Mar 12 2011

The Weird Beard Video

Category: Multimedia & Video — Ethan G. Salwen @ 9:55 pm

Having hiked hundreds of miles on the Appalachian Trail and loving stop-motion and time-lapse creations, I was pretty psyched today to find that Vimeo’s daily email of movie suggestions had delivered me Green Tunnel by Kevin Gallagher. Unfortunately, Gallagher’s 2,200 miles in five minutes gave me a headache and no sense of the trail hiking experience.

Green Tunnel made me think of The Longest Way 1.0 (above) by Christoph Rehage, an epic journey brilliantly compressed in time, wonderfully presenting the spirit of Rehage, making me smiling, making me ask questions, leaving me pleased, satisfied and inspired — to journey, to create.

If you haven’t already seen this amazing piece, please watch it now. You’ll be glad you did.

In his latest post on his The Longest Way site Rehage casually refers to his movie as the “weird beard video,” and notes that it’s won yet another award. And so it should!

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Mar 05 2011

A Unquie Vision of Capturing Sound: Michael Hersh by Richard Anderson

Category: Multimedia & Video — Ethan G. Salwen @ 2:32 pm

Richard Anderson has proved that still photographers can bring a fresh vision to recording sound.

“The style I’m going for is clean, simple, moving,” Richard Anderson says of the videos he is creating for composer Michael Hersh. “I want to trigger the viewer’s emotions, if possible.”

It’s possible. Anderson proves this with his vision of Hersh’s “The Vanishing Pavilions, Book I, Movement 27.”

If I hadn’t been watching this piece with an eye on evaluating Anderson’s movie making skills, I would have never noticed them. And that’s the point: documenting a passionate composer-musician performing should be about the music and the musician, not the videography and editing.

I loved the way Anderson shared the art and philosophy of Christopher Cairns through video. I would have thought that capturing Hersh at the piano would have been much simpler. Not at all, Anderson made clear when we talked about his ongoing work with Hersh. Capturing professional-quality audio of a professional-level composer is no easy task.

Anderson recorded Hersh’s “Book I, Movement 27″ — as well as “Book I, Movement 6″ and “Book II, Movement 38″ — from three different angles using two cameras, with the help of an assistant, as he recorded Hersh playing each piece four or five times.

At least four takes were necessary to give Hersh enough audio tracks from which to select the best. These takes were also required to give Anderson the opportunity to photograph multiple angles, and to have enough footage to weave together in editing — to create a piece that visually helps trigger in us emotions evoked by the drama of the music and the passion of the musician.

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Feb 09 2011

FCE = 40D = Buy Final Cut Express

Category: Multimedia & Video, Technology Insights — Ethan G. Salwen @ 9:12 am

If you work on a Mac and don’t have Apple’s Final Cut Pro (FCP) ($1,000) or Adobe Premiere ($800), please buy Apple’s Final Cut Express ($200) — as soon as you can.

Note: If you have any of these programs, or have a professional-level editing application installed on your PC — like Premiere — please stop reading.)

Note: If you are currently loving (or hating) Apple’s iMovie, definitely keep reading

Final Cut Express is 2.3 million times more powerful than iMovie, and working in it will teach you Final Cut Pro. Just buy it!

Final Cut Express is 2.3 million times more powerful than iMovie, and it will teach you Final Cut Pro. Just buy it!

On Photographers and Video Editing

In 2011, if  you are a serious photographer you are getting involved in creating motion content, whether you want to or not. I’m presuming you want to, and so sooner-than-later you will likely end up working with a high-end video editing program, like Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premier. Or as a director or producer, you be overseeing people working in such programs, so you’ll want to have an understanding of them.

Career issues aside, you will want to at least have the editing skills of your clients, such as Mac users using iMovie like gangbusters to produce home movies of all manner.

The Limitations of iMovie

When researching “Adventures in Motion,” a number of photographers tole me:

• The tools don’t matter — it’s about the story.

• Start out simple — use a program like iMovie, at first.

This is totally true, and I made a ton of little movie projects in iMovie, like “Milonga de Sal y Pimenta.” I had a blast, I learned a lot, but then I got totally stuck.

I won’t bore you with the technical limitations of iMovie, but trust me, they are very real, very frustrating. iMovie is geared to be so lighthearted that you just can’t force it to be serious. In iMovie I couldn’t even make a this simple movie or even this quick experiment.

For serious photographers, one of the biggest downfalls of iMovie is that it keeps you from progressing into the more complex aspects of editing that — actually — are very basic.

“FCE = 40D” Explained

The working title for this post was “Final Cut Express Rocks!” but I decided to go more cryptic, with “FCE = 40D,” which is shorthand for this non-techie analogy of why you should buy FCE:

Final Cut Express is exactly like the the Canon 40D, if you are currently working with a Canon ELPH point-and-shoot.

