Ligthelm

[Fo'tis'ma] - Score and Sound Design

2011-08-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

My initial idea with score always gets changed and tweaked as I move along with the editing/finessing process.

Here are some films that inspired me on the score and sound side of things:

Always a favorite on every level:

Current Favorite - Mischa Rozerma is a genius!:

Just a bit of context on the scoring side of things: I was asked to work on another project and had very specific guidelines in terms of audio cues over specific sections of time. I was so eager to work on the project that I decided to work on this score even before there was sign off on the pitch. I finished the score in a day or two and send it to the boys Khalid and Jonathan at Next Level Pictures who I was going to work with on the spot. They loved the track but was informed that the pitch did not go through - I was bummed but immediately knew that the track could work for the [Fo'tis'ma] project that I had coming up.

People often ask how do I start a project. The simple answer; score. Before I even get thinking about the visuals - I work on getting the RIGHT score. I think its important to note here that my pieces have all been largely 'experimental/artistic/abstract' which helps when considering audio first. If I was working on a longer-form narrative piece I'd probably focus on story/edit first and then work the audio soon in after.

So I guess if I were to jot down my workflow, from concept to completion it would be something like this:

1. NOTEBOOK - Brainstorm Ideas
2. Search for Audio/Visual References [I do this all the time - not only when I'm working on projects]
3. Start scoring
4. Start editing to the score
5. Add visual effects/comps
6. Do VO [if required]
7. Add sound effects
8. NOTEBOOK - Write down revisions and things to tweak
9. Make revisions and Tweaks
10.Deliver

My biggest Advice would be to focus on getting the part that tells the 'story' the clearest/strongest.

For [Fo'tis'ma] this would be the VO look at the processing happening on that channel. The thing that really helps the VO is the growl/noise/distortion that I've added - giving the VO a little bit more of a punch - making it SLIGHTLY dirtier and grittier - It ALWAYS helps with giving the performance a little more character

Check the screengrab with the 'Trash plug in below'...the other grab is just to give an idea of how many tracks I'm using for the score/SFX and VO - typically if the project is big I'll have different sessions for each step. I'll start with the score - Import the final score track into a new [SFX/VO] session and then record the corresponding VO/SFX

Hope this helps

[Fo'tis'ma] - The process

2011-08-08T23:27:00.000-07:00

It is strange how much I love doing this! There is not always enough time to blog but when I do get the moment in between renders - I love it!

I thought I'd do a quick post on what happened in the process of making [Fo'tis'ma]

I remember reading Matthew 5:16 a while back thinking, 'its amazing that GOOD WORKS, in this context is not for the direct pleasure of God - it is because it draws others in to glorify him that is brings him pleasure - bringing grace right back to the centre of my understanding of how God relates to us [a very freeing thought].

I wanted to explore the concept of light as well, as its very central to that passage and also others - 1 Thess 5vs5 - from which I also pulled ideas from. It is also key to what I do - film, photography etc.

Furthermore I wanted to explore the concepts of revolution/reform/anti-establishment etc etc, but turn it on its head by showing an seemingly malicious character doing 'good' [for lack of a better term].

Thanks to Glenn Stewart, Dan Difelice, Warren Eltringham, Franzwa Roux, Luke Atencio, and Emile Freeman who all had hand in helping with some of the elements in here!

I think what was the hardest part was getting the script right - there were so many themes to pull together! Here's what that process looked like for me:

Here are some screengrabs of the ungraded/untreated footage.

Furthermore here are some images that inspired much of the work:

And here are the final Graded/Comped frames:

Transition

2011-07-28T06:47:00.000-07:00

I've been so slack in putting something on the blog - to those who follow - I sincerely apologize. Life just got a little crazier than normal - not unexpectedly so, but crazy still.

My wife and I are in the process of moving to Sydney, Australia - love that we're going, just hoping the going gets going; we've been stuck in South Africa, a 'holiday' which should have taken 3 weeks - we are still here 6 weeks later - no visas (and no indication of when they would come). Needless to say - I've got a bit of time on my hands (not loads - because I have been working hard on projects). I can blog while I wait for renders, and while I wait for files to upload to clients in the States. It sounds glamorous - but it is not.

This is me right now: I am sitting as straight as I can because I have a massive back-ache - this due to the fact that I have been sitting on a couch for 4 hrs already, not out of choice as this coffee shop I am currently at doesn't have any free 'normal seats' - I need the normal seats so I can use my computer like a normal person. I have to be at THIS coffee shop (Motherland Coffeeshop in Rosebank, Jo'burg - I do recommend them) because they have the 'fastest' (about 40kbps) interwebs connection. I can't upload from home because there's only a slow, capped internet connection - it would be capped in a few hours if I were to do all this stuff at home. Alas - Motherland Coffee it is - it HAS to be.

God is good tho! We expected our visas to pull through by the 1st of July, obviously that didn't happen. Soon after we realized we might be here for a while, I received an email asking whether I'd be available to help out on a certain project in the States. The concept sounded awesome - so I agreed. I am currently working on it - and its gonna be rad!

Below are screengrabs of another project I have been intensely working on over the last 2 weeks or so [among a few others] while in limbo here in SA. I have had the privilege of working with some awesome people on this project and some others. There are a few projects coming! Check back soon!

Stoked to be 'working' - sad its not at Hillsong yet!

S

Technicolor Tests

2011-05-02T23:16:00.000-07:00

I wanted to test out the new Technicolor Cinestyle Canon Picture Profile for myself.

Here are my findings:

The raw [not RAW] Cinestyle image is VERY flat - ugly flat to be honest - but somehow I still like it - feels quite vintage! But it seems to have a bit more noise than the normal Picture Profiles - I might be wrong.

Image seems quite gradable - there's a lot of info that you can pull out - but as my friend Matt Fezz has mentioned - the images might start falling apart due to its existence in the 8-bit realm

Silent Transitions Color Grading

2011-04-11T21:19:00.000-07:00

I have had a few mails and inquiries about the color grading workflow for Silent Transitions. So without going into too much detail - here are a few screenshots for comparison and a few detail shots in what I did in Magic Bullet.

As to the question, 'why grade so starkly?'

- There's not too much psychology behind it, except to say that if visuals [grading included] and music can engage people's emotions and stir them in the faith/to faith then we've done what we've called to do...

Part of the stark grading and scoring has to do with setting the scene for a mood of unrest/noise/unsettledness etc.

Standard workflow involves:

1. Import the edit from FCP into AE via a script called Popcorn Island.
2. Level all the clips to make sure tonally they all match [do this using the standard AE color grading tools: curves and exposure tools especially]
3. Create a blanket grade using an adjustment layer over all the edits [for a particular sequence - depending on the tone of the sequence]
4. Tweak each cut to fit the tone of the sequence but to stand on its own too

I will go into greater detail in upcoming pieces

Midnight madness

2011-02-08T15:20:00.000-08:00

I went to bed at 6pm tonight - thinking I'll nap for 2 hrs and then wake up - have dinner and work on some music and pre-prod for a church little docu. I have to shoot this weekend. 6hrs later I wake up - MIDNIGHT. Not going to get going the music now - but thought I'd work on a few grade options for the coming piece - well if not for that - then just play and come up with some grades which can be used at a later stage. These were all grades inspired by tones which I picked up from a cheesy music video [grade and cinematography is gorgeous tho]......not going to tell who the artist is....no

I used some frames from ST which were not in the short to test here
If you have any preference let me know - would love to hear your thoughts

These are the grades [Telecine: James Bramford] that inspired my grades below.. [skip past the first 5 for mine]

Silent Transition - The Progression of the Concept

2011-01-28T13:22:00.001-08:00

There are kids downstairs and I think they're folks have left, and I'm about to pull my hair out. To give you an idea its 1:30 AM and I can feel the vibrations of their thumping sub shaking the couch as I type this. Ridiculous!

Anyway - on to the details of the execution of 'Silent Transitions'.

