Beautiful Berlin turned depressing for Korean spy thriller
As the capital of Germany, Berlin is a beautiful city with both modern infrastructures and sites of historic interest, but as the setting for 'The Berlin File', a 2013 South Korean spy thriller written and directed by Korean action auteur Ryu Seung-wan and starring Korea's top actors including Ha Jung-woo, Han Suk-kyu, Ryu Seung-bum and Jun Ji-hyun against each other in the twisty tale of political intrigue and personal redemption, Berlin has to be unpleasant enough. With a strong opening in box office, the action blockbuster attracted 7 million admissions in early 2013 to become the all-time highest-grossing Korean action film and the critics applauded its "secretive and gloomy atmosphere", which contributed to the film's great success. The magic that turned Berlin from a beautiful city to a gloomy cold place was performed by colorist Park Jin-Young with CJ Powercast with her 8 GPU Linux based DaVinci Resolve.
...Read More »
Content Insider #279 - NAB 2013 Wrap By Miles Weston
Every time I come away from a big show I have to give myself a reality check and recall it was only a few years ago I waxed on and on about 3D TV and netbooks. Saw where that went right? Right. But NAB this year was freakin awesome. Cameras are getting to the point that any indie can afford them. The industry fatcat days are gone and they ain't coming back so the people who will survive are working harder/smarter. Broadcast folks welcomed the telcos in with forced smiles and there were some who weren't happy with competition at all. But with all the 4K-8K content it is still all about storage and that cute thing called "the cloud." We'll tie up all the loose ends...next week.
...Read More »
FlyingS3D sets Le Crazy Horse on Fire with Pablo
FlyingS3D opened its doors early in 2010 as France's first dedicated stereoscopic 3D post production facility. FlyingS3D is the brainchild of managing director Audrey Bourdiol, who had spent her career up until then looking after the technical side of one of France's largest post houses. With already more than 30 major S3D projects under its belt, in 2012 FlyingS3D won the full post production for 'Feu' (Fire) - a 3D film by Le Crazy Horse - one of its most ambitious projects to date. Le Crazy Horse cabaret was founded in 1951 by the avant-garde artist Alain Bernardin and has delivered its own special brand of glamour entertainment to millions of men and women for more than sixty years. 'Feu' is designed to bring Le Crazy experience to cinema audiences worldwide; 3D was "the natural choice" to achieve this aim, says Audrey Bourdiol.
...Read More »
Q&A with Sorenson Media CEO Peter Csathy on Partnership with Sony Creative Software
Sorenson Media and Sony Creative Software have formed a new partnership to offer the Sorenson Squeeze video encoding software to video professionals through the Sony Online Store. With this offering, video professionals will benefit from combined workflow capabilities of Squeeze and Sony Vegas Pro, including access to Squeeze 8.5?s professional features.
...Read More »
Preserving Groningen's History through Film
Cultural heritage is a community's legacy. Something we live with today, and what society will eventually pass on to future generations. Acting as custodians of the past, archive centers around the world are tasked with not only storing content, but also making it accessible. Groningen Audio Visueel Archief (GAVA) is one such facility in the Netherlands responsible for looking after more than 24,000 audiovisual items relating to the region of Groningen, which are kept on formats varying from nitrate film base to digibeta. Founded in 1992 as the second regional AV archive in the Netherlands, GAVA specializes in cataloging and preserving sound and video programs about the province of Groningen, as well as productions created by residents from Groningen. In addition to acting as a repository, the center is also tasked with making all of its archived footage available to broadcasters, artists, museum organizations and businesses online.
...Read More »
Right on Schedule with The Delivery Men and DaVinci Resolve 9 for Andy Roddick Foundation
The Andy Roddick Foundation (AFR) believes talent is universal but opportunity is not, which is why the nonprofit's goal is to provide all children with a support system that gives them hope for a brighter future. To achieve this goal, ARF has raised more than $10 million since inception to fund programs improving the daily lives of thousands of children. While ARF runs and supports programs that enhance educational and economic opportunities for thousands of children throughout the United States, the nonprofit is headquartered in the city Andy Roddick calls home: Austin, Texas. To help increase awareness and support for its local initiatives, AFR turned to Austin based production company The Delivery Men to create the "This Is" promotional film for its 2012 Andy Roddick Foundation Gala in Austin.
