The Attack of the Were-Timberwolf Hybrid
Once I had read Aaron‘s whacky script I knew that I wanted to take part in the project to create this short film. It was a good opportunity to give filming something with an actual script a go. I used two Canon EOS 5D MkII cameras with the Canon EF 24-70mm 2.8L USM and the Canon EF 50mm 1.4 USM lenses. The sound was recorded with the Zoom H4N and a Rhode Stereo Videomic.
We filmed in various locations around Canterbury, such as Aaron’s kitchen, a quiet corner of the Templeman Library, the Monument Pub and Christchurch’s Augustine House. (We got kicked out of the latter though.)
When we were done I handed the files over to Aaron who took care of the editing.
Speedlinks July 2010
- MediaStorm have posted their newest collection of projects worth watching.
- FStoppers photographer Lee Morris pulled off an entire fashion shoot with his iPhone 3Gs and got some impressive results.
- Tom A. Warner created a very cool video of lightning bolts in slow motion – 9000 fps!
- On photogen.lu I’ve started a list of camera stores in and around Luxembourg. It’s far from complete but you might want to bookmark it for the next time you plan to buy a camera.
- Strobist has blogged about the neat Strobox iPhone app, which allows you to draw lighting diagrams on the go.
- Adelene Enersen has created a lovely series of baby photographs, in which she imagines what her daughter Mila dreams about when she takes a nap.
- EOS Camera Movie Record allows you to capture 720p video on Canon cameras that have LiveView, like my trusty 40D, for instance.
Speedlinks April 2010
- The Adventures of BeetleCam, and how sending a remote controlled 4-wheeled DSLR to lions cannot end well.
- Philip Bloom interviews Greg Yaitanes about the decision to film the season finale of House M.D. on a Canon 5DMkII.
- Ghost Towns: WebEcoist has gathered photographs from abandoned towns and cities from around the world and adds a bit of background info. This might interest the Urbexers among you.
Impressions from London Zoo (Film)
Last week I posted photographs from London Zoo that I took in October, this time I would like to share with you a short film I made in the same zoo last weekend. The trip was organized by the Photography and Modelling Society. I had about four hours during which I could shoot. Some of my favourite enclosures, including the rainforest indoor area, were closed to the public, and somehow I ended up shooting birds more than anything else.
Around 20 minutes before we had to catch the train the delivery guy showed up with my new LCDVF as well! I had been thinking about buying a Zacuto Z-Finder, but since they are sold out pretty much everywhere and cost 2-3 times as much I had ordered the LCDVF from lcdvf.pl. (The buying part was a bit tricky since the payment instructions got lost in translation, but I called them up, got everything sorted out and had the parcel within four days.) I might write a short review of the LCDVF, but in a nutshell, I prefer it’s 2x magnification to the 3x of the Zacuto (which I tried briefly at The Flash Center), and the magnet mount they use seems like a good solution to me. Having the LCDVF with me was really helpful for focusing, especially as most of the animals kept running or flying around. The experience is definitely very different from shooting stills! I had taken my tripod with the Manfrotto 808 head with me. There really would have been no way around a tripod, at least for the telephoto scenes: I used the EF 70-200 2.8L IS lens with both the Kenko 1.5x and Canon 2x Extenders on it, giving me an effective focal length of 210-600mm, and without the IS the footage would have been fairly shaky even on the tripod.
For the wide angle shots I used the Canon EF 24-70 2.8L which was attached to a shoulder mount. This helps to distribute the weight of the camera a bit, but I had to find out that it’s not very practical to use it whilst carrying a backpack.
Unfortunately Canon won’t release the new firmware for the 5DMkII until later this week, so I still had to shoot at 30p rather than 24p. I hope the video doesn’t look too choppy! I also think that I’ll have to invest into some kind of external microphone sometime soon if I ever want to make anything that isn’t overlaid with music. Here I mixed the song with the ambient sounds, but I was fairly limited even with that, since the camera picks up the noise from the IS as well as the wind and the noise when I touch the camera.
If you’re interested in the music, the album by Denis Richard can be downloaded from Jamendo.
London Aquarium
I visited the London Aquarium and decided to film a bit rather than take photographs. I lost quite a few takes because somebody bumped into me while I was filming… The place was really packed with people.
The video is CC-BY-SA.
Photogen Fouermeeting 2009
This summer a handful of photographers from Photogen.lu met at the Schueberfouer (like last year) to hang out, test the rides and chat. I decided to film rather than take pictures this time. It’s fairly busy there and I didn’t have my shoulder-rig yet; my apologies for the shakiness. I still have loads to learn about the whole SLR-video thing.
Scout Vakanznomëtteg
Each summer the schoolkids from Pétange visit the scouts on the Prënzebierg for an afternoon of adventures and games. The scouts get an opportunity to interest children in the movement, and the kids get to have some fun as well as finding out whether scouting is something they’d like to see more of.
After my first attempts with DSLR video the day before I decided to practice filming a bit more.