Silent Transitions was a concept revolving around the idea that believers are called to 'be still and know that I [He] am God' and it is this concept that initially got me thinking about how I can communicate the idea with some footage I already had. I had shot some stuff in New York in June and really wanted to put it to use - but after playing for a while with the NYC footage - it just felt too 'bitsy' and I needed to start fresh. ST was actually all birthed out of a single frame which I saw on someone's reel - I really liked the frame and wanted to explore how I could interpret it in my own expression: This was the frame - from Danny Yount's [Prologue] reel

So here is the progression of the piece:

- felt the phrase 'Silent Transitions' come up in my heart - with reference to psalm 46vs10
- started playing with NYC footage:

- on the way to Jerusalem - wrote the score for ST during a 14hr transit
- got back to Dubai the next day - thought about using slomo/twixtor doing massive jumps around the city
- tested jumps the next day with keying etc - it worked!
- went around Dubai the following day - shot jumps in morning and late afternoon [before and after work]
- left for SA the following day - starting messing with keying and sky replacements
- realized the NYC footage wasn't going to work
- got back to Dubai 3 weeks later...not having done much on ST as there was wedding photo jobs to be done
- played around with some grades that I based off another video
- asked my mate franzwa to act for me - he did
- edited/graded the rest
- asked luke to do the VO [I wanted the mood from the nike 'addicted' ad] - he rocked it I thought

- Mixed the SFX/VO/Score
- Merged Video from AE with audio from PT in FCP

This took me about a month to do - as I was shooting and editing before/after working hours and over weekends. If there are any questions - feel free to pop them my way.

Here are some shots to show concept progression [random]

I hope you get a glimpse into creatively how things develop for me.

I will write some more on color and twixtor and what-not when I get the chance - but for now - I'm going to bed [the noise downstairs have settled and I can now sleep in peace] - adios!

S

Tasty Treats from Nike

2011-01-22T17:28:00.000-08:00

Here is another quick-post on some of some pieces that have inspired me of late and in the past

This Nike ad is my favorite ad ever. I love the emotional quotient of narration and the visuals. The grade is crazy good too!

Also this Nike add kills it. Funny - I tried forever to find these on youtube/vimeo....saw them at the cinemas but could never find the right tag words to locate them again. Couldn't remember whether they were Nike/Reebok/Adidas. After months of searching I finally found them!

I am currently working on a piece that will have somewhat of a feel of these shorts. Gonna try push Twixtor to the limit

Grading a Wedding

2011-01-10T11:48:00.000-08:00

I'm just posting this for those who enjoy seeing before and afters....I know I do. please throw me some comments and I'll try and see how I can reply or help out

Just Playing

2011-01-07T20:49:00.001-08:00

Strike while the iron is hot!

2011-01-07T10:30:00.000-08:00

So I just finished watching Spy Game with my wife and felt so inspired by the grade and visuals that I thought I would quickly try and put a little impromptu grade together! Thus the fruit of my labor!

what we draw from

2010-12-29T01:07:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a lot about what it is that drives me creatively!
Its never just one stream of creativity [audio, video, design, fine art] but often its the summation of all, the input of a frequent element that keeps me trying, pushing into something slightly different. I'll admit I'm not very good at doing all things. I don't function well when asked to do 'funny', I'm not technically savvy enough to render out a 3D anything.

I tend to think a lot around a concept! I try to find tangential possibilities, exploit them and then move on to the next element which I can incorporate into a film/score idea etc.

Here are some elements that have inspired me of late:

A4V32 Behind the Scenes

2010-11-28T08:09:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I was asked to think about an approach for a video for a ministry at my local church. I had so many ideas going around in my head - many of them uber-serious. Then one day while I went for a run, and came up with an idea revolving around 'generosity' in terms of a Robin Hood narrative. We all know the story - steal from the rich, give to the poor. I wanted to put a slight spin on it - and turn the concept up on its head - approach it with a 'what not to do' attitude. Anyway, after spending a day working on the music and doing some test shots with my wife, I thought doing the piece in slomo with some time-remapping COULD be sick. Every project has a 'this could totally fall flat on its face' element to it. The thought 'I don't know whether I'd be able to pull it together' always runs through my mind with every project. Because at the end of the day its all about the message, the narrative and 'dynamics'. I love dynamics - I love it in music, I love it in movement, I love it in color. It drives things, strips things back, creates tension, evoke emotions and induces expectation

The first pic is a shot I really wanted in the piece, but there wasn't enough time to make space for the shot.

I'd break some of the process of creating this piece down

Shooting:
GEAR:
Camera: Canon 7D
Lenses: Sigma 30mm f1.4 only
Flyer: Glidecam HD1000
Slider: Glidetrack HD 50cm

SHOTS:
Glidetrack on ground - and then when my friend Wes first takes off I just pulled the glidetrack fast to the right. [I shot everything at 60 fps, and then twixtored it down another 50% of the speed, effectively making it 120fps - there is some aliasing but its obscured by the flares]

I shoot at a shutter speed as close to 4000 1/s as possible. To get as little motion blur as possible.

Glidecam shots were very much approached with a 'lets see what we can get' attitude. I wanted some POV shots too, so for those I just walked up to the business boys and shot at 60 fps, they weren't twixtored in post - they were just kept at 60.

Audio:
Audio was composed in Pro Tools in roughly a day - tweaks were made all along the way to get things to sync. Initially I didn't know exactly where the narrative was going, but after starting an initial edit in AE, I knew I needed more audio and a 2nd build for the final 'chase'

Post:

Editing was done in AE completely because I wanted to use twixtor extensively and from what I've heard it doesn't work too well on FCP! I also don't have a program that can carry over effects presets from FCP to AE, Popcorn Island [my FCPtoAE converter] only remembers marker data and cut placements [which is good, but somewhat limiting]

I did 2 sky replacements just to add a bit of mood in the beginning and end - nothing too fancy.

Color:
Coloring is one of my favorite parts of the process and I spend quite a bit of time thinking thru grades. I like to use it as part of the narrative of a piece. Usually I would take some of raw H264 from the camera even as the images are being imported from my camera. I like to get an idea of what I'm going for in the earliest stages of post work [Ideally having an idea of the look - with references - even in the pre-production phase]

For references I usually go to Flickr.com or often I head to prologue.com. Here are a few images that inspired me.

For this piece I wanted to go slightly vintage - indicative of the narrative of 'the Have-not', as the scrolling numbers in the beginning was going to be indicative of 'the Haves' - So I wanted this tension, this contrast, this dynamic element to play into the story.

I like to push the contrast way up in the beginning, and then mess with a secondary , lift-gamma-gain control, or curves control to control the dynamic range of the image [for A4V32 I made it less dynamic - giving it a vintage vibe - with non-black blacks and non white high-lights]

Hope this is helpful to some

Help me out on this one!

2010-11-22T01:20:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more screengrabs for you guys to have a look at. Wanting to decide on a look but pretty torn as to the vibe. I got one shot in the sequence that stands out - couldn't get the dynamic range to fully work - that's why I opted for a slightly vintage looking effect - that way getting the dynamic ranges of all the clips to look similar.

...and this is how I broke it

2010-11-18T22:39:00.000-08:00

Recently I got too excited and too energetic on a film shoot - the outcome - trip, fall, break collarbone. oh and a new project which will be done in a few days.

I went for a low angle shot - [just flipped my newly day-prior-bought glidecam - holding the cam by the weights while the camera dangles at the bottom - knowing i'll flip/flop the image back in AE] and whilst focussing on the action I completely forgot to pay attention to what was happening in front of me. I was running SO fast to try and catch up with Wes- my talent - that I started losing balance. I could feel the inevitable fall was coming for about 3 seconds as I tried to regain balance - but alas I went down, and in an effort to save my camera [which had just been returned to me from the canon repair centre, because it fell out of my bag] I pull the camera and glidecam all the way around to the other shoulder to try and save it from hitting the ground. Subsequently I was in air for a few moments - turning the camera into the air with as much reach as I could get and inevitably plodding my shoulder into the ground, with quite substantial force - Its still fresh in my mind and I wish you were there to see it - must have looked hilarious.

Oh and it was the first shot of the day - had to use my other arm to get thru all the other shots! Whoop

All for the love of it!

BTW - its the top-most bone [shoulder/clavicle/collarbone]on the XRAY it looks snapped - like an A shape - that's the broken bone!