...Read More »
Sweet Sadie Helps Disney Theatrical Productions Commemorate "The Lion King's" 15th Anniversary
A call was heard in New York that echoed around the world" was the emotional theme of a video produced by Sweet Sadie, Inc. for Disney Theatrical Productions commemorating the 15th anniversary of "The Lion King's" debut on Broadway. Disney provided the studio with a massive trove of stills and videos tracing the far-flung 15-year history of the show from which to draw. Employing After Effects, the Sweet Sadie team set about to bring this material to life by animating cast and crew images against new backgrounds, such as show set photography and crowd scenes complete with flash bulbs popping. 2.5D techniques were used to "cut out" foregrounds from backgrounds to stunning effect.
...Read More »
Mark Syncs the Spot By Diana Weynand, James Alguire and RevUpTansmedia
One of the most missed features of legacy Final Cut Pro is persistent in and out marks. That is to say, once in and out marks are set in a clip, they remain exactly where they are, as a part of the clip, until explicitly changed or removed. Unfortunately, this arguably essential feature for digital video editing did not make it into Final Cut Pro X. If you set in and out points on a clip then deselect that clip and reselect it, the in and out marks are gone. While it is true that you can use ratings, like Favorites, in FCPX to create persistent clip selections, in and out points have valuable uses beyond just marking a usable portion of a video clip.
...Read More »
The Art of the Trailer: Two Years in 30 Seconds
The trailer plays a major role in the marketing and ultimate success of a feature motion picture. This on-screen advertisement is so engrained in popular culture that most of the time it is taken for granted by movie goers. But industry marketing veterans know the trailer is the first and last chance to create a lasting impression on an audience. Most trailers range in length between 30 seconds and two minutes. It's within that short time span that the viewer will pick up on hundreds of cues about the movie. In the blink of an eye he will determine the genre, the gist of the story, the aesthetic and level of production. By the end of the trailer the viewer might well determine the fate of the movie. Is it a must-see or to-be-avoided?
...Read More »
DaVinci Resolve Provides Color Correction for Short Horror Film 'Dead Man's Lake'
When colorist Patrick Inhofer was first contacted by the filmmakers for the short film horror anthology website BloodyCuts.co.uk, he knew right away that he wanted to be involved. The Bloody Cuts team shares a love and passion for horror films and has presented the anthology online as a free web series. As an accomplished colorist, and the founder of the website Tao of Color Grading.com, Patrick realized that he could put his professional skills to work, both by grading their films and by using them to teach aspiring colorists how to grade using the latest developments in color correction.
...Read More »
Torpedoed by Subtitles By Diana Weynand, James Alguire and RevUpTansmedia
A video or film project's titles provide crucial information to the viewer, whether it's the opening and closing credits identifying a video or film, the principals involved (the talent and production crew), or lower thirds, the nouns of video, identifying the people, places and things being viewed. Subtitles play a significant role, particularly in editorial or documentary work, in a number of ways. Subtitles make clear, speech or dialog that is difficult to hear or understand, as when people mumble or use unfamiliar dialects; provide language translations for viewers to better understand dialog in foreign languages, especially if the video is produced in a language not native to the viewer; and to make your film or video more accessible to viewers with hearing impairments.
...Read More »
Transitional Animation By Diana Weynand, James Alguire and RevUpTansmedia
Final Cut Pro X provides a number of interesting ways to animate video elements in the Viewer and Timeline to provide complex visual effects. But do you know how to create quick and simple animations just by using transitions? The beauty of this technique is its simplicity. No complex motion paths to adjust, no messing about with untold keyframes, just add a transition and set the timing and you're off to the next project.
...Read More »
Seattle Children's Hospital Upgrades its Auditorium From Analog to Digital
Consistently ranked as one of the best children's hospitals in the country, Seattle Children's is a 254 bed hospital that has been delivering patient care and advancing new treatments through pediatric research for more than 100 years. Located in the Giraffe wing of Children's, the Wright Auditorium is a vital part of the hospital's infrastructure. It holds numerous staff trainings, medical lectures and patient/family education events throughout the year, which means it must always be ready for the next event, be it a simple PowerPoint presentation or a multi site videoconferencing and video recording event. In March of 2012, the hospital's A/V department decided to upgrade the video system in the 266 seat auditorium. The department, which consists of 5 staff members and which supports more than 100 meeting rooms across eight office buildings and multiple regional clinics, knew this might not be an easy task.
