“Folks, here’s the snake chaps, be sure to put them on so the rattlers don’t get you.” Now THERE’s a phrase I’ve never heard in my 25+ years of storytelling. And let me tell you, that phrase wakes you up in a hurry. Of course my response was, “I make these look good, don’t I?”
Filming a new "Video Producing" Course for Lynda.com
Nope not me, the DP checking the shot.
This past weekend I got to film a new Lynda.com course on Video Producing. This time Rose and the crew came to Atlanta to do the filming. This time the course is all about Video Producing, or what exactly DOES a Producer do in the modern production world?
Trint: Transcriptions Redefined
A friend pointed me to Trint transcription services. They claim to have redefined transcriptions by creating a superior software algorithm to quickly and pretty accurately turn around transcriptions from audio and video files. I was very skeptical having tried software like this in the past. Well, after trying them out, I am quite impressed.
Telling a New Story for Georgia-Pacific
Glen Freeman at the wheel of his Candy Apple Red Ford hot rod.
When I was brought on as the first Creative Director for Georgia-Pacific, the main thing I was tasked with was bringing a new storytelling focus to GP's external communications and branding. In particular, transforming GP from a big corporate brand to people. With over 33,000 people working in over 200 locations across the United States, there are many stories just waiting to be told.
Flying Commercial is so Yesterday....
Well, just a month or so into my career at Georgia-Pacific and I got a very special treat this morning. Flying on the corporate jet. With over 200 operations across the US, it just makes sense that GP would have a couple of jets based in Atlanta.
The Start of my "Good Eats" Journey
The very first panel of my very first "Good Eats" animation.
This morning I'm going through my old, OLD emails to finally clean up a lot of the clutter that has remained over the years and I found a great trip down memory lane. The original email inquiry as to whether I could create animations for Alton Brown’s “Good Eats” or if I could refer them to someone else.
"The Little Prince" An Animation Classic delivered by Netflix.
Streaming video services are just made for insomnia. As was the case this very morning when at 3:30am I could no longer lie restless in bed fearing I would wake my lovely wife. So it was that I found myself bringing up My List on Netflix. I was honestly looking for something non sensical that would lull me back to sleep. There was “The Little Prince” waiting for me on the third row, second from the right….. from the storytelling to the perfect blending of animation techniques this was one of the most beautiful and well orchestrated animation films I have had the pleasure of watching.
Sailing and Filming a Cruise with an iPhone and iOgrapher
The view looking forward from our cabin balcony.
While on vacation recently, I was able to combine two of his passions. Video production and cruising. Just before sailing on the Celebrity Cruises “Silhouette,” to the Caribbean, I picked up an iOgrapher which makes a very useful camera platform for the iPhone and iPad. Featuring interchangeable lenses, cold shoe mounts and tripod mounting points the iOgrapher essentially turns the iPhone into a professional camera giving the videographer great camera stability.
The cruise was the perfect testing platform as I'm looking for new ways to work with video, especially in social media. We’re also testing some new ideas for the upcoming Contemporary Living Network and we can see the benefits of creating original content with this setup.
The one thing I didn’t have on this trip was a shotgun microphone. Since the phone is mounted sideways on the iOgrapher, the microphone on the phone is not great for picking up natural sound and spoken word. Before the next vacation, I’ll be adding a shotgun mic.
I also didn’t know about some additional apps for the iPhone that allow for manual Iris and Color Balance controls on the phone. You’ll see the auto-iris kick in quick in quite a bit with all the bright / dark areas. And the color balance does change from time to time. I'll add those apps before the next vacation as well.
All in all, very impressive to see the picture quality and especially the stability of the images. This entire project was filmed with the iPhone 6. Absolutely NO camera stabilization was added to any of these images in the video below.
Also VERY impressed with Celebrity Cruises and their Silhouette. This was our first time on Celebrity and we were so impressed with the ship, the crew and of course, the food that we booked another cruise on the Celebrity Reflection. Celebrity is just top notch, white glove treatment but without the stuffy attitude. Beautiful ship, wonderful people and a great time.
