by gerard | Feb 23, 2017 | post production
Vimeo today announced an all-new Vimeo panel for Adobe® Premiere® Pro CC — an extension built to simplify the post-production workflow for video professionals from within the Adobe Creative Cloud® editing suite. Creators can now upload videos directly from the panel to Vimeo for hosting and publishing without having to leave Adobe Premiere Pro CC. In addition, Vimeo PRO and Business members can instantly create a review page from within Adobe to seamlessly gather feedback throughout the video editing process. The downloadable Vimeo panel for Adobe Premiere Pro CC is the latest in a series of enhancements to Vimeo’s Creator Platform. Last month, Vimeo launched new review tools for Vimeo PRO and Business members, to collect feedback and collaborate on video projects. With Vimeo’s review tools, creators can privately share videos with reviewers, and reviewers can leave time-coded feedback directly in the video. “This year we set out to make Vimeo an end-to-end workflow solution for video professionals and today that solution extends to anyone using Adobe Premiere Pro CC,” said Anjali Sud, General Manager and Senior Vice President, Creator Platform, Vimeo. “The video editing tools in Adobe Creative Cloud are a go-to source for Vimeo creators, and our new panel fundamentally simplifies their post-production process.” “With Adobe Premiere Pro CC, we help people create visually stunning productions – a process that should be as streamlined as possible,” said Sue Skidmore, Head of Partner Relations for Professional Video at Adobe. “Vimeo’s panel for Adobe Premiere Pro CC helps to simplify the workflow for video professionals while continuing to set the bar for high-quality video streaming.” Highlighted Features: Simplified post-production workflow: When...
by gerard | Feb 4, 2017 | sport film
Cord-cutting sports fans who can’t fathom missing Super Bowl LI on Sunday can stream the game live via the FoxSportsGo app without having to enter pay TV credentials. The Fox streaming platform supports iOS, Android, Windows, and Amazon tablets as well as connected devices, including Apple TV, Roku, Android TV, Chromecast, Amazon Fire, and Xbox One. “As part of the buildup to this year’s Super Bowl, we’re committed to creating the best possible experience for fans by dramatically expanding the ways and places in which they can watch the game,” said Fox Sports president Eric Shanks. Links to download the free Fox Sports Go app are available at FoxSports.com....
by gerard | Jan 27, 2017 | commercial movie
“La La Land” was the big story from the nominations announcement for the 89th Academy Awards on Tuesday morning, as it garnered 14 nods, tying “Titanic” and “All About Eve” for the most of any movie in history. The musical’s nominations include best picture, best director for Damien Chazelle, leads Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, and two in one category, best song. Other standouts include “Moonlight,” which is up for eight awards, including best picture, director (Barry Jenkins) and supporting awards for Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris. Tied with “Moonlight” is “Arrival,” which wasn’t singled out for acting, but is a contender for production design, cinematography and sound awards, not to mention best picture and director (Denis Villeneuve). “Lion,” “Manchester by the Sea” and “Hacksaw Ridge” also had an impressive showing with six nominations a piece. Notably, Mel Gibson was nominated for his direction of “Hacksaw” after years as a Hollywood pariah. But he’ll have stiff competition in that crowded field. “La La Land” leads the pack with the most Academy Award nominations this year, but there’s so much more to know. Here are the highlights of the 2017 Oscar nominations. (Nicki DeMarco/The Washington Post) Nominations (by movie): “La La Land” — 14 “Arrival” — 8 “Moonlight” — 8 “Hacksaw Ridge” — 6 “Lion” — 6 “Manchester by the Sea” — 6 “Fences” — 4 “Hell or High Water” — 4 The list of nominations for the 89th Academy Awards Best picture “La La Land” “Moonlight” “Manchester by the Sea” “Arrival” “Fences” “Lion” “Hidden Figures” “Hacksaw Ridge” “Hell or High Water” From “Arrival” to “Moonlight,” check out the trailers...