...Read More »
EYES IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD..... By Douglas Spotted Eagle
With the new Oregon Scientific ATC Chameleon, syncrhonized video with two channels/angles in a single stream is quick and easy. This camera is unique in that it features dual lenses, shooting two views to a single stream that may be displayed either side by side or over/under. This allows not only for POV, but reactions to the POV. The large button allows even the most thick mitten or glove to turn on/off the camera. Powering up the camera also starts record mode.
...Read More »
Ensworth High School Video Board Lights Up the Night with ATEM 1 M/E Production Switcher
Ensworth High School's football team is in for a challenging autumn. The Nashville, TN Ensworth Tigers, led by coach Ricky Bowers, are heavily favored to win their third consecutive D-II Private School State Championship. Luckily for the Tigers, they have no shortage of die hard fans in their stadium as well as around the country, and this year the cheers will be intensely magnified thanks to the very generous donation of a video board and the installation of a completely HD broadcast workflow from Blackmagic Design.
...Read More »
Render the Fat in Final Cut Pro X By Diana Weynand, James Alguire and RevUpTansmedia
Render files are the video files that Final Cut Pro creates when you make adjustments to your video clips. Add a filter or transition, crop the image change the clip's speed, and Final Cut Pro has to create brand new video files using your original media and applying the changes. When the video is played in the project timeline, the render files are played in place of the original video clips, where you have added effects. But what do you do if the render files become corrupt? Or when projects are completed and you want to back them up without the render files?
...Read More »
It's Hell on Wheels at FuseFX
The second season of Hell on Wheels continued its epic story of post-Civil War America, focusing on Cullen Bohannon, a former Confederate soldier, and his dramatic journey west as he struggles to leave his past behind. The building of the transcontinental railroad serves as the backdrop to the entire series. The scope and challenges of the expanding railroad were critical to the storytelling and couldn't be achieved without the resourceful use of visual effects provided by FuseFX. At the center of the traveling town are the trains. Production built full scale replicas of the period trains and laid down a few hundred feet of track to support tight shots and moments when the train isn't moving. But almost all shots showing wider perspectives and moving trains was achieved with CG models of trains and railroad tracks composited into live action backgrounds.
...Read More »
Coca-Cola's 2012 Euro Cup "Spirit of the Euro" Commercial Rockets to Life with DaVinci Resolve
Coca-Cola's 2012 Euro Cup "Spirit of the Euro" commercial is an animated wild ride that captures the excitement, fun and craziness of the soccer tournament and its fans. In the spot, a very passionate fan zooms through the sky in a Coca-Cola powered soccer boot, releasing soccer ball bubbles in its wake that turn all they touch into deliriously enthusiastic soccer fans. Produced by Portland, Oregon based BENT IMAGE LAB and directed by Carlos Lascano, "Spirit of the Euro" is a highly creative and exciting commercial that required equally intense and vibrant color to bring it to life, which was achieved thanks to Jalal Jemison, BENT's lead colorist, and Blackmagic Design's DaVinci Resolve color correction software.
...Read More »
Electronic News Gathering In The Real World By David Hague
While Ben is a true news gathering video journalist, I was more interested in trying to tell a story. Those that know me know of my passion for motoring safety - I have been on various committees and bodies to promote this very thing over the years. We have all seen footage of accidents on TV, probably go tut tut, how sad, but I can tell you, until you have actually been on the scene, there is no describing what you don't just see, but feel as well.
...Read More »
AJA Ki Pro Finishes First for Digital Garage
Formula 1 (F1) Drivers Lewis Hamilton, Bruno Senna and Heikki Kovalainen recently took to the race track, except this time, the race was digital. Codemasters, developer of the new F1 2012 video game, brought the drivers together for a promotional event during the Italian Grand Prix, where they raced on a digital track using Sony PS3 consoles. The BBC was onsite to record live action footage of the event, while UK reseller & systems integrator Digital Garage Group Ltd. used AJA Ki Pro digital video recorders to capture gameplay from the developer versions of the game consoles. All footage was edited and used to create a BBC segment that aired during the Singapore Grand Prix.
