HDDSLR Events

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Jeff Ello sent in some BTS images of his DIY DSLR cage on set with one of films earlier this year. He's been a busy guy teaching low budget shooting/editing/fx panels at various conventions for several years now including GENCON, InCon, Marcon, Starbase Indy, this year. The next event you'll be able to catch Jeff hosting hosting dslr/FX panels along with Hunter Cressal will be at Dragon*Con in Atlanta which looks like tons of fun. This year, Dragon*Con will be held Labor Day weekend (September 3–6, 2010) in Atlanta, GA. From what I can gather its a similarity of those other film and tv fan events such as ComicCon. A big help in educating low budget film makers, here's Jeff's schedule if you can attend, tell him I said Hi.

Title: Film School: Sound, More Sound, and How to Sound Good
Time: Fri 01:00 pm Location: Cairo - Hyatt (Length: 1)
Description: What equipment is needed to capture sound, how do you create unforgettable sound effects? How to fix what’s gone wrong? ADR. Foley.

Title: Film School: Low Budget Substitutes for standard equipment
Time: Sat 01:00 pm Location: Cairo - Hyatt (Length: 1)
Description: Learn about nice but inexpensive dollies, booms, jibs, and steady camera systems, and THEN what to use when you can't even afford THOSE.

Title: Film School: Intro to Digital SLR Photography for Filmmaking
Time: Sat 04:00 pm Location: Cairo - Hyatt (Length: 1)
Description: Digital SLR cameras bring true photographer's tools to filmmaking; This class will teach you the what, how, and why of this new tech.

Title: Film School: CG Special FX, How It's Done
Time: Sun 01:00 pm Location: Cairo - Hyatt (Length: 1)
Description: This class shows filmmakers how Computer Graphics and Live Action are married to create stunning images.

Title: Film School: HD Cameras
Time: Sun 04:00 pm Location: Cairo - Hyatt (Length: 1)
Description: What can the new cameras do? Which is “best”? Which is worth the money? How do you use them? We will explain it all.

Title: Film School: Post Production
Time: Mon 11:30 am Location: Cairo - Hyatt (Length: 1)
Description: You've finished principle photography; Now what? Picture lock, post audio, music/score, editing, CGI.

Title: Film Festival Awards Ceremony
Time: Mon 01:00 pm Location: Regency V - Hyatt (Length: 1)
Description: The Presentation of the 2010 Dragon*Con Independent Short Film Festival awards

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DSLRevolt WORKSHOP / PHOTODAYS ROVINJ / AUDI from Marko Butrakovic on Vimeo.

Today's the day I may be signing a lease for warehouse space in the Bay Area. I've collected quite a bit of equipment over the last year, and networking with other Photographers / Videographers has required me to have an actual 'creative' space to setup shop. One of the ideas of using this new warehouse space would be to hold DSLR workshops where we invite a DSLR Professional or Professional DSLR team in to manage a small class and tackle a very specific project. This will all be built from scratch where everyone can contribute to ideas in storyboarding, coming up with the shot list, taking hands shooting with the different equipment, and to final editing. Think of that TV show 'Monster Garage' but for DSLR shooters. Throw a team of people into the warehouse, give them a project, and see what comes of it.

I started poking around for ideas on DSLR workshops, and really enjoyed how this video was put together. Seems like a really fun thing to tackle and I might just have to give the local BMW, Porsche, or Mercedes dealerships a ring.

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sony-nex-camcorder

sony-nex-interchangeable-lens-camcorder

Ok, so i'm sitting here playing with the Sony NEX-3 Interchangeable lens camera trying to figure out better ways to make this shoot like a real video camera. Next I get an email from Alex Cahiz pointing me to the latest Engadget article about Sony's latest Video Camera announcement. A 3" Swivel LCD, Still Photos, 1080p, 24 frames, and SDHC storage are some of the terminology being dropped, oh and also an estimated street price of $2,000 US. It should be bundled with an 18-200mm lens, so it's not a terrible price for something that acts more like a Video Camera should. Check out the full write up over at Engadget.

