DIGIDAY:Daily – Prime Time is the Web’s New Prime Time
It seems that the audience for online video is getting older, more diverse and more mainstream. And perhaps surprisingly, TVs prime time is the new prime time for Web video viewing — rather than at-the office-pretending-to-work time. Even more surprising: fewer people are sharing videos than they used to.
via DIGIDAY:DAILY – Prime Time is the Webs New Prime Time.
New downtown grocery store and how not to record audio
Steve Lackmeyer called me Tuesday about today’s shoot. He had an interview lined up with the developer behind Level Urban Apartments in Deep Deuce and the owners of Native Roots Market in Norman to discuss a downtown grocery store.
I recorded developer Richard McKown with the usual Canon 7D, 24-105mm lens and Zoom audio recorder with Sennheiser wireless mic.
Then things kinda fell apart. The interview with Matt Runkle and the Kaplans was more flash mob than staged interview. I shoot a lot (too much) guerilla style interviews when you run and gun as events unfold. It’s usually better to somewhat control the situation for lighting, video and audio purposes.
Which brings me to the sound. I shot Runkle and Lackmeyer touring the store with a 14mm lens – it provides a nice, wide angle and is fairly forgiving for non-tripod shooting. I used the neck strap for extra stability as I moved around.
But I didn’t have the Zoom on the hot shoe.
And as the interview unfolded, and Lackmeyer became more excited about his story, and Runkle continued to beam with pride about his store and his future – I was stuck shooting with the 14mm and the internal mic on the Canon 7D body.
Ugh.
I cut the above video around 11 pm Wednesday and posted it around 1:30 am after an annoyingly slow upload. Surprisingly the audio from the onboard mic was heaps better than I expected. It still had noticeable fuzz but you could at least hear Runkle and the Kaplans.
Live and learn I guess.
Open Flame
For the record, big thanks to Kevin Lee for grilling up a six pack of sliders at the end of this shoot after everyone had left. And they might have been the best sliders ever, see pic below.
The American Propane shoot is a lot of fun. It’s a lot of work too, beginning around 4 pm and ending around 8:30 pm. Much heat in Oklahoma during the summer and with the grills firing all around.
Six pack of Kevin Lee masterpieces
Mixology: Finale
Kyle Fleischfresser has emerged as the overall highest scorer in the three-part Mixology series. Kyle came in second in each of the individual events and had the highest overall average.
We shot the above video at Red PrimeSteak. I wasn’t a huge fan of the straight on camera angle for each bartender. Or the huge window that backlit Scott and Kyle. I need to come up with a more creative approach for the next Mixology series.
On the bottles of gin, we used a micro LED Litepanels light to up-light the glass. Looked better in person than on video, but it did add some effect.
Fire up the grill
Nate Billings getting sneaky, snapping this dramatically back lit pic of David Jones and I during a break. At least we weren't texting each other.
Summer in Oklahoma can bring some brutal heat. A lot of it. Our outdoor grilling series called “Open Flame” features local chefs showcasing their talents on the fancy grills at American Propane.
Episode three will debut on NewsOK on Wednesday, ahead of the holiday weekend. We taped Thursday night. As usual, the Canon 7D was our primary camera. We used two, a 14mm wide angle lens on one, a 24-105mm on the other. I haven’t installed the firmware update yet, so the 7D was overheating about every five minutes. It simply can’t handle the heat outside.
I’ve read online and on Twitter that the firmware update fixes the overheating problem. I’m hoping to find out this week.
Here’s Episode 2 of Open Flame, taped last month:
Larry Jordan: Ten Tips for Improving Your Video
From Final Cut Pro professor Larry Jordan, this is geared more towards the amateur but I think it applies towards us daily editors too:
1. Don’t edit your home movies – the people in them are too important to you to cut them out. Just enjoy these movies for what they are.
2. Think about what you hate about watching everyone ELSE’S home movies. That’s what you need to get rid of in your movies.
* Shaky, hand-held camera work
* Out of focus shots
* Indecipherable images
* Inaudible audio
3. A good video tells a story – find the story and you’ve found your video. Even a short video can tell a powerful story.
4. The goal is NOT to create a video that YOU want to watch. The goal is to create a video that someone who has never seen it wants to watch.
5. The most important part of your video is the audio.
6. No time you spend lighting is ever wasted.
7. Shorter is always better than longer. Get people interested in your subject first.
8. If you have to use special effects, there’s something wrong with your story. Effects are often a crutch for inadequate performers, story, or concept.
9. We use dialog to tell the story; we use music to tell the emotion.
10. Don’t try to make your video “perfect.” Just focus on making each video you do better than the last one.
via Larry’s Blog.
