Video StudentGuy

I've included some musings on taking time to think and putting things in context.

Check out this book by Edward Dmytryk, On Film Editing
   
I've included some musings on taking time to think and putting things in context.

Despite my interest in putting things in a thoughtful way, I manage to run through a bunch of processes like a kid running through the woods during a thunderstorm. So I quickly explain how to, among other things, different kinds of cuts, using the motion feature in FCP, working with filters and compositing.

Most of the week was spent editing a rough cut of our projects. We have to get them done in 3 weeks. In-between editing Federico likes to show us some student films and discuss how successful they are. That's been really instructive.

Continuing with the Final Cut module, for the second week

I was

looking for some new production video and audio podcasts on iTunes and

was reading the comments when I got curious about this podcast's page.

I checked it out and was surprised that there was

a comment. The writer was very generous and encouraging and indicated

that while he hoped one day he would be able to do some filmmaking,

this podcast gave him a look inside the process of learning filmmaking.

Just one comment, but I was both humbled and gratified. It doesn't take

a lot of encouragement to lift your spirits.

I haven't done much

since I began to promote the podcast and I know of several things I

could do. Frankly getting an episode out each week is often a struggle

in time and effort. I have yet to check my stats on Libsyn, my hosting

site, to see what, if any number of downloads there have been.

Occasionally I check the blogs to see if there are any comments and

even rarely do I check my email. I think that's the least I could do.

Already I'm making myself busy. I'll do better, I promise.

This

definitely points out my main goal though, which is to create a journal

of my school experience, regardless of anyone else's participation. I

don't mean I don't give a damn if no one listens to this podcast, or

sends me comments and emails. I've already said how good an experience

that is. I mean that my primary motivation, apart from any other

consideration, is to create the podcast consistently through the end of

my program at CDIA and in the process incorporate the best production

values that I can. I don't know how much time I could devote to

developing a community, no matter how small, of people interested in

talking about my experiences in school, or theirs for that matter,

unless it were to happen. I do know that I can learn a lot from

creating this podcast and using it to reflect on what I discover each

week at school. I'm just as glad that other people can do the same.

More

stuff about Final Cut Pro editing strategies. Placing shortcuts to menu

commands using the Button Bars in the top of every window pane,

Timeline, Browser, Viewer etc. Option-J brings up the Button command

lists, Option-H brings up the virtual keyboard that displays all the

command key combinations. Rendering, which applies a special effect to

a selected clip and then writes a file that stores that effect, can be

a big time saver, and at the same time a disk hog. You'll need to

remove these files from time to time. The wise thing to do is to delete

them within Final Cut Pro, as opposed to deleting them from the Finder,

otherwise you could get headaches from persistent alerts that media

files are missing. Use Command-R to generate a render.

By the

way, I'll always refer to the Apple Command key as the Command key, not

the Apple key as I hear it often referred to in class and by other

students. Maybe it's just old school, but I can't think of it as

anything else.

As far as transitions are concerned, there are four which are recommended for their consistently effective impact:

• A Straight Cut
• dissolve
  

Finally I discuss

a variety of export options, depending on the medium you're sending you

film to. Most importantly, from an archival standpoint, send your film

to tape (DV tape on your camcorder). Also I mention exporting using

Current Settings, Flash for web and Audio to OMF.

Thursday night was the Practicum

showing. Student projects that created products in their media for

local non profit organizations under the direction of a professional

filmmaker. Great professional looking work.

Finally I mention a recent episode of This Week in Media, show # 53,

Learning to Learn. TWIM is produced by Pixecorps.tv. I listen to this

podcast weekly, very new media oriented with an emphasis on filmmaking

issues. This one is about learning strategies for professionals that

help you keep current.

Leave a comment or send me an email.

This is the first week of the Final Cut Pro module. Tuesday night was a special topic class, separate form the module.

Our speaker was Robert Patton Spruill, director of Squeeze and a documentary on Public Enemy which is in final production.

He

brought some fresh perspective on how to live your life as an

independent filmmaker. I also appreciated his perspective on the

program at CDIA versus, Emerson College, where he teaches as well.

Federico Muchnik,

the video program director is our instructor for the Final Cut Pro

module. He has an easygoing style that he uses effectively to cut

through all the mucky details and focuses specifically on the

need-to-know stuff for filmmakers. We're covering a lot of ground in a

short

time, the point is that we'll do the real learning once we start

cutting. I cover the things I think are most important to the editing

workflow.

Somehow I got into a rant about archiving files. It's

definitely something you need to consider before you get to far into a

project. Finally I bring up an important point about capturing video.

Don't capture video to an external drive connected via USB. Just

don't.

After a review of our footage from last week's shoot we returned to New

Hampshire and spent the morning at the Jackson Estuarine Lab. We filmed

the steps that will ultimately be a movie on how to make a genetic

fingerprint.
This module has been an excellent learning opportunity.

