1:30 this afternoon I was requested to pull together a national, public facing project that will debut in about 6 weeks.  Requires filming both in Atlanta and in Tennessee.  2 hours later, concept is completed, film crew is booked and research is underway.  This is on-top of the other 20ish projects I’m already managing.

The beauty of having a right and left brain that play very well together.  My left brain works quickly to come up with the creative and a narrative.  Then the right brain kicks in to plan out the technical, scheduling, crew and travel to execute that creative.  Doing all that in less than 2 hours, well that’s what makes me LOVE what I do.  Telling amazing stories.

Stay tuned for more blogs from the road once we get going.

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Before the scripting even began, I followed my normal plan of attack, working backwards from the end.  How the film would be displayed influences how the project would be produced.  Video framing, camera movement, sound design, graphics design and more are all affected by how the viewer will experience the presentation.   Because the idea was to immerse the audience into the presentation, I proposed filming in a super wide format, akin to the original 1960’s CinemaScope 2,55:1 aspect ratio.  We would film in standard 4k 23.98 and then crop the image vertically to create the ultra-widescreen effect.  This was important to decide before production because the videographers had to frame correctly for the center 1/3 of the image.

I originally proposed an over-sized, wraparound screen for the ballroom.  Something that would fill the field of vision vertically and wrap out from the wall at least 25 degrees to create that ‘you are there’ feeling.  The viewers would have to turn their heads a little side to side in order to see everything.  That was going to require a screen over 75 feet wide and 8 feet tall and proved to be too expensive for the budget.  Then Director of Studio Operations, Brad Hinton discovered a ‘virtual theater’ concept whereby the viewer would be immersed in a 360 virtual theater with the CinemaScope widescreen at the front.   VR goggles using a Samsung smartphone, all triggered simultaneously so the audience experiences the film together.    Straight ahead would be the big screen, wide enough that they would have to turn their heads a bit to see everything.  If they looked all around, they would see the rest of the movie theater.  So we could create a ‘traditional flat’ presentation and our audience would be immersed into a VR theater.  It was a brilliant discovery and knowing that delivery mechanism up front was vital to the rest of production.

Since the viewers would be wearing the headsets, we had to be conscious of camera movement.  This presentation was not designed to be an entertainment attraction so we didn’t want to have fast camera moves that could be distracting or worse, make our viewers motion sick.   All camera movement was designed to be horizontal (left to right or right to left) and it would be done slowly and deliberately.  For the motion shots, we went with an OSMO rig with x5 camera to stabilize the camera moves and all other videography was done with the Sony FS7, both shooting in 4k, 23.98.

The scripting process involved many stakeholders including the Sustainability department in Atlanta, research and development in Wisconsin, Dixie brand in Atlanta, paper making facility in Alabama and the Dixie plant in Kentucky.  What I discovered was that there was no way for me to script the intricacies of the entire manufacturing process.  The better way to tell the story would be through the people who actually know the process at the facilities.  They can speak freely in their own words because they live it every day which creates a more natural piece.  So the scripting process was more of an outline and key bullet point process.  In order to keep the running time reasonable, I worked with the stakeholders to identify the key elements of each step of the process.  Then created an outline so each person would focus on only those key areas.   I designed the presentation to go from start to finish of the process with each segment handing off the process to the next step.  The two areas that were fully scripted was the opening segment on Sustainability and the close featuring the head of the Dixie brand.  I Directed the opening scene in the forest while the filming in the Naheola and Bowling Green facilities was Directed by Doug Congleton.

Once filming was completed, I pulled together the storyline from transcripts and worked with Editor Scott Franklin to assemble the story.  Ultimately we ended up with a frame size around 4096 x 1605.  It created that ultra-widescreen look and really forced your eye to look at what we wanted you to see.  Because the screen was so big in the viewers eyes, we chose a small, minimalist graphics package that would not detract from the visuals and break the ‘you are there’ feeling.   Because the audience would all be wearing individual headphones, we ensured that there was good stereo separation and sound placement to further reinforce the ‘you are there’ experience.

