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Christmas gifts.

Image via Wikipedia

Shopping for someone who shoots video or stills either professionally or on the side, is a daunting task.  Buying camera gear for someone is a bit like shopping for a teenage girl.  The type of gift is as important as the name brand.  Get the wrong thing or the wrong name and you can expect an instant request for a receipt.  Most gift givers concede defeat almost immediately and go for a gift card from Best Buy or Walmart.

However, if you want to do something more personal this year or impress that special someone with a gift that will say, “I care about what you do and want to support you”, then this gift guide will help you make the right choice.  Read More→

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Nov
25

The Death of DOF Adapters

Posted by: Clint Milby | Comments (2)
Canon Eos 5D Mark II
Image by mickiky via Flickr

Shallow Depth of Field

For the filmmaker, HD camcorders gave us the freedom to shoot without the expense of film and development cost.   The drawback was the inability to achieve shallow depth of field.  With a fixed lens HD camcorder,  everything is in focus down to the smallest detail.  In the late 90s, filmmakers using HD video, were forced to use tricks such as lighting in layers with the subject lit the brightest.  Without these creative but limited solutions, the audience can become distracted by a pretty extra in background or billboard that is part of the set.  The result:  your scene loses its impact due to lack of control over the image.

The advent of the DOF or 35mm adapter gave us the ability to achieve a shallow depth of field giving you more artistic control of the image.  For those who don't know, the device works like a telecine using the macro focus of the camcorder to capture the image on a ground glass screen.  The glass is spun using a miniature motor.  The shear weight of these devices and their components can be in excess of 20 pounds.  This paved the way for an entire industry of camera support systems to redistribute the weight of the device, the lens, the follow focus and the HD monitor, which is critical to ensure clear, sharp focus. Read More→

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In September, I had an opportunity to do some shooting with the 5D for the first time as we had a demo unit in our office for a trade show.  I took it for Labor Day weekend and instantly fell in love.  I’ve been shooting video since 1990 and have always had some form of video camera in my arsenal mostly for short films.  For larger projects I always rented gear.

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I was lucky enough to share a stage with some great folks at NAB's Super Session aptly titled "Million dollar look on a thousand dollar budget". Mr DV Rebel Stu Maschwitz was the key note speaker and gave a highly inspiring talk. Also on the stage with me was Alex Lindsay of the PixelCorps.com, Brian Valente of RedRockMicro.com, and DP Taylor Wigton. Our camera ran out of battery after 45 minutes but there is some great stuff here. Enjoy!

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Categories : Filmmaking, Tutorials, Videos
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By David Basulto

As many, but not that many, may have seen there is a new reality show called “On the Lot”. Let me start off by saying I am not a reality show fan but this one intrigued me as I am a filmmaker as well. My wife and I sat down to watch the episode that was on. It happened to be about the young filmmakers on the show given a storyline to follow and turning that into a pitch. I have to say it was entertaining to see these mogul wannabees squirm a bit.

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Categories : Filmmaking, Tutorials
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