Hello from Jersey

M

markmarkmark

Hey everybody. You may see that I actually joined the forum in 2007 when I was having my first thoughts about getting into film. Well, three years later I'm in the process of making my first film. I got started as a professional photographer, mostly doing promotional photography for record labels and unsigned artists. I felt I needed a change of pace, and the idea of making a movie just wouldn't stop knocking on my brain. Anyway, I traded in my Canon 40D for a Canon 60D, the comparison of which would probably be a discussion best left to a still photography forum. The video quality is superb and it's nice for me to be able to take HD video without leaving my comfort zone of a DSLR.
Anyway, I'm sure there's a lot I can learn from everybody here at the forum. The main reason, however, that drove me here is that I have quite a bit I would like to share with you. Over the course of the past few weeks, I've been hard at work shooting as well as rigging some quality DIY equipment. I looked online for all the tutorials I could find, and many of the rigs people were putting together had very obvious design flaws.

I made a track dolly that, in my opinion, is a much more practical and functional design than most of the DIY models I've seen online. I also made a multi-functional shoulder/belt rig today that is still in the works. Also, and maybe of interest to some of the HDSLR users out there, I've been experimenting with creating some Frankenstein lenses for my 60D. Today I took apart a 1950s Kodak 8mm camera and reworked the lens optics a bit. I created an interesting, albeit very ad hoc lens. The lens has a fixed focal distance of about 10" and has a beautiful, almost ghostly aesthetic. Pretty neat stuff if you ask me, and I'll have many more to come in the near future.

Where I'll probably be requiring the most assistance is in Premier CS5. I have years experience in Photoshop and Illustrator but Premier has been a bit tricky for me these past couple days I've been working with it.

Anyway, that's more than enough about me, but I hope to be posting some photos/videos/tutorials of my DIY designs on the forum sometime soon.

Take care!

Mark
 
Cool! There's some pretty inventive DIY peeps here. :cool:

I'm still on CS4, but what are you finding so tricky about Premiere in particular? Or is it more like just getting the knack of editing in general?
 
Welcome!

I love CS5. My intuition makes me think that what Zensteve was wondering might be true -- maybe it's not so much CS5, but editing in general? It functions pretty much the same as the others, with little differences, here and there. The learning curve might seem steep, in the beginning, but you really only need to do basic stuff to get started, and I'm talking maybe 5 or 6 tasks that will get you on your way.

Sounds like some exciting stuff you're doing, with the DIY, et all.
 
Thanks for the warm welcome, everybody! To answer your questions, there's nothing about CS5 in particularly that's "tricky", it's just the learning curve that goes along with learning any Adobe program that I've never used. Premier CS5 is no more difficult for me than learning Photoshop or Illustrator was. I just need some time to get accustomed to the interface and the functions of the software. I also got Magic Bullet Looks which I've been very happy with so far. I've worked a lot with Lightroom over the years, and Magic Bullet allows me to process my footage much like I would process a photo in lightroom. I find the interface to be quite intuitive and I have no complaints so far. Ussiners, I'm from Bergen County.

I'll tell you a little bit about the film I'm working on, but I'll keep it brief. I've been studying WWII (as well as collecting WWII memorabilia) for around ten years now. Because of this, I have props and wardrobe that would have cost me thousands to procure for the film if I didn't already have it. Because of my knowledge of the subject, I thought this would be a good starting off point for me in film. The film will NOT be combat like most people think when they hear about a WWII movie. It also won't be a love story. It seems those are the two most expected plot lines when it comes to movies that take place oversees during WWII. This film will follow one man's journey home towards the end of the war in Europe. I'll leave it at that for now.

I was originally planning on buying an XH-A1 for the film, but decided on a Canon 60D instead. I feel very at home shooting on an SLR and am glad I did not have to take on the task of learning new hardware for this film. Although I have no experience with HD video cameras such as the XH-A1, I can say that the 60D has been doing everything I need it to do, and even has some big benefits when compared to a video camera. Without going into a deep review on the topic, I'll start off with the couple of downsides I've noticed.

The big two issues that I've seen are the infamous "rolling shutter effect" and the 12 minute maximum for a clip. I do not, however, expect either of these to hinder my film at all. The rolling shutter effect is only noticeable when doing a very fast pan at a fast shutter speed. This is not something I do not plan on doing, and even if I did, I could personally live with the rolling shutter. On my first shoot with the 60D, I went to a farm to film some of the animals and scenery. I found a metal fence with horizontal and vertical wires, forming a grid. I felt this was the best way to test just how crazy the rolling shutter effect is. When the video is paused during the pan, you can see the vertical wires are at about a 70-degree angle. To me it is very noticeable, but surprisingly many friends who watched the clip didn't notice it until I pointed it out. As far as the 12 minute maximum goes, this would certainly be an issue for somebody filming a sports game or a dance competition and didn't want to cut the shot at all. As a filmmaker, though, I can't see myself ever having a 12 minute shot without any cuts. That's just me, though, and I understand other filmmakers would feel very limited by this. Another issue for me is the relatively poor build of the 60D compared to the 40D which I just traded in.

Now to the benefits of a DSLR for me. As I said, I was a still photographer for a long time, so it's wonderful to have no learning curve at all on the hardware. Granted, an easy way out isn't always the best way, but when I'm so swamped with doing everything else for the movie, I welcome the familiar hardware. I also feel I have so much more control of the visuals as far as focal distance and depth of field is concerned given that I already had many different lenses. This issue would have cost me a hefty sum of money on top of the MSRP of the XH-A1. On that note, it's also worthwhile to mention that the 60D is MUCH less expensive than the XH-A1 which I can't complain about at all.

Lest I sound like an advertisement for the 60D, I'll stop there. I see a lot of you guys are using video cameras, but given the low cost of the new 60D, and the even lower cost of a used 550D, it can only be expected that a new wave of filmmakers will be jumping on the bandwagon.

I just finished my shoulder-mount today and it turned out even better than expected. I went to post some photos and a tutorial, but I realized I need a premier membership. That's my next step though, so I hope to have these tutorials posted soon.

Thanks again for the welcome!

Mark
 
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