Ultimately the presentation far exceeded what was requested from the client and multiple divisions from GP have come back to request a public facing version be created.   Understanding the delivery mechanism of the message and working backwards from the end is how you achieve engagement results for your message.

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The way the service works is you simply upload your audio files and get your transcripts back in near realtime and often faster than realtime. I just uploaded 4 hours of interviews yesterday and had all the transcripts ready in just over an hour.   What’s AWESOME is that the text is sync’d to the audio file.  Click anywhere in the transcript, click “Play” and you hear the audio play back as you read. No more searching through the video to hear what the SOT actually sounds like.  This sync to sound is just the icing on the cake for me.   Oh and if you highlight any portion of the transcript, Trint tells you how long that SOT is.

There’s also a Adjustable Timecode feature allowing you to set the start TC time for an interview.  Perfectly matching it up to the original TC from the video.

Just had to pass along this tip.  Hope it helps you too!

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WalterBiscardi.com is advice, inspiration & training from working creative professionals on all aspects of the creative industry from pre-production to post to growing your career and business. Learn from working editors, photographers, sound designers, colorists, producers, directors and more to not only learn the basic skills, but real-world, insider knowledge on getting the right job and then building your career in the Film, Television and Creative Media Industry.

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DP Brad Hinton showing some moves in GP Studios, Studio A

We filmed entirely in GP Studios, Studio A, located in Georgia-Pacific’s headquarters.  A 2600 square foot space with a 3 wall hard cyc so we were able to get the nice, neutral white limbo for the backdrop.  Camera was the Sony FS7 set up for 4k, 23.98.   We put out an open casting call for any and all employees at GP HQ to come on down in intervals over a 4 hour period.

Using the storyboard for a guide, I had most of the talent perform most of the lines and scenes so we had lots of options in Post for the assembly.  With the huge space of Studio A, we were able to let the employees cut loose with the basketball and got some great moves on camera.  The GP Dubuque facility makes pizza boxes, so we incorporate that into the piece and it was hilarious watching the employees try to spin a pizza box like a basketball.

Believe it or not the hardest part of the entire shoot was getting a vertical stack of 26 Dixie cups to stay in place.  The tallest basketball player ever was 8 foot and 1/2 inch.  I wanted to visually show that height with the cups.

The original idea was to scotch tape them together, but the tape would not stick to the Perfect Touch outer shell.  DP and Director of Studio Operations, Brad Hinton rigged a tall pole into the lighting grid.  We used the lids as an interlocking device, you can see the dark strips at every second cup.  Very thin strips of white gaffer’s tape to the hold the stack to the pole and voila!  We had a stable stack of Dixie Cups.

I cut the piece in Adobe Premiere Pro and did the color grade using both the Adobe Lumetri tool and Red Giant’s Magic Bullet Color Suite to really give the piece a punch.   The piece recently premiered on GP’s Facebook Page.   Enjoy the spot and Happy March Madness everybody!

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Erik Naso looks far beyond the brand names and the marketing hype giving you straightforward advice on what makes one camera better for your needs, and your wallet.

From the course description: “Video cameras have come a long way. They’re smaller, lighter, and shoot in higher resolutions—4K and beyond. Now more than ever, we have to make the right choice on what camera to buy or rent for the type of productions we shoot. The lighting, the locations, the size of your team, and even the computer you use for video editing can all impact the decision.”

If you’re in the market for a new camera this is one course worth watching.   It’s available now via Lynda.com.   You might also want to subscribe to Erik’s blog as well.

https://www.lynda.com/Filmmaking-tutorials/What-Video-Camera-Should-I-Buy/490659-2.html

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First off, the software does NOT retain any settings when you quit the app.  Zero.  So every time I launched the app, I had to set my frame size, resolution, destination, audio input, etc….  That was super annoying.