To read more on the iOgrapher: http://www.iographer.com
To read more on Celebrity Cruises: http://www.celebritycruises.com/
To find those light leaks and many other effects: http://rampantdesigntools.com
If you like the music, that's from The License Lab: https://licenselab.com/
Editing on DaVinci Resolve 12.5: Day One
At the recently completed NAB Show in Las Vegas, Blackmagic Design took the wraps off DaVinci Resolve 12.5. It really could be a Resolve 13 but they probably wanted to avoid that unlucky number. I’ve been predicting for over a year now that NAB 2016 would be the year this tool became a full fledged non-linear editing system and sure enough, it’s a solid editing platform.
Add a PanaVision look to your next Project
My friend Vashi Nedomansky has updated his fabulous Ultimate Aspect Ratio Guide which can help you add a “Panasvision Look” to any project. He was inspired by the recent 70mm release of the Hateful Eight to update his looks.
It’s not just about adding a vignette over your video to give it a “Panavision Look.” It’s about adding correct aspect ratio vignettes over your video so they “look real.” Vashi goes beyond just telling you what the aspect ratios are, he gives you 50+ FREE templates to use in the NLE of your choice from SD to 6k. You can even use them in FX software like After Effects or Fusion, you just drag them to a video layer above the one you’re working on.
Also included is a link to the Unravel_Resolution_CheatSheet for exporting to the current frame sizes for various outputs.
Vashi is an incredible artist and an all around great guy. Be sure to bookmark his site for lots of great freebies.
Norway delivers a Vertical Documentary for Mobile Video
The folks at Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) have shot their first full documentary specifically for the vertical format. They’re goal was not to make it look good on the mobile phone, it was to make it look the BEST on the mobile phone. I have to be honest and say I’m one of those who yell “Turn the phone sideways!” when I see folks shooting vertical video. But who knows, maybe they’re onto something here. Video tailored specifically to the mobile audience displayed how they like to hold the phone.
What is the Purpose of your Video?
On the other end of the phone is a very smart, intelligent marketing leader for a corporation. “I really need a video as soon as possible.”
Me: “What’s the purpose of the video?”
Silence, and then….”Um what do you mean, ‘the purpose?’ It’s a marketing video is that what you mean?”
All videos should have a purpose just like every message a company puts out has a purpose. Read the Rest of the story in my Post on LinkedIn.
5 Days. 4 Principal Locations. 127 Scenes Filmed!
Our 5 days of principal production has been completed on the Gwinnett County Water Science project featuring 3 scripts inspired by Bill Nye Science Guy! After 3 days in our main ‘studio’ location in a high school laboratory, we spent a full day at Lanier Islands Resort utilizing their PineIsle location.
Bill Nye Inspired Project Underway!
Science can be wet.
For the past 6 months we’ve been working closely with a client on a Water Science project for a local school system with the overall feel and scripting inspired by “Bill Nye, Science Guy.” The scripts were written by BCM Principal, Walter Biscardi, Jr and he’s also serving as the Director for the project. We’re finally in Production after having spent last week loading in and rehearsing.
BCM completes PSA with Victoria Stilwell for Fix Georgia Pets
June 1, 2015; Atlanta, GA; – Biscardi Creative Media (BCM) has completed post-production on two Public Service Announcements for Fix Georgia Pets featuring world-renowned dog trainer Victoria Stilwell. The PSAs remind all of us the importance of spaying and neutering our pets to help cut down on animal overpopulation. This topic is near and dear to our hearts at BCM with our own Molly the Wonder Dog being a rescue.
Mueller Systems launches MobileRDM with help from Biscardi Creative
June 1, 2015; Atlanta, GA; – Biscardi Creative Media (BCM) has completed full production on a new infographic inspired spot to launch the newly revised mobileRDM tool from Atlanta based Mueller Systems. BCM provided full script to screen services on this spot designed to very quickly demonstrate the simplicity and efficiency of mobileRDM.