...Read More »
Beautiful Berlin turned depressing for Korean spy thriller
As the capital of Germany, Berlin is a beautiful city with both modern infrastructures and sites of historic interest, but as the setting for 'The Berlin File', a 2013 South Korean spy thriller written and directed by Korean action auteur Ryu Seung-wan and starring Korea's top actors including Ha Jung-woo, Han Suk-kyu, Ryu Seung-bum and Jun Ji-hyun against each other in the twisty tale of political intrigue and personal redemption, Berlin has to be unpleasant enough. With a strong opening in box office, the action blockbuster attracted 7 million admissions in early 2013 to become the all-time highest-grossing Korean action film and the critics applauded its "secretive and gloomy atmosphere", which contributed to the film's great success. The magic that turned Berlin from a beautiful city to a gloomy cold place was performed by colorist Park Jin-Young with CJ Powercast with her 8 GPU Linux based DaVinci Resolve.
...Read More »
Content Insider #279 - NAB 2013 Wrap
Every time I come away from a big show I have to give myself a reality check and recall it was only a few years ago I waxed on and on about 3D TV and netbooks. Saw where that went right? Right. But NAB this year was freakin awesome. Cameras are getting to the point that any indie can afford them. The industry fatcat days are gone and they ain't coming back so the people who will survive are working harder/smarter. Broadcast folks welcomed the telcos in with forced smiles and there were some who weren't happy with competition at all. But with all the 4K-8K content it is still all about storage and that cute thing called "the cloud." We'll tie up all the loose ends...next week.
...Read More »
FlyingS3D sets Le Crazy Horse on Fire with Pablo
FlyingS3D opened its doors early in 2010 as France's first dedicated stereoscopic 3D post production facility. FlyingS3D is the brainchild of managing director Audrey Bourdiol, who had spent her career up until then looking after the technical side of one of France's largest post houses. With already more than 30 major S3D projects under its belt, in 2012 FlyingS3D won the full post production for 'Feu' (Fire) - a 3D film by Le Crazy Horse - one of its most ambitious projects to date. Le Crazy Horse cabaret was founded in 1951 by the avant-garde artist Alain Bernardin and has delivered its own special brand of glamour entertainment to millions of men and women for more than sixty years. 'Feu' is designed to bring Le Crazy experience to cinema audiences worldwide; 3D was "the natural choice" to achieve this aim, says Audrey Bourdiol.
...Read More »
Q&A with Sorenson Media CEO Peter Csathy on Partnership with Sony Creative Software
Sorenson Media and Sony Creative Software have formed a new partnership to offer the Sorenson Squeeze video encoding software to video professionals through the Sony Online Store. With this offering, video professionals will benefit from combined workflow capabilities of Squeeze and Sony Vegas Pro, including access to Squeeze 8.5?s professional features.
...Read More »
Preserving Groningen's History through Film
Cultural heritage is a community's legacy. Something we live with today, and what society will eventually pass on to future generations. Acting as custodians of the past, archive centers around the world are tasked with not only storing content, but also making it accessible. Groningen Audio Visueel Archief (GAVA) is one such facility in the Netherlands responsible for looking after more than 24,000 audiovisual items relating to the region of Groningen, which are kept on formats varying from nitrate film base to digibeta. Founded in 1992 as the second regional AV archive in the Netherlands, GAVA specializes in cataloging and preserving sound and video programs about the province of Groningen, as well as productions created by residents from Groningen. In addition to acting as a repository, the center is also tasked with making all of its archived footage available to broadcasters, artists, museum organizations and businesses online.
...Read More »
Right on Schedule with The Delivery Men and DaVinci Resolve 9 for Andy Roddick Foundation
The Andy Roddick Foundation (AFR) believes talent is universal but opportunity is not, which is why the nonprofit's goal is to provide all children with a support system that gives them hope for a brighter future. To achieve this goal, ARF has raised more than $10 million since inception to fund programs improving the daily lives of thousands of children. While ARF runs and supports programs that enhance educational and economic opportunities for thousands of children throughout the United States, the nonprofit is headquartered in the city Andy Roddick calls home: Austin, Texas. To help increase awareness and support for its local initiatives, AFR turned to Austin based production company The Delivery Men to create the "This Is" promotional film for its 2012 Andy Roddick Foundation Gala in Austin.
