With the landmark first civil partnership in Ireland today we are glad to be able to offer the same care and attention toward civil partnerships as we give to weddings. See our Civil Partnership page here.
Feb
21
Filmmaking Webinars Competition Win!
I recently entered a competition run by filmmakingwebinars.com asking for a short essay on how one deals with camera stabilisation both in shooting and in post. I am very pleased to report that my entry won first prize! Here it is:
“When I first started filming with my Canon 5Dmk2 I really didn’t want to spend a lot of money on gearing the camera up, I just wanted to get out shooting. For the first run and gun short that I made
I only had my z-finder as help towards steadying the camera so I had to do a lot of work in post. I was just beginning to use FCP and I stabilised a few of the shots using the FCP smoothcam filter which worked OK given the low’ish quality (from high ISO) of the footage.
Soon after this I constructed my own “Gunstock Shooter” using steel tubing purchased from a German company (I’ve lost the details now), a gunstock from a cheap plastic camera support (given by a friend) and a Manfrotto 323 camera mounting plate and a camera strap to support the chest strut. This has served me in very stead and effectively gives me 5 points of support – chest, shoulder, z-finder and two hands. Only occasionally will I need to do some stabilising in post.
The next issue was to have a cheap steady cam. For this I turned to YouTube and found a number of ideas from people who had constructed one from a monopod. I am now on my third incarnation of this stedicam consisting of a monopod with a cross bar mounted on the foot (unbrella rod) with 0.5Kg weights mounted at each end, an articulating handle (umbrella again) mounted some 6 inches down from the top and another Manfrotto 323 (now replaced with a Manfrotto 577 to be consistent with my tripod mount) on the top. This gives me adequate steady cam footage – not perfect by any means but certainly usable – and there is always FCP to take the edge off any unwanted movement.
I am currently awaiting receipt of a Jag35 shoulder mount which I intend to match with my existing mounts to hopefully give me a more stable run and gun platform when the added bulk is not a problem for shooting.
You can see an example of the steadycam in
Moira O’Brien
www.moiraobrien.com
www.friendlyghostfilms.net
www.movingimagecork.net
You can see the other entries on their Facebook page.
Feb
17
3 New Brackets for Mounting DSLR Accessories
I use a JuicedLink preamp to get broadcast quality sound recording on my Canon cameras and I receive occasional blogs from them. Today’s blog is of great interest to those who look for budget priced accessories for their cameras. I am reproducing the complete blog entry below.
3 New Brackets for Mounting DSLR Accessories
Posted: 16 Feb 2011 02:59 PM PST
We have just product released the DIY101, DIY102, and DIY107 Brackets.
The DIY107 is a really neat product, in that it takes advantage of the 3/8-16 mount on the back of the Rode VideoMic, allowing you to use the DIY107 to mount accessories to your VideoMic and DSLR, while the VideoMic is mounted to the camera’s hot shoe:
The DIY101 is a full bracket that can be used for mounting tons of stuff to your camera:
Not only can the entire bracket be mounted on top of a tripod, but it can also be mounted to 15mm rail systems using the DIY105 accessory:
Although not the primary design objective of the DIY101, the bracket is also useful for handheld shooting by providing hand separation for added camera stability:
The DIY102 is a bracket solution for run-g-gun videographers, who also do a lot of still work and need direct access to the camera shutter and controls, and want one of their special accessories to have direct access to the camera’s hot-shoe:
Feb
04
Budget LED Lighting
I came across this link in an email from DVSupport123 and was very interested to see the development of larger LED lighting sets than the existing 90, 126, 160 and 190 Chinese LED’s. I have used these lights quite extensively and for small compact locations they do work very well, though there is a definite green colour cast on the 126 LED light. The 90 LED light, though more expensive, has proven a much better light for overall performance and doesn’t seem to have a colour cast,
Anyway, back to the Cinecity and this is what they say on their site :
The CAMTREE™ Video LED Light Panel LP-SP is the most versatile, lightweight and professional production light ever built. It is very simple, fast, and economical solution for film, video and still photography applications, as well as a diverse range of projects in theatre, scenery, architecture or retail lighting. The LP-SP LED light panel can function as single light, modular light, fill-in studio light or key light. Two 1×1′ Light panels delivers pure, luminous, soft, directional output through LED technology in a sophisticated, slimline housing which make this light an advanced modular lighting kit.
You can read the full description on the Cinecity site. What attracted me to these lights was the cost effectiveness – two lights giving the equivalent of 500W each for a power consumption of only 35W each – at a cost of only $600.
Shipping to Ireland is expensive at $125. The overall cost with VAT works out at €645. Compare this to the cheapest Litepanels (currently the best LED small lghts on the market) £545 for one camera top light. I am looking forward to trying these out!
Oct
31
Cork Zombie Walk
This Saturday saw the first Cork Zombie Walk. It started from Bell’s Field and progressed through the town centre to the amazement of the afternoon shoppers! This wonderful spectacle was organised by http://www.theresistanz.com/ and raised funds for Marymount Hospice, Cork’s much loved hospice care.