by gerard | Jan 19, 2017 | Equipment rental camera
The new Canon EF-M 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM lens is being marketed as the ideal ‘all-in-one’ lens for uses of the EOS M system. You can buy it as part of the kit with the newly launched EOS M5 compact system camera. It offers an equivalent focal length of 29-240mm (remembering that the APS-C format of EOS M camera is a 1.6x crop). The Canon EF-M 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM lens is constructed of 17 elements in 13 groups, and there are 7 diaphragm blades. An image stabiliser offers 4 stops of compensation, and the lens uses an STM AF motor. The closest focusing distance is 0.25m at 18-50mm, or 0.45m at 150mm. The maximum magnification of 0.31 is available at 150mm. If you want to buy the Canon EF-M 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM lens separately from the EOS M5 camera, you can purchase it for around £429 / $499. The Canon EF-M 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM lens is available in two colours, black, and the silver version we were supplied with. Only the outer of the lens is silver, if you twist it to zoom the lens, you’ll see that the inside is black. There are two rings around the lens, the large ring in the middle of the lens allows you to zoom the lens in and out. This portion of the lens is textured so you can easily find it. Zooming in and out is quick and fluid – but it’s slow enough to feel measured, and like you’re not going to accidentally move the lens too far one way or the other when you don’t want to....
by gerard | Jan 16, 2017 | commercial movie, production
The energy drinks brand jumped one place from the previous year to finish ahead of Samsung and McDonald’s. Red Bull’s sports and music videos generated over 14.5 million more shares than Samsung (12.5 million), while McDonald’s’ videos attracted 8.6 million shares. Unruly said Red Bull’s “Always-on” strategy helped them achieve millions of video shares by releasing hundreds of videos throughout the year. The brand did not feature in Unruly’s most shared ads of the year list. Red Bull has been creating branded video content since the 90s and in 2007 launched Red Bull Media House as its in-house video production unit. Other brands to feature in Unruly’s top 10 most shared brands include Asus, the Australian Tourist Board, Almarai, Shell and Cadbury, as well as rivals Nike and Adidas. The rankings are based on the number of times that video ads published on Facebook and YouTube are shared on Facebook and what Unruly calls “the blogosphere”. Unruly said the rankings are a measure of the ad’s online buzz or virality by volume of active pass-on rather than the passive, paid metric of video viewership. Data was collected from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016. Devra Prywes, Unruly’s senior vice-president of insights and marketing, US, said: “The winners hit the mark by creating highly emotional ads that resonated with viewers, resulting in high levels of engagement and sharing. “We have a truly global list of top brands, many of which created videos specifically for and released in individual territories topping the list.” Red Bull will be awarded by Unruly at #TheUnrulies, a virtual awards show held later this month...
by gerard | Jan 10, 2017 | Equipment rental camera
The market for camera stabilisation has exploded recently and if you’re after a handheld brushless gimbal you’re spoiled for choice. In the middle of the market options include the Freefly Movi M5, Letus Helix Jnr and the DJI Ronin-M. Cheaper options are also plentiful from the likes of Came TV, Moza, Zhiyun, Pilotfly, Varavon and countless more. The two most established mechanical stabiliser brands haven’t rushed to bring competing products out, but now we’re starting to see both Glidecam and Steadicam react to the brushless gimbal phenomenon with quite different strategies. Glidecam are getting into the brushless gimbal game with their new Centurion 3-axis stabiliser. Their mechanical sleds and arms are well established as solid options for camera stabilisation (although as with all the sled-style stabilisers it can take a bit of trial and error to balance your rig properly). The Centurion is their first powered three-axis gimbal then and it ticks a lot of boxes: encoded motors and 32-bit processor for smooth motion; single and double handed operation; and a payload of up to 5 lbs (2.2 kgs). There’s an integrated joystick to control the gimbal’s motion and the unit is manufactured in the USA. Without having had a hands-on test of the Centurion it’s difficult to draw any firm conclusions – but with a list price of $1,799 US it enters a market that is already fairly mature. The competing DJI Ronin-M can be had for less at around $1,400 US on the street. This might not be a huge issue if it turns out to be a lot better than the competition – but as it’s...
by gerard | Jan 3, 2017 | Equipment rental camera
We get to see the Earth in high definition every day with our high-def eyes, it’s true, but we’re limited to a certain ground-level point of view. Not so much the astronauts aboard the International Space Station. And they’ve just sent down a batch of stunning 4K footage of the Earth taken with their fancy RED Epic Dragon camera. This isn’t actually the first footage from the Epic Dragon, or even the first 4K video of the Earth from space. The crew has been shooting interior shots of science experiments and bagpipe playing, and they were savvy enough to capture an orbital sunrise right away — but the new cut has a better one. If you’re looking for close-up views of Earth, the astonishing Urthecast camera has you covered. But this quick reel of “Crew Observations” is still special in its own way, like all my readers. These are carefully planned and properly exposed exterior shots, and it’s certain this is just a taste. Of course, the resulting files are so huge that beaming them down takes ages. No word on whether any 6K (6144×3160) video, of which the Epic Dragon is capable, is being shot. At that point it would probably be faster to put a hard drive in a Soyuz capsule and drop it into the ocean — which would be the coolest possible implementation of sneakernet ever attempted. Look the full video...