The app just quit constantly.  I could generally shoot 2 or 3 movies and then the app would just disappear.  Or would I hit the Home button on my iPhone to use another app, then double click the Home button to retrieve Filmic Pro and it would be gone.   Then of course I would have to reset everything on the app.

I found the focus drifting a lot even when I would manually set and locked it.  Almost seemed like the Camera was competing with the App for control of the focus.  The exposure worked as expected but the focus was problematic.

When using 24p mode via Filmic Pro I found the video quality VERY stuttery and staccato, especially with the pans.  It’s not really an enjoyable experience to watch the 24p material that was shot with it.

So I used Filmic Pro for the rocket launch and the first three days of my cruise and then abandoned it.  I went back to shooting with the Apple Video mode in Camera.  If you DO plan to use Filmic Pro, avoid the zoom feature.  I thought it was awesome when I was playing with it, but the resolution falls apart very quickly as you zoom.

I plan to check out Mavis soon so I’ll report back after I’ve had a chance to really test that app out for more than just a few days.

Now the Shure VP83 Shotgun mic DID perform brilliantly and that was a great investment.

The post Mobile Video: Filmic Pro Proves too Buggy to Use. appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

Prior to a recent cruise I picked up the iOgrapher for my iPhone 6.  Having seen the product at NAB a few times, I knew it created a stable camera platform for the iPhone making the camera much more useable.  I was more than impressed with the stability and ease of use of the system.  In fact I shot a LOT more video than I originally intended on the cruise.  While I was really happy with the with overall results, I felt that camera control and audio quality were lacking.  The iPhone camera auto irises too much and the color temperature changes, sometimes at random.   When the phone is mounted into the iOgrapher, the microphone is essentially blocked by the unit.  So before my next trip, I knew I wanted to improve both areas.

For audio, first off, you’ll need an adapter to convert the stereo TRS mic feed into a TRRS signal that can be recorded by an iPhone or iPad.  Just connecting the stereo mini jack to the phone or iPad will not work.  Here’s the Rode SC4 adapter I picked up for this purpose.

The first mic I purchased was the Rode VideoMic Pro which was recommended to me by multiple folks, but the darn thing didn’t work.   The first 9v battery I installed overheated to the point of needing tongs to extract it from the battery compartment because I couldn’t touch it.  Yes, it was installed correctly, but it overheated.   I absolutely HATED the battery configuration on this unit.  The battery door is below the front of the mic requiring you to remove the mic cover, the battery door itself feels like it’s going to break, and to actually get the battery out, you need to pry it out with something.  So instead of having a replacement unit shipped to me, I decided to go with something else.

I found the Shure LensHopper VP83 which was highly rated on multiple sites and it takes a AA battery which I prefer to the 9v.  There is also the VP83F model which has an onboard digital recorder.   The mic comes with shock mounts which are a must, low cut filter and three position gain (-10db, 0, +20db).   I can say the mic just works.  Battery installation was a snap, connect it to the phone and that’s it.  It’s VERY directional staying focused on what’s in front of the camera and minimizing off axis sound.  Very impressed for a sub $200 mic.

For camera control, Filmic Pro was a highly recommended app and very reasonably priced.   Clicking the gear icon at the bottom brings up a standard set of controls for your recordings.  On my new iPhone 6s I can set the Resolution as high as 4k 100Mbps!  Generally I leave the resolution set to 1080p 50Mbps and that gives me a great recording.   Frame rates can get from timelapse up to whatever is the highest speed available on your device.

Looking at the main app screen You’re presented with what looks very familiar from a “regular camera” viewfinder.

Right away you can see how nice it is to have the running time and audio meters right there at the bottom of the image. To the right of that you can also see both a battery indicator and right below that, a storage indicator.   Nice touches that we’re used to seeing in “regular cameras.”

