GLASSWORKS PILOT EPISODE AVAILABLE NOW
Since July 21st the Pilot episode of my upcoming web series project GLASSWORKS is available for streaming and downloading on www.glassworksseries.com and on the vimeo page of production studio Ghostronaut Prod.
The pilot serves as an entry point into the GLASSWORKS universe, giving the viewer some first impressions of the tonality and fiction behind the series.
In the following episodes the storyline will be introduced and developed, so stay tuned! We most certainly hope we will have something new to show for very soon.
Additionally to being the pilot episode of the web series, this eight minute piece also serves as a promotional music video for my good friend from xun, a dark ambient artist providing the full soundtrack and sound design for the series. The track you can hear in the pilot episode is called ‘Glassworks’ (no, this is not completely coincidental) and can be found on xun’s latest album ‘Frameworks’, which you can download completely free of charge here.
Thanks for all your support over the time and I hope you will enjoy the pilot episode and get all excited for more.
Markus
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Latest updates on GLASSWORKS
The official GLASSWORKS website can now be found at www.glassworksseries.com, including an updated teaser-trailer in beautiful 2.39:1 HD. Go check it out! I’m also happy to now be able to confirm the release date of the GLASSWORKS short film to be within the first half of 2011. Stay tuned!
If you’re on facebook, you can “LIKE” the official GLASSWORKS page to get all the latest insight on the project right to your newsfeed: www.facebook.com/gwseries
Share the love!
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Reviewing the IndiSystem UltraCompact
78 days of consideration. 23 forum threads to dig through. Countless blog discussions. This is how long and how much it took to get me sold on the UltraCompact. As you can see, I spend quite some time and research on this topic and hopefully this review will be of help for you guys and spare you from some of the work I had to do.
When I first started researching different kinds of shoulder rigs I was overwhelmed by the quantity of products in the market. Once again this shows the huge success of HDSLRs, with whole companies solely focusing on the production of rigs especially designed for the use with a DSLR. And even though these cameras are loved by independent filmmakers around the globe, there seems to be much more gear available in the professional area upwards the $$$$ mark. A paradox, right? Obviously those companies offer high value products, but they are pricy and over budget for many. As in every competitive market within an economy, with companies developing high quality products also come those trying to become the price leader. In the HDSLR market specifically, more and more smaller companies (often one-man-shows) are entering the market trying to get ahead of the Redrocks, Zacutos and Cinevates of this world. For us independent filmmakers this is great because it introduces a lot of choice and possibilities; one may get a slider or a dolly after all, because it’s suddenly affordable. But it also becomes more challenging to distinguish good value for money from complete junk.
I had quite a specific idea of what my future shoulder rig should be like. I knew I obviously wanted it to be flexible, because that’s what shoulder rigs are all about, right? Shooting run & gun, being able to transport and set it up on a different location within no time. I’m shooting mostly narrative so I usually do have the time and possibilities to plan my shots. Nevertheless I love to save time in areas that do not actually have anything to do with the creative part of filmmaking – like setting up the gear. The reason for that should be obvious.
Another important aspect which correlates with flexibility is weight. You do not want your bare shoulder rig to be too heavy. After all, you are adding at least a DSLR (possibly w/ battery grip), a lens and maybe even some more gear to it like a shotgun microphone and a recording device like the Zoom H4n. All this stuff can become quite heavy as it is, so if the shoulder rig even adds to it, no one’s happy.
I also wanted my shoulder rig to be future-proof. This actually was one of the most important aspects for me. After all I intended to spent quite some money on this, so it ought to be of use for me as long as possible. This basically means the rig had be extendable and offer possibilities to attach all kinds of gear to it. I definitely wanted a shoulder rig with rails – to be able to add a follow focus and maybe even a matte box anytime soon. Since I do shoot a lot on my tripod as well, I was trying to find some kind of hybrid rig which I could use both as a shoulder rig and as a static rig attached to my tripod.
Some obvious requirements I set up were things like quality (I want to be able to rely on my shoulder rig – it carries a lot of weight and a lot of expensive gear so it should not only be comfortable to use but also sturdy enough to make me feel save in using it), the possibility to balance it properly etc.
I think some of these criteria are basic requirements everybody demands of a shoulder rig (or any kind of gear really), some are a bit more specific for my intentions. So let’s sum up quickly:
My criteria:
Flexibility – fast in setting up
Weight / comfort & balance – not too heavy, comfortable & effective usage
Extensibility – possibility to add additional gear (microphone, recording device, field monitor etc.)
Rail system – for adding follow focus / matte box
Versatility – usage as a shoulder rig and static rig on a tripod
Quality – well manufactured material / sturdy & reliable
Overall usage – making smooth shots possible
Price – as low as possible in regards of my criteria
Glassworks promo site online – web series to come
The Glassworks project is already a few month into post production now. It won’t be long until it finally hits Vimeo, Youtube, you name it – so now is the perfect time to get a bit more specific about what the hell Glassworks is all about.
