Archive for the ‘Feel Good’ Category

At the ProVideo show recently I won a GoPro camera at one of the seminars. Feeling very lucky to have won such a marvelous prize, or any kind of prize at all, I immediately began testing it to see what kind of shots I can get from such an amazing little camera in real life conditions. Enlisting the services of my daughter, Gabby, I began filming the events of the day with her as it was one of those silly school inset days where the teachers, back from a week long holiday, decide to create another day of chaos for busy parents by closing the school for yet another day, for training purposes you understand!

So Gabby and I had the whole day to ourselves and we spent it doing things together as father and daughter, which really we should do even more of. Great day and we both loved it… and a great opportunity to put the little cam through its paces.

Now one thing the little camera is not is a replacement for a full size HD camera. But for special shots where it’s impractical to have your normal camera, it’s fantastic. I filmed the first half of the video demo below in 720/50p resolution and the second (trip to MacDonald’s) in 1080/25p. Both excellent results but I feel the later was a little more stable.

I have to admit that I did manage to drop the little camera a couple of times, but as this is a tough piece of equipment, it didn’t even flinch! And I didn’t flinch either because lets face it, if it falls off a bike, or a car when in use and broke at the first drop, it wouldn’t be very practical. But it’s such a popular camera for a reason and its toughness is one of them.

I have mentioned one or two pros and cons on the video but a couple of points not mentioned is that I feel the shutter can get a little high at times making the video a little jerky, and the white balance may be out now and then too, but the main problem is the lack of an electronic stabilizer (as you would expect on a £300 camera). That said, fasten it security onto something and the results are breath taking.

I love the sucker mount and I did attach it to my car (though not for any great distance). It sticks to windows very secure and did the whole trip to McDonald’s with the camera going (speeded up x9000 times). The windscreen was a problem as its a very steep angle, so ended up filming upside down the whole way and rotating the video 180 degrees in the editing stage.

Handling noise is quite severe but it does do quite a nice job of eliminating wind noise (but not totally). The whole movie was filmed with the GoPro in its water proof housing (with open back) making the dropping of it more risk free. There is no way to attach it to anything if it is not in the housing, there isn’t even a tripod mount unless you purchase another mount specially for it

I would also advice purchasing the LCD screen for the back of the camera so you can see what your filming, would have been very handy for some shots, though not needed if you just attaching camera to the side of your car or helmet of course…..

Anyway, hope you enjoy the film and please don’t hesitate to comment on this….

Here is the video of the Free Runner training video I filmed when it was a little warmer outside. Tatally forgot to add to my my blog, but its a nice little film showing off the crisp colourful picture of the Panasonic Lumix GH2 SLR, my main filming camera these days…..

 

Did some major work on new www.greenwoodvideo.co.uk website late last night trying to get a functional custom package page up and working, so customers can build their very own bespoke wedding video package, and it tells them exactly how much it costs as they build! It’s been a lot of work but it’s looking and working fantastic.

Have to think about preparing some cameras and lights for tomorrow. I am helping out as a guest speaker at the local drama college, teaching how a professional TV shoot may work compared to stage acting. I think they are going to get a surprise at the difference of TV and Stage work and it should prove a great help preparing them for any television work that come their way in the future.

I’d better getting back to the show edit. i am on last 9 acts now, should get the show finished over the weekend!

 

Janet has been to work all day today I have been looking after my little girl. I thought I would try and make a little music video with her.

Now when Gabby was younger she loved to be on video. Couldn’t get her off it! But these days its more of a uphill struggle to get her on video, and today was no exception.

One of the ways to get her to do my bidding is the age old Bribery Trick. Seems to work every time. I would say “Do a few shots and you can have a lovely bar of chocolate !” and when she started waining it was “Hmmm, looks like a tiny chocolate bar instead of a big one!” then she livened up again.

Of course there was the huffs from her, and tantrums and sitting on a bench for 5 minutes with her bottom lip out looking in the opposite direction, and eventually she even started to resist the bribes. But I did take a shot or two of these too and happily included them in the finished video short.

Remember this little one is only 5 and not really very enthusiastic, so don’t expect an Oscar performance… or any performance really.

A little music video – second star to the right from GreenwoodVideo on Vimeo.

 

If you watch “So you think you can dance” you  would remember Kirsty, the girl who needs a hearing aid.

At the beginning I really worried about her. Not for her disability but her weight. She looked too heavy to be an excellent dance.  I was even more concerned when she was paired with Matt, whom is about hei height.

Last night, when Kirsty was in her bikini-like customer, I couldn’t believe my eyes –  She looks georgeous!

When Judge Nigal said Kirsty had lost one and half stone, I am astonished: ah, that’s why!  In such a short time and lost such weight and keep up the spirit so well, that’s what we call “Professional”.

Well done, Kirsty. Good luck on your competition.