Lights

I apologize that my post have not been more detailed and frequent.  My new camera has taken up a great deal of time with trying to learn how to use it.  There is something to be said for the convenience of the Flip Cam (just point and shoot). No focus, no iso, no Fps, and no adjusting for light. The T3i is a bit overwhelming for the novice (like myself) the first time you try to use it.  I suggest that you read the owners manual first before trying to take pictures or do any filming.  Next watch tutorials and there are plenty of them on YouTube.  The biggest challenge for me is going to be understanding light.  LIGHT can make all the difference in the world as to how your final product comes out.  Starting out I plan to keep it simple and cheap by using clamp lights with CFL bulbs.  Here is a big tip that I learned as I did my research. Whatever  CFL bulbs you decide to use try to make sure that they are all the same type of light for example I like to use the daylight type.  The best feature of these lights are the price and the low heat.  With some experimenting you should be able to find a combination of lights that will work for you.  In a later post I will put in some pics of the lights I have put together so until then, "LET THERE BE LIGHTS".

Well I think that I may have figured the three point lighting thing.  The camera settings took some time. Here is something that I did to test the settings.

NEW CAMERA

Wow! My awesome wife, daughter,  mother-in-law, and brother-in-law all pitched in together to get me a EOS Cannon Rebel T3i 600D for Christmas!  Now all I have to do is learn how to work this thing.  I will keep you posted on my progress.  Step 1 is to read owners manual cover to cover.

Audio with an iPhone 4s

So I have been experimenting with some different ways to record audio an found that my iPhone 4s with the iTalk app by Griffin captures audio quite well.  The app is free and easy to use.  I was able to record audio with the phone's built in mic and with an  ATR6550 Condenser Shotgun Microphone plugged into the headphone port of the phone.  The audio was easy to transfer from my phone to imovie and I was able to sync it with my video footage with a little effort.  I will be trying to perfect this in later projects.  Stay tunned.

Camera Crane

Work in progress

Sound Matters

One thing I think everyone already knows is that the audio/sound on your project can make the difference between an ok short film and a really cool short film.  I have tried to find a cheap solution for capturing audio and I have still been unsuccessful (sad).  It has also been difficult finding camcorders that have an auxiliary mic input.  It seems that is reserved for high end cameras which was not always the case in the past.  I remember this being a standard option on most cameras back in the day. ANYWAY!  I try to make sure that I get the camera as close as possible when filming dialog.  I also try to film in locations that will produce the least amount of echo.  There are some things that can be done in the editing phase that mask weird or unwanted sound.  In the following short I used audio effects to hide the fact that there was just not that much background sound.  The outdoor sounds were added during editing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=M0Yuzgwnfoo

Cheap can sometimes work quite well

Hey guys, as I was walking through a Family Dollar the other day I noticed a couple of mask on display for halloween.  They were 5 dollars a piece so I bought them.  I then proceded to put them to use in a tribute to Star Wars and Darth Vader.  The results came out pretty good. So proof again that you do not need to have the most expensive props to get the job done.  Have fun! https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gSAH9_uNjPc