Shooting video with DSLRs

Something I've recently been enlightened to is shooting HD video on DSLR cameras. I had no idea people did this professional. I always thought that since video was an afterthought added to these cameras, that it would be crappy and not work right.

Then I started reading a lot of professional blogs with people testing and using these cameras for video. They've built special mounts for them, special add-ons, equipment, etc. They're constantly improving the workflow. They've posted lots of tests that have totally convinced me that I need a DSLR for ANOTHER reason now. A great example of how well some of these cameras operate, particularly in low light, look at Vincent Laforet's "Nocturne". Not only can you get crisp video with such a huge control on DoF, you don't even need lights with some of these cameras.

Today I saw Phillip Bloom's test footage that he shot at Skywalker Ranch. They asked him to come and show them how to use DSLRs properly and test out the footage on their 40 foot screen. Here's what he came up with:


Skywalker Ranch from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

It's freakin' amazing what you can get out of the DSLR.

Self-promotion ahead.

A video I shot over the course of last fall/winter alongside my friends and associates Aaron and Katie and edited was chosen by Ben Stein to be a finalist in the YouTube Video Volunteers Spotlight: Animal Welfare contest. Out of the top ten finalists, voting by the public will decide the top three, who will be showcased on youtube.com. This would be great for Cat's Haven, who have no advertising budget.

So please go to http://www.youtube.com/ytvideovolunteers and thumbs up Cat's Haven: Faces of the Shelter! Voting is open until 11:59 tonight.

Little Video Timecapsules

When it comes to preserving memories, I'm usually more apt to grab a still camera than a video camera despite being in the video field. With a still, you can get a frozen moment that represents an event, and it can end up being really timeless. It eliminates all the flaws really easily and exists as a single split second of time. In general when you're talking about pre-WW2, still pictures are what you get. I'm fairly used to seeing this era is frozen bits and pieces and I like it that way because everyone seems perfect and classy and timeless.

But then occasionally you see a video from an era that didn't really have much video, and it's almost kind of shocking to see the people in the pictures moving around. They seem like still life in the photos, almost like they don't really exist. But then suddenly they're moving around and being regular ol' people who don't even know what's coming to them in the next 70 years, wearing clothes and walking around on what looks like a movie set.

I saw this video posted on Mashable this week. The Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam released it recently. It's the only known video of Anne Frank. I think the whole somewhat strange feeling of seeing figures that don't normally have 3 dimensions in this form is furthered by seeing someone so iconic as Anne Frank. This video is from July 22, 1941, a little under 5 months before WW2 started.




With her diary having been published for 50 years, it's easy to forget that she was once an actual person. She was once a little girl who lived in a building and peered out of her window to see a bride and groom walk into the street. I think this should be shown to kids when they are assigned to read her diary, as a reminder that it is in fact NOT fictional.

This is another reason I love video. It can capture a whole scene so vividly even on 30 second of black and white. With everyone having a video camera in their pocket these days, this feeling of finding a small treasure in a video long past won't continue.

Pro Camera =/ Pro Photographer

Recently, I've noticed a few people on my Facebook friends list who have taken up photography as a hobby after having purchased a DSLR. I think this is great and I'm all for experimentation. However, I'm noticing a theme in their photographic style that also happens to amateurs in video.

Everything is at a distance. Nothing has any meaning. It drives me crazy.

I think candids are the best shots. Shots from afar can capture the whole essence of a scene's setup. When every single shot is from the same length, with the same framing, of the same non-action, it's a moment captured that tells no story.

This happens in video too. All shots are from one distance with no variety. Shots are placed for the shot, and they lend nothing to the story. Cuts are made just to do so, even when they don't drive the action or reveal anything about the characters.

This drives me absolutely crazy. I think the biggest thing for new videographers and photographers to learn is to get in close. Like, SUPERDUPER CLOSE! Physically get close to a subject. If the subject doesn't want you in their space, zoom in. Capture a true emotional moment, not someone's head centered in a frame.

Vary your shots to give yourself a way to build a rhythm in your scene in the edit or cover up icky spots. Try new things. Experiment. Just because you have the ability to create a nice blurred background, that doesn't automatically make every single shot a masterpiece. You've mastered depth of field, now try playing with the other settings.

But most of all, try getting closer. Even an extreme closeup or two. Bring your viewer or audience into your frame with your subject rather than floating around a scene and silently observing from afar.