Weekend challenge by Philip Bloom: Last night’s remains
July 19, 2010 - 11:52 am - posted in 550D/T2i, film, hddslrHey guys,
first off I really want to apologize for not having written anything in a long time. I’ve been crammed with work lately, editing 3 projects at the same time plus writing my exams.
Now, last weekend I finally got to take a break from all that and took the freedom to do … well, nothing at all. So relaxing!
Of course fellas like Philip Bloom have to ruin weekends like that by starting something like this weekend challenge ;-)
The objective was to create a 90 sec short film of a single object. I have to say, this really got me off the couch. I found it utterly exciting to make a film showing only one object for 90 seconds, without being boring.
This is my submission:
Music is by the awesome xun, go check him out!
You can find some making of photos after the break.
Reviewing my DIY Bodypod
May 29, 2010 - 9:46 pm - posted in 550D/T2i, gear reviews, hddslrI’ve promised to review on this little buddy for some time now, so here it comes. Check my video review for all you need to know about my 15$ DIY Bodypod solution (well, add about 40$ for the Manfrotto quick release and you’re good to go).
I got the idea from this guy here.
Basically this is a modified (very cheap) monopod from Delamax, which I found on ebay. But basically all monopods will do. I upgraded it with a Manfrotto quick release so I could attach my 550D very easily and take it off very fast.
Enough of the words, see for yourself:
Amazon links:
Couldn’t find the Delamax monopod on Amazon.com, this one looks good though. Or as I said, try any monopod.
The Manfrotto Quick Release can be found here.
That’s a wrap: about the ‘Glassworks’ shooting
May 25, 2010 - 9:39 pm - posted in 550D/T2i, film, hddslrSo, last weekend I finally started my first big film project acting as DP and director. We were on a very tight schedule, determined to shoot six demanding scenes in only two shooting days. Things got pretty hectic, but we had a lot of fun and in the end we managed to get everything done just in time.
Before getting into details about the shooting, the equipment we used and the problems we ran into let me first tell you a bit about ‘Glassworks’. A few months ago my dear friend Phil who is a talented musician currently working under the pseudonym xun finished his first ambient album ‘Frameworks’ (you can stream it on his bandcamp profile). I love his music and since I already created the album artwork I was eager to use some of the tracks on upcoming shorts I wanted to shoot. Talking to Phil about this we came up with the idea to both make a promotional video for the title track ‘Glassworks’ and at the same time tell one of the stories I wanted to tell in a short film. One thing led to another, in the end I wrote a script for it and both Phil and I agreed that Glassworks and my ideas on how to adapt it on screen were a perfect fit. Glassworks in motion was born!
Reviewing the LCDVF on the 550D/T2i
May 4, 2010 - 10:16 pm - posted in 550D/T2i, film, gear reviews, hddslrIt’s been some time since my last blog entry and I sincerely apologize for that! My LCDVF has finally arrived today so I really wanted to share my first impressions with you guys. Since I already wrote an article about the LCDVF a few weeks ago, I didn’t really want to write a whole review – also since there already are a lot of reviews on the VF out there.
So I decided to put together a quick video to tell you what I think about the LCDVF and give you an idea of what it looks like on my 550D. If you have any questions regarding the VF, please leave them in the comments and I will be very delighted to answer them as good as I can.
Check out the video on Vimeo:
UPDATED 3: LCW Fader ND filter tested on 550D
April 14, 2010 - 1:31 pm - posted in 550D/T2i, gear reviews, hddslr 
Update May 25, 2010:
Watch out when buying the LCW Fader ND on eBay! The only confirmed ebay seller is lightcraftworkshop-official-store, do not buy from “bonifaceleung”! The seller I got the Fader from is called vendilo-torinonord, this is the official eBay store from a shop in Torino, Italy, which is also a confirmed distributor of LCW (however, their ebay store is not officially confirmed).
Check this section on the LCW website for an overview of official resellers.
Update April 14, 2010:
You can now find a sample video of the Fader ND in action at the end of this blog entry and on my Vimeo profile.
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My new Fader ND filter arrived a few days ago and I got to testing it out in the field right in time before my flu knocked me down ;-) And now that I have to spend some time in bed I finally get to share my impressions with you guys.
When I first used my 550D for video shooting it didn’t take much time for me to realize the need of a ND (neutral density) filter when shooting in bright day light. The problem is pretty obvious: Since changing the shutter speed while shooting in movie mode is not a good idea (your shutter speed should always remain at double the amount of the frame rate you chose – ‘180 degree shutter rule’) the only possibility do decrease the incoming light is by stepping down the aperture. But in doing that, you also lose the shallow depth of field. So to be able to use high aperture even when it’s bright outside you have to reduce the incoming light in another way: with a neutral density filter, that is. When buying a ND filter you have to consider the strength of the filter – there are different ones, each of them letting through a different amount of light.
Now since I’m pretty lazy the idea of getting several ND filters and having to try out and find the right one to use in a certain situation didn’t really appeal to me. Fortunately the so called Fader ND filter makes it possible to simply put on only one filter and adjust the amount of light coming through by turning the filter ring. A great concept I thought, so I decided to get one.