The two overlays on the screen are “reticles” with the circle being exposure and the square being focus.   Simply drag each reticle to the area you’d like to draw your exposure from and keep in focus.  If you’d like to lock focus or exposure, simply tap them so they become red.  Locking the exposure is especially sweet so you don’t get a whole series of iris changes in the middle of a move.

In the upper left of the image you can see a twirl down triangle, click that to reveal a series of additional controls across the top.

Manual audio adjustment, grid pattern, camera stabilization, reverse camera, the light and my favorite, zoom control.

Tapping on the zoom control brings up the zoom slider on the right.  Simply touch and hold the + or – to zoom in and out with the camera.  It’s easy to control with my right thumb while holding the iOgrapher and it’s surprisingly smooth.  Down in the lower left you can see what looks like a flower icon, that’s white balance.

Press and hold most any control and you’ll be presented with full manual control over that option.

Here I’ve brought up the manual exposure controls which include ISO, Shutter Speed and Exposure.   Simple select the parameter to be adjusted via the icon on the bottom, then slide the adjustment up or down to make the changes.   The controls the are same for manual audio, white balance / color temp and many other controls.

This is a great little app for taking control of the camera and making your iPhone a very good camera platform.  There are other apps out there to take control of your camera like Mavis, which is another app I’ve recently been made aware of.  I do also highly recommend the JOBY GorillaPod SLR-Zoom unit as it has the independent leveling head on it.  Very useful in the field.

This is going to be a great little rig not only for vacation, but I’m going to start putting something like this to work in production as well.   Here’s a quick 4k Camera Test I did recently at a beach.

iPhone 6s on the iOgrapher with a Wide Angle Lens and Shure LensHopper VP83 Shotgun Mic with Rode SC-4 Adapter.  Mounted on a JOBY GorillaPod SLR-Zoom

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As a long time animator myself, what makes this film so incredible for me is first and foremost, the story is king.  This is not a straight telling of The Little Prince, it’s a story within a story framed around the pressures of a little girl to become a successful adult according to well laid plans of her mother. 

“The Little Prince” is the story of, well, a little prince who lives on a tiny planet, an asteroid really, whose tale is told to us by the aviator met the prince after a plane crash.  In this modern retelling of the story we meet the Aviator as the eccentric next door neighbor of a very rigid, modern single mom who has instilled a ridiculous “life plan” for her young daughter.  This mom and her plan would rival one of those “tiger moms.”  Naturally the daughter is intrigued by and befriends the old man who keeps a dilapidated airplane in his back yard.

What differentiates really good filmmaking is the story and storytelling.  “It’s the Story Stupid” is a well known refrain throughout our creative industry, yet it’s rare that we see a film actually put the story first.  This is one reason I’m so drawn to most things Pixar because of the strength of their storytelling with the first 20 minutes of “Wall-E” the pinnacle example.  The storytelling is where the magic of “The Little Prince” is born.  This isn’t simple a retelling of the original book, that would been spectacular in and of itself with the animation styles, but it’s in the addition of the “modern world” and modern insecurities with the Mom and daughter that makes the story much more enriching.   

The world where Mom, the little girl and the Aviator lives is a very drab and very precise town.  The color palate is muted, lots of sharp angles, perfect squares of land, perfect square houses, even the greenery is trimmed into square shapes.  Their lives are monotonous.  Wake up, brush your teeth, drive to work, go home, eat, go to bed, repeat. Mom is set on getting the little girl into the top prep school, aptly named Werth Academie, with an interview process that feels more like an interrogation than an interview.   It seems the way of the world today.  The kids have to get ahead so they can get into the best schools, best teams, so they are constantly  training and learning.  The pressure to perform, even at a young age means some kids just don’t have the time to be…. well, kids.   

