Last week I attended another Mini show but this time with a difference... this one also involved VW's! I'm always quite excited about this one as I don't normally attend other car shows, after this one I feel it's a must! This video was made in approximately 14-16 hours or so, mainly because I was trying out different techniques (some of which I thought was only possible with After Effects) but after a lot of Illustrator templates, Photoshop fades and a lot of Final Cut Pro tweening I feel I'm now happy with the result.
The video and it's effects were mainly inspired by the opening race the 1966 movie Grand Prix:
When I first saw this (ashamedly on youtube) I was just taken aback by the creative cinematography and the clever editing. It was also nice to find out that the opening credits were created by Saul Bass to whom someone I pay a lot of respect. Past the opening title sequence and first race scene I loved the 3 tiled editing transitions and thought to give them a go with a funky beat and that's how this next video came along. I really enjoyed making this video but then again I enjoy all car related media thats created, hopefully I've captured the essence of this show with its laid back-ness of the VW crew and the proud Mini owners but I do have to confess that a lot of the footage is VW based... as I always see a lot of Minis and wanted to try something different. Anyhoo, enjoy!
Music - "Pick Up The Pieces" by Average White Band
It's been a very long time since I last posted. Which is both a good thing and a bad thing. A good thing in the way that I've been just working at the day job as well as keeping busy with small projects, mostly video. Which I am thoroughly enjoying and I feel like I've found an angle that I want to continue to grow and be super wicked awesome at.
To bring you guys up to speed I was approached by a good friend to jump in on an event that he will be putting on along with his company Tri3tar the event called 'Diamond in the rough' - In a nutshell it will be the first all Filipino MMA event in England. He (Ryan) asked me if I wanted in on some of the video projects that needed doing... so I thought why not!
Here is one of the interviews I made with one of the fighters:
I also managed to put together their first trailer:
I also have the pleasure of joining a new company PlusOne to which we will be (at first) be videographing and photographing events across the UK. At the moment we're following the talented DJ Complexion. Here is the first shoot in Derby's NoNo08 club:
I've also been freelancing and have been doing some work for a Virtual Office Solutions company, which has included graphic work, photography as well as some videography. Once the projects have been completed I'll post a link.
Finally... I've also put together a little video related to my other passion... MINIS! Not the BMW kind but the original classic Mini. Don't get it twisted! I've done a 3 other Mini related videos and hope that this video raises the bar for myself to constantly evolve and constantly push my creativity. The video is of the London 2 Brighton 2011 Mini Run/Show
It has been a while, before Christmas even. So I thought I'd better blog what I've been up to. The main thing I have been concentrating on is my 365 reasons for me to smile project on Flickr.
I guess it's just something to keep me creatively active everyday. Mainly consists of things that stick to my own rules:
Has to include things that make me smile. (I know such an open subject)
Has to be taken on the day.
No object/subject can be shot/created more than once.
Nice and simples.
The other thing I have just completed is the latest car related video. This was taken at Bingley Hall 2011:
It's been getting pretty good responses from people that have already viewed it online and in the past 3 days it has already reached 399 views. Lovely jubbly!
So I should be shooting a video for a friend of mine this Saturday at a club he DJ's at up north. Only problem is the Nikon doesn't exactly have good low level lighting video capturing capabilities, it needs some extra light to make use of the 720p.
I figured I couldn't afford an LED video light (just yet!) so I browsed over the internet to see if I could buy something that may do the same job for cheaper. I found a Rolson 72 LED Camping light on Amazon for £6.35 inc postage. I did what any other DIYer would do, I bought two, one to play with and one to keep. Now how did I attach the LED light to the camera? Like this:
I know it's a little crude, but it does the job and that's the main thing. I just used a busted camera shoe flash and some string and tied it all together, I even tried some wrapped up foam to see how it diffused the light. I've given it a test and it's not bad, it feels a little Blair Witch though as the LED doesn't throw light around too well as it more directs the light to one spot. As soon as I've taken some decent video I'll blog the results, but for now enjoy the DIYness.
So two years ago I made a steadicam with the help of Johnny Chung Lee and his $14 camera stabilizer. Two years on and I haven't had much joy with it, or really much practice. I've been doing a few videos here and there and came across this video by MSLATER:
So it's time to make a new toy and I've just started by collecting the materials. First thing that came through was the Traxxas Universal Joint that I bought on eBay. Now I'm waiting on the bearings and will continue making and blogging as I go along. Can't wait!
So I'm really inspired by car videos and I've always liked the style in which they are shot and put together with some kind of funky music. I found out that a lot of them use a panning rig of some sort to get smooth camera panning movements as well as steady cam's. I've already made a steady cam so I thought I'd make a glide track (as I can't afford the £200 wicked awesome version) so here's my attempt using:
2 Homebase ball bearing drawer rails
2 Chrome Homebase drawer handles
A tripod head from one of those cheapy little tripods
Some wood and screws
A bit of tennis grip
Zip ties
Here's how it came out:
Pretty happy as it cost around £22 to make as opposed to the £200 version. When I can save up I'll get a proper one, but for now I thought I'd make a cheaper one to make sure I can use it and develop some shots, I guess that way I'd know if it would be worth it. There are a few niggles:
The drawer rails each have 3 extendable sections which jolt the camera and thus the video shakes
Once the camera is attached and the rails extended you need to hold it down on the opposite end
There's no tripod mount
Other than that it's pretty sturdy and works well, you just need to watch your panning movements and keep them as smooth as possible, so practice, practice. I'll probably end up making another version and iron out the problems., but for now I want to make videos. So here is the first one, taken at Castle Combe Circuit in Chippenham with my local Mini club the MMC
I think it turned out well. I hope to do more of this in the future as I find it more hands and tactile at the beginning then to compile it all and bring it together virtually covers a lot of my own creative interests. Stay tuned!
One snowy Sunday afternoon. Kornelius was listening to some Bonde Do Role... "This would make an awesome video!" he thought to himself. So that's what he made.
Using the one of Bonde Do Role's tracks entitled Caminhao de Gas (I have no idea what it means!) I used some animated 3d using Cinema 4d, some green screen footage recorded over a year ago and complied together in Final Cut Pro. I think next time I'll use After Effects as there's much more control for keying and layering... anyhoo enjoy!
As made famous by Johnny Chung Lee (man's a genius!) @ Poor Mans Steadicam, I decided to have a go at making one myself as I may have use of it at work as well as sideline projects in the future. Looking for the parts took ages! As I was in and out of B&Q and Homebase comparing prices, B&Q was much cheaper! Then I also had to get the counterweight and tennis grip from JJB Sports. All in all traveling to find the right parts took around 3 hours (I was also very indecisive choosing the correct parts due to my budget!) and only took me under an hour to make, I think I could make one quicker now that I've made one. The steady cam didn't amount up to $14 (which would have been something like £8) instead i paid around the region of £25, but I'm happy with it and will be practicing over the next few days. Here are a few pics:
A few enhancements I added were the tennis grips on the parts that need holding as the copper tubing may start to tarnish then transferring to sweaty palms! LOL. Hopefully this shizz works well, although I'm going to need a fair bit of practicing to get the movements 'steady'.