This is Lesley

2010-11-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

In Bahrain visiting my family and its been a hectic day of scoring, planning and what not, but decided to have a break, go for a walk with the wife and take the camera along!Its amazing how inspired one gets when you are removed from the hustle or normal life - the wheels in my head have not stopped turning yet! My wife is an absolute rock star, model and most amazing wife - and yes I forced her to do this shoot with me - because all the shoot-planning was getting to me and I needed to just shoot something/someone....

Had some awesome chats with the pops - which is always good! Its good being with family again!

Experimenting

2010-10-31T12:18:00.000-07:00

Trying my hand at doing a little bit of design - haven't done much at all - but I've got some cool fonts that I have spent a while organizing - So now its time to put them to use. What might follow are just a bunch of random design, using basic techniques - just to learn and experiment!

Anyway I did a bit of stills shooting yesterday by this awesome obscure observatory place - would love to shoot a crazy experimental short here someday - something about aliens and what not!

here you go

I do like twixtor - when it likes me

2010-10-28T06:27:00.000-07:00

I had this idea for a short for church, so I've just been playing with some time-remapping and twixtor within AE [shot at 60 FPS - 4000 shutter speed, and f3.5] to see whether I could get the vibe at all. The background is a little busy so I could only drop the speed to 50 percent - should work tho - or maybe I'll shoot against a not-so-busy background - it should help loads..

my wife helped out with the driving of the car on this one!

The 'Zero-Budget' moto

2010-10-27T00:40:00.000-07:00

I am slightly bored - not for a lack of stuff to do - believe me! But I've been rendering all night, and have been waiting on some files to restore. I can't really do much else as my system is currently overloaded! Now I have to keep myself busy with less CPU intensive activities - blogging!

So I thought 'let me talk thru something that I call "The Zero Budget" Moto.'
People have asked me how much some of my films cost to produce and the simple answer is 'nothing'. I have been extremely fortunate to have been able to work with people who have been willing to act for free - I have used 'throw-away' lights here and there and have sourced the cheapest most inexpensive props I could find - often just stuff that was lying around the house.

Here are a few key things that have helped me in approaching the cheapo'-film-making' process.

1. Time is greater money. [Time=planning=cost-effectiveness]
Time is important especially to the person who is learning - it affords him room to make mistakes, correct the mistakes and then try again, and again, and again. For most of us, we're not seasoned vets - we're just learning!
I've been tremendously blessed working for the church and being afforded the time to conceptualize, dream, plan and then execute and experiment - sure there are deadlines - as there always will be - but its been a very 'free' environment to learn.

2. Know your tools
I don't have high-end equipment, but I try and exploit every resource I have to try and get an image looking solid. Often my own sense of composition lets me down - especially when I see the footage back in post - but sometimes the image I thought wouldn't work while shooting, ends up looking awesome after grading. Having said all that, I know about 10 percent of AE, maybe 40 percent of FCP and 60 percent of Pro Tools, etc etc.

3. Network
I am not your socialite kinda guy - far from it. Ask those closest to me! But, I have found that one of the most valuable things in my 'arsenal of creativity' is having people in on the process - whether it be someone that is keen to act for you because they want to work on their reel, or someone wanting to do VFX for your project because they believe in the story, or maybe there's just someone you can bounce ideas off. Having a network of like-minded people around you is invaluable!

4. Spontaneity
Often you can pull the same stuff off that big budget productions can but you got to be there when the action happens. For instance I can only shoot during the night, at specific locations where the light is good, and in the early morning or late afternoon during golden hour when the light is lowest in contrast and the shadows are nice - when you have a big budget you can shoot at anytime of day or under almost any conditions because you can replicate any condition you want, using lighting and other visual effects techniques.

5. Favor
God makes things happen especially if its on His heart too!

I did Church News last week - here is the before and after - only natural light used - you can see the reflection of the outdoors in my glasses.

WCD no more

2010-10-26T06:07:00.000-07:00

So I was clearing my hard drive to make more space for some material I was working on - and in the process deleted everything from the WCD project! It was coming along nicely and I even got to some final renders, all that needed to be done was a VO and a little bit of editing and tweaking, but alas - now its gone!

Awesome!

WCD 2

2010-10-21T00:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was quite a mad day! Filming church news in the morning, 2 around lunch time, album recording in the afternoon and then doing some filming with friends in the evening - wrapped at 2 am. Today I'm tired! Yet still some editing left to do on Church News

What was really awesome about yesterday tho is that I some awesome DP's thru vimeo - Khalid Mohtaseb and Jonathan Bregel. Check out their work at www.nextlevelpictures.com - its outstanding! Anyway, they told me that they were in town for a few days and wanted to know whether I was working on something that they could possibly help out with so I told them about the WCD project [which will eventually be called something else], - and they jumped on board last night - whipped out their cameras, lenses and lights - and we made a bit of movie magic - mad times!

I've got so much footage for the smallest little clip - might go back into Pro Tools and work the audio to get a bit time out of it!

So here are some still-frames of the shoot

Enjoy

S

WCD

2010-10-19T01:38:00.000-07:00

Okay so its been a while. I've been busy, thanks! And my sister is stealing my blogging thunder - but lets be honest - her writing is far more eloquent than mine. But alas!

I've been shooting a bit here and there on a project that really is going to be something simple - but hopefully powerful. Its the kinda project that needs time to come together, tho it can't linger on for too long otherwise interest is lost.

Anyway, its hard finding time for shoots amidst the craziness of life - which believe it or not, does not just revolve around filming and doing sound design. There is SO much admin to sort out - paying bills, exchanging currency, planning out shoots, contacting people about projects, doing location scouting, raising money, planning events etc, etc, etc. In many respects the execution of a project is like 10 percent of the work, planning is the other 90.

And then there's NORMAL life - being married, having dinner, going to bed. Sometimes I find that these are the things I just don't have time for, and that's just not right!

Life is SO good tho! I have been so stoked about what God has been doing in my life, my wife's life and the course He has set us on. Its challenging - sure! But we're made stronger, sharper, more creative, more administrative, more fashioned for His purpose in and through it all. So needless to say - I am very Very VERY stoked.

Here are a few frame grabs of some of the latest project.

The Last Call BTS

2010-09-13T21:50:00.001-07:00

First off - I am in no way a VFX guy - but I just tried this to see what would happen if I applied myself a little. AE is now a goal - a program to master - or at least understand more adequately.
Don't have much time to write about this today, but thought I'd quickly do a little behind the scenes write up - for the few that have asked to see some of the precess [mr digifrutella!].

I've been listening to fxguide.com's podcasts [http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-vfx-show/id154343840 - listen to #106] and they recently did an interview with the VFX geniuses who worked on Inception - so in comparison - what I did here feels like childs's play. But I felt completely inspired to push things further - visually. A behind the scenes short [http://vimeo.com/13396749] on the sound design of Inception also left me feeling syched to push things further sonically.

In the above shots I added lens flares [VCPLT's Optical Flares] and sky replacements. I used it to push the mood a little more towards ominous/urgent - storm-like.
I also heavily graded the footage and added grads to the sky.

Its very basic - I used techniques that I found on Andrew Cramer's videocopilot.net. And for the heart rate monitor graphic - I used a technique which I found from some obscure website - only half the tutorial would load - so I kept the graphic VERY basic [I could've added some grids and stuff - but even just the graphic felt like it could have been too much - but I needed some visual there in indicate 'life']

Thanks again to Dan DiFelice for all the input - you insane bra!

Four Hundred Years BTS

2010-09-09T03:05:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd quickly throw this out there.

A few weeks back I was given the task of coming up with a little film around The Word of God - for a course our church is running in October. I had an initial idea of what I wanted to do - but when I started shooting - around our home, it just didn't seem to work.
The idea of 'Heaven was silent for 400 years' - a historical fact - jumped out at me as I was chatting to my wife about my frustrations of trying to shoot the initial idea. She then came up with the idea of having the Bible come together in mid air - and we started thinking about how we were going to go about filming it. Initial thoughts were having only 1 continuous shot - but when I started working on the score it became clear that I was going to need a lot more footage. Thus, when it came to shooting we had to make sure we got the action from various angles. I shot it at 60fps and quite a high shutter speed [so that we could slow it down even further in Twixtor]. It was probably 7 am in the morning and the sun wasn't casting ugly shadows - that helped when it came to sky replacements too.

The shoot took about 2 hrs, and post pro and audio probably 6 full days [12-14 hrs per day].

