Another Kickstart Campaign makes it...and offers a lot in return.

I talked a bit about the Kickstarter success that some have had. This time around it goes to the people at Realm Pictures with their project The Underwater Realm.

I think what helped them bring in their backers was the offerings to be had: Leading up to the January 1st 2012 deadline, Eve Hazelton (The DOP on the project) managed to put together some very interesting (And free) lighting tutorials originally made for Phillip Bloom's blog. This showed her (And the studio's) keen skills on lighting a scene. So, as a backer when you pledge $50.00 or more you get some REALLY COOL rewards:

The @EveHazelton Lighting Guide! An hour long tutorial with practical examples of how to light for film and video. This will cover everything from the theory of light through to equipment demonstrations & how to plan and execute lighting setups for dramatic scenes! Available as a digital download or DVD

Ocean Fan Pack - Blu Ray (or DVD) of the final films with your name in the credits as a supporter! This compilation will include all the concept artwork, production blogs and the behind the scenes documentary. Find out in-depth exactly how the project you helped create was made and watch it all in HD on the sofa (couch)! We will also send you completely exclusive behind the scenes still photos and messages from the cast and crew during production that nobody else will see!

LED Lighting Pack - good quality soft light is hard to achieve cheaply, and almost impossible to achieve on location. We have developed a set of rugged, low power, high output, fully submersible, cinema quality, battery powered lights and are giving you the plans to build and develop this system for yourself!

All of these for $50.00...not too shabby!! It certainly beats some of what people are offering as rewards! I would suggest future Kickstarter people to take note here and learn. While there are certainly plenty of free resources online that you can learn from, for a few of your hard earned dollars you get some pretty amazing tutorials and setups, not to mention supporting a great project. If you're not already a backer, I'd suggest you take a look at their Kickstarter Page to see what they are up to. As I write this they are in their last hours, but already they've made a great impact on the indie community. I can't wait to see the final results!

Check out Eve's lovely tutorials and be sure to check out The Underwater Realm.

The Hobbit Trailer Debut: Will 48 fps be the way to go?

So we get a glimpse into the world of The Hobbit. From the trailer, it looks like it will be quite an adventure...although judging by a trailer is like judging a book by it's cover really. What I am most looking forward to, as a tech geek, is how well the 48 frames per second will look instead of the usual 24 frames. Peter Jackson had this to say about it a while back:

"We are indeed shooting at the higher frame rate. The key thing to understand is that this process requires both shooting and projecting at 48 frames/s, rather than the usual 24 frames/s (The great majority of films have been shot at 24 frames per second since the late 1920s). So the result looks like normal speed, but the image has hugely enhanced clarity and smoothness. Looking at 24 frames every second may seem ok–and we've all seen thousands of films like this over the last 90 years–but there is often quite a lot of blur in each frame, during fast movements and if the camera is moving around quickly, the image can judder or "strobe." Shooting and projecting at 48 frames/s does a lot to get rid of these issues. It looks much more lifelike and it is much easier to watch, especially in 3-D."

While I'm not a big fan of 3D (Avatar being the only movie I could really enjoy in 3D) it will be interesting to see how people take to it. I'm not sure about theaters in Canada/U.S/U.K work as far as 3D movies and glasses go, but here in Japan you buy a pair (Clean, never been used), it's add to your first 3D movie experience at $2.00 a pair. Then you bring them home with you. So long as you remember to bring your glasses the next time you watch a movie in 3D, they cut the cost by $2.00. If you forget your glasses, you pay the extra money and now you've got 2 pairs.

So, will 48 frames a second be the next step in film. Unfortunately, I can't say. Outside of those making the film I don't think anyone can say. It was only a year ago that people wanted 24p for their Canon 5D mark ii. One has to wonder if the next thing we'll be demanding is 48p? What do you think?

