My new TV commercial

[Jobie]

Hello everyone,

New member here. *I've had the DVX100 since October of last year...I put together a team for the "48 Hour Film Project" (http://www.48hourfilm.com) and we did pretty well. *8)

I was a software engineer for a videogame company at the time. *I was downsized in April, and decided to change careers (at 34!), and turn my "hobby" into a business.

60 Second Spot (Fox 7)

(640x480 WMV file, ~15mb)

This is our new TV spot (60 sec) airing in the Austin, TX market this week.

The first 2 shots (the park and the house exterior) are 24p mode. *All other shots are 60i. *They also look better (less washed out) on a TV. * ;D

Also, you get the whole image, which makes some of it look a little funny (squeezed into the TV safe area).

Also, I used the CobraCrane from ProMax for the crane shots...it is an awesome piece of hardware.

I'm planning on satiating my urge to write, produce, and direct either a short or a feature this year for submission to a festival.

Anyway, just saying hello!

-John Nagle
http://www.NagleStudios.com

[Zoomforce]

wow good work! That cobra crane sure made the difference. Did you use the extension?

[Jobie]

Thanks Zoom!

Yeah, the extension really is the only way to go. Seems weird to pay $99 for a little piece of extruded metal, but it's soooo worth it. I can get up at least 12' and go all the way to the floor.

Instead of a pricey external LCD monitor, I bought one of those little tiny b&w (CRT) TV's from Best Buy for $30. They're perfect because they operate on 8 "D" batteries that I can pick up for $2 at the local "Dollar Tree" store. I then bought one of those baby-carrier things that you wear and holds the baby in front of you, and it fits nicely down in there.

I also built my own remote zoom/start/stop controller for about $10.

-John

[Jobie]

Incidentally, this was my first real project in Vegas since buying it almost a month ago. *I have to say that after using Premiere for about 9 years, Vegas is now my editing software of choice...it was awesome to work with, even though I'm no guru yet.

The opening shot with the mountains and lake was still photo from a clipart collection. *I used photoshop to extricate the clouds as a separate bitmap, then in Vegas I layered them behind the mountains and made them move. *That also allowed me to have the picture of the DVD emerge from behind the mountain.

-John

[Zoomforce]

Vegas rocks!

I would love to see a photo of your little monitor setup, sounds like a cool little solution.

[booggerg]

Hey looks good! ques... are those Smith Victor lights i see in the dining room shot?? If so, how are they working out for ya?

[Jobie]

Booger: Yep, Smith-Victor KT-500 el-cheapo specials. I wanted lights, and I wanted them to look "professional", so I picked them up cheap, and added the umbrellas. They actually work perfectly well for interviews and such. The DVX100 gives you a lot of latitude with regard to lighting, and I end up thinking more about ratios than the actual quantity of light on a particular subject. I'll eventually get more and better, but for now these work ok.

Zoom: I'll try and get a picture for you. Basically, the video-in plug on the TV is a 1/8" plug. The leg holes on the baby carrier make ideal grommets for running the cable up. When I operate the crane (as you see in the clip), I'm simply looking down into my monitor to check the frame composition and focus. The baby-carrier thing was $15 at Wal-Mart...just don't get the Winnie-the-Pooh variety and no one will ever be the wiser. 8-)

-John

[ViewVideo]

Exceptional work Jobie. Did you do everything in Vegas? including the little PIP?

Lighting- I am totally new to lights but all my Halogen work light look orange. Can I use Home Depot Flouroecent bulbs (those hardcore work ones) for light? Seems really "white"

[ScreechingHalt]

If your Halogen work lights look orange, you have not done a white balance with them. If you are doing mixed lighting, then that is a different problem.

To do a quick white balance, turn on the halogens, hold up a large piece of white foam core or even a sheet of paper, zoom in on it to fill the frame and hit the white balance button on the very front of the camera. Just remember, you will need to re-set that white balance each time you power down the camera.

Best regards,
ScreechingHalt Productions

[Jobie]

Thanks Magic,

Yes, everything (video) was done in Vegas...I just used photoshop to prepare the pieces (titles and such).

Screech is right on...set your lighting to your satisfaction, *then* white balance, then you use gels or whatever to get the exact look you're after.

-John

[ScreechingHalt]

I forgot to mention - very nice work, Jobie!

Best regards,
ScreechingHalt Productions

[Jobie]

Hey, thanks Screech!

-John

[booggerg]

Jobie: are you just using Umberllas?? or are you using some SV hard lights too? I assume that you can't really light an interview in the best fashion, without at least some hard lights.. But those SV you have seems not to be focusable nor does it have barn doors.

[Jobie]

Booger...you're right about it not being ideal, but it's passable. I'm still very new to lighting in general, and to then also not have good lighting to work with only compounds the problem. But until I am more educated as to what I will need and (more importantly) how best to use it, I'm going to have to stick with this starter set.

I originally lit with one of the cans aimed directly at the subject and one with the umbrella (key and fill), but the key was just too bright. So what I typically do now is run with both umbrellas and adjust the spacing.

-John

[IloveDVX]

Thank you all who contributed to this message. I just learned something that would of cost me $10,000 in film school for free. I owe you all a beer if I ever am lucky enough to meet you.

[Jobie]

Dos Equis on tap, and I live in Austin. 8-)

-John