Think of it this way: You are making great images with your easy-to-use ELPH (iMovie), but you want to get more serious about your photography. So you realize it’s time to buy the Canon 5D Mark II (Final Cut Pro). However, even if you do have the extra $800 bucks for the 5D, the fact of the matter is that it’s overkill. What you need is is a used Canon 40D! (Final Cut Express)

Besides the fact that the 5D is video-enabled (which will actually distract you from learning SLR basics), from the point of view of still photography fundamentals, the 40D and the 5D are the same camera. They really are. There are tons of things you can do with the 40D that you can’t do with the ELPH, but there is nothing in still photography you can do with the 5D that you can’t do with the 40D.

So it is with Final Cut Express. If you working in iMovie, upgrade to FCE as soon as you can. From your point of view, it will just like working in Final Cut Pro — overwhelming and exciting.

My (Stupid) FCE Quandary

After I got held back by iMovie, I began a long, nueratic process of trying to compare FCP and FCE, not wanting Continue reading “FCE = 40D = Buy Final Cut Express”

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Jan 14 2011

Multimedia Easy Start: Still Images with Photographer Voice-over

Category: Multimedia & Video — Ethan G. Salwen @ 10:25 am

“Face-off With a Deadly Predator” is a great video — wonderful story, amazing images. From a tech point of view, it offers great inspiration to those of us moving into motion.

When it comes to video production it doesn’t get much simpler than “Deadly Predator.” Yet, as far as the quality of multimedia storytelling is concerned, it doesn’t get much better. Notice that the decidedly simple approach to the video interview of Paul Nicklen doesn’t detract from the piece — at all.

As you watch “Deadly Predator,” consider how you can put the still images in your collection to motion — adding only your own voice

To be clear: You don’t need to record yourself on video. As Bill Cunningham proves, voice-only voice-overs can work quite effectively when creating a video from still images. (Consider adding a little royalty-free music for drama, as in “Deadly Predator.”

A big thanks to Mary Lynn Price for strongly suggesting I watch this video, when I interviewed her for “Adventures in Motion.” “It’s so simple and yet it’s gotten more than two million hits on YouTube,” she said.

Price told me that as long as we have a good story, multimedia can be as simple as mixing our images with our own thoughts in our own voices.

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Jan 05 2011

Transition Ideas & Themes With Image Sequences, and 9 Other Critical Multimedia Editing Strategies

Category: Multimedia & Video — Ethan G. Salwen @ 6:20 am

AfterCapture Blog_110105_MediaStorm’s Ten Ways To Improve Your Multimedia Production Right NowI made a mistake in my post last Wednesday, but that’s OK. Correcting the mistake has turned into a windfall of the learning. The mistake (now corrected) was that I told you (incorrectly) that the 10 tips from Eric Maierson/MediaStorm came from “MediaStorm’s Ten Ways To Improve Your Multimedia Production Right Now,” when in fact they came from “MediaStorm’s 10 More Ways to Improve Your Multimedia Right Now.” The “More” is critical, and I was silly to miss it, especially since it made me overlook Maierson’s first 10 tips, which are as concisely invaluable as his second ten. I highly suggest you read them.

Maierson’s Editing & Educational Prowess

I’m eager to send major kudos to Maierson, both for his editing genius and for helping us lesser multimedia editors in understanding how he approaches the process.

Beyond the two posts mentioned, Maierson was nice enough to respond to my last post, greatly helping me advance my understanding of what it means to “edit rhythmically.” Very nice of him, indeed.

One great quality of Maierson as an educator is that he links his tips to samples in projects hosted on MediaStrom, so we gain the chance to understand what he is saying in action. This is no small matter. As he wrote when telling me about editing rhythmically, “It sounds a bit oblique written out like this. . . ” Indeed. Samples are required for advancing learning.

Learning To Transition Ideas & Themes Watching “Black Market” by Patrick Brown

Of Maierson’s first 10 multimedia editing suggestions, the one that most caught me attention was #5: “Use image sequences to transitions between ideas or themes.”

“What?” I thought. Maierson explained:

Think of image sequences as paragraph breaks between two big ideas. Sometimes these sequences need only be two photographs long, or on occasion even one will suffice. See the poaching sequence in Black Market for an example.

I loved the idea, but it wouldn’t have meant much if I hadn’t carefully watched “Black Market” by photojournalist Patrick Brown. “Black Market” is powerful, sad and important — classic in-depth photojournalism brought to much fuller affect (and to a much wider audience) thanks to the use of beautifully executed multimedia (produced by Brian Storm and Eric Maierson). And the numerous, well-crafted transitions between ideas are critical to the success of the 10-minute piece.