From the images above it looks like it has both an LCD and a ViewFinder for sharper focus? It also has a better Stereo microphone position over current DSLR's. The smartest thing Sony can do to really steal back some of the current market is to come out with a Canon Lens adapter right from the start. Hey, Apple went to the Intel platform, supported Windows installations, and now look where they are at. If Sony can adapt for Canon, i'm sure most of the Canon users would love to pick this thing up and test it out with the current gear they are already so much invested in.

Update: Looks like more specs are available and many comments are talking about the correction on 24p. It's actually 24Mbs bitrate which is half the 5D Mark II, and no indication of 24p. This is a big time deal breaker for people who can already afford the T2i with several aftermarket accessories available on the cheap. I don't think Tamron, Sigma, or Tokina are making Sony mount lenses for the NEX? This will definitely put Sony in a niche audience.

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sherlock-tones-music-video

Music video shot on (2) Canon 5D Mark II's. Here's the final version of a project I was invited to hang out with. A friend of mine told me they had plans to shoot a music video (all DSLR) at a San Francisco residence, so he invited me to check it out and bring some of my gear. This music video was for the artist 'Sherlock Tones' on a song featuring Terra Rothman titled 'Distant Strangers'.

The fairly large crew on set were kind enough to let me shoot along side as 'Camera B', with my Canon 5D Mark II and I was able to provide a few nice lenses that ended up being used quite frequently. Lenses used were primarily the Canon 100mm Macro IS F/2.8 (my new one), 85mm F/1.2, Canon 50mm F/1.4, and I believe Canon 24mm was on hand. There was a RedRock EyeSpy deluxe with Follow Focus on hand, but many of the shots were handheld or Tripod, and also the $99 slider played a very small role. You can catch some of the BTS footage shot by Warren during the music video shoot, and all cast and crew credit information can be found at this Vimeo link.

Thanks to all the guys who let me hang out. Hopefully I wasn't too much in the way of all the production, and helped contribute a little something to a very awesome shoot!

Credits from the Vimeo Link:
"Distant Strangers" is available on iTunes: ow.ly/29N6s
sherlocktonesmusic.com
inhouserecords.com

Director - Anton Delfino
Producers - Reinel Adajar, Khattab McIntosh, AC Lorenzo, Melissa Santikul, Eric Quintana
Co-Producers - Albert Mangay, Anton Delfino
Cinematographer - Albert Mangay
1st Assistant Director - AC Lorenzo
Gaffer/Media Manager - Eric Quintana
Production Designer - Melissa Santikul
Hair/Makeup - Katrina Baligaya
1st Assistant Camera - Chester Manuel
B Camera Operator - Emm
Media Assistant/Playback - Warren Moises
Production Assistants - Anthony Dimalanta, David Liem
Locations - Penelope Lim
Catering/Craft Services - Regina Lim, Victoria Delfino

Special Thanks - Tess Arenzana, Joy Bontigao, Monica Santos Quintana, Caleb Quintana, Julius Sambajon, Jon Fordham, Paciano Triunfo, John Raposas, AJ Calomay, Patricio Ginelsa, Christal Calderon, Jess Lin, Borrowlenses.com, Portillo's, Sherlock Tones and Inhouse Records

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This was a friends video project. He decided to use my house to shoot a very short video clip. It's his project, so i'll wait to let him post the video before sharing it with you. Those cheap Bike clamps (found here) sure came in handy for us to make a DIY boom pole. I used one to mount at the bottom of a regular monopod and adapted the Zoom H4n to the bottom. The top was the Rode VideoMic on it's own adapter. We used an extension cord to run the mic down to the Zoom H4n. The Windscreen was on the Rode, because we were going in an out of the house. The Spider Trax Dolly was also out on the floor and used for some really cool shots. Glad we had a tool like this, otherwise there would be no way to pull off some of the long tracked shots and curved motion shots.