The sky replacements were only done in the first part of the film so as to help set the mood - create tension - echoing the line '...holding fast to the hope, that one day, the silent skies will break open.'

This is brief, but if there are any questions - throw it out.

S

On being 'technical' or rather 'non-technical'

2010-09-05T22:45:00.000-07:00

I have this strange dilemma - I'm not at all technical. I wish sometimes I was better organized with my Final Cut Pro Sessions, could navigate more easily through my AE sessions, or could keep track of my latest bounced track in Pro Tools. Reality is - I work in the midst of chaos - [except when things get lost and I really can't find them again].

I reckon this will change soon tho I as have more work piling up and greater opportunity for collaborating - I am slowly but surely trying to make the creative process a tad more organized - but it's a battle!

I really don't know how to do much in any of the programs I use
Here are some of the things I struggle with in the 'creative' process [maybe it encourages others to just got for it, in-spite of what they do or don't know]

1. I don't know how to use the render-Que in After Effects [I always just export]
2. I don't know how to read music.
3. I don't really know how to master music - but use Izotope Ozone 3 until things sound good or I can't hear clips anymore
4. I don't fully understand mattes in After Effects
5. I use bits of tutorials to help me amalgamate ideas into a concept/execution
6. English is not my first language.

Despite all the above-mentioned I still get the 'work' done. Partly because there are things that I have learned - skills that I have developed. I think the key to seeing a concept go from stupid to amazing is linked to how much time your willing to invest in it. Obviously the idea needs to at least have some life - but the execution needs to take time. Its important to labor over an idea - take a break - then look or listen to it again - work some more - take a break - then look and listen some more.

I honestly feel like I don't know too much, but at the same time I also feel that there's nothing that can NOT be done - Its all about collaborating and having people around that can sharpen you or that can do the things you can't do - its about working in team and allowing your self time and space to be objective.

Second of Many

2010-09-03T00:41:00.000-07:00

This is going to be the 2nd of many 'choose-the-look' posts. The idea is to get input from other people - especially other creatives - so as to lock in on a 'look' that would serve the heart of the story/truth the best. I do have my wife and she is brutally honest with me about most of the audio/editing/pacing issues - but this is something that could be way more collaborative - and I really benefit from the input.

The reality of living in the middle east and working for a church, is that its very easy to become isolated. Isolation is no good! It kills creativity.

Its awesome having a mate like Franzwa in the church office who can help out and give perspective too. He's our graphic designer at church. He just bought a 550D and and it was sick having him out shooting with us.

Here are a few stills from the clip i've been working on.- Keep the theme 'for 400 years Heaven was quiet' - [Desolation] in mind. This is being played along with 'The Last Call' clip for the first time today - so thematically they kinda work together.

Again I've got an idea for which grade or 'look' to go for - but I wanted some more input. I had an initial idea [even started shooting some stuff for it] for this but scrapped it on Sunday while I was chatting to my wife in the car - I was telling her what I had already shot and what I was envisioning for it - when while in mid thought - this idea came to me....Sorry you're going to have to wait for it - because vimeo won't let me load up any more videos as i've used up my limit for the week with 'Last Call'

The video is done and is being shown today at church but i did a very strong contrast render seeing that the projects at church are poor. I'll do a more vintage render for the website I reckon

This was done as to promo a course our church is running in a study of the Word Of God. Again - I could have made a 30 second little mograph piece, but I wanted a little 'story' to drive the message home - its my natural affinity [I'm trying to develop an understanding of mograph and 3D but haven't had time to give it due attention]. If I had better mograph skills like friends of mine Dan DiFelice and Glenn Stewart, I'd put them to use here - but alas - I don't know Cinema4D and I have not had too much experience in the area of motionography. For now, I'd rather stick to audio and 'cinematography' and then hope for the best.

I did more but I reckon these are my favorites

So which one?

Picture 1. Bluetone
Picture 2. Vintage Purple
Picture 3. Church Hi-Contrast
Picture 4. Vintage Green

Cause/Relationship

2010-08-27T00:20:00.000-07:00

I have been very busy over the last 2 weeks or so working on this project. Here are a few more screengrabs....I'm not going to talk to much on the technicalities behind its production [will do so at a later stage]...but here is my heart behind its concept and creation - aside from it being used for an event called HGHF - a great outreach tool.

For a long time I have been thinking about why God wants us here on the earth - post salvation. Why, if we can never lose our salvation, does Satan still try to rob from us [with sickness, death, discouragement etc] - when the outcome of our lives - our destiny, is already determined and set in place?

Why does Satan even bother when we are set for Heaven? What is it that he is trying to do, if he cannot steal our salvation? [The question of 'can you lose your salvation' - is not discussed here - but I believe once you've seen and tasted [for real] the goodness of God - its impossible to deny or forgo His Grace]

I think the answer to both these questions lie in the fact that God has us here on the earth for the purpose of living lives with the intentionality, actually the pro activity of loving the lost unto salvation. And it is for this very reason that Satan comes against us - in order to render us ineffective - to stop or halt the growth of the Kingdom.

Over the last few months I have watched how 'religion'- largely Christian and Muslim have done despicable things in the name of a 'cause'...

I mean look at this - http://blogs.sacbee.com/photos/2010/08/nyc-mosque-protests.html

But as 'the Redeemed' we don't merely live for a 'cause' - we don't sell out to an organization - we are not merely warriors. But we are a bride, a family, a household and much more.

Its hard holding these truths in tension sometimes. For instance what do you do with the verse 'From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. - Matthew 11vs12

Do you take it it in a literal sense? - e.g. Christians protesting against gay marriage, or against the Mosque in NYC etc] ...by the way I'm not supportive of the Mosque either but I don't know whether the love of Christ was evident in those protests.
Or is it a movement in the hearts of man, away from passivity and towards action - loving people with a love that Christ had for people. A love that is forceful - intentional, violent and real. But how can love be forceful or violent?.... In the same way that Jesus loved people. He went to the cross - he did the extreme - he died in violent love, and rose in violent love. I read this about a week ago [http://www.barr-family.com/godsword/crucmed.htm] and felt what I think was God's heart for the unloved, the broken and unsaved....

We have to live relationally and not cause-based.

I saw this trailer and also wondered whether most Christians work themselves into 'Preach the Gospel' frenzy and totally forget about Jesus and the way He loves people.
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/holywars/

Jesus didn't raise his fists, throw a protest or anything the like. His way was love. He loved Zacchues, the tax collector, and spent time in his home. He loved the woman at the well who had the countless husbands, and told her about 'true worship'... His way was love.

The only time we really see Jesus angry was when the people were dishonoring his Father's house [the temple] - He did what any person would do if someone trashed their dad's house. I know I would

I am praying for Christ's love to rule in this heart - but the only way that it can be real is to go back to the Cross, time and time again.

Audio

2010-08-17T08:15:00.000-07:00

Recording Score from Salomon on Vimeo.

Here is a little inside view of what goes on in the audio department [my studio at home] on some of the church videos. This is for a new project.

Sorry the sound is not great but my external sound recorder failed on me and I was not going to do it again.

The song has progressed way further from this

For the curious, I use:

Pro Tools for editing
FM8 for sounds
Massive for sounds
Absynth 4 for sounds
Miroslav Philharmonik for strings and horns
Stylus RMX for the percussion and beats

Password is welloflife

later

Grading Stills

2010-08-16T13:45:00.001-07:00

I write this not because I think I'm pro - but because people have wanted to know how I go about grading still. Glenn Stewart from Mindscape films and Rob Chiu are true masters of the craft. If you haven't heard of them - check them out here.

Rob Chiu: http://flickr.com/photos/theronin/ and http://vimeo.com/robchiu/videos
Glenn Stewart: http://vimeo.com/mindscape/videos, www.kozu.tv

Process: [I use Lightroom 3 - would love to know how to fully use photoshop for grading photos]

1. Compensate the white balance by adjusting the color temperatures at the top right of the Lightroom interface
2. Adjust Global Exposure
3. Adjust the saturation - bring it down usually - adjust the fill light and all that jazz
4. Adjust the contrast, black levels etc.
5. Do localized corrections

These are the two important elements that largely determines the feel of the photo for me:
6: Adjusting the split-toning sliders
7: Adjusting the tone curve.