by gerard | Dec 22, 2016 | sport film
Most of these are available to view online but for copyright reasons we have included only the official trailers. It is obviously very much a subjective evaluation so please feel free to nominate your own favourites in either category in the comments section. 1. Strangers on a Train Tennis could have been peripheral to the plot of Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train, deployed solely to define the essential wholesomeness of Farley Granger’s conflicted Guy Haines to contrast with the immoral, manipulative, ultimately psychotic charm of Robert Walker’s Bruno Antony. And yet it plays an integral role in this beguiling thriller’s climax, making Haines’ anxiety infectious to the audience as he scurries desperately to win a tennis match at Forest Hills in time to thwart Antony framing him for the murder of Haines’ wife. Hitchcock combines long shots from Davis Cup matches between USA and Australia with close-ups, alternating between the viewpoints of Haines and his opponent. This is cross-cut with scenes of Antony’s frustrations and delays en route to the murder scene where he intends to plant the incriminating evidence. Trailer – https://goo.gl/zKqWbW 2. Raging Bull If the entire film sometimes feels like an oxymoronic fusion of grace and barbarity, no scene exemplifies it more than the ‘Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre’, the culmination of the sixth fight between Jake La Motta and Sugar Ray Robinson in 1951. When the bell signals the start of the 13th round Robert De Niro’s La Motta is subjected to a fearsome onslaught. Johnny Barnes, as Robinson, pulverises his face with savagely quick combinations until exhaustion congeals both men to a standstill. For a few...
by gerard | Dec 20, 2016 | documentary
A FEW DAYS AFTER Donald Trump was elected president, a respected documentary film director met with a roomful of potential backers and distributors in New York City. The director was making a film about questionable contributions to Republican political campaigns, a hot topic given the election. The men and women in the room were riveted by the stirring trailer that captured the drama and enthused over the unusually close access to the subjects. The cinematography was terrific. One-by-one, they pledged money for production and to get word out to festivals. The filmmaker was thrilled, but also was looking for a bigger commitment. “We’re seeking lawyers,” the filmmaker said. “Pro bono legal resources. We think we might encounter opposition.” Those present asked that specifics about the meeting, and the film, be withheld to keep potential litigants from catching wind of the project. These concerns are not paranoia. Just the threat of a lawsuit, no matter how baseless, can tie a film up in court and deplete its maker’s savings. And it’s a silencing tactic that deep-pocketed political and corporate interests are wielding with greater frequency. Some of the hardest-hitting documentaries in recent years have been forced to delay release or cough up hefty fees for attorneys, among them Bananas!, a 2009 documentary about Nicaraguan plantation workers for Dole Food Co. who were sickened by a pesticide banned in the US; Citizenfour, which followed Edward Snowden as he began to leak documents about US surveillance programs; and Crude, which dealt with a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit against Chevron Corp. that claimed the oil giant despoiled the Amazonian jungle in Ecuador. Many in the...
by gerard | Dec 9, 2016 | production
Commercial producers have an work in all phases of media production. As a commercial producer, you are responsible for a media project from concept through completion, including budget, timelines and production values. You may work on projects for several clients simultaneously. The field is growing as new venues emerge for commercials through developing media such as flash video commercials embedded in web pages. Commercial sales are the primary revenue sources for media outlets. Enroll in a degree program in broadcast media, television production, communications or advertising. Most production companies and television stations will require a Bachelor’s degree in addition to work samples when hiring. You will also have the opportunity, as a student in one of these programs, to create projects for your portfolio. Learn the basics of each position in media production. Commercial producers will hire and supervise directors, videographers, graphic artists, audio technicians, lighting professionals and talent. Having knowledge of all of these positions will help you when, as a producer, you must draw on all of their talents. Get an internship at a television station, cable system or production house. Try to observe one or more commercials through the entire production process: client meetings, budgeting, concept and scripting, location scouting, talent selection, field or studio production and editing and post-production, as well as the client review and approval. All are significant aspects of commercial production. Include some marketing courses in your studies. Commercials sell products by appealing to certain demographics. Understanding consumer behavior and trends is an important component of commercial production. Build your network within the industry by participating in such groups as your local Ad Club or American...