The basis of this project was about some kids who come over to a friends house, practices break dancing, and well..i'll share the rest when it's online. I saw a quick edit of his project, and it came out great. Thanks to some of the Renegade Rockers for showcasing some of their awesome break dance skills. More information will be posted later.

Update: Here's the video if you want to check it out, it was submitted for the PopTent.net Crystal Light contest. Great job Larry!

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sf-crawfish-boil

Yo! Big ups to Waylon from Vimeo for cutting this video!! The 7th annual San Francisco Crawfish boil was fun and the Crawfish was off the hook. The weather was sunny and in the 90's at the Marina Green (lucky day).

While there, I got to meet up with the well known San Francisco Photographer JJ Casas. He was there taking out his lady for her birthday ( Happy B-Day Cher !). More coverage of the 7th Annual San Francisco Crawfish festival can be found on JJ's blog here: https://jcasasphotography.blogspot.com/2010/06/7th-annual-sf-crawfish-boil-and-my.html

We ran around picking up some footage for the guys who put this together every year using a Canon 5D Mark II + 24-105mm IS, Canon 7D + 24mm F/1.4, Zoom H4n, & Rode Video Mic. Each of the cameras rocked the Fader ND Filters to get our shutter speeds to a manageable level while allowing us to shoot with Depth of Field. I'm not the greatest video editor, so Waylon cut up a quick one for us with his FCP skills. There will be a full cut for the event owners later.

Fader ND Filters. Gotta Get these!
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My new lens was in Full Effect the Canon 24-105mm F/4 with IS for Video stabilization while running handheld.
canon-24-105
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Unbelievable Canon 24mm F/1.4 Lens was on the Canon 7D

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Although you don't catch much of the audio for this cut, the Zoom H4n was on site with us too.
zoom-h4n-recorder
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the Rode VideoMic was attached to the Zoom H4n.
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This furry critter was used on the Rode VideoMic to block Wind. There wasn't much wind that day. HOT!
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The Canon 5D Mark II
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The Canon EOS 7D
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Wow, i'm excited to see what will go down with this year's 48 Hour Film project. With all the new DSLR's capable of Cinematic footage, and the affordable T2i recently released, this should be an interesting year of Films being created for the 48 Hour film project. Anyone planning on shooting this year? More information about the project, following this link.

From the website:
The 48 Hour Film Project comes to San Jose on the weekend of August 13th. Filmmakers from all over the Bay area will compete to see who can make the best short film in only 48 hours. The winning film will go up against films from around the world.

The 48 Hour Film Project is a wild and sleepless weekend in which you and a team make a movie—write, shoot, edit and score it—in just 48 hours.

On Friday night, you get a character, a prop, a line of dialogue and a genre, all to include in your movie. 48 hours later, the movie must be complete. Then it will show at a local theater, usually in the next week.

In 2009, nearly 40,000 filmmakers made 3,000 films in in 76 cities. This year, we're even bigger, with filmmakers around the world taking the challenge to make a film in just 48 hours.

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hdslr-meetup-san-francisco
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If you're not too busy with World Cup stuff, there's a huge DSLR meetup this weekend in San Francisco over at the Marina District. Ok, i'm lying. There isn't such an event, but I guarantee there will be a huge crowd of DSLR's roaming around the SF Crawfish Boil festival. I just thought i'd share one of my favorite festivals coming this weekend and let everyone know that myself and a few other DSLR enthusiasts will be running around the area. We got in contact with one of the guys who runs the Festival and setup a time to do some interviewing and then we'll be running around picking up some b-roll. This is the 7th Annual event which includes "All you can eat Crawfish" & First hour, Beer on the house! So technically it's not a DSLR meetup, but my friends and I sure can turn it into one! See ya there if you can make it, More information following this link.