HD, HDV, HDMI, HV20 and 42 Inches of Acronyms

The past few nights I worked late on a moonlighting edit gig. I made some extra money, but they were some seriously long days. I took Friday off and I had one or two things in mind to do. Mostly I wanted to watch movies, but that didn’t really ever happen, which has been the norm for the past few months when I get free time. I had no Sexy Fiancé tonight, which is usually when I get to watch movies. She’s an actress who doesn’t like to watch TV or movies or plays. Weird.

I wanted to experiment with some HD footage and HD clips I have done in the past year and see what they look like coming out of the HDMI port of my camera, the Canon HV20. So I loaded up some footage on a timeline that was shot 1280x720 on the JVC HD110 camera. I needed to up-rez it to 1920x1080 because the Canon HV20 doesn’t take any form of the 1280x720 (aka 720P) variety of HD. I chose the Red Giant software called INSTANT HD and set it to the highest possible quality settings. It took 2 hours to convert all of 7 minute worth of footage.

The first clips were a title sequence to a new instructional video I did for a cable access show playing in Dayton, Cleveland, and soon to be Cincinnati. I used background shots from a recent trip to Manhattan by a friend who took my HV20. I have only ever played clips on a computer in HD, and usually highly compressed Windows Media Video (WMV) HD files. I wanted to see what the HDMI port from the camera did and how it looks.

Problem one came from the EXPORT TO TAPE when I tried to get my newly created 1920x1080 (aka 1080P) footage back out to tape. I use the CINEFORM ASPECT HD codec and plug in for Adobe Premiere Pro and it has worked flawlessly for me in the past, but today it just didn’t want to go out to tape. I had to convert them all to M2T files, the MPEG2 for HD file format. Then I used the HDLINK program to lay it out to tape.

So I finally got footage in HD (thought technically HDV) onto tape and it was now time to plug it in HDMI to the big screen and take a look….



WHOA. Staggering quality of images. It looked like the HD broadcasts I’m getting off the air it was so sharp, clear, and the text (my favorite part of high end HD footage) was crisp and perfect. This is why HD is the future. I love film and the grain of real celluloid, but this IS the future. It has arrived.

I made the right choice with this simple little camera, and I love my HV20. It will serve me well for the next few years as a BEHIND THE SCENES camera et al. The JVC HD110 camera footage up-rez’d to 1080 looked just as good. This is proof that a good piece of glass and manual controls in the right hands will create superior images.

If I had any doubts about what I am about to do with my shorts, going HD and the various formats, cameras, etc. – I do not have those doubts now.



A few other tidbits…

I judged another Dublin High School film festival last week. That was fun and the quality gets better every year. There was one standout short, one called “Delineation”. The two kids who made it knew who I was and had seen some of my stuff online. The best compliment I ever got as a judge came from them. They had had seminars and speakers all day and they told me they wished I had been one of them. They said I was the only “filmmaker” they had heard of in Columbus and that they weren’t interested in people from broadcast. That was high praise. I then proceeded to tell them that I make my real money from broadcast commercial work.



Sony Picture’s CRACKLE.COM™ came through with an interview they did with me for their site. That was cool. I love their site. They’re playing with some new things and I hope to ride their wave a bit. They did however do a server change and I lost 21 million views in the reset. It only reads 240,000 views. I never thought I would ever write “only 240,000 views” and sound disappointed. Surprisingly, YouTube™ has been the breadwinner in terms of stats. Although as I write this, Yahoo Video™ has brought me a spike of 37,000 views in one day yesterday, so maybe I shouldn’t pick a winner just yet…

I can’t think of anything else relevant to talk about. That’s all.

-= PJR

The Return to Normalcy

After my previous depressing post, I figured I’d take a swing back into the more positive realms. Tonight, the ice cracked enough that I got some real writing done. Knowing my actor buddy is coming back to Ohio from LA got me a bit excited about shooting something, an idea hit, and the wellspring gushed forth. I got 5-6 new ideas and when it rains it pours.

Knowing I have a bluescreen stage and HD cameras at my fingertips means I can get a lot done on short notice with minimal crew. We have the bluescreen pre-lit with the overhead lighting grid, so I unfettered by restraints and unable to come up with any procrastinations or obstacles. Making something with what you’ve got sure helps when you work at a production company with a studio, lighting grid, and plenty of C-stands and flags.

