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We want to give you the opportunity to explore the art of keying. Taking the background out and dropping in something different is a special effects technique that has been around for years. However it was not until recently that we have been able to get broadcast quality results in both a fast and inexpensive manner. Quality Chroma keying is now for everyone.
Possibilities
Think about being able to shoot a background plate in Hawaii to use in the middle of a New York …
On the Canon H1, Rodney Charters says:
"We did manage to get footage out of the Canon and upload it to the D5 no problem. And it was this footage that we viewed at Level 3 post, where it made an amazing comparison against the 35mm dailies. The imagery was almost identical except for that nagging problem of almost infinite DOF. It confirmed our belief that this was the sharpest and best picture of the bunch."
article part one
part 2 here
Catapult is the world’s first device to allow capture of video footage from DV or HDV video cameras directly to iPods or virtually any USB drive, and begin editing immediately. A battery powered device not much larger than a Blackberry, the Catapult eliminates the time consuming and tedious task of digitizing video footage. Read more…
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Veteran DPs (directors of photography) will shoot camera tests in advance of filming a project - trying different lenses and different camera settings to achieve the visual style and effect they want for the film. Rolling some tape well in advance of your shoot, in one of your locations or somewhere similar and experimenting will give you a huge advantage on the day of the shoot.
This means you won't be burning time experimenting with camera settings, filters, and mics on the actual shoot- just concentrating on getting the framing and performance you want. This will lead
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When shooting video for delivery on the internet, keep the following in mind:
Shoot everything tighter
Smaller movies mean you need to make your subjects bigger. Close-ups provide energy and detail even at small screen sizes.
Minimize camera movement
The key element in great looking low-bandwidth video is to keep each frame as similar to the previous and subsequent frame as possible. Every pixel of a frame that is different from the previous frame must be stored in your online movie, which in turn increases the amount of data needed to represent that frame. To keep frames as …
Here's the sequence of events when shooting a take:
- You ask if everyone is ready.
- If so, you yell "quiet on the set".
- When the set is quiet, you yell "roll camera".
- Then, the camera operator (probably you) starts the camera rolling. After watching the white timecode numbers advance three seconds, the camera operator yells "camera rolling" or "speed" (meaning the camera is "up to speed")
- The talent then goes into character but waits before beginning any action.
- After a few more moments, you yell "Action".
- The talents waits a moment more, then starts the take.
- After the action
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Let’s summarize all our knowledge into one common sense absolute truth:
If it looks good, it is good.
This nugget of wisdom, with its koan-like simplicity, should form the foundation for your judgement when making decisions on the set. What you see through your viewfinder or reference monitor is what your viewers will see.
Of course, the visual image differences between a viewfinder and the final delivery screen must be taken into account. But this rule is still the only rule that makes sense when shooting any project.
If you’re flying a plane, and the altimeter says you’re at 5,000 ft., yet through
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The most important secret of shooting video to look like film is: Your knowledge.
Why will shooting with a diffusion filter make such a big improvement in the visual quality of your footage? Why do some call it "instant filmlook" and "instant magic"? Why do we shoot with diffusion filters pretty much all the time?
There are several reasons. One is that video cameras have a built-in electronic edge sharpening process that is applied in realtime to lines of high luma and chroma contrast as you shoot.
35mm film is much higher resolution than video, and without this sharpening filter, video looks too "fuzzy" or "blurry"- exposing the …
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