http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dLbyeycUok
WANNABEn Filmmaker
Blog about an Actor from Vermont who decided to become a Filmmaker in order to create his own opportunities as an Actor and also now as a Filmmaker.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
GoPro's mounting system on ANY camera
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dLbyeycUok
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Movie Poster?
Update of 11/20/2012:
Thanks to buddy filmmaker Owen Mulligan, here's another AMAZING article about making your movie poster:
http://www.chrisjonesblog.com/2012/11/how-to-design-a-movie-poster-–-top-ten-tips-to-grab-the-eye-of-a-sales-agent-distributor-or-audience-member.html
Thank you Owen for the hint!!
Sunday, August 5, 2012
A Trillion Frames per second & Optical Illusions show us how we see
I believe this post is pertinent to both WANNABEn Filmmaker and WANNABEn Photographer, so I will post this on both places.
http://wannabenphotographer.blogspot.com/
In the last two week I've found these 2 amazing videos about Femto Photography and how Optical Illusions show how we see.
Wanna learn more about a super hyper theta mega tera slow motion camera? Imagine a trillion frames per second:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_9vd4HWlVA
Wanna learn how optical illusions show how we see?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf5otGNbkuc
Enjoy the beginning of the week!!
Ben ^_^
Sunday, July 22, 2012
All About Time Lapse
http://forum.timescapes.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=1871&sid=7356afcad112dbdf44642afd54d6a1f3
http://timothyallen.blogs.bbcearth.com/2009/02/24/time-lapse-photography/
http://tylerginter.com/post/11479731327/filming-astro-time-lapse-with-tom-lowe
http://philipbloom.net/2012/01/24/raw-workflow-for-timelapse/
http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/moving-time-lapse-photography-tutorial/
http://www.learningdslrvideo.com/nikon-d800-timelapse-tutorial/
http://blog.planet5d.com/2012/03/how-to-create-an-hdr-timelapse-a-dustin-farrell-tutorial/
http://www.runwildtv.com/how-we-do-it/time-lapse-tutorial/
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=time+lapse+tutorial&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CFUQtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DW4SzZXLiyvk&ei=0zHqT6DGL8zG0AGsgunoAQ&usg=AFQjCNFK_POhSPNUjuYsd8PBb7j8JAhuvQ
http://forum.timescapes.org/phpBB3/index.php
http://philipbloom.net/2012/07/17/raw1/
I don't want to go over each link, but if you are truly interested on time lapse; you will find all (or most) of what you need at these sites! (Almost) guaranteed! ;)
Ben ^_^
Copter Kids
Stunning, remarkable stuff well worth to watch and share!!
http://vimeo.com/38322747
Copter Kid's Website
Here's one of their newest videos trying out the new super slo mo Sony FS700
http://vimeo.com/45762381
The shot at 1:23 is one of the best actions shots I have ever seen. Definitely a money shot!!
Until next time, have a great weekend you all ;)
Ben ^_^
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Lighting Techniques from Eve Hazelton
Looping around Mr. Philip Bloom's website, I found these really charismatic and essential lighting tutorials made by Eve Hazelton. She is very easy to understand and goes straight to the point. Check'em out, but remember always safety first. If you have no clue about what you are doing, please seek professional assistance!!
Lighting Techniques from Eve Hazelton
http://vimeo.com/33672808
DSLR Lighting Techniques from Eve Hazelton from Realm Pictures on Vimeo.
Lighting Techniques 2 from Eve Hazelton
http://vimeo.com/34004547
Lighting Techniques 2 - Eve Hazelton from Realm Pictures on Vimeo.
Complete Greenscreen with Eve Hazelton
http://vimeo.com/34365256
Complete Greenscreen with Eve Hazelton from Realm Pictures on Vimeo.
You all have an excellent week!!
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Top Ten Microbudget Tips (Article by Chris Jones)
Top Ten Microbudget Tips: With a crew of 2 and budget of £500… what can be achieved? Jaw dropping work…
Thursday, May 24, 2012
You Cannot Rely On Film Festivals To Distribute Your Film
Check it out, it is well worth your time if you are a new or newer Filmmaker...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkHGOAfUMp0
See ya!!
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Best Camera Trick Ever!
Only 1 minute and 8 seconds of your time ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj6fMcJ18aA
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Festival Circuit: Dark Side, Rejections and Lessons Learned
The Dark Side of Film Festivals
What I learned from the festival circuitWhich I highly recommend you guys to read. In his article, Todd Miro recommends some resources that worked for him. Owen also recommends a few interesting ones as well. I summed up my favorites from their articles, but please read them both to have a better understanding on why those resources can make a big difference for yourself and your movie:
Short Film Central: http://www.shortfilmcentral.com/
Maverick Movie Awards: http://www.maverickmovieawards.com/
Tromdance: http://www.tromadance.com/
Dragon Con Independent Film Festival: http://filmfest.dragoncon.org/
Official Rejection (Documentary): http://www.officialrejectiondocumentary.com/
Official Rejection - Full Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuPO5xm_Iws
Official Rejection at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Official-Rejection-Collection-Edition/dp/B002Q0WYPG/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1333432308&sr=1-2
That is all for now folks, and I will keep moving forward discovering this new (to me) world of 'Festival Circuit'.