The lone splash of color in this world is, of course, the Aviator’s house.   He’s the eccentric town kook well known to the local police as a nuisance to the uptight neighbors, but completely harmless.  The story of “The Little Prince” is revealed as the little girl comes to know the Aviator.  It’s this little addition of the modern world as losing sight of imagination and fun that, for me, completely enhances the story and message of the original book.

What makes this film so visually striking is the incredible use of multiple animation styles that are used to perfection to tell different parts of the story and to transport us back and forth from “reality.”  Or, perhaps it’s all reality and we just see different parts of reality in different ways.    I love to mix animation styles in my work and I just love how seamlessly the styles of animation blend together in this film.

The film starts with animated pencil and brush strokes as the Aviator begins the tale.  It’s the Aviator’s drawings that took us through the original book and the style, along with Jeff Bridges’  delivery draws you immediately into the story.  Stop action appears when we are listening to the Aviator’s story of the prince and the stories he was told.  There is what I would call the “Pixar look,” 3D animation with caricature versions of humans that still look quite realistic.  Sure, previous films have mixed animation styles and they’re usually for flashbacks, but no film that I can recall has ever employed mixed animation so incredibly as part of the storytelling process.  This required a lot of thought and planning in the story development phase to make this a seamless storytelling experience across the mixed media. 

The stop action elements are simply breathtaking at times.  The characters look like living, hand carved puppets which pay beautiful homage to the original drawings in the book.  The fox almost seems as if he is constructed from wire and paper, he has such a unique look about him. There is a translucency to much of the stop action world with beautiful lighting and lighting effects.  The fabric on the plane’s wings seem to flutter in the air.  The desert world where the Aviator and Little Prince meet is simply stunning both in the daylight and evening.  The stars dangling on a string are reminiscent of a child’s puppet theater.   As someone who has made stop action for many MANY years, (starting with 8mm film) this work is very close to my heart and I’m incredibly inspired by the work.  

The “real world,” by contrast is rather lifeless.  Sure the sun may be out, but there’s a coldness to the world.  No stone or blade of grass is out of place, there’s no initiative to do anything differently.  In fact, different is frowned upon.  This world comes to life in living color whenever the Aviator is a part of it.   He’s “that guy” that the neighbors openly despise but secretly wish they could be.  There is a familiarity to this world and a subtle nuance with the actions of the characters that makes the world believable.  These are characters you would find in your neighborhood, your world if you look around.    That’s when animation transcends from “just a cartoon” to a true animated feature story.

That believability is further enhanced by perfect voice casting and directing.  There’s a “who’s who” of voice talent in the film and they all just work.  Not only the voice itself, but how they act.  There’s a tendency for the “bad guy” in feature animation to be over the top cartoonish in the “bad guy” delivery.  There’s really none of that here and the overall story is presented much more as live action delivery vs. a child’s cartoon delivery.    Just really well done and beyond the interaction between the little girl and the Aviator, I do love Ricky Gervais as the Conceited Man. 

At times the film reminded me of “Up” and “Ratatouille” in the subtle nuances of the characters, facial expressions and reactions.  They’re real people in a real world completely made up in fantasy.  There is a point at which the worlds collide and and it’s all just works.  Are we in reality?  Are we in a fantasy or a dream?  It all feels real and it all fits.  I love when filmmakers can take fantasy and just make it so believable and real.  

This film, the storytelling and the technical achievements in animation all deserve an opportunity to be judged for an Oscar.  I was pleased to learn that Netflix screened the film in some theaters to make it eligible for Oscar consideration.  In fact, thanks to Netflix for rescuing this film after Paramount dropped it just one week before its release.  It would have been a shame to see this film lost from public viewing.

If you are a fan of good storytelling, regardless of whether you typically watch animation, I would highly encourage you to get a bowl of popcorn and settle in for “The Little Prince.”  It’s a masterful piece of filmmaking and one that inspires me to keep animating.

More details on the film are available on IMDB.

The post “The Little Prince” – An Animation Classic delivered by Netflix appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

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