I 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.