Cheers!!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Festival Circuit: Secrets and Tips
I opened an account at withoutabox (owned by IMdb), and did a search on festivals that are currently open. Unable to determine which festivals are best for my film, I googled around and found this very cool site called www.filmfestivalsecrets.com where they offer the first 2 chapters of their book (Film Festival Secrets) downloadable for free. Super cool and extremely informative information. That book lead me to Indiewire where they have a nice list of the most 'relevant' film festivals at www.indiewire.com/festivals
If you also open a free account with IMdb, you can upload your movie to make it submittable for (some) festivals through withoutabox. There is a fee for most festivals, but if you want to know more about the whole process; please visit withoutabox a read their guidelines and rules.
That's my update on the Film Festival Circuit, which is what I am learning about at the moment.
Have a great week guys!!
Saturday, August 6, 2011
'Shuffle' wins Best Short Film for the State of New Hampshire 2011!!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Photographer Adam Elmakias
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Canon G12 or Canon SX30 IS?
Good evening folks!!
As I began to learn the art of filmmaking, soon I realized you need to learn and/or understand photography concepts as well since a film/video is technically hundreds of pictures displayed at a fast pace one after the other creating motion and the movement of the moving objects captured by the camera. Obtaining a Canon 7D for filmmaking purposes opened the still photography world back to me. It is a remarkable camera, specially for the video quality as you might know and takes incredible pictures as well. However, the size and weight is a bit of a drag to carry around every single day for every single situation. As a photographer, I love to take pictures at any given time and at any given place. Having a wonderful but bulky DSLR is inconvenient for those kind of situations. What most pros do? They also own a point-and-shoot camera.
I have a Sony DSC-H3 with 8.1 megapixels, so I currently do not need one. However, I wanted to know which one is the best point-and-shoot at this present moment in time (January of 2011). I did my online research, and since I prefer Canon; I came down to the Canon G12 and the Canon SX30 IS.
I am not going to go over all the technical specs of both, but I will tell you what and specially who helped me to decide.
I met a very talented photographer last year as he was shooting the pictures of the play I was performing on at Randolph, VT last summer. His name is Ben DeFlorio, head of Ben DeFlorio Photography. He is very knowledgeable (way more than myself) and when it comes to photography, Ben was always ready to give me a great answer. So, I decided to ask him.
My questions was? Which one?
Ben answered, and because he can say it better than I can; I asked Ben for his permission to copy our electronic correspondence on the matter. Ben kindly agreed.
Extract from my email conversation with Ben DeFlorio:
On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 10:52 PM, Ben Tolosa wrote:
Evening Ben,
I am thinking at perhaps changing the every day camera I have sometime this year. I did some research and I am kind of down to these two: G12 or SX30 IS
I like them both, but I just don't quite get why the G12 'should' be better than the SX30 IS, since the SX30 IS has 14 megapixels (compared to 10 of the G12), cost 100 dollars less, has a longer optical zoom and does come with IS (probably not necessary on the G12 with that zoom range).
The only advantage I see over the SX30 IS is that the G12 shots RAW files, while the SX30 IS only does JPEGs.
What do you think?
I hope all is well with you and that you had a great new year. I saw the new lens you've got and the picture you took over the piano. I really liked them both very much.
Kind Regards, Ben Tolosa
On Tue, 1/11/11, Ben DeFlorio wrote:
From: Ben DeFlorio
Subject: Re: Canon G12 or SX30 IS?
