I was walking through Trafalgar Square back in the Summer and stopped to film this guy for 10 mins. The sound is rubbish, the shots aren’t great, but he was a good busker and I didn’t want to simply delete the footage. So I took an hour and chopped this together. For me, it’s editing practice, post-game elucidation, and a reminder of a peaceful Summer moment. For you, I should think it’s a shrug-inducing distraction from sorting your laundry or background noise to a nose pick. Enjoy.
Archive for the ‘DSLR Filmmaking’ Category
Explore and Reflect [Video]
Friday, September 23rd, 2011
Sophie and Jeff’s Wedding Day [Video]
Sunday, September 4th, 2011On Saturday 20th August 2011, Sophie and Jeff got married!
If you want to know how they made it look so good, read Sophie’s blog: sophiekingogetsmarried.wordpress.com/
Btw, you see those birds? Sophie hand-made them all. And the best bit is, the guests got to choose their favourite and take it home. Easily the best wedding favour I’ve ever got.
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Video Prattle
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I could only bring one lens out with me and so I chose my Nifty Fifty. I know this can make framing awkward, but I like the imperfect composition. Because the images it gives are so sharp and noise-less, it always seems stylish to me. The lens served me well on the day and was priceless in the darker, evening light. I don’t regret choosing the lens for an instant. However, without a tripod or something like in-lens Image Stabilization I have had to spend a few extra hours in the editing process to steady the footage. Still worth it though. Also, After Effect’s Warp Stabilizer is brilliant.
The Lavender Hill Mob (2011) [Video]
Wednesday, August 10th, 2011This is some rough footage I captured during the London Riots on the night of Monday 8th August 2011. I’ve written up some notes on the Vimeo page (click the Vimeo logo on the video embed). Please view it there. I realise this isn’t the best footage, tis very shaky, but I think with the notes it gives a good sense of what the scene was like.
Camping at Maker [Video]
Friday, June 3rd, 2011Back in April 2011, when Jesus was getting up for his Easter eggs and the Great British Monarchy were busy accepting the lowly daughter of a party supplies entrepreneur into their ranks, national holidays were plentiful, and so we fled London and went camping.
We were looking for somewhere quiet, near the coast and with beautiful views.
We’d flirted with the idea of wild camping in Dartmoor, as it’s the only place you can legally wild camp in England. That would have taken care of the peace and scenery but not the sea. So I scanned a map, and went along the coastline looking for suitable spots.
And so we found Maker.
Maker is on the Rame Peninsula. The campsite sits high on a hill and with amazing views all around. It was the Easter school holidays , there was a heatwave going on, and yet the site was incredibly peaceful. We had planned to stay for a couple of days. Instead we spent the rest of our holiday there.
http://www.makerfestival.co.uk/Camping-at-Maker.htm
Pooch Night [Video]
Monday, March 21st, 2011I shot this while out with some friends on Saturday night at Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium.
I installed this version of Magic Lantern earlier in the week and this was the first time I played with it. So that’s my first excuse for the fluctuating quality of this vid. Second is, I was a wee bit tipsy. I didn’t try to ride the dogs, but I’m not going to lie to you, I gave it serious thought. Third, I didn’t shoot enough footage. There are shots in the final edit that aren’t great but are needed to bridge gaps. They’re not too noticable but I’ve learned my lesson: shoot plenty, you can’t have too much coverage. At the track, there were loads of little objects, signs, scenes, all that good stuff, that would have made the difference. For example, I regret not getting shots of these two girls wandering around in flat caps. I didn’t even get a good shot of the trackside bookies doing their animated shenanigans. I can see now how those sort of portraits lend a film some character.
What was good was how the DSLR camera hid my video antics. People were definitely less conscious around it. I had no trouble carrying it, or with the bouncers when getting in -which has been a problem in the past with video cameras. Also, I’m still not over how beautiful the whole ultra shallow DSLR depth of field thing is, even if it meant the low light and medium tipsyness made it very hard to get a sharp focus. I tried the Focus Assist function on Magic Lantern but, like a granny in a goth shop, it wasn’t up to the dark scene.
Conclusion, next time, more shots of more stuff, and less swigs of less grog.
Here’s Pooch Night on YouTube, if you’re that way inclined.