...Read More »
Sweet Sadie Helps Disney Theatrical Productions Commemorate "The Lion King's" 15th Anniversary
A call was heard in New York that echoed around the world" was the emotional theme of a video produced by Sweet Sadie, Inc. for Disney Theatrical Productions commemorating the 15th anniversary of "The Lion King's" debut on Broadway. Disney provided the studio with a massive trove of stills and videos tracing the far-flung 15-year history of the show from which to draw. Employing After Effects, the Sweet Sadie team set about to bring this material to life by animating cast and crew images against new backgrounds, such as show set photography and crowd scenes complete with flash bulbs popping. 2.5D techniques were used to "cut out" foregrounds from backgrounds to stunning effect.
...Read More »
Mark Syncs the Spot
One of the most missed features of legacy Final Cut Pro is persistent in and out marks. That is to say, once in and out marks are set in a clip, they remain exactly where they are, as a part of the clip, until explicitly changed or removed. Unfortunately, this arguably essential feature for digital video editing did not make it into Final Cut Pro X. If you set in and out points on a clip then deselect that clip and reselect it, the in and out marks are gone. While it is true that you can use ratings, like Favorites, in FCPX to create persistent clip selections, in and out points have valuable uses beyond just marking a usable portion of a video clip.
...Read More »
The Art of the Trailer: Two Years in 30 Seconds
The trailer plays a major role in the marketing and ultimate success of a feature motion picture. This on-screen advertisement is so engrained in popular culture that most of the time it is taken for granted by movie goers. But industry marketing veterans know the trailer is the first and last chance to create a lasting impression on an audience. Most trailers range in length between 30 seconds and two minutes. It's within that short time span that the viewer will pick up on hundreds of cues about the movie. In the blink of an eye he will determine the genre, the gist of the story, the aesthetic and level of production. By the end of the trailer the viewer might well determine the fate of the movie. Is it a must-see or to-be-avoided?
...Read More »
DaVinci Resolve Provides Color Correction for Short Horror Film 'Dead Man's Lake'
When colorist Patrick Inhofer was first contacted by the filmmakers for the short film horror anthology website BloodyCuts.co.uk, he knew right away that he wanted to be involved. The Bloody Cuts team shares a love and passion for horror films and has presented the anthology online as a free web series. As an accomplished colorist, and the founder of the website Tao of Color Grading.com, Patrick realized that he could put his professional skills to work, both by grading their films and by using them to teach aspiring colorists how to grade using the latest developments in color correction.
...Read More »
Torpedoed by Subtitles
A video or film project's titles provide crucial information to the viewer, whether it's the opening and closing credits identifying a video or film, the principals involved (the talent and production crew), or lower thirds, the nouns of video, identifying the people, places and things being viewed. Subtitles play a significant role, particularly in editorial or documentary work, in a number of ways. Subtitles make clear, speech or dialog that is difficult to hear or understand, as when people mumble or use unfamiliar dialects; provide language translations for viewers to better understand dialog in foreign languages, especially if the video is produced in a language not native to the viewer; and to make your film or video more accessible to viewers with hearing impairments.
...Read More »
Transitional Animation
Final Cut Pro X provides a number of interesting ways to animate video elements in the Viewer and Timeline to provide complex visual effects. But do you know how to create quick and simple animations just by using transitions? The beauty of this technique is its simplicity. No complex motion paths to adjust, no messing about with untold keyframes, just add a transition and set the timing and you're off to the next project.
...Read More »
Seattle Children's Hospital Upgrades its Auditorium From Analog to Digital
Consistently ranked as one of the best children's hospitals in the country, Seattle Children's is a 254 bed hospital that has been delivering patient care and advancing new treatments through pediatric research for more than 100 years. Located in the Giraffe wing of Children's, the Wright Auditorium is a vital part of the hospital's infrastructure. It holds numerous staff trainings, medical lectures and patient/family education events throughout the year, which means it must always be ready for the next event, be it a simple PowerPoint presentation or a multi site videoconferencing and video recording event. In March of 2012, the hospital's A/V department decided to upgrade the video system in the 266 seat auditorium. The department, which consists of 5 staff members and which supports more than 100 meeting rooms across eight office buildings and multiple regional clinics, knew this might not be an easy task.