I bought a $10 antenna and I can now watch TV in full HD. It’s staggering the difference in image. I can even tolerate commercials. I haven’t seen a TV show whilst it was broadcast in nearly 4 years. In 2004 we gave up cable TV and I have had no regrets. I usually watch a show on the Internet or rent the DVD’s when the whole season comes out. Now, with this $10 ancient antenna and an ATSC tuner, I can get digital high definition versions of the local channels. I bought a $3 extension for the coaxial cable to run the antenna from on top of the bookshelves upstairs, but hot damn does the picture look sweeeeeeeeet.

As for a long awaited ROSSDONIA report, I have bad news. My little terrorist “V” caused quite a problem. The little bastard knocked down my 750 gig portable hard drive. It only contained EVERYTHING I’VE EVER DONE. Yes, it primarily acted as a backup, but there are many irreplaceable files and videos of my stuff. I learned my lesson a long time ago, so I do have tape backups of everything, but it becomes a horrible inconvenience to re-digitize everything and organize it all in folders, etc. and the frames won’t 100% match in existing timelines, etc. I was quite irate concerning the little guy, but by the next day, we were pals again. I have a hard time staying mad at the little bugger. He’s my baby boy. Cousette is another matter. She’s pure evil. Furry evil. She sheds on my clothes and I think she’s working on a plot to have me sent to the gallows.

HD-DVD is dead. All in one week Netflix, Best Buy, and Walmart have all gone BLU-RAY exclusive. What sucks is that the cheapest player is still $399. That’s too expensive. I don’t want to have to shell out that much for a freakin’ player, although the Fiancé wouldn’t mind a PlayStation 3. We’ll see. I have $100 in gift cards for Best Buy, but even $300 for a player is way too much. My HD-DVD player is now more like a high definition version of my laserdisc player.



I saw the new INDIANA JONES trailer. It doesn’t look great to me. The style seems to be a geriatric version of LARA CROFT and that’s in no way a good thing. I am not a fan of THE LAST CRUSADE, the previous INDY adventure. I love Sean Connery and there are some amazing moments in the film, but overall, it was more joke and no plausibility. The magic of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK was the subtlety of the FX and the supernatural elements throughout, so that the big FX ending was more “realistic” or at the very least plausible. The fact that this movie ** SPOILER ALERT** is about aliens and Area 51 sucks. I’m ready to believe a 64 year old Indiana Jones can still swing on a whip; I’m willing to accept certain quasi-religious, physics defying objects can do something unrealistic; But I am not prepared to get into a form of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS and flying saucers to be mixed with an Indiana Jones movie. That’s just too much. The FX in the 2 LARA CROFT/TOMB RAIDER movies was so over the top, unrealistic, that they made me near vomit in the theatre. The sole saving grace was the gravity defying breasts in tight outfits of Angelina Jolie Mrs. Pitt. The Indiana Jones one liners aren’t helping too much either. This will be a great movie to see once, at a midnight show with a packed audience, then soon forgotten. That’s my prediction.

Airline tickets are purchased. Cameras scheduled. Hotel and rental cars reserved. In May, I’m helping to shoot a documentary with a Holocaust survivor. This project represents a shift in my normal modes of interest as a filmmaker, but sometimes you are moved by a story and have to do something. I will give this project everything I’ve got. The Fiancé has put in years of research on this and we’re set to take care of business. I’m going to really throw down for her and make her project as good as it can be. This will take every ounce of skill I have acquired as a shooter and an editor, but maybe that’s why things have happened the way they have. I am prepared to do exactly this, so it’s as if fate intervenes and puts you on a path.



My 2nd Videomaker Magazine article is out and this time I was able to get a hard copy. I dig it. They are treating me well and I am proud to be writing for this mag. This gig has now lead to a few other side jobs, but it has really helped with sales of the book on Amazon.com so everybody wins.