I have learned to check equipment before I leave the equipment room, to

make a shooting list before going on locaiton and most importantly, I

learned a valuable lesson about setting the white balance on a DVX100.

Finally I end with an insider's description of the Pixelcorps.

This is an online community that serves video professionals through

training, mentoring and job postings. There's a summer special of $50

for 3 months membership. It's a good deal.

Go to Pixelcorp.tv for a good source for production video podcasts.

Our team chose to shoot both projects at the same location. In the How To, our guest biologist, Steve, who works at the Jackson Estuarine Laboratory,

demonstrates how to devine the genetic fingerprint of bacteria The

profile is on the very same lab which monitors  marine biology on the

coast of New Hampshire.

We had a number of temporary setbacks because we didn't check our equipment but we end up with quite a bit of usable footage.

I'm

still recording using the built-in  mic on my Mac Powerbook. I've

discovered you can do some decent audio correction using the Channel

EQ. I'll talk about that in the next post.

This episode includes a wrap up of NAB. I focus on Apple and Adobe's new products and a little bit about the Red Camera.

Although

I didn't attend the first week of the new Module, "Film Project 1",  I

lay out the details: get coverage for two 5 minute videos, one 

demonstrating how to do something, the other is a profile of an

individual.

Check out these podcasts that provided a lot of live coverage of the NAB event: This Week in Media, FX Podcast and Digital Production Buzz.

There's lots of training on Flash video, HD cameras and workflow, Audio production, compression and color correction in FCP. I'll give you the highlights.

Of course theres classes on After Effects, 3D software, Adobe suite, Final Cut Pro suite, Avid, HD DVD production. There's tons of stuff to learn and hard choices to make.

Once the exhibition show opened on Monday April 15 I fought the crowds to find out stuff about Apple and Adobes new offerings. I've got a little news, more to come in the next episode.

The night before I took off for Las Vegas, which I know you're really tired of hearing about. I promise. I'll stop mentioning that soon. Anyway, on Wednesday April 11 I joined some of my classmates for a screening at Brandeis University by Errol Morris of a work in progress film about Abu Graib. He showed pieces of the film, rough cuts, talked briefly about the genesis of the project and that because of previous visits to the campus, felt the University community would have provide some valuable feedback to what he presented.

He was a quiet unassuming personality who took his work seriously, but in a self deprecating way. I was surprised by his demeanor. Considering the seriousness of the works I've seen, not everything certainly, I expected him to be more severe. Not complaining. Really, it's one of the reasons I attended.

There were a lot of interesting questions about the source material, how it was available, how he got the people who took the photos to be interviewed and whether they were being honest or trying to cast themselves as victims.

He made it clear that this was not an anti governement movie, but that it was about the banality of war, and the sheer stupidity. It was grim viewing, but also breathtakingly absorbing. He said it should be coming out later this year. Watch for it.

Airport, complete with guest ambient speakers. Any suggestions on how to

eliminate them would be greatly appreciated. By the way, I did finally get to

Vegas, about 1am local time. I got to my room and collapsed at 3:30. Maybe I'll

fill you in on my exciting trip in another episode. I was very happy to stop. 

nights class. Howard Phillips, who taught a previous class on lighting, filled

in for Franco who was out sick. We reviewed some video people shot the previous

week using the camera handheld. As I mention in the podcast I appreciate having

multiple teachers in a single class, although not at the expense of the health

of anyone. Even if they recover information or techniques, I feel I can benefit

from their differing experiences and perspectives.

I'll be posting episodes shortly. The trade show hasn't started yet. I'm really

loving all the information. There are about 8 different tracks on video

production, software and hardware and I can only choose one at a time. Come

Monday I'll have to skip some classes altogether to see the booths on the

floor. And it's a big floor.

this post is one about a screening I attended of a work in progress by Errol

Morris, the guy who produced The Fog of War and other great documentaries.

Coming right up.

podcast from Logan Airport in Boston, waiting for my plane to Las Vegas. Lots

of background noise. There just doesn't seem to be quiet rooms at this airport. I

thought the Men's room would be a little obvious. I'm also editing in Adobe

Audition instead of Soundtrack pro and Garageband, so the production values are

going to suffer from my limited experience with that program. I think it's

quite the capable piece of software, I'm just unfamiliar with it.

called Children Underground, by  Edet Belzberg about the lives of a group of children who live in

the subways of Bucharest Roumania. From that we took a number of lessons about

shooting cinema verite with a handheld camera.

an individual working at a computer. All different angles and perspectives,

from above, over the shoulder, in front, close-ups of hands on keyboards and

mouse, the monitor, the desk, etc. It was all about coverage, getting every

shot you could need to demonstrate the detailed actions of someone working on a

computer, probably with the intention of using it as B-roll for a voice-over,

or over dubbed interview. Shooting handheld for even 15 minutes is very

fatiguing.

our experiences while we were waiting for everyone to get back. In the next

week we'll review them and take on another assignment.