The official Glassworks promo website has launched now! Go check it out, tweet it, tell your friends, tell your friend’s friends, print the address on a t-shirt!
For now all you can find on the promo site is the teaser you may already know; but if you’re interested in deeper insight about the Glassworks project you can sign up for the Glassworks mailing list. Continue reading and you’ll may find why you definitely want to do that.
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Weekend challenge by Philip Bloom: Last night’s remains
Hey guys,
first off I really want to apologize for not having written anything in a long time. I’ve been crammed with work lately, editing 3 projects at the same time plus writing my exams.
Now, last weekend I finally got to take a break from all that and took the freedom to do … well, nothing at all. So relaxing!
Of course fellas like Philip Bloom have to ruin weekends like that by starting something like this weekend challenge ;-)
The objective was to create a 90 sec short film of a single object. I have to say, this really got me off the couch. I found it utterly exciting to make a film showing only one object for 90 seconds, without being boring.
This is my submission:
Music is by the awesome xun, go check him out!
You can find some making of photos after the break.
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That’s a wrap: about the ‘Glassworks’ shooting
So, last weekend I finally started my first big film project acting as DP and director. We were on a very tight schedule, determined to shoot six demanding scenes in only two shooting days. Things got pretty hectic, but we had a lot of fun and in the end we managed to get everything done just in time.
Before getting into details about the shooting, the equipment we used and the problems we ran into let me first tell you a bit about ‘Glassworks’. A few months ago my dear friend Phil who is a talented musician currently working under the pseudonym xun finished his first ambient album ‘Frameworks’ (you can stream it on his bandcamp profile). I love his music and since I already created the album artwork I was eager to use some of the tracks on upcoming shorts I wanted to shoot. Talking to Phil about this we came up with the idea to both make a promotional video for the title track ‘Glassworks’ and at the same time tell one of the stories I wanted to tell in a short film. One thing led to another, in the end I wrote a script for it and both Phil and I agreed that Glassworks and my ideas on how to adapt it on screen were a perfect fit. Glassworks in motion was born!
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UPDATE: Reviewing the LCDVF on the 550D/T2i
Update November 24, 2010:
I’ve been using the LCDVF for quite some time now, doing several shoots with it and trying it out under different circumstances. I felt the need to rewrite my review on it to get a bit more specific about the pro’s and con’s of this very useful tool for HDSLR filmmaking. You can find the updated review below. Please also check out my earlier post on the LCDVF, it contains some links and infos on viewfinders in general.
The LCDVF is a cheap LCD magnifier for DSLRs which allows you to make the focus pulling much easier. Since the actual viewfinder on a DSLR can not be used when in video mode because the mirror is blocking it, the LCD screen has to be used for composing and focus. Getting the focus right by simply looking at the screen can be quite cumbersome sometimes, especially when shooting in bright day light (lots of reflections on the screen) and at lowlight (little detail that can hardly be seen through the screen). These issues can make a lot of your footage useless. What seemed to be in focus on set, turns out to be way out of focus in post when looking at it on the big screen. Especially since we’re shooting in high definition this really is a big problem.
The solution?
Loupes for the LCD screen. In the last few months pretty much all of the big players in HDSLR gear have added a viewfinder to their repertoire, all including different features. One of the first and most liked VF is the Z-Finder from Zacuto which has been released in various configurations. Even though it is good value for the money, the Z-Finder will be way over budget for many. By now many companies are offering other viewfinder solutions, one of them being the LCDVF.
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Reviewing the LCW Fader ND
My new Fader ND filter arrived a few days ago and I got to testing it out in the field right in time before my flu knocked me down ;-) And now that I have to spend some time in bed I finally get to share my impressions with you guys.
When I first used my 550D for video shooting it didn’t take much time for me to realize the need of a ND (neutral density) filter when shooting in bright day light. The problem is pretty obvious: Since changing the shutter speed while shooting in movie mode is not a good idea (your shutter speed should always remain at double the amount of the frame rate you chose – ’180 degree shutter rule’) the only possibility do decrease the incoming light is by stepping down the aperture. But in doing that, you also lose the shallow depth of field. So to be able to use high aperture even when it’s bright outside you have to reduce the incoming light in another way: with a neutral density filter, that is. When buying a ND filter you have to consider the strength of the filter – there are different ones, each of them letting through a different amount of light.
Now since I’m pretty lazy the idea of getting several ND filters and having to try out and find the right one to use in a certain situation didn’t really appeal to me. Fortunately the so called Fader ND filter makes it possible to simply put on only one filter and adjust the amount of light coming through by turning the filter ring. A great concept I thought, so I decided to get one.
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