The writer’s strike is over. 24, which had 8 completed episodes, is on hold until Jan 2009. Whether they scrap what they’ve shot and start over, or try to continue is in the air. Exec Producer Joel Surnow, the most republican producer in Hollywood, has left the show. As long as Jon Cassar is still with them, they have a chance. LOST has returned and they really do appear to have the next 3 seasons mapped out with a plan. The reveals, and flash-forwards are a rejuvenating experience compared to the inconsistencies of the earlier seasons as they tried to really figure out what they were doing. THE OFFICE looks to return in about 5-6 weeks. The writers got an increase for a bigger piece of the “new media” profits, and everything seems to be resolved. Like a trains slowly restarting after a respite, the industry may be able to correct itself. In June, I doubt SAG will strike. This was too painful as it was. That’s my prediction there.

Well my fellow conscripts, the master control program demands we get on our light cycles and out run the tanks.

End of Line.
HIGH SCORE - PJR

my new article in VIDEOMAKER MAGAZINE

Transitioning Naturally, a piece on using the camera to get from one scene to another without pressing a button in the computer. It's in the March 2008 issue of the magazine in print but also online for free.

The article/video features actors Rhoda Cronebach, Bryan Michael Block, and Brandy Seymour. Camera work by TJ Cooley.

CLICK HERE to read article online

and

the video of it is here (CLICK HERE)

A Tale of Two Filmmakers

I surf the web a lot. I find myself becoming more of a lurker and less of a proponent of the bad aspects of online culture. Since I am a filmmaker, I tend to read a lot on filmmakers, even local ones, or local people who aspire to become filmmakers. Recently I came across two absolutely amazingly bad things that warrant a mention on the Sonnyboo Blog.

#1. A fundraising snafu from hell.

If you’re under 18 years old and make a blog entry or web page asking for money for your movie, it’s fairly forgivable for the ignorance of doing so. If you’re over 30 and claim to have all kinds of experience as a line producer, D.P., etc.; you look more like an idiot for not having the slightest clue.

It’s illegal to solicit any funds publicly. Even if you are making a documentary that won’t make a penny, it’s illegal. The sole exception is if you are a 501C3 designated non profit corporation, as in filed and approved by the state. If some cheese nut moron wants $25 and $100 investments, then he probably hasn’t gotten an attorney to set up the corporation, especially a 501C3 non profit, which is not an easy status to obtain.

What I love best are these poorly thought out ideas on how to best raise money. Why say that if you “invest” $25 you’ll get a free DVD? That immediately puts you in violation of more than one SEC (that’s the Securities and Exchange Commission, a federal organization) law. If you simply SELL the DVD’s for $25, you aren’t in violation of anything, except the obvious IRS tax evasion laws for not registering the money as income.

People who put in $100 or $250 are entitled to a free DVD of the finished movie! But wait, what if there isn’t enough money raised? What if the movie never gets finished? What happens to the money? If a percentage of it is spent in pre production, how much is returned to investors, if any?

I just can’t imagine anyone, even a family member thinking this is a good idea. For someone who claims to have successfully run several businesses, I find that to be as likely as having been a D.P. or line producer on $1 million dollar budgeted indie films. It takes near total incompetence to try to raise money this way.

#2. Hypocrisy, a perpetual state of being.

What I also enjoy is when other peoples in the film community alert me to the goings on of other local filmmakers. As if I am some conduit of information on everyone with a camcorder within a 20 mile radius. Of particular note, several of my colleagues sent me a link to a blog that was rife with irony and idiocy, an alliteration twofer.

You see, this particular poster has on several occasions criticized yours truly for writing articles with helpful tips for filmmakers based solely on my own experience. Of course, I get my book of articles published on Amazon.com, as well as with Film Threat, Internet Video Magazine, and get a job writing articles for Videomaker Magazine, but I guess the advice is not worthy of this person. That’s okay; I’m more concerned with the opinions of professionals, not amateurs with camcorders. I’ll try to hold my tears inside.

So the offending blog post is a list of tips for beginning filmmakers. It starts off pretty normal and good. Something about getting good audio is important, and then it just goes spiraling into ridiculously bad advice and even worse, just plain insults for no apparent reason.

Of particular note is he advice not to watch instructional videos or take advice from people who claim to know what they are doing… which kind of negates the entire list of filmmaking tips. Irony defined. Like many of the writings of this person, their list of filmmaking tips reads much more like the Uni-Bomber’s Manifesto and probably won’t be of much use to anyone not already under heavy medication, and definitely not for anyone serious about making movies.

