On a crisp Monday evening, I followed my visiting two year old nephew, Ethan, as he adventured along the grounds and chased the cat through the backyard.
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Shot on Christmas Eve with my Canon Optura 20 in 16×9 mode with WAC, 1/60 shutter, custom white balance, manual focus, exposure locked (adjusted when needed). Edited in Avid Media Composer. Footage warmed slightly and slowed by 76% for a more dream-like aesthetic and to mimic the cadence of film. The song is “Colours” by Donovan and added to the warm, friendly tone I wanted for the film. I meanwhile wish I had a Steadicam.
And here we go:
Gatorade: Euless Trinity Trojans
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“There are no free rides on the road to victory” says Bill Parcells. This spot got my blood pumping when I saw it. I couldn’t stop my head rocking. I had to grab this one and share it.
Nike: Leave Nothing
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Shawn Merriman and Steven Jackson. Directed by Michael Mann. Song is “Promontory” by Trevor Jones from The Last of the Mohicans.
Merry Christmas. It’s Jesus Christ’s recognized birthday (in North America).
Get off the damn computer. Don’t watch TV. Go spend some time with your family. Have some turkey and ham. Drink some wine, but don’t get drunk. Moderation is the key. A stitch in time saves nine…or something.
Anyway, make it a good one. That’s what I’m gonna do. Well, time to play with my nephew Ethan. I’m babysitting tonight — that’s what I get for being single. Cheers!
Until next time, enjoy this picture I took last year.
I just got a chance to see the fifteen minute horror comedy, Zombie Movie, by Michael J. Asquith and Ben Stenbeck of 2Chums Moving Pictures. Misters Asquith and Stenbeck are WETA alumni whose work can now be seen in Valve’s Half-Life 2 and later episodes.
I thought the movie was pretty darn good and probably as fun as what The End should have been. Kudos to both y’all.
No, I’m not a horror movie aficionado, nor do I have a fascination with the macabre. I am not a goth, nor do I have any interest in personally writing, directing or producing zombie movies of my own. Yes, I edited one, but my forte is science fiction. Truth be told, the only way I found out about this was because I was searching for any actual short films based on Half-Life that are not machinima. There aren’t any as I am seriously considering making one, myself. End of line.
I am considering the Canon HV20 as a “consumer” priced entrance to serious independent filmmaking. After much research, I have created the following list of items I believe to be exceptional components to a professional, yet affordable gear set. Here are the tools I wish to purchase within the next several months:
Canon HV20 — $710
RNG35 35mm EF mount adapter — $325
Adorama 43-55mm step-up adapter ring — $7
Adorama 55-72mm step-up adapter ring — $7
Cavision RS-152M200 Rod Support System — $163
Cavision R15-LS25SET Lens Bracket Support — $65
Cinevate 4×4 Matte Box — $509
Total $1,786
Other Stuff
Ikan V8000HD LCD field monitor — $749
VariZoom VZ-AR5K — $120
Beachtek DXA-2S — $180
Steadicam Merlin — $800
Total $1,849
Post Stuff
Apple iMac — $2,299
Apple Final Cut Studio 2 — $1,299
Total $3,598
Grand Total $7,233
Not bad. An entire production suite for under $10k. And if you want to add audio boom equipment, that’s another $500 or so…still not bad at all. Now, all I need is to work for 6 straight months without spending a penny and I’ll make that. Grr…
Brotha’s gotta eat.
I’ll be picking up the Canon PowerShot A720 IS as a Christmas present to myself. It allows full manual control and offers pretty decent picture quality for what it is. The roughly $200 USD price tag is just about right, as well. Also, the camera feels pretty good in my hands whilst I tend to prefer boxy, bulky bodies because of my primary usage of large SLR bodies.
Coming from my 300D and G3 combo, I could switch myself in and out of P&S mode pretty easily, so using the similarly shaped A720 shouldn’t be that difficult on the outset. Now that I have a 20D with an attached BG-E2 and mounted L lenses, it will be a relief to not have to drag that rig out for a few quick shots at a luncheon with friends or an office party. It will also be nice to not have a camera that calls attention to itself when at a quiet restaurant, and the A720’s manual mode will allow me to handle it like I would a heavy SLR with an equivalent 35mm f/2.8 lens plus IS and a weight that won’t bog me down after a few hours of use.
That sounds pretty sweet to me. Here’s a decent review of the camera from another site.
I have a giant, gargantuan, massive, immense crush on former American Idol contestant Kellie Pickler. It started when she performed the Righteous Brothers song “Unchained Melody” on the fifth season of American Idol. Kellie said that she loved the song because it was in the movie Ghost, which she loves, but was sad because she doesn’t “have anyone to play pottery with.” I rose my hand and said, quite sincerely, “I’ll play pottery with you, Kellie.”
Then one day I saw her on “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?”, taking the infamous Budapest question with stride and, I don’t know, I just wanted to hold her. So, basically, I want to cuddle up with Kellie Pickler. Maybe take her to a movie, have dinner, I don’t know. I know she’s into helping charities, too, which is nice. She seems like a real sweetheart and I’d love to get to know her.
I even love her name. Not only is her name one of my favorites, but the spelling of her name is my favorite version; i.e. “Kellie” vs “Kelly”.
The only downside I can think of is that she’s a little bit country, and I’m a little bit rock and roll. Oh well. Like another song says: opposites attract.
Maybe Ms. Pickler will Google herself one day and find this post and, I don’t know, shoot me an e-mail. I think I’d like that. :)
This was a country/western-ish themed shoot I did for a hopeful teenage model, Angelica.
This is from a quick and dirty shoot I did this morning for a lunch favor from Angelica’s mom, Mimi (which is still pending). I shot Angelica in a little more than an hour. Almost completely ambient light except for the occasional use of a reflector/diffusion panel and the use of a Canon 420EX Speedlight for fill flash on this image.
The session was shot off of Highway 107 in Edinburg, Texas at World Harvest Training Center, a Christian church and school.
Angelica wants to be a professional model, so Mimi was hooking her up with some kind of pageant or something whose entry photo was required to be a country oriented full body shot. “Country” as in “country-western”, though use of a cowboy hat was not allowed for some reason.
The required photo is due on Monday, so they’re cutting real close to the wire hiring me so late. Mimi was planning on getting a coworker to help her with the print. Hopefully, they’ll be able to get it made over the weekend.
Being a teen, Angelica didn’t want her mom butting in, but I was totally in charge the entire time and wrangled up some nice setups on this particularly windy Saturday morning. Thankfully, I am also getting better at remembering to shoot my setups.
Post-processing was completed this afternoon and though I haven’t heard back from the client, I’m sure they’ll love the photos and have a hard time picking just one.
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