The 2 above mentioned elements are extremely powerful for creating color 'Looks'

To go 'BlockBuster': I usually have desaturated images, very contrasted, blue shadows[by using split toning - but keeping the balance value all the way to the right - meaning more of the highlights get affected than the shadows], highlights yellowish and the tone curve normal

To go 'Vintage': I have the same basic settings as above except the contrast is low, the shadows are purple or brownish - the highlights must be yellow or greenish. And the Tone Curve should have the lowest point raised to about a 1/5th of the way up from the lowest left hand corner [its default]

That's basically it.

I don't know how to use half the buttons in Lightroom - like sharpening and some of the other ones. Should I be concerned with them?! Glenn...Rob?!

Here are a few screenshots to show you what I mean

Red Letters - The grading process

2010-08-15T18:40:00.000-07:00

I'll write my second blog in two days - a 1st I think.

Sidenote:

Yesterday I started reading my sister's blog - this story in particular broke my heart - http://leandil.blogspot.com/2010/07/to-continue-hospital-story.html?spref=tw

Testimonies of God's goodness - especially when its your sister's story, builds my faith in a way I've never experienced before.

All that to say - read it - especially if you know here.

............
Details on pics above:

1. Final AE session
2. MBL grade screenshot
3. Ungraded screenshot
4. Ungraded screenshot
5. Ungraded screenshot

By the way - I chose look #2 from one of the previous posts

I am writing this because there are quite a few people who have asked me about color correction on this piece and on some of the other pieces. Here's how I typically go about it.

I'd usually jump into after effects before almost anything else [before music, before edit etc]...i'd play around with a clip from the film I'm going to work on and get a few grades going as tests - usually i'd create and save about 3 to 4 presets.

Then i'll do the music
The the edit
Then back into after effects to do the grade and balancing of shots
Then final grade plus tweaking

Let me here define - " balancing of shots'

Typically i'd have 4 adjustment layers at the top of my AE session - all with their respective grades - only one at a time - sometimes I'll change the opacity of one of the other ones to come thru slightly but this hardly happens.

Underneath I would have all the clips - broken down into their various layers. Some clips just don't match - either they differ because the one is way darker or lighter than the other, but often there is a tonal difference, that goes beyond just too light, too dark. It often has to do with the 'brightness of the shadows' and cannot be corrected with just an exposure adjustment. You need to adjust GAMMA as well. I would usually add an 'Exposure' affect on the layer of the footage that I want to balance and work the exposure control along with the GAMMA control to adjust each shot in line with the rest of the footage.

This I find has helped tremendously!

If I wanted gradients in the sky - or vignettes then I would add them onto the individual footage using a blank Magic Bullet Looks 'Canvas' with just a grad or vignette added.

So I usually color correct a video as a whole and balance the shots underneath the final look [one of the top four layers in my After Effects Session] - best to do this in After Effects as you can work in Layers

The best way to get the best grade and look for whatever you are working on is to control the colors on the shoot. Think wardrobe - set design...all that jazz.

I'd love to post my MBL preset for the film here - but don't think its possible

Color/Music/The Real

2010-08-14T23:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a little snapshot of something that I am working on at the moment - it might look familiar - but that is because it is supposed to. If what you saw was a 'teaser' - which was 'Save the Lost' - what is coming would be a 'taster' - sort of.

I am not so much in two minds about this video's grade [as I was about the last video I did] - because I really wanted to seep the colors out of the picture and make it really bleak - so it almost has a black and white vibe except for primarily 2 other colors - blue and yellow - I guess Book of Eli inspired concept here - naturally blue and yellow just worked.

Stu Maschwitz from Pro Lost [www.prolost.com] writes in many of his articles on the use of restricted color palettes in color correction. Its amazing that when you do this - especially on very specific pieces [short pieces] - to see the out-coming results. I guess opinions vary, but I've been analyzing so many films over the last little while and its SO clear that wardrobe artists, set designers, directors and color correctors all play a massive role in restricting the color so that it doesn't take away from the subject.

Think of a few films - I'll name a few and give what I think their primary colors are. Black is not considered a color - but i'll consider it here. Colors are in order of shadows, midtones, and highlights. Where midtones don't seem to have a specifc color i've left it out.

1. Matrix - Black, Green, Yellowish at times
2. Man on Fire - Teal, Blue, Yellow [very saturated]
3. Bourne Ultimatum - Blue, some yellow,
4. Spirit - Black, Red, White
5. Eagle Eye - Black/Blue, Yellow
6. Taking Pelham 123 - Green/Brown, Orange
7. The Informant - Brown, Yellow
8. Munich - Brown, Yellow
9. Dark Night - Black, Blue, Creamish
10. Lord of the Rings Trilogy - Black-Brown, Blue and Creamish

You might not agree with me here!

If you look at these movies again - see how much of the 'look' of the film exists in these restricted color palettes.

- Blockbuster films are often Blue/Teal in the shadows and Yellow/creamish in the highlights.
- And vintage films are often Reddish/Purplish/Brownish in the shadows and quite a strong yellow cast in the mid-tones and highlights.

Its amazing how uninspiring a raw untreated photo is at times, purely because often you have a million colors vying for your attention.

I don't know why I got onto the subject of color correction - excuse me. I think I just love color - the same way I love music. Their such similar subjects actually - They are emotion-inducers! We speak of them using the same words - 'bright', 'dark', 'warm', 'rich' 'clipping', 'distorting' - It has the ability to open people's ears and hearts and make them more receptive to the Message. As strange as it might sound - color, along music and all the other art forms is another tool in a believer's arsenal.

Color is OBVIOUSLY not our greatest weapon - as Gary Oldman says in the 'Book of Eli' when his minions question him saying 'but its just a book sir, why are you SO upset?' he then replies - 'It is not just a book, it is a WEAPON!' - The word of God - a double-edged sword - is the greatest weapon at our disposal!

I am not a particular fan of the 'nice' , 'the Christianese' things that so many people are used to and they are often ineffective if not detrimental to seeing people come to know Jesus, because they make people switch off immediately. There is a flip-side to this which I will discuss later on. But imagine having the most amazing words for a song - its so good it could literally blow people's minds. However, as soon as you open your mouth to sing - the sounds of cats dying in the trash canister - the sound of your voice - pulls a downer. And you wonder why people are not impacted, not stirred.

If it doesn't make them switch off - it might get them highly annoyed!

I love the Book of Eli because it was 'real' and 'dark' but communicated SO clearly the Hope that the Word of God brings to humanity - PROFOUND

I love the Passion of the Christ - because it showed the death of Jesus as it was - violent and brutal - think about that the next time you wonder about whether or not God loves you. The medical account of Jesus' death is possibly even more brutal -http://www.barr-family.com/godsword/crucmed.htm. But it breaks me every time I read it..

I like GOOD stories - stories that grips my heart - often they are 'dark'/cinematic - but they always have hope.
We got stories like that to tell - stacks of them - every testimony essentially - 'for once I was dead but now I am alive.'
This is how I would like to tell stories.

'I like things dark - I like things cinematic' - Rob Chiu

...............

I just read a very good article from the Wall Street Journal on the 'state of Christianity' amongst younger people in America
- apparently 70 percent of young people aged between 18-22 are leaving the church. They are fed up with the perfect little Christian huddles and tech- savvy presentations [the flip-side as mentioned above] that 'Evangelical-America' has grown accustomed to. Young people are looking for the 'real' - they don't like the mega-church mindset, but are looking for something way more PERSONAL.

Reference - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111704575355311122648100.html

Its a very 'now' conversation that we are having as a Lifegroup [small group] and a conversation a group of young people who were dreaming together just prior to a conference called Urban Renewal in LA, had about the future of the church - a conversation I was privileged to be a part of. The question was thrown out - 'What is it that the world - largely the younger generation - is looking for? What have they become enamored with and what are they hungry for?

A simple, unified - 'the real' was the answer

The truth is you might have people come to church because the worship is great and the video stuff might be cool, or maybe even the preaching is spectacular. But people will stay because of relationship, more so than any other thing I reckon - People will stay when they fall in love with Jesus and when they are loved by God's people - Its something me and my wife are learning and growing in. Its something that I reckon is at the core of God's heart.