I guess my one friend was right; this was more of a fan letter than anything. I guess this psycho really does want to be like me. Writing a bunch of tips for filmmakers when I’ve been doing that for years, and this person even has criticized me for writing things like this myself. Weird.

Combine this with the hypocrisy of criticizing filmmakers for calling themselves “award winning” and putting on his online profiles “won some awards”, going after people for “shameless self promotion” and his latest video has gratuitous cleavage shots of a girl. Put all this together and we’ve got ourselves a very confused, possibly psychotic individual.

Another wise friend of mine said it best. “Crazy people don’t know that they are crazy.” Indeed.

I guess there will always be psychos and morons in the filmmaking world no matter where you are. Just use your head a little bit and you can easily avoid being one of them. Unless of course, you are insane. In that case, take your meds and put on the nice jacked with extra long sleeves until the white van arrives.

Femine Hygiene Product

Your faithful narrator has calmed some in the last week, although there are still some bumps in the road. I’m still working a lot, but not as much as I was. This looks to be a very light week, and I have made personal headway on the Derek’s movie ETERNAL.



I’ve been working on a teaser trailer for the Derek, albeit several weeks past due. Thanks to the tutorials for After Effects from VIDEOCOPILOT.NET
, I’m reinvigorated on playing with motion graphics. I have not had an interest in doing anything new or fun with motion graphics in about 2 years, maybe more. Now I’m learning to play in 3D space, a feature that has been a part of the program for several versions, but not something I did much with. Now I’m tinkering, toying, and manipulating almost for fun, but with a distinctive deliberate look in mind. Since ETERNAL is a horror film, I’m going grungy with the titles I’m using. As is always true for me, I’ll spend 3 times as much time on sound design, music, and sound mix than I will with a picture edit on this trailer.

It’s very hard to focus though. When I spend all day editing, the last thing I want to do when I get home is edit more. My brain is fried and what little I have in the way of wits are whittled down to a brain dead weasel that solely wants to watch TV, which I generally fail to do because I feel I should be doing something more productive. I wind up pseudo working, writing something for publication, or something semi-productive. The zone I am in at this point hurts some and frustrates a lot.



Still, I manage to meander my way through doing some things creative. I feel as though my temporary reprieve from production will soon end and I will go full tilt boogie into several projects. Most of my ideas are awaiting better weather and a healthier budget than the usual $354 pieces of garbage that invade YouTube and online sites.

Let me take a moment to say I am constantly impressed with the generosity and mindset of someone like Sean McHenry in our local film scene. Here is a guy who imparts wisdom, loans equipment, helps out, and participates on every level with the filmmaking community. Often I learn something new from Sean, even though our aesthetics and likes in film are more often opposite than similar. This is someone leading by example. I’d follow someone like Sean. Even though his love is for more artsy films and prefers film over video, Sean seems to be very accepting of other points of view and just overall, a positive influence on the community as a whole. I barely know Sean, but I am impressed by his character more than anything. It’s people like that that influence me and remind me to be generous and giving to other filmmakers.

One thing I’ve got to give to the online forums and boards is that they often help me unintentionally. Someone asked a basic question about renting a theatre and my response has become my next paid article I’m writing for a new magazine. I had no intention of becoming a freelance writer, but sometimes you fall ass backwards into something good.

After my birthday party with the family, I was handed some blasts from the past. I had forgotten that I was a press whore even when I did music. If I had a clue, I would have exploited these press clippings into something. At the time, I was naïve enough to think that the snow ball would become the avalanche on its own. I didn’t even send a press release at the time, but I think I called someone on the phone. The press must have thought it was so cute that some kid wanted to have a story on them in the newspaper because they made a CD.



I don’t miss being a musician at all. My cousin has taken the mantle and run with it, and he is doing things far beyond what my skills could have ever allowed. Ian Ross plays guitar and writes songs very well. Sadly, I had achieved the simple goals I set for myself. With filmmaking, the goals are much loftier and possibly unreachable, but I shan’t give up.

The great Bob Dylan once said, “There must be some kind of way out of here.” I can only hope I’ve found my way out. I have. Suck on it, psychos.

- Peter John Ross