not set
Full Job Description Date posted: 21th April 2010 Applications to date: 23
The Bread Factory / GAIL’s, the UK’s leading artisan bakery, is on the lookout for film production students or freelancers to write, direct and produce a mini-series of up to 5 x 30 second films for our website, that captures our world. We live and love the world of craft baking.
We plan to shortlist 10 applications for an interview to discuss your ideas and any production costs. The best ideas will be invited to film for 1 day in our bakery and the winning application will receive £1,000.
We hope to share our passion for baking with you and we hope that you will find the world of artisan baking an unusual and interesting subject matter.
For more information, please follow this link http://www.breadltd.co.uk/news_from_the_bread_factory
Job Location Information
Hendon, London NW9 6AQ
This is interesting because its the first position which has mentioned the word 'student' it offers the CHANCE to get paid now i dont like the sound of travelling at personal expense and staying overnight when there isn't any money at all guaranteed. This is really a competition brief.
Job Type: Production Management, Broadcasting/Transmission, Senior Editor, Camera Technician, Series Editor, Head of Production, Director/Cameraperson, Graphics & Design, Directors, Cinematographer, DV Camera Operator, Key Grip, Management, Media & Digital, Studio Director, Post Production Manager, Executive Producer, Production Co-ordinator, Series Producer, Jimmy Jib Operator, Assistant Editor, Writer/Storyliner, Camera Assistant, Producer/Director, Post-Production, Junior Production Manager, Production Executive, Senior Producer, Edit Assistant, Edit, Grip, Production Assistant, Camera Supervisor, Broadcast Engineer, Assistant Producer, Camera, Camera Operator, Managing Editor, Junior Production Co-ordinator, Series Director, Editor, Craft Grades, Broadcast Assistant, Edit Producer, Production & Editorial, Production Manager, Senior Cameraperson
Genre: Commercials, Factual, Competition, Documentary, Broadcasting, Corporate, New Media
Start Date: Not set
Full Job Description Date posted: 21th April 2010 Applications to date: 23
The Bread Factory / GAIL’s, the UK’s leading artisan bakery, is on the lookout for film production students or freelancers to write, direct and produce a mini-series of up to 5 x 30 second films for our website, that captures our world. We live and love the world of craft baking.
We plan to shortlist 10 applications for an interview to discuss your ideas and any production costs. The best ideas will be invited to film for 1 day in our bakery and the winning application will receive £1,000.
We hope to share our passion for baking with you and we hope that you will find the world of artisan baking an unusual and interesting subject matter.
For more information, please follow this link http://www.breadltd.co.uk/news_from_the_bread_factory
Job Location Information
Hendon, London NW9 6AQ
This is interesting because its the first position which has mentioned the word 'student' it offers the CHANCE to get paid now i dont like the sound of travelling at personal expense and staying overnight when there isn't any money at all guaranteed. This is really a competition brief.
Saturday 1 May 2010
The Festival of Fantastic Films 2010
The 21st Annual Convention of the Society of Fantastic Films
will be held on the
15th - 17th October, 2010
at Sachas Hotel, Manchester
Because of the substantial increases in price at the Days Hotel (upwards of 100%) we needed to find a new venue, and while Sachas does not have anything like the cinema-style locations of the Days Hotel, it does have various other pluses:
1) The accommodation cost has been confirmed as £55 per room B & B for single occupancy, £65 per room B & B for double occupancy, £75 per room B & B for triple occupancy.
As Sachas is regularly used by soccer fans it is recommended that you arrange booking very soon if you wish to stay in the hotel – when United or City are at home rooms are at a premium.
When booking you MUST quote code FFSA 1010 to the booking office and the rates will be held.
Special Festival rates are available from Thursday 14th to Monday 18th. The Hotel will release ALL unbooked rooms on the 1st September, and after that will charge the going rate.
Please book soon to avoid disappointment!
2) Bar Prices for the full weekend will be held at Happy Hour rates.
3) The hotel has a lunch carvery at £5 daily and its very good value. Evening meals: Pizzas are available for £10-£12, and we will also be having our usual pub grub at about £6 per evening meal.
4) The films will be shown in the big room and the smaller room upstairs will house Tony Meadows' movies. These will have to be set up as there are no cinema facilities within the hotel – however for those with long memories you’ll remember we did all this back when.
5) I am trying to negotiate a discounted rate for a car park. Sachas do have an agreed discount of 20% with NCP for parking in the ARNDALE CAR PARK (which is security covered and only 400 yards from the hotel)
6) Sachas is on the Metro line from Piccadilly station and is almost next door to the Arndale / Town Centre so the shops etc. are easily accessible.
Tony and I would agree with all the Festival regulars who prefer the Days Hotel / Conference Centre complex, but the prices make it completely impossible. If you're not familiar with Sachas please talk to some of the attendees from the early 90’s and they’ll tell you that Sachas was great fun.
Gil Lane-Young
Moves
Have you missed any of moves10's festival programme?
Based at Liverpool's creative hub, the Bluecoat, moves successfully took over the city in April 2010 with a packed 5-day programme of international screenings, unique artistic indoor and outdoor works, inspiring talks, workshops and live performances.
Check out some of moves programme highlights.
moves continues!
Keep moving and catch moves experimental short films that have been awarded the much sought-after Alternative Routes award on BBC Big Screens across the UK until the end of May.
moves is touring through Europe with its first stopovers at Intermodem, Debrecen (Hungary, 5-8 May 2010) and the Dance House, Glasgow (Scotland, 26 May 2010).
Further trips to our partner festivals Frame Research (Portugal) and 700IS (Iceland) are following later this year.
The cream of moves09 travelled as far as Australia, Hungary, Spain, Brazil, Russia and Scotland. Click here for more info.
Sign up to our newsletter and join moves on facebook "movement on screen" to stay in the loop with our latest news and even
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)