Success: Youtubers vs Vimeo Users

With all the sites out there that provide services for you to upload videos and pictures to, it's sometimes hard to decide where you want to plant your feet. Let's take a look at some of the differences between the two as seen from a candid viewer like myself.

Youtube for me is a place to watch wacky clips of animals, viral videos, crazy people doing crazy stuff. But there are also quite a few Youtubers who have become quite a success. The first and possibly biggest as of late is Freddie and Brandon from freddiew and their friends Sam and Niko from Corridor Digital. These guys started off with nothing and built what is now a huge following. If you go back to some of their earliest work, you can see how well they've progressed through the years. They are visual effects masters but are always kind enough to run through tutorials on their second channels so that people like you and me can have a go at it. Their clips are short and entertaining. But now with a combined following of almost 3.5 million people (A majority going to the freddiew channel) they managed to get to a point where companies as big as EA (Electronic Arts), are impressed enough to ask them to make paid national commercials for them. The commercial is only going to add to their popularity and possible revenue to make more movies.

And speaking of movies, freddiew managed to get an insane amount of support on their Kickstarter campaign to produce what they believe to be (We'll have to wait and see) a great feature. Youtube fans have shown their appreciation for the art they've created so much so that they managed to make $273,725 in contributions when their goal was only $75,000. That's 4 times more than they asked for, give or take. Compare that to indie film DP Phillip Bloom's Kickstarter campaign which fell short almost $18,000 short of their $48,000 goal.

Which brings me to Vimeo. I like putting up my artsy stuff where someone might appreciate a little technical information or where some might be offered up concerning the video. To be honest, if I made a feature, I would like to see it up on Vimeo. For some reason the community there is far more constructive and appreciative of what you put up, as far as the comments go. The lack of trolls that are all over Youtube is what makes Vimeo very appealing to some. It's also less cluttered and simply a nicer viewing experience. Unfortunately, Vimeo does not have a system in place to monetize videos...and I don't know why with so many wonderful pieces there to watch. I admit, a different crowd would be watching, but still a great way for filmmakers to continue making more of what people like to see would be to offer a way for them to make money to budget for future videos. The limits set for regular, Plus and Pro users is either good or bad depending on who you are. Without going into too much detail, I've stayed a regular user and will upgrade to a Plus user when I am able to make better contributions to the channel I have. So who are the stars of Vimeo? Well, it's hard to say. There are some wonderfully talented people doing all sorts of creative and informative stuff. Phillip Bloom is someone I've followed. He likes to put his gear to the test and then share his experiences, and I'm glad for that. He does have a great following and I believe is very popular in the indie film world. Unfortunately, as I mentioned above, the Kickstarter campaign he was part of didn't do well at all when you compare it to freddiew and friends. That's not to say they are poor. Phillip and others like Vincent LaForet, Tom Lowe, the Stillmotion crew and others still make plenty of money doing what they love.

I'll end it like this: A friend of mine who is also a lover of films told me that his Youtube watching is like partying with a bunch of friends, eating pizza and drinking beer. Whereas Vimeo is like sitting down by yourself with a bottle of wine (Or whiskey) and enjoying the flavor in a quiet room alone and content. What do you think? Where would you put your feature? What would like Youtube or Vimeo to do to make it 'better'?

Galaxy Nexus: My change over from Blackberry

I'm going to make this short and sweet:

When I bought my Blackberry, I had decided I wanted it because of the QWERTY keyboard and because quite a few of my friends back home were using it. I has heard good things about it. But as time went by and with so many people buying iPhones (Not available with my carrier), I was feeling a bit green with envy. I wanted to take pictures and instantly upload them to my site or Facebook or any other social network. Unfortunately, the Blackberry camera is CRAP!

Then along comes the iPhone 4S and rumors that my carrier would be accepting transfers. I'm not sure how it works in other countries, or even here in Japan really, but from what I heard my carrier NTT Docomo, could technically allow the use of a Docomo SIM card in the iPhones. This was not something that Softbank (The official carrier) or NTT Docomo would confirm.

