Posts related to various topics on this blog.

NH Film Festival Recap 2014

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The NH Film Festival — NHFF — is by far my favorite time of year. It brings so many truly fascinating and talented people to the city from all over the world.

This year, after running the Social Video Competition, I took over the NHFF Vine and Instagram accounts and posted as many short micro-videos from the weekend as I could turn around. Working along with the competition winners, we created a bunch of Vines and Instavids. Check out some of the best examples below.

 

From Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


From Vine

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How Stephen Colbert Prepares His Show

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I’m a fan of Stephen Colbert, so for me this glimpse behind the curtain is absolutely fascinating. Truly. In this interview, David Plotz speaks with Colbert, who is remarkably candid in his description of the process it takes to create the show every day.

https://soundcloud.com/slateradio/working-stephen-colbert

CGI Crowd Dynamics

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Here’s a cool demonstration of crowd dynamics in CGi. It’s pretty cool, actually… so check it out, especially if your into this type of thing.

iPhone Camera Stabilization for the Masses

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Do you shoot video with an iPhone? Sure you do. And I’m sure you’ve been disappointed with the shake of your hands in at least half of your videos. Well just as technology is totally blowing our minds with everything from artificial intelligence to autonomous vehicles, there’s an app that fixes that shake.

Instagram recently released Hyperlapse, a free app touting incredibly smooth timelapsed video capture. What was perhaps less covered was the fact that you can slow down the video you capture from 6x (default) to 1x for some seriously impressive iphone camera stabilization effects.

Here’s how it works… The app captures video at full 1080 resolution, and then crops that down to 720 while adjusting the frame’s orientation with data collected from the device’s accelerometer. You see, most stabilization filters apply interpretive reference points after the fact, which often yields some undesirable effects. Using the orientation data, the app knows exactly where your hand is and how it’s moving, resulting in near perfect stabilization.

Seriously, test it out. If stabilization matters to you, it will become your new go-to.

**As a bonus to the above video, check out this behind-the-scenes with commentary from the video team at The Verge.

7 Useful Tips for Hiding a Lavalier Mic

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You may not be a fan of the Lav mic, but if you’re a filmmaker or you work with audio, there will almost certainly come a time when you’ll need to keep a lavalier microphone hidden from the camera. This presents several problems: clothing noise, cable noise, chest-hair noise… You get the idea.

In this video, Izzy Hyman offers up some great tips for doing just that… You might even learn a new trick that will come in handy on a set.

Still have questions? Leave a comment.

3 New Lenses – Options for iPhone Photo/Video

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There are some new options for iphone lens attachments that are NOT olloclip.

There are some new options for iphone lens attachments that are NOT olloclip.

If you fancy yourself a seasoned iPhone photographer and you’re like me, you’re creative options with the standard iPhone lens are limiting. It’s just so much more rewarding to capture an immersive image with a wide-angle or extreme detail with a macro lens. And if you’re still anything like me you’ve had a love/hate relationship with Olloclip and long sought for an alternative – any alternative. I mean that thing is near impossible to clean and why did they design it that way anyway? So here are a few new options that might tickle your fancy… They come at a price, but if you’re serious about capturing the right photo or video while you’re out and about, they’ll come in handy. Three options with little video intro’s and links to the product pages below.

iPro

iPro is a cool all-in-one lens system for iphone that integrates a case with tripod mounts and 3 lenses that store conveniently enough in a handle attachment.

Learn more »

Manfrotto Klyp+

The Klyp+ is impressive in that it comes with a handy LED light to help brighten images in dark surroundings.

Learn more »

Moment

Moment looks promising for those of you fanatic over iPhone photography and video. The lenses look incredibly well made and the company boldly claims to be the highest quality option for enhancing your iPhone photos. It is also fairly expensive, and as of publishing it is still in pre-order. But this is the direction I’m leaning personally.

Learn more »

Business videos created from your presentations

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Business videos – or more generally video content can come in many shapes and sizes… From shortform Vine or Instagram videos, to snappy promotional or indepth training videos. But not everyone is comfortable with camera and editing equipment, so what options are available for those looking to create effective business videos without the skill or cost of a professional videographer?

Knovio iPad App

Knovio: Business video made easy

Let’s assume you have a knock-em-out slide deck and a wonderfully charismatic presence on stage, and that the information you have to share is, well… let’s just say there are people out there searching for it. That’s where this new app for iPad comes in. Knovio allows you to create truly compelling business videos using your powerpoint presentation and the video camera on your iPad. The interface is simple enough for even the most tech-inept to navigate, and opens new opportunities for integrating video content into your marketing/communication strategy.

For a more extensive review of the app, check out this article by Greg Jarboe via REELSEO.

Link» New iPad App Radically Simplifies Business Video Creation

Does traffic data corrupt content quality?

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Man Rubbing eyes

This man sees no evil…

It an interesting practice, but it also makes total sense. If you’re a publisher concerned about the authenticity of the articles being produced by your journalists and contributors, handing over this kind of traffic data would naturally seem to encourage content authors to spend more time worrying about what might drive the most traffic, and less time thinking about the depth of the story. So, yeah… Click here to read the HubSpot article

Swinging in the park

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I brought Oslo for a stroll down to the park. True to form, I’m ready for capturing little moments with my iPhone…. It wasn’t until I’d reviewed the footage later and uploaded it that I realized just how many moments I’ve captured (and will continue to) along this little boy’s journey into the world. I imagine the kind of man he’ll become some day many years from now. I hope he continues to be entertaining.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMFSzzXdd-0

Vine launches official profiles, finally.

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vine

 

Vine — you know, the 6 second video sharing app — has finally launched official online profiles for those without a mobile device to consume your diversionary and somewhat non-sensical content. I’m still looking for a few enhancements, such an RSS feed and I’d love to see advanced search options with date range and perhaps a grid view, but hey… they may get around to it. Remember, Vine is only 1 year old. Let’s hope it still has some tricks to offer.

And while you’re checking it out, be sure to follow me on Vine