Watching To Learn, Without Completely Understanding

As I watched “Black Market” I was following Maierson’s advice, carefully on the lookout for the poaching sequence that would help me understand how to use image sequences like “paragraph breaks between two big ideas.” However I admit that I wasn’t sure exactly where to look, even though he had mentioned the “poaching sequence.”

Many times before the poaching sequence arrived I found myself noting breaks between paragraphs, transitions between ideas — especially beautiful transitional moments in the time line at 4:05, 5:00, 5:48 and 8:46 — and so I wasn’t clear if I was totally understanding Maierson’s point, even though I felt like I was seeing it in action.

I’m almost hesitant to share these specific moments in the time line of “Black Market,” as you might head right to them, looking for the answer. But what I’m learning from Maierson’s teaching is that there is no one, specific answer.

I often offer up multimedia and video samples as great inspiration, saying, “Here! Watch this!” But perhaps inspiration on its own is not enough — not if it doesn’t foster our thinking in ways that help us to improve our craft. Maierson is showing me that the best way to learn multimedia is not to:

A) Just watch and be inspired, and also not to:

B) Watch expecting a specific lesson to simply sink in, but instead to:

C) Watch with an idea of what can be learned — with a little guidance from the likes of Maierson — and then try to figure it out myself.

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Dec 29 2010

Stick with the Blink, and 9 Other Critical Multimedia Editing Strategies

Category: Multimedia & Video — Ethan G. Salwen @ 12:27 pm

AfterCapture Blog_101227_Stick with the Blink_1“Make edits with a purpose,” Eric Maierson advises in “MediaStorm’s 10 More Ways to Improve Your Multimedia Right Now.” After noting questions we should keep in mind to keep editing purposeful, Maierson shares nine other strategies that offer the best, most concise advice I’ve encountered for improving my multimedia editing.

Definitely check out Maierson’s post for invaluable editing insights.

Still No Rhythm, But At Least No Dissolves

To be honest, I don’t totally get what Maierson means by “edit rhythmically,” although it sounds really good and although I did check out the sample he suggested. (The “Town Bar” section of Driftless at the 1:37 mark.)

I do totally get “Delete all dissolves between images.” As Maierson explains:

The eye sees cuts. When we look from one object to another, we see a blink. We don’t see one object then dissolve to another. Remove all of your image dissolves and your work will improve immediately.

This was very nice to learn. I’ve been laying down stills into timelines, adding dissolves, I’m not really sure how to handle them. Thanks to Maierson I now know I’ll produce better projects by keeping it simple and just sticking with the blink.

P.S. — Eric Maierson Chimes in on Rhythm

Eric Maierson was nice enough to chime in and help me with my confusion over his suggestion to “edit rhythmically.” Definitely take a moment to read his fantastic comment below — very good stuff, which as he says, “sounds a bit oblique written out,” but which I am starting to see, hear and feel.

Maierson wants us to avoid the (boring) result of only editing to the beat, as in, “Da-da-da-da-da-da-da.” Instead, he says we should make “edits work around the other elements. That way you get a nice flow and the music of your edits sound more like da-badadum-da-badumdum-da-da.”

Yes, this does sound oblique (even more than in Mairson’s comment), but I did as Maierson suggested and went back to the 1:37 mark of the “Town Bar” section of Driftless, and I realized that, as he says, there are many more elements in play then I had thought. The visual cuts are on a beat, but not every beat, and musical phrases play out, waiting for the next, best beat for the cut — after a break in the the dialog.

This seems light years beyond my current editing abilities, but seeing, hearing and feeling the rhythm of the “Town Bar” edits is very exciting.

Thank you, Eric!!!

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Dec 27 2010

Walking Into a Sharply Intelligent Documentary

Category: Multimedia & Video — Ethan G. Salwen @ 1:39 pm

As Jason Nunes suggested I watch it, I would have anyway. But I just had to watch “Running with Scissors” because, as timing would have it, just two days before receiving Nunes’ recommendation I had read “The Memory Addict” by Sam Anderson, a fascinating article published in New York Magazine. (May 5, 2008.) In the piece, Anderson explores the complex intersection of memory and the memoir, focusing in on Augusten Burroughs, author of the bestselling memoir, “Running with Scissors.”

For two reasons, I suggest you watch “Running with Scissors,” the 11-minute documentary by Ricky John Molloy, Thomas Tolstrup and Nancy J. Hawsyou. As Nunes told me, “It’s really beautifully shot, in a style that I think is very influenced by photography, not film making.” In other words, good inspiration for us (mostly) still photographers.

