Video Kick

Making movies

Lately i have been on a video kick. i have enjoyed putting together random video clips with simple editing. So far it's been pretty fun and a huge learning opportunity for me. i have been told that im naturally creative and i have a natural eye for art but when it comes to making movies and clips i am completely out of my league. What i do know is that a lot of people(including myself) like to see themselves in media. Granted there are a handful who are so mortified at the thought of being documented but by an large if someone is presented in a good light through media i feel like it can just make their day. Now it's one thing to be on a home video. that is cool but it is a completely different thing to see yourself in a movie. in an actual production. with professional lighting and color correction. That seems to just change everything dont you think? i was in a movie once. it was called the Testaments. i was so excited to see myself when it finally came out. i searched every shot for myself but in the end i couldnt find me. i knew where i was and that just happened to not be in the shot. i did see others i knew. friends and family and they couldnt be happier at the idea of being on the big screen. it was a small film but it was film. so i figured that maybe i could do that for my kid. with the explosion of youtube, getting your face seen by millions isn't all that difficult anymore and you can share it with lots of people. If i can perfect the editing process then i can make real progress in creating something people actually want to watch. people other than my own family.

Things to Overcome

There have been some difficulties in exploring this vein of creativity. the number one thing(i hate that this seems to always be a hurdle no matter what i do) is money. the gear is so expensive. we happen to have expensive phones and sarah has a camera that she lets me use to get the raw footage. but to get a really good camera you need to spend a lot of money. and once you get a good camera then you need to get a couple of good lenses which turn out to be incredibly expensive. assuming you have the camera and lens then you need proper lighting and track and jibs. Once you have the shot you need a nice computer to edit the video. then the software used for that editing costs and arm and a leg. then if you wanted to add special effects or green screen that would require and different program. And i haven't even gotten into sound effects and dialogue. and the list of things that are used to create a great shot and do all the post stuff goes on and on and on and on... so getting over that money hump has been tough. "how can i jerry rig something to get the same effecting for $500 cheaper?" continues to to be a constant question. or ill ask myself "how can i get a high quality shot with low quality materials?" the short answer continues to be: you cant. The longer more complex answer answer is that there is a trade of. creativity, planning and know how can make up for a lot of your short comings. but that will always only take you so far(there is some debate as to how far this can actually take you). you can get away with a nice indy flick that was purposefully made in a certain way to get a point across, but that's not really what i wanted to do. i wanted to make it look like a hollywood blockbuster. but my cell phone video and freeware editing will never produce the same effect as the $50K RED Dragon and accompanying adobe products. it just cant do the same things. Now if i can settle for less than it's a non -issue, but who wants to settle for less??? 

The other thing to overcome would be the education. Now i believe that you can teach yourself most things and i have taught myself many things but not having a formal education has its disadvantages. namely the structure. instead of having someone tell me what i need to know and giving me an environment to practice in i need to set all that up myself. a lot of people swear that this "real world experience" is the better way anyway. it's just that it's time consuming. we never have time for anything anymore and we want all the information instantly. now assuming i do get past the impulsiveness there is all education when it comes to making a movie. rule of thirds, balance, composition, theme, color. People study this. there is lingo and jargon and people have spent good time and money in order to either overcome things or make things a certain way. i have chosen to just dive in. IF we assume i get the jargon and the basics of film making then you need to learn your camera. there are a million settings and different ways to do things. once you learn your camera and all the lenses out there then you need to learn how to use other things like rigging lights etc. once that is all complete then you get to learn how to edit and do post production(which by far is the most time consuming part for me) I have enjoyed learning but there is just SO MUCH TO LEARN....sheesh. 

anyway lets get to the videos. you can 

1. watch them and then read commentary 
2. read commentary and know what your looking for and then watch
3. watch for an initial impression and then then read commentary and then watch again to see if what i said is what you saw
4. just read
5. just watch

i would recommend option 3 but if you cant afford to be that invested in one post i get it. no worries:)

This was my very first attempt at something. it's pretty boring to everyone except my family who happens to star in them. i tried to do a little bit of everything in this one. a little color correction. i tried panning shots, static shots. i tried walking with the camera. there isn't much of a story here expect a lady and a baby go shopping. i didnt really focus on mood here.

My second attempt was at scout camp(i am a scout leader and as it turns out one of the media guys). instead of just 2 subjects doing exactly what i wanted them to do i had a live event that just unfolded before me. with only one camera and one camera man i tried to be everywhere at once and tried to get everything i could so that i didnt miss anything. i didnt have any lighting for the night time so i missed all the fun stuff that makes camping camping. i also skipped the part where they played capture the flag for fear of sand getting in my gear. it was too hot and too risky especially for a noob like me. in this one i didnt mess with color too much. and there was less of a story line. this was more of sporadic events set against dramatic music. i think the music really carries this piece. you will also notice a greater variation of content than my last attempt. in the end the boys enjoyed seeing themselves. the mood is one of adventure and discovery/accomplishment

In this attempt i was focusing on editing. this was the same camp as the video above but from a different perspective. what do you do with lots of bad footage and how do you make it look good? all this footage was given to me and i was supposed to just make something of it. you will notice that i left a lot of the talking in this. my last 2 did not have any dialogue because frankly i cant afford to get the set up for it and i don't like using the camera's mic. In this video i didn't do much except cut and paste footage. i wanted it to be different than the other camp video so i added the easy going local music. i think i made it too loud. it tends to drowned out the talking. i wanted that at first but looking back that may have been a bad idea. It's interesting how just music can change the whole mood. did you get adventurous in the first and fun in the second? if so, mission accomplished. you'll also notice shot selection seems to be redundant. again, that wasnt my choice.

the next video was again footage given to me. there wasnt enough variation and not enough content. i did what i could. in this one i used a different program for the post production. it was a lot easier and i was pressed for time at the time. because of the lack of material there was a combination of still pics and video. again no real story in this one and there is the use of black and white. and color. given the corny fishing music i felt like it was shout out to older and simpler times.

Last but not least this was done at sarah's parents house. this was shot entirely on my phone and edited at home. you'll notice the juxtoposition of the hip hop and grafitti font against old fashion film effects as well as filters making it look like the video was filmed in the 70's or 80's. The focus here was of course Rob on the tramp but i wanted to practice action shots. movement on screen. up until this point the majority of movement  is walking or talking or the camera panning or zooming. here he is flipping and jumping all around. i tried simple editing through his flips trying not to distract from what was going on. the feeling is a chill afternoon in the backyard.

Maybe this will turn into something more but i have feeling these may just be glorified home videos and that's ok too. Hope you enjoyed it.