To: "Ben Tolosa"
Date: Tuesday, January 11, 2011, 10:14 AM
Greetings: For me this would be an easy decision - The G12. The SX30 IS is probably a good camera and the reviews I saw most people were quite happy with it, but I think the G12 has a lot of things in its favor: G12 v. SX30IS
Sensor: G12 has a bigger sensor (1/1.7 G12 vs. 1/2.3 SX30IS). That is actually a pretty big difference in size, generally bigger is better with sensors. Winner: G12
Megapixels: G12 has 10mp and SX30IS has 14mp. With the tiny size of these sensors a smaller amount of megapixels is better, the small sensors can't fully resolve those high mp counts. You'll especially see the difference in lower light - although these are point-n-shoot cameras so don't expect amazing low light results regardless. Winner: G12 Image
Stabilization: The G12 and SX30IS both have image stabilization. The G12 actually has a newer Hybrid Image Stabilization system (not sure if it is better or not). Winner: Draw
Focal Range: The G12 has a nice equivalent 28-140mm range (great walk around range) and the SX30IS has an amazing equivalent 24-840mm range (covers just about everything). Winner: SX30IS
Optical Quality: While the SX30IS covers a great range of focal lengths that inevitably comes with a lot more optical compromises than the shorter range the G12 has. Plus the large sensor and lower mp count. Winner: G12
Flash: The SX30IS has a pop up flash with a range of 19ft. The G12 has built-in flash with a range of 23ft and more importantly it has a hot shoe for mounting a much more powerful flash. Winner: G12
Build Quality: The G12 is very solidly built (I have a G9 and have used a G10 and G11 all of which have a very similar build). I suspect the SX30IS has a plastic shell. Winner: G12
Size: The G12 is not small at 12.4 oz, but it will fit in a coat pocket and can be reasonably discrete. The SX30IS almost the size of a small DSLR and is 21.2 oz - it won't fit in your pocket. Additionally the G12 lens is retractable and the SX30IS is not. Winner: G12
LCD Screen: Both articulate - the G12 screen resolution is twice that of the SX30IS (460k vs. 230k) and the G12 screen is just a little bit bigger. Winner: G12
Controls: Both appear to have good control placement, but you might find the G12 knobs and dials to be a bit more useful for quick changes. Winner: G12 HD Video: Both have 720p. Winner: Draw
RAW format: Only the G12 offers RAW files. Winner: G12
Cost: The SX30IS can be found for less, but with a lower spec. Winner: Draw
In my opinion the G12 is a much better compliment to your 7D than the SX30IS. The SX30IS is big enough that you might as well bring the 7D instead. The G12 really is the pro's point-n-shoot camera. That said I'm sure the SX30IS performs well and many people would be very happy with it so you'll have to evaluate exactly how you are going to use this every day camera. The G9 that I have is a solid performer and just small enough to make it a true compact and if I were in the market for a compact I would get the G12. If you really wanted a camera that you can pocket the S95 is the way to go (shares most of the same specs of the G12, but in a smaller form with a faster lens). I'm sure there are some reviews out there that directly compare these camera that would have more knowledge on this subject, but hopefully this info helps you make your choice. Take care, Ben
As you can see, he is very knowledgeable and did help me to understand why the G12 is a better option. At leas for him and now for me as well.
I hope this information also helps you if you are debating between the Canon G12 or SX30 IS.
Please visit Ben DeFlorio Photography's website to check out his amazing work. A truly talented photographer:
http://defloriophotography.com/
Have a warm winter folks!!
Kind Regards,
Ben Tolosa
PS I came across another amazing camera called 'Sony NEX-5', but I did not included it on this debate because the NEX-5 is a mid point between a point-and-shoot and a DSLR. However, check it out yourself if you wish because it seems to be a very remarkable camera. Interchangeable lenses (I read it might be a third party adapter to use other lenses?), RAW files, 1080i 30p HD video, 14.2 megapixel CMOS, etc.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Photo Salvage with Lightroom 3
Happy 2011 everyone!
Still blown away with the power of Lightroom 3. Because, just learning a few things; you can rescue an 'unusable' picture, and make it a decent shot. Photoshop is a very powerful tool and you can do even more with it, but you have to know how to use it. The same thing happens with LR3, but at least to me; it is not as complicated as PS is. The multi layer deal alone, makes LR3 more user friendly (IMHO).
What I mean about 'unusable' is, that if you want to print that picture it will print with plenty of noise and overexposed. The one 'after' will not print perfect (due of the setting the photo was taken with), but considerably much better.
This JPEG (no RAW file made) picture was over exposed and taken with a Sony DSC-H3 (8.1 megapixels), an ISO of 3200 at 6.3mm with f/8.0 and 1/2000 sec. The very high ISO with daylight is what caused such noise (and the improper settings I gave the poor thing). You can see on picture 1 how my face is distorted. What I did to make it 'better' was: first I created a virtual copy (there is no need to do so, but I like to see the thumbnails of 'Before' on my strip when I am glancing over my library), I clicked un Auto Tone because that is the first thing I always do (if I don't like it, I reset it back) and 95% of the time I keep the result I get. I zoomed in on my face and on the black t-shirt to see the results of noise reduction. I used the Luminance noise reduction slide to +50 which was until the noise was mainly gone without loosing too much detail/sharpness. I bumped up the Clarity just 20 units. I always like to add some saturation, usually between 15 and 75 units depending on the picture or the effect I want to achieve. Something I like to do most times is to enhance the greens. Because any trees, mountains or grass look to me more comfortable and warm to watch if they pop on the screen either as foreground and/or background. Green Hue +25 and Green Saturation +50. Then I added some skin softener to my skin to make it look nicer but more importantly to fix any remaining of noise left over (very little though). I added some Iris enhancement to my eyes (just a hair) and +38 on sharpening (enough not to cause noise again). The final touch (which I did before the sharpening) was to add the PC Vignette 2 preset to shift more attention to the center of the picture.
And that was it! Here I am, no expert and with some corrections learned from youtube tutorials; I made this cool but almost unusable picture, a properly exposed and decent shot that will print much nicer in most commercial print sizes.
Hope you enjoyed this brief tutorial and once again: HAPPY 2011!