I don’t know what has gotten into me as of late but I have been on a roll with shooting and editing video. Summer vacation hit and suddenly I feel as though the world is my oyster. So I have literally been walking around malls, stores, outside random buildings, grass knolls and my home shooting all kinds of footage.
Following the 4th of July, we South Floridians have been experiencing some rather grey skies with long deluges of rain. On July 5th it turned out to be quite a dreary day and I slept for a good part of it, until I felt inspired to share that portion of my day with you as I envisioned it.
Okay, on with the technical aspects. Briefly, I think I over cropped this in the process of trying to achieve 2:35 once again. I’m learning as I go. I’m not a professional. Anyway I hope it’s effective artistically. This was edited in Final Cut Express, and graded in Adobe After Effects. I shot the majority of this video at 24 fps, and some at 60i fps (I did the latter so that for certain shots the time re-mapping would be more effective when slowed down). No I did not us Magic Bullet Looks. I just got lucky. … Actually I’m kidding. I customized some cool film presets in AE is all–that’s not too far off from what Magic Bullet Looks achieves for a video editor that has big bucks to spend. Finally, I added a gentle vignette to the edges for focal effect.
Well that’s pretty much it.
Trying to teach myself as I inch deeper into the video editing world. I love it!!
This might shock you but I don’t want to talk so much about the fact that it was shot entirely with an iPhone 4 camera. The most I’ll say about that is the image quality was superb enough to even pursue a project with the mobile device. Great! But in any case…
I want to mention the post production work on this video, as I think it’s wonderful. You might be shocked to know that this video was shot in 9 locations (the obvious part of the video), but it was all accomplished in one day. Wowzers!
The video was color corrected using Final Cut Pro, and admittedly rushed, according to the production notes. I think that ironically, the look is very artistic and effective in spite of the setbacks and short timing, per the editors mentioning. Among the logistical limitations were the iPhone 4′s limits: “lack of lighting, aperture and shutter speed control”.
I just want to say hats off to the producers of this music video! It’s a job well-done.
Please check out this video editor and his work via the links below:
There is nothing about this video that was overly-technical. This video is hinged more on my attempt at artistry in the various shots. I want to improve at framing, or rather the photographic aspects of shooting video for fun and the art. Besides, content is king as Philip Bloom would say.
But If one has to know, I simply desaturated everything and bumped up the contrast a little. And of course this was my first attempt at exporting 2:35 video (or in this case, I eyeballed it and guessed how far to crop the top and bottom, while keeping in mind the subject(s) of focus within each shot). Lastly, YouTube’s video players don’t adjust in size to exports of this type, but instead adds back the black bars. So I added the same upload from Vimeo below.
This is a video that I shot and edited a few days ago. I just uploaded it today and thought I’d share the technical aspects with you. If you want to learn more about the cute puppy in this video you can go to my personal blog and read more there. But I am going to simply outline my steps in producing this video below.
I shot this and imported it into Final Cut, edited it down into cuts of key moments that I liked most. Afterward I exported it is a regular .mov (lossless) export. Then I created a new project in Adobe After Effects where did a little color grading for a sunny summer look. And I added a slight “time stretch” to slow the footage down to give a sort of dreamy appearance. After that I exported the treated footage again as a lossless export and imported back into my Final Cut project. I added my titles, transitions, and finally the music. It was an hour and half of work–work mind you, that I passionately enjoyed!
If you want I’ll upload the original video footage so that you can see the difference. Let me know.
When I read this I sat up straight in my chair because I was partly in disbelief. But it turns out that this project is real, but is in serious need of financial backing. The project is on kickstarter.com and needs $12,000 dollars raised by July 15, 2010 8:02pm. As of the time of this post, $257 dollars have been raised and by my estimates, time is a-flyin’. I would love to see this film completed, so I will make a donation–a small donation, but at least I’ll be cheering it on with my monetary support. I will update this post once I have made the donation.
Here is some info on the film and and the camera setup with the iPhone 4:
About the Film
“I’m Going Home” is a short film that explores one man’s accidental discovery of the city he loves.
Film is slated to be shot on location in NYC mid -July. The film was written by Nathan Scott, co-directed by Philip Bloom (“Red Tails”, “People of” series) and Reece Brothers (“Fifty People, One Question”)
About the Production
Since the iPhone 4 launch, our team has devised a way to mount the iPhone 4 to rails, allowing us to take steadicam, dolly, and glider shots. It also allows us a level of control of exposure and white balance with the use of ND filters and gels. To see some of the test shots we have taken, see the trailer above. For more information, see Philip Bloom’s blog post.
I decided to do my very first camp out for an Apple product. I did it because I personally wanted an iPhone 4. Secondly I have been absolutely fascinated by the fanboy culture, or as I like to say, Apple Culture. And thirdly, I wanted to experience what camping out in line for an Apple product would be like.
I had a lot fun meeting new people and chatting about a common interest. And not surprisingly (’cause I’m no cynic), the people that I was in line with talked with me about a myriad of topics.
Finally, it was cool to be among the first 30 people to enter the Apple Store and receive what was essentially VIP star treatment. I was literally uncomfortable for a moment because I’m used to helping myself like we always do in every store one enters.
John was the Apple employee that assisted me and he was extremely kind and oh so funny. Thank you sir!
I love it!!