Oct
31
Musings on the motor car or Why I love Ireland
I am writing this in England at an M4 motorway service station (yes Fianna Foil, such things do exist) on my way to Swansea to catch the sailing of the MV Julia for the first time. My journey has taken me on the A21 (a lot of traffic), the M25 (heavy traffic followed by congestion), and then the M4 (heavy traffic again).
All this has prompted me to think about a few things.Firstly, our love of the motor car. Now don’t get me wrong – I plead guilty as charged on this count, though living in Cork city has reduced my usage considerably. There is no doubt that motorised transport has transformed our lives over the past 45 years (the time I have held a full licence). Yet, driving through these congested motorways I am forced to ask the question – where are all these people going and is it REALLY necessary that they go by car?
Now I have a good excuse. I am exporting my 10 year old Toyota Avensis to Ireland as it is younger by a few years and has done half the mileage of our existing car. As it has outlived it’s usefulness in England it can now live out it’s days usefully in Ireland. This inevitably involves the journey from Tunbridge Wells to Swansea to catch the ferry.
What of all these other cars? Alright, it is Sunday and many people will be visiting relatives and in these days of the widely distributed family such relatives may live far away. This accounts for a few. More may be family outings. But the majority of cars contain only the driver. So I remain in ignorance. In my experience, this day is no different to any other day.
Secondly, I appreciate all the more the uncongested Irish motorways. Now, living, as I said, in Cork city, I am painfully aware of the nightmare of having to negotiate the city centre by car at any time between 8am and 7pm – and the impossibility during rush hour – and please don’t get me started on the Mums delivering their darlings to school in their 4 x 4′s, that is the subject of a rant all in it’s own. But anywhere outside the major conurbations and unbypassed towns, our motorways are deserted by comparison and driving is so much less stressful than here in England.
Of course there are many other reasons why I love living in Ireland – or rather, in Cork – being 2 hours from some of the most beautiful countryside in the world, West Cork & Kerry, to name but one. It would take some time to list all the reasons. Rather sadly, given the main subject of this missive, the reason just stated involves the use of a motor vehicle and the fact that the vehicle most used for these journeys is my camper van is no excuse.
Sent from my iPad
Aug
22
A short update
I have not posted for some time, not because I have not been doing anything interesting but more because I did not have anything really interesting to say. Life has, indeed, been quite busy – some photo-shoots for clients, organising Moving Image Cork, flying to London for my regular working and family visits and working on a couple of films.
You may have noticed from previous posts or tweets that I was involved in the shooting of a feature film called “The Vein Within”. Indeed, there was some two weeks of shooting in early June, around Cork city and harbour. Sadly this was not a success, through no fault of the crew who gelled into quite an efficient and cohesive body of people despite our amateur status. Suffice it to say that only one of that original crew of about 20 people is still involved with the production. Failure though it was, I for one came away with many lessons learned about how to organise a film production and quite a few lessons about how not to film it! Hopefully these lessons will be translated into better run and better filmed future productions.
Following the launch of Moving Image Cork I became involved with a short film production called “The Tunnel”. While I can’t say too much publicly at this time as the film is still in the editing stage, the few people who have seen early rough edits have all been most complimentary. Many thanks to director and writer Brian Whelan for coming up with the idea.
In the last week I have been attending a course on documentary film making at UCC. This was interesting and, as always with this kind of course, extended my knowledge and helped improve my filming skills. The finale of the course was to film a short documentary of our own choosing. My team of 6 chose the subject of “Greetings” and consists of interviews with various residents and visitors in Cork city centre. It proved quite interesting, fun to film and hopefully will result in some good footage. There is a lot of editing to do before it will be ready for publication though.
Aug
22
An excellent video interview with Philip Bloom
For those of us who are shooting video with HD-DSLR cameras and want to hear the expert giving really good advice, then you could do a lot worse than to watch this interview.Philip has been a leading light in HD-DSLR shooting since Canon introduced the 5DMk2 and has done sterling work in testing out the many peripherals that have come onto the market to help us shoot better with these cameras. A browse through his website www.philipbloom.co.uk is well worth while.In the meantime, here is the interview.
Jun
28
Cinematic Film from an iPhone?
Philip Bloom and Deltree are collaborating on making a cinematic film using only iPhone 4′s. Here is the trailer for the film, on Vimeo:
I am glad that a person of Philip’s stature in the HD film world is taking on such a project as it will show the world what can be done with such a simple piece of technology. Mind you, I have no doubt that attached to the iPhone will be some expensive kit – I know only too well having spent a considerable sum kitting out my Canons 5DMk2 and 7D to turn them into excellent movie cameras. I forsee another secondary market springing up very soon with gizmos that you can attach to your iPhone which no doubt will make the cost of the phone pale into insignificance 
.
May
24
Amazing Time Lapse of the Shuttle Launch
Given that the Shuttle is shortly to be consigned to history this film is a timely addition to the Time Lapse repertory: