You are browsing the archive for Production.

Getting Back to Basics

Posted on February 17, 2009 in Cinematography | 2 Comments

Video cameras seem to be getting more and more complex, which can be a blessing and a curse. Even the basic “record-your-son’s-football-game” camera seems to have features today that were unimaginable only a few years ago. Sony now has a camera that can detect whether or not someone is smiling. Sounds [...]

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DIY Mic Stand Steadycam

Posted on January 26, 2009 in Cinematography | 2 Comments

Martin Frericks gives instructions for building a DIY stabilizer out of a mic stand.
Mic Stand Steadycam from Martin Frericks on Vimeo.

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The Mystery of the NFL Yellow Line

Posted on January 8, 2009 in Effects and Stunts | 2 Comments

An in-depth video about just how they place that yellow scrimmage line in the NFL broadcast. All that just for a first down!

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How to make a DIY Cable-Cam for Cheap

Posted on December 28, 2008 in Cinematography | 2 Comments

In this video by Backyard FX, Erik and the crew build a Cable-Cam to achieve awesome cinematic camera angles like fly-thru and overhead shots. The Cable-Cam is like a camera dolly, but instead of being on a track, the camera is in the air on cables or rope, so you can shoot above the action. [...]

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Lighting with Shadows

Posted on December 17, 2008 in Lighting | No Comments

Lighting expert and instructor Rick Wise draws on decades of experience to illustrate how shadows can be the most important part of how a scene is lit. Learn how to control the direction and quality of your lighting design to add texture, dimension, and force to your images.

…There are three keys to good lighting. Learn [...]

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Through the Looking Glass: Lens Adapters

Posted on December 10, 2008 in Cinematography | No Comments

Jay Holben explains optical lens adapters to expand your camera’s angle of view.

…Although relatively small-sized camcorders, especially of the HDV variety, have allowed more videographers entry into the HD arena, there are several trade-offs to smaller chip sizes. One of them is the wide-angle shot, as the smaller imagers of 1/3″ (and smaller) cameras make [...]

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An Inside Look at NFL 3D HD Production

Posted on December 6, 2008 in General Production | No Comments

Ken Kerschbaumer examines the workflow of a NFL game broadcast in 3d that uses existing 2d signal paths and production vehicles

…Camera rigs with two Sony HDC-1500 cameras with Fujinon 22x lenses will cover the action from six locations at field level, with a seventh located higher up on the 50-yard line to provide a sense [...]

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Nonprofessional Actors Give European Films a New Realism

Posted on December 5, 2008 in Directing | No Comments

Tobias Grey examines the trend in Europe of using everyday people in films to achieve realism.

…When the Italian film director Matteo Garrone began formulating how he wanted to make “Gomorrah,” his unflinching portrait of the Neapolitan Mafia, his inspiration came from a movie made more than 60 years earlier. It was the 1946 neorealist classic [...]

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What if I’m Not Talented

Posted on December 2, 2008 in Acting | 1 Comment

Bob Fraser, one of the original writers for the television series The Love Boat, discusses what it takes to be an actor.

…I recently got a letter from a young actor in Kentucky. She told me that an agent in Atlanta had said that she was definitely cut out to be an actor. That she had [...]

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How do actors memorize their lines? A neurological perspective

Posted on November 30, 2008 in Acting | No Comments

Are their brains bigger than ours? In a public discussion held at New York’s Columbia University this month, the RSC’s Michael Boyd and Dr Oliver Sacks compared notes.
…This process started with actors on their own going through their lines. They didn’t remember them. We then moved on to working together in a room, sitting down [...]

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Musings on the Art of Cinematography

Posted on November 17, 2008 in Cinematography | 1 Comment

by David Worth

Imagine being able to learn about something as complex as the Art of Cinematography in only half an hour or a weekend. Isn’t that what we all want today, in our new millennium, instant gratification world of the Internet, High Def, GoogleEarth and YouTube?
As we look back to the very origins, to the [...]

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Halo Armor – DIY Master Chief

Posted on November 9, 2008 in Costume Design | 1 Comment

Indy Mogul shows you how to make a futurist set of space armor just like Master Chief wears in Halo 3.

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10 Tips for Better Audio in Digital Video Production

Posted on November 4, 2008 in Audio | 3 Comments

By Kendall Scott & Sam Mallery
Today’s digital recording equipment is more accurate than ever at capturing audio with vivid and crisp detail, however, videographers quickly discover that it’s usually the distracting noises that get captured the most vividly and crisply. There are many steps that can be taken before a shoot that will help [...]

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Understanding TIME CODE

Posted on November 1, 2008 in Cinematography | 3 Comments

By Robert Morton & Jack Fettman

Time code synchronization is still a big mystery for many audio and video professionals, and as today’s Audio and Video technologies continue to integrate, having a basic understanding of time code has become more and more essential for both studio and field production. The good news is that the [...]

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Sony’s HVR-Z7U and HVR-S270U

Posted on October 24, 2008 in Cinematography | 1 Comment

An interview with Doug Jensen
By Jack Fettman
Doug Jensen is a 25-year veteran of the television and video production industry, with experience in all phases of production. He has worked extensively as a free-lance network cameraman and owns a video production company called Vortex Media. Vortex Media also manufactures production tools such as Warm Cards, Storm [...]

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