Let me here explain where I see my gift fit into the body of Christ - its not limited by my definition, but certainly is described - in part - by it.

When it comes to videos/photography - and for my wife painting/fashion/costume design - we use our gifts to stir within people [often the unsaved] questions that would lead them to think about what they call 'truth' and 'reality'. I think even for Christians this is an important question to ask yourself. I believe in Jesus, because I KNOW Him - not because my parents do or because I was brainwashed by a Christian community - but I have seen and tasted the goodness - the constant provision - the healing of his Mighty hand - and I have MANY testimonies.

If we can get the world asking the right questions and lead them to the right answer - Jesus - the word made flesh - then I feel like we're impacting the Kingdom of God. This is my preaching platform... for now!

Sorry I've rambled ... 'color', 'music', 'the real' .... random thoughts I know - but you are all clever... you'll get it.

S

PS - my little pretty one - you can come home now thanks!

Red Letters

2010-07-29T18:55:00.000-07:00

Red Letters from Salomon on Vimeo.

I had a busy week of meeting with people. But its been good getting perspective and giving some. I had a really good meeting with Mike, our church's lead elder and showed him the latest project I have been working on - I always get quite nervous when I show any elder the latest piece - because ultimately they have a final say on whether or not we can use it in any form - I would hate for something to get canned - and it has before - but for hugely legitimate reasons.

Needles to say, Red Letters is hopefully punchy, gritty but could be perceived as 'dark'. I think the aim for me is to always work on content that gets people asking questions. Especially for people who have no idea, no concept of who Jesus is or what it means to have relationship with him.

If I can use audio and visuals that probe in people's hearts the following questions and to some extent provide the answers then I feel like I've made an impact for the Kingdom of Heaven:

1. What do I believe?
2. Is this really Christian [based on common misconception that everything 'Christian is 'nice' and 'happy' and nothing is ever 'real' and 'honest'
3. How does this make me feel inside?

I think there are more questions but these are the gist of it.

I love doing things in a cinematic way - often achieved by writing a good score, but I think often telling a story by obscuring details is also a means of telling a story cinematically.

I look at the films I love the most, Bourne Ultimatum, Man on Fire, Taking Pelham 123, and Seven and it surprises me how often things are very hidden and oscured, blurry or very shaky. Its amazing that when the music and sound design is solid - almost anything goes visually. Take Bourne for instance - so many times its hard to pick apart some of what is going on visually because its so messy and gritty - but the score is so strong that you always have a sense of what is happening. One scene stands out - when Neil Daniels is chatting to a reporter at a coffee shop - all you can see is his one eye [the rest of his face obscured by the reporter ]- as he is telling the reporter the 'ugly truth'. I imagine if one were to see this shot out of context from the whole film - the shot would get canned - but it makes so much sense when pieced together with the rest of the story.

All this to say, I like the use of visual devices where things become obscured because it lends itself to probing questions in the viewer. I think if there's one thing that we can be clear on, its the message of the Gospel, but the means of how this is portrayed can be used very creatively, subtly or overtly. Book of Eli - an awesome example of subtle but overt Gospel truths.

Ultimately the Holy Spirit convinces people of the Truth. My prayer is that He would use anything and everything that I create to turn people's heart to Jesus.

Last thing I want is for people to feel brainwashed - so much of religion does that very well , but rather, I want to people to know Jesus, the way I have gotten to know him - in a massively personal sense - and even more so in recent years.

St Francis of Assisi coined one of my favorite phrases -

'preach the Gospel at all times - if necessary use words'

Mark 16vs15 = Mission Statement

I will go into all the details of how I went about it later

FEAR/LOVE

2010-07-24T10:18:00.000-07:00

So I've been waiting for a few months for this piece. Saw an initial viewing of the film when it was first bootlegged on to Vimeo but it was quickly taken off - couldn't wait for the official film's release so I could see it again.

Love the mood - captures this younger generation so well - the apathy, the pain, the aggression. Shows their need for love. I am always inspired by Rob Chiu's films - his innate ability to weave emotion and suspense into the fabric of his visuals is mad - not to mention the part that Ben Lukas Boysen played by adding an incredible score - always potent!

How does it make you feel?!

Out!

S

Fear/Love from Rob Chiu on Vimeo.

Coke Burn 'Ride'

2010-07-24T10:10:00.000-07:00

Saw this on Motionographer.com and was blown away - would love to see a behind the scenes video on this! Insane. Love the mood and shots - so dramatic!

S

Check it

Insomnia - not bad when there is divine inspiration

2010-07-20T18:39:00.000-07:00

Its 5:13 am
S
leep and I have not been friends for the last few days - sorry my Love [wife - Lesley]. I'm just too stoked and inspired and feeling things stir in me that are of the spiritual and creative nature - how amazing that we serve the Creator of the Universe and that he births creativity in us.

I wonder what it will be like in heaven when the earth is already so rich and full with the life and color of God's hands - i'm pretty stoked about 'one day' - 2 Samuel 22 paints a really good picture for me of what God is like - David seemed to understand full - well the incredible attributes of God when we describes him in this text. Maybe read it - just a thought!

I thought I'd pose the question here as its good to understand the context of deadlines and time pressures and the expectations of those who are involved with video/audio productions.

How long does it typically take to do a:

1. An edit intensive trailer style clip [+- 2 min[from concept to product - including audio and all the elements involved]]
2. 5-7 min short film [the whole production cycle]
3. Record a church album [record/mix/master/release]
4. Color Correct and Edit photos from a shoot [Wedding shoot/Maternity shoot etc]
5. Work on a Intro/Logo Video [25 seconds long]

Ideas?

Here are a few things that have kept me up the last few nights

Trailer is such a sick CG piece - just liked it - nothing to it really tho - just quite cool

Trailer from Studio Aiko on Vimeo.

Always inspired by these guys - keeping it real - and showing what the pressure is like sometimes! - and they do it with a smile - I like that!

The making of church news Part-3 from Nick Khoo on Vimeo.

I just thought this was well shot and the text work was rad too - NYC always inspires!

Mi bendición from LUIS MORALES on Vimeo.

kinda liked this too

Worship Element: True Love from Adam Kring on Vimeo.

this guy just has the best voice - and the score is sick too - holds such tension!

g. from J. Xavier Velasco on Vimeo.

this guy also has an Incredible voice - love it! The Message, the Editing, the Music, everything about this video is amazing!

GIVE.ME.FAITH. opening video from Elevation Church on Vimeo.

I'm loving this digital type visual style at the moment

2010 from julien nantiec on Vimeo.

this guys videos are insane - especially this one - I love the look and depth of film

Coke surfer from Ottar Gudnason on Vimeo.

sickest song - sickest location

THE BARR BROTHERS - Lord I Just Can't Keep From Cryin' from Mitch Fillion (southernsouls.ca) on Vimeo.

genius

macro kingdom II from clemento on Vimeo.

okay that's it

good morning sunrise...

s

Choose the look

2010-07-19T03:17:00.000-07:00

Okay so i thought i'd do something slightly different.

I am working on a little clip at the moment which deals with 'What We Believe'. It basically documents a guy searching for truth from scriptures and the consequent revelation he gets - it ultimately forms our church's Statement of Faith.

Anyway - the audio is slightly messy - the lighting is quite 'low-key' or dark - my question to you guys are - what is the best look for the clip?

Here are your 4 - options

1. Green/Yellow [Medium Contrast]
2. Bluetone [Medium Contrast]
3. Brownish Yellow [Vintage/Film - Low Contrast]
4. Green-Blue [High Contrast]

I have my favorite but wanted to hear what you guys think.
What suits the visuals more?

Color Correction with the Ring Light

2010-06-26T05:35:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd do a quick post on a quick color correction before and after example. Here are two pics of a recent Church News segment I did. I shot it with a ring light [which i got at a VERY good price] - tho the initial look of the ring light looked 'quite' good [as it looked on camera] It looked especially cool after the color correction. The initial capture shows a distinct yellow tone in the skin - which I wanted to pull back to normality, normal skin tones! I used Magic Bullet looks and crushed the blacks all the way down - so at to remove the background completely - probably could have kept it - but wanted to use the negative space for the text/design.

I always enjoying seeing the before and after of people's corrections hope you enjoy this.

