Shooting the Flood: Shoot 2a

This was a good first shoot. It was a really long day and everyone did a great job. It was a great time to crack out the Letus adapter. I couldn’t believe how hot it was outside and how much water people can blow through. I know I speak for the whole team when I say thanks to all the actors who came out. Kim and Promise did a great job on makeup, Matt had a great shoot, Jim and Michael produced well, Rick was all over the place helping out and the actors were patient and responsive. Very cool.

We are almost half way there and I look forward to finishing the production so we can jump into post. October 26 is really coming quick! Take a look at our first set of photos.

THE PHOTOS

The Shoot:
I was up early getting the equipment list done. Michael and I scurried about to get all the props we needed packed up. After we got to Cornerstone we assembled everything else before our actors showed up. The RV was critical and I have decided that if you ever do an off site shoot, this is a crucial part to the happiness of the actors. I had a really strict schedule that I loosened up a bit the night before. There was no room for mistakes when you are trying to get 78 shoots with one camera, a handful of producers, and about 20 actors 40 minutes away from ‘home base’. Regardless we had all the ambition we needed to do this. Of course, life happens/happened and here is where the commotion would begin.

We hoped to have a van there for the actors that wouldn’t fit in an RV. It didn’t work out to have someone we know lend us their van, another reason why perhaps renting is the most reliable method. We also had a little bit of a mix up on our food and water resources. We decided it was necessary to stop by the golden arches on the way to our location. After loosing some of the trailing vehicles, we finally arrived to the location we previously scoped out for the shoot… As we pulled up, we noticed an “indian reserve” police office had pulled a couple cars just before our turn off point. We all debated wether we should unload and get rolling since we were a little behind schedule before the police were done. We were wrong to begin to unload, the officer said he couldn’t let us stay on the location and that it was in fact indian reservation land. He told us that another 10 miles away and we should be safe from anymore issue or interruption. He was right about not being interrupted, but it was more like 18 – 20 miles.

We were very late to get started, but were happy to feel safe enough to continue. I would say for the most part everything went well, and the actors were great. We simply did not get enough done and will look forward to a second shoot day. The next trailer is around the corner, so that is exciting.

shooting the flood tommorow: a shots

tommorow is the big ‘a’ list shoot. I have been planning this shoot for a while now. I am grateful and excited for all the help and influence many have provided. Thanks for your patience and support and I hope you will check it out.

The Flood Teaser 1

Teaser #1 is here. This particular shot needed an arm because it was shot hand held and presented some pretty difficult problems. Otherwise, it will do what it needs to, encourage thoughts and discussion. Thoughts are always welcome. For more information, go to myriadstudio.com/blog

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/1753691[/vimeo]

Magic Bullet Looks

Earlier I compared Apple’s Color against Magic Bullet’s Looks. In this post I’ll be showing some screen captures and getting deeper into ‘Looks’ interface and abilities. To reiterate what I said about ‘color’ vs ‘looks’, is that Magic Bullet provides us with a quick and easy to use color preset and editing environment. There isn’t a whole lot of speciality involved or required by ‘Looks’. It’s obvious to me that ‘Color’ is for the elite and the specialist. It’s for the large studio or the high profile projects. ‘Looks’ is for the cinematographers who have always wanted a ‘Photoshop’ for their clips. Lets look at the interface. I Couldn’t find anything else to use for an example so here is a the ‘before’ picture from the ‘set extensions‘ post I did a while back.

Just like any other plugin, look for Magic Bullet and select Looks. Click the “edit” button to get into the application.

Sun Stand Still Series Promo

We had 1.5 days to knock out a promo for our “sun stand still” series. I had Chaz, a friend and co-worker, stand in for this shoot. The hardest part was getting a matte painting and a burning sun in the time I had to work on this. So with some heavy color effects to blend in the empty spots, I think it came out pretty good. Chaz did a good job and it was another long day in After Effects.

Apple’s new: nano, touch and itunes 8

Nano
I’d agree that the iPod nano rocks like never before with an 8GB or 16GB model with 9 different colors to choose from. It comes with an accelerometer and apparently you can shake it to shuffle your music. I am not going to get one any time soon because I am still using my iPhone 24/7, but I’d love to hear about any users with a story.

Offered in a wide range of colors (nine total) for both the 8GB ($149) and 16GB ($199) capacities, the latest iPod Nano strikes a great balance of price and features. The iPod Nano 4G uses the same high-resolution 2-inch screen found on last year’s model, only now the included screen uses a portrait orientation covered with rounded glass. Video playback requires you to turn the iPod Nano 4G on its side, much like the Flash-based Microsoft Zune MP3 players. Unlike the Zune, however, Apple has included an accelerometer within the 4G Nano that reorients the display based on how the player is held, making it easier to view photos or switch the player into Apple’s Cover Flow music mode.

Color Correction: Apple VS Red Giant

What we are really getting at here is, you can color correct in most of your editing or post applications. What about rich color styles? Vignettes? Two programs side by side; Apple’s Color and Red Giant’s Looks.