Next thing I know I have a friend talking to me about Android phones. I had never paid much attention to Android phones but when I saw the announcement of Android 4.0 for the Galaxy Nexus and it's camera functionality, I was sold.

Have it for barely 2 weeks now, I'm still getting use to things. I had a problem with it initially as it wouldn't show my contacts in order and Google Earth seemed to be missing altogether, even though it was installed. NTT Docomo advised a backup of my contacts and a factory reset. That did the trick.

Now I'm able to shoot video, take pictures and have some serious fun with my social networks...the kind I couldn't have with my Blackberry. As I am writing this I realize I should have some video and pictures to share but I don't, I'm still having a little too much fun with the other apps. I will however update this entry with content as soon as possible. I just need to get my shiznit together.

A word of advice: Turn off your Wifi and GPS as it drains the power. Also, understand that this massive screen takes a lot of juice so if you're watching videos or playing games, it's not likely to last you as long as your other phones. My wife was kind enough to supply me with a charger just in case.

Time 4 Timelapse

The idea: I had to go to Umeda this day for work, but it would only be for about an hour. It felt like such a waste to go there and just come back home. I decided to bring my gear with me and do a little time lapse of the area. Many of my friends who live in Osaka will instantly recognize all these spots. Originally I wanted to get more train shots at both JR Osaka Station and Hankyu Umeda Station but found myself getting lost in some of the other areas of Umeda. This is an 'incomplete' project as I would like to add far more to it.

The Gear: Canon 1Dm4, Canon 17-40 4L lens, a cheap (light weight) tripod and the Canon TC80N3 Timer Remote Control.

The Settings: In manual at f4, I first focused the lens with auto-focus on and then set the focus to manual (So that it would try and focus while doing the time lapse), I set the white balance to what I liked (Avoid Auto-White balance as this can change the colors with clouds moving overhead and the sun going up or down). I took a couple of test shots to make sure it was composed properly. Before starting the time lapse I turned off the preview picture option so as to save on battery power. I set the controller to take a picture every 2 seconds. I shot in jpeg because I was really just looking to have a bit of fun. I would shoot RAW but I only had 1 of my CF card with me and no spare batteries.

I decided to take about 700-800 jpegs per location. I took out my ipod and listened to music while the camera snapped away. The most boring part of the job. I would then move the camera and repeat all the above steps. Once I ran out of power (The camera and myself) I packed it all up and went home.

The Edit: I imported all my jpeg files into Lightroom and did a batch color correction on the images in their respective sequences. Doing this is easy in Lightroom: Simply make the necessary changes to your first image in the sequence, then select all your images with the color corrected image highlighted and hit the sync button in the lower right-hand corner of Lightroom. This should then apply all the changes made from your first image to all the other images. Then export them to a new folder.

Import the images in After Effects to create the 'almost' equivalent 4K project. From here you can re-size the sequence to fit your 1080p or 720p timeline. Or you can do some fancy zooms and pans as I did with this video without losing any quality/detail. The zooms and pans are done using key frames. I set a key frame at point A (The start) and then pan or zoom and set a key frame at point B (The end) over a desired length of time. Do a quick Google search on key frames in Adobe After Effects and there are plenty of easy to follow tutorials on this.

Since this is more of a test video than an actual project, I am not too worried about all the details (read: flaws) in the video...with the exception of 2. The first is a brief moment of black between the last scenes, even though it was for just a split second. I had already deleted the project and really couldn't be bothered to go in and edit that out. The second, something that was really out of my control, was the second to last scene where I wanted trains coming in and out of the station to be the subject, but a couple decided that they would stand right there. I thought they would move out of frame eventually, but they never did.

Music: Crash OTS

Bye Bye Yoko

View on ExposureRoom

A farewell video...need I say more. The poor video quality in the middle is because I was using the GoPro HD in very low light.