The woman in these clips is my gorgeous wife, Lesley-Ann

check the video here [very simple edit]

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=419686696808&ref=mf

New York City

2010-06-22T05:31:00.001-07:00

href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n7Fg5qI80cc/TCCwNUrSWNI/AAAAAAAAAJE/OSF7fHIfWjY/s1600/Picture+4.png">
Wow - What a time away I've had in the US. It was such an incredibly rich time and soul-feeding in many ways. One thing that I think God made abundantly clear to me AGAIN was his heart for all people. His heart is for people, our hearts must beat for people - the poor, the hungry, the depressed and especially the LOST. Our whole discussion during the URBAN RENEWAL time was regarding the the need for the move of the Holy Spirit in our meetings and the Value and impact of the Word and truth of the Gospel. To me tho it seemed like the focus of both these truths-in-tension is connect the hands of the Groom with the hands of the Bride - the purpose of our worship. It is thus clear that God is all about intimacy with His people. There is so much more I can write about here!

LA was cool - didn't blow me away tho - I think if Les and I were there together and we had a car with which we could travel together - we would have had so much fun. Mind you - Dan, Star and Warren's company was rad too - except for the bloody 100 dollars I spent going to a fun-fare which I wasn't keen on in the first place [my stupid mistake]

New York was pretty amazing. I can tell you about it all, and will when I can sit down with you and tell you in person, but for now - let the pictures speak.

I've ran out of space on flickr and now they want me to pay a little fee to have unlimited upload space - 24 USD a year. I still have stacks of NYC Photos to load.

if you can't get onto flickr.com download mozilla firefox and this application

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/12792/

Then flickr will work

my flickr account is

http://up.flickr.com/photos/47259810@N07/?saved=1

Should I do it?!

'Save the Lost' - Official Link

2010-06-09T05:08:00.000-07:00

Okay so i've realized

I have not posted this here yet. So here goes

Save the Lost from Salomon on Vimeo.

I really want to continue to make little short films that continue to wrench people's hearts for Jesus and the Lost. What good are our lives if we don't live to see others fall in love with Jesus too? Seriously, I sometimes wonder why do I - as someone who's been 'saved' basically my whole life, live so passively without loving the lost, without seeing them saved.
I think at the crux of it all we have to love the lost into salvation - and I'm really just learning that now

Blake Whitman likes 'Save the Lost'

2010-06-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

Quick little message -

Blake Whitman - Creator of Vimeo 'Liked' 'Save the Lost' - an honor indeed!

S

'Save the Lost' - the breakdown

2010-06-04T04:49:00.000-07:00

'Save the Lost' is a little film used as a campaign element for an event our church is hosting in October. It started with a basic concept of obscuring the identity of people in the film by having them wear black and putting stockings over their heads. Thought the idea could be cool but when I started shooting I realized this could actually be too edgy for church - It was only until I added text that I felt it could work - and still have an edge.

Just to give a little bit of a background - it was shot over 3 days, 1 hour on a Monday morning and then 30 mins on a Tueday afternoon and again 30 mins on a Wednesday afternoon. It was so HOT in Dubai about 40-45 degrees Celsius which is about 110 Fahrenheit and humidity was about 95 percent. I had to keep the lens outside of the car until the fogging up cleared before we could start shooting - we all waited for about 30 mins in our cars until the dampness cleared off the lens. Needless to say, after 30 mins of shooting we were all drenched. The 'cast' were great - they're all good mates of mine. They fell to the ground - got dust everywhere and were sweating like troopers!

So here is a little break down of all the elements.

Audio: Took 2 days to record - which for me is quite fast, and was tracked using Pro Tools, Stylus RMX, FM8, Massive and Miroslav Philharmonik [I recoded the music first and then added the glitches - then took the song to FCP - as my basis for the video edit]

Filming: It was recorded on the Canon 7D, using the Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 and the Nikon Mount Zeiss 50mm f1.4

Lighting: It was all natural light - no fills - no diffusers no reflectors - no nothing. The idea was to get a lot of silhouette-like shots to help with hiding the identity of people - I love mystery, and I shot into the sun most of the time to create more mystery

Editing: All editing was done on Final Cut Pro 7. I did all the cutting and time-remapping or speed changes here as well - Then I added markers and extended markers so that I knew where all the glitches and noises were - and the length or duration of each glitch

Transferring: I exported the XML from FCP and then opened it in After Effects using a script called 'PI_FCP2AE_CS4.jsxbin' - [http://www.steves-digicams.com/knowledge-center/how-tos/photo-software/using-final-cut-pro-and-after-effects-together.html]. This works in much the same way as Automatic Duck does but its definitely not as advanced - does the basics tho! I was able to maintain my speed changes, edits, markers and even extended markers.

Color Correction: I used Magic Bullet Looks for the color correction purely because I don't know how to work Apple's Color or don't have access to a Da Vinci, but the Da Vinci which sells at 995 USD is tempting!
I used a very restricted pallet. I drove the shadows into the green and the highlights into the yellow and then tweaked the mids so that I always have a balanced look from shot to shot. I used strong gradients [which were actually vignettes positioned towards the top- to gradient the sky] in most of the shots where the sky was visible, and light vignettes to draw attention to the 'action'.
I also used a bit of bleach bypass to drown out some color and contrast the image a touch. I then brought the 'lift' vallue up as a whole to bring things away from pure black - to get a more filmic - vintage look

I've attached some screenshots of the before and after treatments work

'Save the Lost' - the audio

2010-06-02T06:35:00.000-07:00

Okay so I started with audio again here. I don't even know how many channels I was working with but it was a heck of a lot. It took about 2 days to get the audio going - which really isn't that long considering how long it took on previous projects. I then took the audio to Final Cut Pro, where I started editing and Time-Remapping some footage to some of the glitches and beats. I kept some glitches edit free - knowing that I was going to need some as cues for the movement of text.

After the edit and plotting out all the glitches using markers and extended markers [to indicate the length of the glitches] in Final Cut Pro - I exported an XML and then used a cool little free script called FCPtoAE to get all the edited and time-remapped footage across to After Effects. Then came the monster of all tasks - motion-tracking all the footage so that the text moves relative to the footage - at least to some extent. This was rather tricky, especially since it was my first time to do it - learned so much!

The grade kinda happened in sections as I moved across the footage for title treatment. Lastly I added a film burn stock over some of the glitches just to add a little more dimension.

I'm pretty stoked with the results.

Hope it 'gets' you.
Hope you come!

S

Ten Commandments

2010-06-01T23:23:00.000-07:00

Here is another cool video I thought I would share with you. there's some pretty rad stuff out there. enjoy

The Ten Commandments - motion (kinetic) typography from Vit Ryznar on Vimeo.

Momentos

2010-06-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd do a quick post, since I have not done anything really over the last while - Things have just been crazy busy.

I recently saw a short film called Momentos by a guy called Nuno Rocha - he's Portuguese I think. Anyway. I was absolutely floored when I saw it. It moved me to tears and I can honestly say that that doesn't happen very often. The film is 5 mins long and beautifully captures the essence of human need - LOVE. The story has so many spiritual implications that I think shows the heart of God so wonderfully. But enough rambling - check it out

MOMENTOS from Nuno Rocha on Vimeo.

Hope Lights at Hillsong Film Festival

2010-03-20T08:23:00.001-07:00

Hey Guys

So here is the gist of what is happening to my short film 'Hope Lights' in the next few weeks.

It is being shown at the Exchange Film Festival which is happening during the Hillsong Easter services. The last service, where my film will be showcased as one of 5 finalists, will be held at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, which will accommodate about the 12 000 church goers!

This really excites me, as this is by far the biggest audience to witness my work, and as it might possibly expose the larger church to some of what is happening in the middle east region.

Here is some of the info from the Hillsong Website and a screenshot of the dvd cover i've thrown together for them, as I have to courier them the film in a DVD format

Guys to watch

2010-03-08T01:41:00.001-08:00

Okay so I thought i'd share a few interesting video which i've watched over the last while.

Rob Chiu is my absolute hero along with Chris Hewitt and Glenn Stewart. Here are some their best work in my opinion

Rob Chiu's 'Else Mobile Viral'

Else Mobile (The Time Has Come) from Rob Chiu on Vimeo.

