One Group to Rule them All

I recently returned to the U.S. after studying abroad at the Ithaca College London Center last spring. It was an amazing experience, but I'm glad to be back in Ithaca for an entire year. I'm especially excited to be taking production classes again.

It really has been a while. Usually I try to balance my schedule with half of my classes in Park, and half out of Park. However, there are no production classes offered in London so I can't help but feel a little behind. This summer I interned for the Elvis Duran and the Morning Show and it was awesome, but I wasn't doing video production there either.

Woah. What a crazy flashback.

Arturo said we could choose our own groups or work in one huge group and I immediately had a flash back to when I took Fiction Field I last fall.

~It was a dark and stormy night~

Kidding. It was probably 2:00 in the afternoon and there were no windows in the classroom so I have no idea what the weather was like. Anyway, for our final project (we only did two projects total) we divided ourselves into three groups. At first, each group was super motivated. But then came The Dark Days.

#tbt to when we pulled our hair out. <3

Okay. I know that I'm being dramatic, but the fact of the matter is, even a short film (one that is ten minutes or less) requires a ton of hard work. When people started feeling the pressure and stress that comes along with a huge project, they would argue, freak out, and soon we were all on the verge of pulling out our own hair as well as every other group member's hair.

It was extremely difficult and when we eventually screened our projects in class, I didn't feel like it was my best work. I had this feeling of "well this is the best we could do given the circumstances." I don't want to have that feeling. That feeling is the worst feeling.

Arturo said we could work in one huge group. I don't know if it's this one experience or just a feeling in my gut, but something is telling me that one group might be the best option for all of us.

Yes, actually.

Pre-production, production, and post-production groups could work together and independently, potentially eliminating the need for all of us to meet at the same time. There would also be no need to run around Park, trying to fill crew positions if everyone has a specific job. For those of you in my class, please just consider it for a day. You know, let it marinate in your brain.

Obviously, this will take one great idea that everyone can get behind and coming up with said idea might be the hardest part of all. Yet I have confidence that if we combine our skills, we can make something truly spectacular.


Perhaps, as Arturo said, something that can be submitted to festivals.

4 Ways to Keep You From Saying "Fix it in Post"

In an article found on theblackandblue.com, were some advice geared toward the camera department that I find very convenient. These tips can really save the editor a lot of time in post production. On most sets, saving the editor time is not really on the top of their priorities, but it is something that can make post production occur with less mistakes. The first tip that Evan Luzi gives is to keep a camera report.

A camera report connects what is happening on set back to the editor. It gives the post production visual effects editor information such as the focal length of the lens used, to match its depth of field. It also makes it very convenient if you need to reshoot a shot. You know what focal length lens and f stop was used along with other vital information. 

The second tip given has to do with transferring all production footage to a computer. Just transferring the files is not enough, but always make sure to back them up on one or even two separate hard drives to be safe. Be sure to get every single bit of data on to the various computers and hard drives. Don't ever trust that your computer storage is enough and just wont crash. That is not safe enough. 

Most problems with data management come from human error. With that being said, make sure all memory cards are labeled correctly during production in order for things to go smoothly in post. Also make sure all hard drives are labeled and filed systematically. Name clips accordingly and keep things as organized and simple as possible.

The third tip mentioned to keep post production smooth is to make accurate slating a priority. Editing without slates means playing various clips to see what scene it was. When you have hours of footage and hundreds of clips, it is nearly impossible to edit without slates. All slates must be correctly labeled. Some may even include, frame rates, which special filters are unique to that scene, and lots of other important info. 

The last tip that Evan has for film sets is to work closely with visual effects supervisor during filming. Any information that he or she can get about the shot they are manipulating will be very worth while during the editing process. It may not seem like a priority but it should be. Use tracking markers. Tracking markers are markers that you put with the scene that give the visual effects coordinator a reference point when it is on the computer. These few things may seem unnecessary but they will ensure that post production can go smoothly and flawlessly.

Warp Stabilizer

     With many film makers consistently pushing the limit and trying to find a better shot, this weeks post can aid with faults along the way. Additionally as the world isn't a perfect place and there are usually multiple challenges when shooting (especially on extreme terrain) a powerful video filter such as warp stabilizer in Adobe After Effects may be the solution. This handy post-production effect can take shaky footage and transform it too a smooth shot. While warp stabilizer is a good tool in a crunch or for footage like the kayak video below, it will not save dreadful footage. Some challenges for the warp stabilizer consist of motion blur and rolling shutter speed (try to shoot at a higher shutter speed). Also the effect crops your footage so you might like to shoot at a wider angle to compensate for that. Lastly warp stabilizer can be used for other shots such as footage on a camera like a steadicam or jib.

Here is a how to video on the warp stabilizer...

A good example of the warp stabilizer with kayak footage...

Log Gamma: The Shooting Mode Made for "Fixing it in Post"

Sierra, X-Pro II, Lo-Fi, Earlybird, Inkwell, Kelvin. Many of you recognize these color/luminance filters by name thanks to the well-known photo-sharing app; Instagram. Quite recently, I stumbled upon the realization that the photos posted on sites like Twitter,  Tumblr, and even Facebook are, more often than not, corrected for color and/or luminance. When did it become natural for us to accept pictures like this: 

Or this:

When in reality the scene probably looked more like this:

With the rise in color filters for photography, the increase in more dramatic video coloring was bound to follow. I mean, isn't video just a culmination of stills anyway? Despite this, editing color and luminance in post for video can prove slightly more difficult than editing for individual photos. For instance, most cameras' default settings are set to record only the bare minimum of information needed. (This is to reduce the size of the file; increasing the space on your SD card.) However, by failing to record the camera's full dynamic range, the amount of color, luminance, and contrast manipulation available to the editor is greatly depleted. This is where log gamma comes in.

Found on most modern-day digital cameras, log gamma offers the DP the option to shoot a scene as flat (color and luminance wise) as possible. Receiving footage shot in log gamma is pretty much an editor's dream come true; especially when consistent color throughout is essential to the piece. 

Here you can see the increased amount of information recorded when shooting in "Canon Log" (flat) as opposed to shooting in the camera's "Normal 1"  default settings.

The red gamma log line takes substantially longer to reach the top of the graph illustrating the increased amount of information recorded. 

Unfortunately, there's a catch. While the final, edited footage shot in log gamma often looks incredible, the images you see on the camera beforehand don't. At all. Think shooting with a JVC-100 before you know anything about lighting and/or white balancing. 

Here's a before and after shot of flat footage:

I don't know about you, but I don't think I could ever feel comfortable handing an editor video that looked anything like the picture on the left. Even if I knew that the ends would justify the means. To me, shooting in log gamma is like saying, "I'll fix it in post", before you even run into production problems. (Side-note: There are no production problems that cannot be fixed. Probably. So I've been told.) In conclusion, shooting in log gamma can greatly enhance the quality of your film. It is up to the DP to decide whether she can wait for the editor to reveal the beauty of her shots.