Just a quick update, and an indication of a move in an apparently different direction. First the step in another direction: moving behind the camera. I’ve long been enamored of the art direction, the set dec., the camera work, special effects, and general look of films, television programs, and even music videos. In fact, my sample resumes for my technical writing course at Penn State focused heavily on practical special effects houses. Something I’d still love to do. So when Ryan announced that he was going to start up Paranormal Insider TV, I felt like it was the perfect opportunity to brush back up on a subject I’d let fall to the wayside.
It didn’t hurt that Sergey picked up a Canon 7D either.
Then the hunt was on for an informative website to aid my rather atrophied knowledge of filming. As it so happened, I was fortunate enough to find two:
http://www.indymogul.com/
http://www.videocopilot.net/
One for filming, one for special effects and editing techniques. The first site is largely responsible for why I ended up cutting PVC and conduit in a darkened Lowe’s parking lot just past closing time. A muse is a funny thing when it comes to timing, I suppose. Other than a few odd stares, I got a tracking dolly and a fairly diminutive green screen out of the experience. In the course of testing, I found that the 7D really, really needs an image stabilized lens. However, the depth of field works great with even a mediocre green screen key.
I’m still a novice regardless of the techniques I employ. I accept this. But things seem to slowly be getting better. You can check out my camera work and sporadic appearances at:
http://www.paranormalresearchsociety.org/paranormalinsidertv.php
The ‘Grave’s End’ book club meeting video and the Father Bob sit down discussion on April 15, 2010 are where I started filming the chat sessions. I’m also fairly pleased at how the lighting came out. Video chat sessions are (allegedly) going to be on Thursdays henceforth, so come on in and have fun. Comments, criticisms, and suggestions are welcome!
Enjoy.
–Josh Light
Whatever you did during last book chat made Eilfie’s painting pop. It was extremely vivid.
The lighting during last book chat made Eilfie’s painting pop. It was extremely vivid.
That’s pretty sweet. For starters ,the aesthetics visually present a very cool vibe. I wasn’t gonna mention the lighting cause I thought it was the effect of being a webcast. Now we know it isn’t. I thought the lighting during the book meeting was really dark but did improve with the chat after that. It looked a lot more natural even with the darkness of all the curtains and the room itself. Maybe a bit more lighting (with reflective type fixtures) in the background since y’all have a liking to dark clothes.
Have you used the dolly during a webcast? And Adobe after effects is pretty cool for editing and special effects. So good to hear about it & production is the BEST part!