Rob Chiu's 'Fear/Love Trailer 3'

Fear/Love Trailer 1 from Rob Chiu on Vimeo.

Glenn Stewart's 'Immolation' - Most epic short I've EVER seen.

Immolation from Glenn Stewart on Vimeo.

Chris Hewitt's 'Hecq vs Exillion'

Hecq Vs Exillion - Spheres Of Fury from Tim.Chris.Film on Vimeo.

That was shot on the Canon 7D

Hope Lights - Official Link

2010-02-21T15:39:00.000-08:00

So here is the link to the Hope Lights video. Thank you to Vanessa for being generous with your story.

Hope Lights from Salomon on Vimeo.

Hope Lights [Audio]

2010-02-20T23:28:00.000-08:00

Here is a screenshot of the Pro Tools Session.

I am almost always more moved by the audio design of a film or advert than by the visuals, tho it is a 50/50 relationship. For me good audio just stands out!

Thus on this project i really wanted to spend some time working on getting the audio working. The Musical score came as inspiration from the many projects HECQ [Ben Lukas Boysen] has worked on, and also the Nike+ 'Addicted' Commercial.

I needed to create quite a dark and ominous mood with the darker part of Vanessa's story, so I worked on a strings arrangement that had some weird out-of-tune sounds, to create suspense. I also wanted some impact on the running scenes, so I added the sound of them running [breathing] heavily at home.

There had to be a stark contrast her former life and the life she now lives in Christ, thus the mood of the audio changes when she stands on top of the building. Something that I would be very hard to do but in the end seemed to work well.

SO, 48 tracks! And that's just for the 1st part of the film and that's just the Pro Tools screenshot. I also have Reason tracks that run into Pro Tools. It was a total of about 60 Track. Because most were stereo tracks we are looking at about 100 channels.

The second part of the film [when the titles appear], was a tune that i started writing during the whole process. I wanted something that had energy and a positive mood. I think i'll take this melody and write an actual song to it, pretty soon.

Anyway this track had about 25 tracks in Pro Tools and a few more in Reason. Total of about 35 tracks. Most of them being stereo again. about 60 individual channels.

These are massive amounts of tracks for a little 13" Macbook Pro to handle. It would often just become unusable if I didn't restart the system every 2 hours.

Then I had to do complete different mixes for the Ambient Sound Effects and another mix for the Poem. All this was then added together in Final Cut Pro.

So much to and fro between programs [Pro Tools and After Effects and Final Cut Pro] that I almost lost track as some of the songs/clips were rendered out up to 13 times... Just to give you an idea- a 5 minute clip takes 2 hours to render out [we do it because we LOVE it]

Hope you like

It is finshed! - well almost

2010-02-19T23:42:00.000-08:00

So basically the film is done. Doing a last render on the title sequence as we speak. It does take an eternity. And attached is a screenshot of what is currently happening in After Effects. Exciting! True!

Last night I had a good few mates over for my birthday. Had an awesome time despite the fact that both me and my wife were really nervous about hosting this thing, as we're both much more comfortable in our own creative spaces - void of people. So this was a bit of a departure for us, as we neither of us have ever hosted a 'party' before.

We thru out a few mails to friends - some got lost in translation but managed to get quite a good few number of people in our small little home. We had food, drinks, seesha and even organized a projector and organized some white sheets for our green wall, so as to 'Premiere' this new film that I am busy with.

The evening did feel quite grande as we had a Gatsby/20's theme. Somehow, it felt like we were at a mini 'Premiere'.

The night created an obvious moment - ready for the movie to be played. Lights off, and a brief explanation. Before the words 'Night Lights' rolled. in

.....

It was awesome hearing people's feedback and then I realized the power of the Gospel all over again. Chris Wienand's preach and even the film brought me back to that day - the day of the Cross. I don't think i've ever been impacted by it like I was yesterday during Chris' preach. Amazing how it just becomes revelation again and again and again

I am now working hard on getting it into a format to send to the Hillsong 'eXchange' film festival.

Will post it here soon. Just need to check whether or not there will be any legal issues with using it online before entering the festival.

Its coming along!

2010-02-08T18:46:00.000-08:00

So I'm in the final stages of production on a little - seriously little film which is still wanting of a title - but i got some ideas.

I've been working non-stop at it, to try and get the pacing working - i now realize that film making is an incredibly arduous process not for the faint of heart. But alas - when things start working and coming together, the reward is incredible.

So I thought i would just post a screenshot of the end titles. that i've been working on.

There is still going to be some minor tweaking but for the most part - this is the look/feel for the end sequence.

Peace out yo!

Edit, Edit, Edit

2010-01-17T22:42:00.000-08:00

Okay, well as far as blogging go, i'm not the most promt at updating. I've been having such a rad time going on shoots with Van and Sam and Les [my GORGEOUS wife] when she's around. Its been awesome having people to practice on. It is amazing when you have people around you that allows you to make mistakes every now and then - you grow so much quicker and learn so much faster.

This project is something I am quite excited and nervous about. Its going to be really, really simple yet its been challenging. Especially from an editing point of few.

I am so torn as to what to focus on first, the audio mix or the video edit.

After chatting to Rob Chiu and a few others, I decided to start with the audio first, this will in turn, cue the video edits, and hopefully at the end of the day we'll be able to conjure up something magical.

Its also been such an honor to have had some time chatting to Philip Bloom, who I was able to meet last week, trying to help him organize a local, Etisalat sim card. He gave me some useful gear advice, which: when the money comes in, I'll look at.

Keep your eyes peeled.

New project

2010-01-08T03:58:00.000-08:00

It is a new year, and I'm going to start it by trying my hand at a few new things.

One of the new things I'm going to try and do is create more of a narrative story. Don't want to give to much away just yet, but here are a few stills of a short film I am working on. I've done only a few hours of shooting but am pretty happy with what to expect. I used only one lens for the shoot - a Zeiss 50mm f1.4 due its low-light sensitivity. I wish I had a wide-angle lens and a telephoto/zoom lens that worked in low-light, in order to get better angles, but I reckon I could get away with what I have. A wider angle would've helped with the camera shake, the 50mm shook so much, but in hindsight I reckon it will help getting the action across.

Not saying much more - keep your eyes and ears posted

shooting some more and then to score the piece, so it'll take about a month or so more for the final short

these images serve as a rough test on the color grade

enjoy

OCD

2010-01-06T05:37:00.000-08:00

One more post for the day - I was not impressed by the color of some of the previous pictures - IT'S a fun-fare - it HAS to be colorful. Here is a better corrected picture of one of the earlier ones - sorry a little OCD here [Les' suggestion actually - thanks Love!]

2010-01-06T03:17:00.000-08:00

So last night I went out with some friends for somebody's surprise birthday gathering. I took my camera along with only the Zeiss 50mm Lens, purely because I did not want to lug everything around. It was a fun night of bumper cars and bungee shooting. We all met at a fun-park thing - Global Village. Not the biggest fan of these places, but sometimes they're pretty cool for images

I couldn 't get really cool shots, but I took a few which might be quite interesting. Here are a few from the night.

in.the.beginning

2010-01-06T00:39:00.000-08:00

This really should have been my first blog, but oh well here it goes, let's call it Blog 1.1 - 'in.the.beginning'

I am so stoked to start this blog as a possible research and information tool to those interested in seeing what is happening creatively in the life of Dubai/Church and my family.

Its very exciting being able to play with videos, photos and music. I reckon this blog will give all you peeps out there a thorough insight into what I'm busy with, my travels and random musings - maybe I'll even review some of the new gear which I will be purchasing for audio/video/photo projects.

Much love and stay tuned!

2010-01-04T01:44:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I started working on this video. It was to be used in our local church context as a 'gatherer'. Here I am with the first post to my blog. Let me know what you think. Will give more details about this video later.

A while back I thought about what we can do to start our church services more on time and what I could do to get people focussed before the service starts.

This took about 3 weeks to create and was inspired by Rob Chiu's OFFF opener. The aim was to make people aware of their great destiny here in the region of the Middle East.

It was edited in Final Cut Pro, Graded with Magic Bullet Looks, and some effects were added in After Effects

The audio was done in Pro Tools in conjunction with Stylus RMX, FM8 and Reason

much love yo

For HD version check here

http://www.vimeo.com/7679986