More compelling — and the reason you need to make it to the seven-minute mark — while “Running with Scissors” starts out featuring simple, straightforward storytelling about a sweet, easy-to-digest topic, it takes a well-crafted turn that involves more complex, less obvious storytelling about more profound issues.

With a light and intelligent hand, Molloy, Tolstrup and Hawsyou shift from straight reporting and welcome us to contemplate the relationship between our life experiences (or memories, our personal memoirs) and how these influence how we live our lives in the present. As such, “Running with Scissors” serves as a nice counterpoint to Anderson’s “The Memory Addict.” (An amazing read, Anderson’s article questions whether Burroughs has the uncanny memory he is famous for, or whether he is full of shit, or whether both are true, or neither, and whether it really matters.)

How I Saw “Running With Scissors”

Disclaimer: My viewing experience is less important than yours, and “Running with Scissors” takes advantage of unexpected (but not underhanded) turns of plot. So read the following only if, A) You won’t be watching the film or, B) You already have.

I was encouraged and sucked into the documentary when Continue reading “Walking Into a Sharply Intelligent Documentary”

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Dec 25 2010

“It’s Not At All The North Pole”

Category: Multimedia & Video — Ethan G. Salwen @ 6:23 pm

No, it’s not. It’s 22nd Street, Chelsea, New York, two weeks before Christmas, and Jim and Dylan are getting anxious.

“There’s no rule book for this,” Jim says.

“They need to go somewhere,” Dylan explains.

When I opened up my daily Vimeo email today I was hoping to find a sweet Christmas-themed movie worthy of sharing with you. I was rewarded with “Miracle on 22nd St,” which is not only sweet and well-crafted, but which shows that ideas for movie shorts are everywhere.

Director Sarah Klein found her latest story — with both Christmas good feelings and a taste of mystery — when she arrived at Jim and Dylan’s Christmas party, as she recounted yesterday in her blog post for The New York Times.

Shot and edited by Tom Mason and featuring original music by Ryan Sayward Whittier, “Miracle on 22nd St” proves that the miracle of modern movie making is that it allows a small, skilled teams to quickly create polished movies and distribute them to an international audience — no magical Santa powers required.

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Dec 13 2010

Should Little Fish Wear Name Tags?

Category: Business & Marketing, Multimedia & Video, The Industry — Ethan G. Salwen @ 4:48 pm

Scott Mc Kiernan, founder of ZUMA Press, once told me that photojournalists should consider publishing their email addresses and phone numbers prominently on their homepage. He explained that editors hate to dig for contact information, and noted that even one click on “Contact” or “About” might distance potential clients from photographers.

I wonder what Mc Kiernan would think of Patrick, whose last name — forget direct email — remain a mystery to me, even after 10 minutes of searching. And I really wanted to know. In fact, I wanted to promote his savy marketing with this blog post, having (almost) come to know him though this video:

Is Patrick’s Marketing Web 3.0?

What happened is that — thanks to the daily email from Vimeo that serves up video inspiration — I came across “the world’s largest aquarium.” Like the snowy video I posted last week, I thought it was a great sample to share with still photographers. Then, when I noticed that it was featured on a Vimeo channel with 205 videos, I thought, “Hey, what a great Web presence!” I planned to check out the creator’s work, and then share with you how photographers can use Vimeo to lure in potential clients and fans.

So much thinking up a blog post before researching it. You see. . .

The “largest aquarim” on Vimeo led to both the creator’s personal blog (stillmotion Patrick) as well as the main stillmotion Vimeo page (with the 205 videos). Patrick’s personal blog led to the stillmotion blog, and the stillmotion Vimeo page led to the stillmotion’s main Web site, and both led to each other. But even as I clicked with intention — encountering enticing content — I could not fined what I wanted: Patrick’s last name, and a clear understanding of Continue reading “Should Little Fish Wear Name Tags?”

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Dec 10 2010

Vimeo Bests YouTube on Sound Quality

Category: Multimedia & Video, Technology Insights — Ethan G. Salwen @ 1:24 pm

Working to improve my basic editing skills using royalty-free music, I came up with “Train to Palermo — The Zebras Version” — sharing my ride in Buenos Aires from Villa del Parque (home) to Palermo (tourist haven). To see how Vimeo bests YouTube when it comes to sound quality, watch the first 10 seconds of these two versions and concentrate on listening.

To each site I uploaded the exact same video file and as you can hear, the sound comes out a lot better on the file hosted by Vimeo. (By “better” I mean “not muffled” and “sounds like the original when played on my computer.”) This is something to keep in mind when deciding whether YouTube or Vimeo is better for sharing your video projects.

With YouTube sound:

With Vimeo sound:

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