Film Riot

Film Riot is a YouTube channel that deals with all aspects of filmmaking. If you have not checked them out you seriously should. I have watched hours and hours of their videos and to be honest feel like I have learned more about filmmaking from this YouTube channel than many of my film classes over my four years here.

The videos feature Ryan Connolly, the host, with appearance from his team as they tackle various aspects of professional filmmaking as simply as they can. The videos include the final result of what they tackle, and then through hosted explanation, they explain how they did what they did. They are quite thorough and easy to follow and learn. They also have some DIY videos for making cheap filmmaking gear on a budget. They have a store where they sell a variety of different assets, make gear recommendations, sell merchandise, and more. They are a fantastic and useful channel and I highly recommend you sift through it, you will definitely learn a lot.

Film Riot:

Youtube | Twitter | Store

Content may be questionable, but techniques are undeniable.

For those of you who don't know, there's a whole unwritten subcategory on Youtube called Youtube Poop videos.  These videos consist of various nonsensical topics that just take random subjects and distort them with audio or video techniques, and some Youtubers go as far to make their own stories with the distorted content.  While some are incredibly easy to make, others take some very advanced techniques, like some of the techniques we're learning in class right now.

One of my favorite kinds of Youtube poop videos involves Michael Rosen, a children's story author who has videos of himself telling the stories.  What makes him great material for Youtube poop videos is that he makes so many funny noises and faces, so some amazing imagery can be concocted.  Some of them are absolutely hilarious, and this one in particular utilizes some notable editing techniques like keying, motion tracking, and even some forms of 3D animation.  Sure the story can be strange and offbeat, but the editing is actually really well done.  There was plenty of effort put into this, unlike a lot of other Youtube Poops on the web.

The Michael Rosen Venture

A Record of Life- Owen Gatley

I came across this video during my study break in the library, i love how intricate the short film in all of its 2D animation but I also appreciated to simple and clean the execution of the editing was done. I'm still having a hard time putting together all my pieces and making them as clean and precise as shorts like this one... but none the less practice makes perfect.

http://d4b1a8ba9a9dd2e78943-bcbd65c9c621cf52241f416bb0150c1e.r82.cf1.rackcdn.com/owen_gatley_a_record_of_life.mp4


Enjoy, Krystal N.

Final Cut King

This YouTube channel is one of my favorites. I feel as though maybe some day I would be able to recreate some of the things he's done (although I wouldn't be using final cut). He's pretty young, and it seems like he keeps trying to find new ways to make his imagination come to life.

In this one, Final Cut King does a great job of making this small cat look just as pikachu would in real life. The audio may be a little off, but it shows that even a young person like him  can edit if they set their mind to it.

I think that everyone should check out the rest of his channel! Maybe I'll be the "after effects queen" by the end of this class?

How about some 3D

So I was scrolling through Facebook and I came across something that we were discussing in class. The basketball team, the Cavaliers, had taken the 3D effect idea that is usually used on buildings.

The effect was actually really cool. Now don't get me wrong I have always liked this kind of stuff. Making an immovable object look like it's moving and being morphed into something else. The effects that they had used truly blew my mind.

I have always wanted to learn how to do something like this. Even if it is just super simple, I have always wanted to do it. It would make for a cool party or concert intro.

This use of 3D effect you see in a lot of movies today. For example, a movie that I saw recently had used this: Now You See Me. It fit nicely into the movie because the movie was about Magicians and to make a scene like that, just fits well.

It takes a lot of work to create something like this. It requires projectors as and a lot of graphic movements in order to make the building actually look like it is being moved around and transformed. In this case, the basketball court was the object that was being transformed on. The breaking effect, the cubing effect, all of this is done with projectors and just calibration onto the basketball court. Absolutely amazing.

Since the video is on Vimeo I can't post the video like a normal YouTube video but if you click HERE, you can watch it.

Green Screen Movie FX Studio App

            Since we shot our green screen footage this week I thought I'd post about an app which may not be as advanced as our class material nonetheless can be something to play around with on the side. This app was introduced in 2012 but was recently updated, it has some sort of complexity as well as one hell of a studio editing program for an iPhone and or iTunes application compatible device. The application is suprisingly easy to use while also having a pretty impressive tool set when adding special effects in postproduction. More specifically this app allows you to use the chroma key special effect to replace video or pictures with additional media.  The app comes with a boat load of built in videos to begin your green screen experience. As well as the built in videos you can also import pictures and videos to splice yourself in (whether or not you can rip the files off the app to utilize in After Effects or another program is behind my research). Some of the application features consist of real time compositing, capture resolution, chroma match quality, camera focus mode and many more. Overall the Green Screen Movie FX Studio is a powerful special effects editor that allows you to create projects for only $1.99 at the iTunes application store, this is a must buy. Here is a quick start tutorial that gives you a sneak peak of the application... (the app was created by epocfield)

Here is some examples of clips made using the application...

Avid Media Composer 7

Media Composer 7 is coming out soon. Soon being this summer. It comes with a lot of needed improvements to make things easier, and a much needed price cut. One of my favorite things coming with it is being able to work directly in HD from the source. Making more time for editing instead of waiting and resizing files. Check out this article for all of the new features.

The 2011 Oscars and how it relates to our next project

In the spirit of our latest project assignment, I recalled the opening to the 2011 Academy Awards. The show was hosted by Anne Hathaway and James Franco, and the opening to the show was a montage of movie clips from that year with the two hosts cut into the scenes for comedic effect. Not only was it pretty much exactly what we are doing now, but it is quite funny and incredibly well done. Check it out:

And for all we know, maybe they used Mocha as well :).

At the Moulin Rouge, You'll Have Fun...

When I was in tenth grade, I decided I really wanted to go into the film industry. I'd always had an interest in film and photography, but it was when I rented Moulin Rouge that I really decided film was something I wanted to do. Even though it's not the most conventional favorite movie, it has been my favorite for years. I think the way it's edited and its use of mise-en-scen is amazing. As an editor, the fast pace and unusual style of the film is something I really admire. And the general appearance, with its use of color and camera movement, there is really no comparison. It’s so unlike every other movie that I appreciate it so much more.  And interestingly enough, Moulin Rouge is a part of a trilogy of films called “The Red Curtain Trilogy” all of which were directed by the incomparable Baz Luhrmann. Spanning over ten years, the Red Curtain Trilogy is composed of Strictly Ballroom (1992), Romeo + Juliet (1996), and Moulin Rouge (2001). While the trilogy is referred to as a trilogy, the films are all independent and do not share a storyline. Baz refers to his first three films as thus because of the similar style in which they were made. They all used a similar fast editing style combined with a vivid use of color, but their individual plots and characters are all dazzlingly unique.
Overall, Moulin Rouge is a fantastic, powerful, and vibrant film that you should most definitely check out.

Oscars Intro

The introduction to the Oscars this weekend was decently entertaining. The green screen and re-creation of scenes from the films was impressive. Anne Hathaway and James Franco appeared to be realistically interacting with the characters in the nominated films thanks to some precise editing, costumes and green screen effects. If you haven't seen the intro, check it out!