The Maestro

This is a favorite film of mine. They do an incredible job of incorporating time-lapse in their video. I just love this and had to share.

Tomoyuki // Rena

Shot on the Canon 1Dm4 with the Canon 100mm f2.8L and Canon 70-200mm f4L. This was a difficult shoot. I was the minister at their wedding and had to setup cameras as well. I brought my HV20 and GoPro for some B-Roll but didn't have time to set everything up. During the wedding I had a guest 'point' the camera down the aisle. Unfortunately, with the lighting and lack of time, the footage was not as high-quality as I would have liked it to be. Of course, I wasn't sure what the quality would be until I actually got home and put on the footage on my computer.

I joined the party and with beer in one hand and a shaky hand on my the Canon 1Dm4, I shot little bits and pieces. This was all done for fun of course. It was only AFTER the wedding that I thought 'Well, I could've put THIS camera THERE and THAT camera HERE'

Some Great Talent

It's always nice to work with talented people, it makes my job a whole lot easier. On this day, knowing that I would have very little time to set anything up (We were working), I brought my 1DM4, Rode Stereo/Video mic and Zoom H4n. I knew Kawasaki kun would be there that day and as far as tenors go, he's one of the most talented I've had the pleasure of working with. I'm constantly asking him to do the 'higher' version of Nessun Dorma. Usually, in order to keep his voice clear and 'safe' for work, he doesn't perform it that high, but he did on this day. The violinist, another amazing talent, was kind enough to play a variety of musical scores, my favorite one being the theme song to Totoro. A great animation and must see, if you haven't already. Once we got some of the 'main' stuff down, the two did a bit of Mario Brothers for me.

I wasn't able to get everything on the Zoom, and I was going hand-held on everything. Exposure was hard to get right because it's basically a small chapel on the 23rd floor with window walls. It can go from blindingly sunny to dark (Literally takes a couple of clouds to make a world of difference).

Here are the videos I've edited so far and will add the rest as they are processed.

Tonari no Tottoro // となりのトトロ from Jason McDonald on Vimeo.

Nessun Dorma // Kawasaki Kun from Jason McDonald on Vimeo.

Vanity and the New Year

I decided to be vain and do a self-portrait to send out as a response to the wonderful New Years cards I got from family, friends and students. Nothing says Happy New Year like vanity!

Harmonie Embrassee Wedding Hotel - Christmas dinner

My wife and I enjoyed a lovely Christmas dinner (On December 23rd mind you) at this nice hotel. While I wasn't able to eat everything that was put in front of me, it was a pleasant experience. It went a little something like this: champagne to start, appetizers that ranged from raw fish and small portions of duck, to some rather delicious pate of sorts. Next, the soup. I have to admit, my tongue couldn't really tell the difference between this soup (Which was suppose to be 'expensive') and soup that I make at home from water and soup mix. Then we had a half a quail, which is pretty tiny. It was stuffed with some sort of rice and bread. Then came the fish dish which was lobster. Very nice, although I'm not much for lobster (I really should've looked at the menu before ordering). After the lobster came some flavors ice, a kind of break between the main dishes. The next big dish (My favorite) was the beef and Foie Gras (Fatty duck liver). The portion size was small (I could've finished it off with a single bit) but instead I took the time to savor the taste. My wife, not being the biggest fan of Foie Gras, gave me her portion. The beef was so soft that it almost melted away when you put your knife to it.



And just when you thought it was all over, the cheese cart made it's way to our table. The waiter kindly asked us what our preferences were and cut us each our own plates of cheese. All of this of course was with a bottle of the cheapest wine on the list (About 4000 yen). I managed to sneak in a beer near the end.

The evening ended with the desert tray and choosing from an assortment of different deserts. A nice cup of tea with that and we were already wishing we could just lay in the hotel lobby for a couple of hours.

A nice dinner...here's hoping that next year turkey is on the menu!!