...Read More »
EYES IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD.....
With the new Oregon Scientific ATC Chameleon, syncrhonized video with two channels/angles in a single stream is quick and easy. This camera is unique in that it features dual lenses, shooting two views to a single stream that may be displayed either side by side or over/under. This allows not only for POV, but reactions to the POV. The large button allows even the most thick mitten or glove to turn on/off the camera. Powering up the camera also starts record mode.
...Read More »
Ensworth High School Video Board Lights Up the Night with ATEM 1 M/E Production Switcher
Ensworth High School's football team is in for a challenging autumn. The Nashville, TN Ensworth Tigers, led by coach Ricky Bowers, are heavily favored to win their third consecutive D-II Private School State Championship. Luckily for the Tigers, they have no shortage of die hard fans in their stadium as well as around the country, and this year the cheers will be intensely magnified thanks to the very generous donation of a video board and the installation of a completely HD broadcast workflow from Blackmagic Design.
...Read More »
Render the Fat in Final Cut Pro X
Render files are the video files that Final Cut Pro creates when you make adjustments to your video clips. Add a filter or transition, crop the image change the clip's speed, and Final Cut Pro has to create brand new video files using your original media and applying the changes. When the video is played in the project timeline, the render files are played in place of the original video clips, where you have added effects. But what do you do if the render files become corrupt? Or when projects are completed and you want to back them up without the render files?
...Read More »
It's Hell on Wheels at FuseFX
The second season of Hell on Wheels continued its epic story of post-Civil War America, focusing on Cullen Bohannon, a former Confederate soldier, and his dramatic journey west as he struggles to leave his past behind. The building of the transcontinental railroad serves as the backdrop to the entire series. The scope and challenges of the expanding railroad were critical to the storytelling and couldn't be achieved without the resourceful use of visual effects provided by FuseFX. At the center of the traveling town are the trains. Production built full scale replicas of the period trains and laid down a few hundred feet of track to support tight shots and moments when the train isn't moving. But almost all shots showing wider perspectives and moving trains was achieved with CG models of trains and railroad tracks composited into live action backgrounds.
...Read More »
Coca-Cola's 2012 Euro Cup "Spirit of the Euro" Commercial Rockets to Life with DaVinci Resolve
Coca-Cola's 2012 Euro Cup "Spirit of the Euro" commercial is an animated wild ride that captures the excitement, fun and craziness of the soccer tournament and its fans. In the spot, a very passionate fan zooms through the sky in a Coca-Cola powered soccer boot, releasing soccer ball bubbles in its wake that turn all they touch into deliriously enthusiastic soccer fans. Produced by Portland, Oregon based BENT IMAGE LAB and directed by Carlos Lascano, "Spirit of the Euro" is a highly creative and exciting commercial that required equally intense and vibrant color to bring it to life, which was achieved thanks to Jalal Jemison, BENT's lead colorist, and Blackmagic Design's DaVinci Resolve color correction software.
...Read More »
Electronic News Gathering In The Real World
While Ben is a true news gathering video journalist, I was more interested in trying to tell a story. Those that know me know of my passion for motoring safety - I have been on various committees and bodies to promote this very thing over the years. We have all seen footage of accidents on TV, probably go tut tut, how sad, but I can tell you, until you have actually been on the scene, there is no describing what you don't just see, but feel as well.
...Read More »
AJA Ki Pro Finishes First for Digital Garage
Formula 1 (F1) Drivers Lewis Hamilton, Bruno Senna and Heikki Kovalainen recently took to the race track, except this time, the race was digital. Codemasters, developer of the new F1 2012 video game, brought the drivers together for a promotional event during the Italian Grand Prix, where they raced on a digital track using Sony PS3 consoles. The BBC was onsite to record live action footage of the event, while UK reseller & systems integrator Digital Garage Group Ltd. used AJA Ki Pro digital video recorders to capture gameplay from the developer versions of the game consoles. All footage was edited and used to create a BBC segment that aired during the Singapore Grand Prix.
...Read More »
