Video Assist: Testing, 1-2-3
A calibrated test chart can make all the difference
Sometimes changes in technology lead to new concepts or even newer technologies, and other times new technology brings up the need to reexamine technology that has been around for a while.
Production Takes: One Giant Megaphone
A grain silo amplifies screams of bloody murder
A long, exhausting day of shooting was nearing the end. The crew had endured the hot sun and dusty, smelly barnyard conditions all day.
Master Tools
DP Shane Hurlbut, ASC’s new rental company provides DSLR gear to the professional filmmaking community
Two years ago, if you were to have asked cinematographer Shane Hurlbut, ASC, if he planned to open a camera rental house in Los Angeles, he probably would have laughed out loud.
Help Desk: What’s A Violet Wand?
Don’t Google it at work!
At AbelCine, we offer sales, rental and service of all types of professional video cameras, and as part of that work, we also get a wide variety of technical-support questions.
Misinformation: Buy, Sell Or Hold?
Has the 3D road run its course?
A few years ago, I attended a 3D conference where DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg delivered a keynote speech in which he declared the latest incarnation of digital 3D to be as revolutionary to motion pictures as the advent of sound and color.
Production Takes: Fixed It In Post!
How creative editing saved our doc
It was 1992, and we were shooting a documentary on an air-refueling wing for public television.
Video Assist: Infrared-Faced
How IR filters can help
Recently, a very generous friend lent me his gear for a small project that I was shooting.
The Laws Of Motion
For indie filmmakers, camera movement is now a viable option
A still image is the capture of a single moment in time, frozen and devoid of any movement except for what may be implied by its content.
Production Takes: The Bike Pirate
A new take on Follow Me
Driving at highway speed in a crew cab loaded with gear, four filmmakers, and two pro mountain bikers and their two bikes outside the town of Kamloops, B.C., Canada.
Video Assist: Not Just For Show
Your matte box, rails and follow focus explained
I really don't understand matte boxes. At first I thought they just were what you found on a big 35mm motion-picture camera because I see them in all the behind-the-scenes/on-the-set shots.
The Soft Touch
Cinematographers and gaffers discuss the gear and technique in creating soft light
For cinematographers, the choice between soft lighting and hard lighting is almost akin to Hamlet's famous line, "To be, or not to be," in terms of its philosophical and aesthetic ramifications.
Audio Assist: Waves Video Sound Suite
Increasing your sound-editing capability
The sound-editing tools included in my video-editing software package are pretty rudimentary. What do you recommend if I want to take up the audio quality on my editing system a few notches?
Misinformation: The Director Of Sound
For indie film, sound is usually the first department that’s overlooked
It’s perhaps surprising how often sound management is overlooked during independent and low-budget productions.
Video Assist: Play Misty For Me
How a simple hair dryer saved my shoot
You turn the page to this column, and before you begin reading, a question pops into your head: “What does a cow have to do with high-definition video?”
Technique
