The Good Bad & the Ugly

Children aged three to five were chosen, one by one and carefully tested for their verbal skills and personal charm. The casting took two days and an interesting mix of performers was engaged. One curly haired three year old decided she didn’t like this “casting” thing and she wasn’t going to say a word to anyone no matter what. She didn’t, but the
director asked that she be included because in a cut of ten kids, a curly haired nod from an angel might spark a moment.
The director lay on his stomach in a pile of pillows. The camera, placed on rails behind him tracked left and right and was aimed just over his head so when the children responded to him they appeared to be speaking to the camera. A second camera on rails was ready and loaded for the moments when the first camera would run out of film. They shot for 2 days, a new child every fifteen minutes. Kodak stock spiked on day 2.
The agency and the client had agreed on what they wanted the children to say. The children came to the shoot without knowledge of what they were going to be asked, in order to be free of mother-rehearsed lines. The director asked the children to tell him with their own words what having a cold felt like and after they did their best with that he gave them the words the agency wanted to hear. The little lady who would not speak in casting heard the camera roll and immediately told the story of her life and a few too many and too private family stories. The editor cut three 15-second spots and one 30-second spot on Miss Curly all by herself.
When the editor made his choice of the moments that expressed the children’s feelings best, it was discovered that there was not a single scripted word included in the cut. The kids stole the show with new and unique ways to explain what a cold felt like.
The client marketers and the agency creatives didn’t get what they asked for but were courageous and recognized the communication value in the children’s inventive explanations.
The director was continually charmed by the children. He asked a little girl how old she was, she looked puzzled for a moment then raised her arm and popped first one finger, then another, then a third finger and explained that she was “Pwactithing to be fowah”. A slightly older performer looked distressed when asked what he was going to be when he grew up. With a look of disdain he answered “an adult”.
The director was complimented on the choice of children and asked how he made his choices. He explained that first he didn’t make the choices alone. The agency always had professional opinions and were right as many times as he. He explained that his own personal system was to check to see if the adult attending the child was clean. After that he checked the willingness of the child to make steady eye contact. How closely would the child approach the director when asked to do so? How large was the child’s territorial imperative? How did the parent treat the child? Once the director did not think the boy the agency wanted could do the job. The director pouted a little but did as he was asked. Bell Telephone’s agency in this instance was very right, the young man was able and consistent.
____________________________
Sometimes on the time-limited shoot day the exact expectations of a client or agency can not be realized because reality rears its ugly head and something has to be adjusted to use the time well. Most agencies have people who are experienced professionals who can accept a rational change. All directors have seen some who can not.
On a Trans Canada Telephone shoot, a child was prompted to cry by a supposedly accidental spill of ice cream onto her pretty dress. The resulting cry was so heart-breaking everyone immediately agreed to cheer her up and find another solution.
Three little girls were required to skip. The shorts of one child kept slipping – it made a much better shot when she jumped, jumped, yanked, jumped, jumped and yanked.
The cowboys and the group of wild horses were going to do a stampede. They waited while a cloud entered the valley on a shoot where sunshine was required. The cloud proceeded to the middle of the valley and came to a stop. It proceeded to gradually diminish in size until only a tiny piece covered the sun. The time for the shot had passed and no one thought to invent an alternative.
The men who were employed by Ford to do the preparation of cars for photography were their own bosses. The camera was placed, the crew was ready and the sun was setting. The car preparers chose to prep both sides of the car on a shot that showed only one side. In spite of the screaming director, they approved the car for shooting shortly after the sun had set.
A too frequent blunder on a commercial shoot is when someone asks the director to try the thing that just popped into their mind. Few understand they immediately lose the shot the director had planned because of his need to adhere to a strict time schedule.
The storyboard showed the lovers ambling through a light forest. The production company found the forest and completed the shoot. On their way back to St. Johns, they passed a huge grassy area. The cars screeched to a stop, everyone tumbled out and because of the previously undiscovered beauty of the location, they shot the entire commercial again. Back in Montreal, the client didn’t even notice and approved the spot without question.
_______________________________________________________________________
Bill Irish is a 40 year veteran of Canada’s Communication Industry.

Megapixels or Bust

Take a look at the link at the bottom of this post. I'll wait. (doo, doo, doo, dooooooooo, doo, doo, doo, doo, do, do doooooo - elevator music, while I wait - really, say it slowly out loud a few times)

While a bit of a simplification, it does explain why for the vast majority, the whole mega pixel thing - at this stage - just doesn't matter.

Going back to my previous blog it also explains why the 5 mega pixel camera on the iPhone is better than the 8 mega pixel one on most Android (phones) is better. Sensor size. (the iPhone one is bigger) So in one sense size matters but in another it is what you do with it that counts. Come on you were all thinking it....

This does apply to the production world too. Again, this is a bit of a simplification but basically it holds true. The 5d and 7d from Canon. The big difference is the sensor size. But, since web and tv content (as opposed to feature films) are lit for easy viewing (lots of light) the net effect is that the smaller image size of the 7d is fine. Do you need to blow up the image for theatrical release? Zoom in really tight to deal with sfx? Then the bigger sensor size and slightly more pixels of the 5d is good. There are of course aesthetic reasons and technical ones. However, I guess that about 60%+ of what is shot today, for commercial use is for promoting a product that is format independent. Meaning, that the product promotion is not effected by Film or HD (whatever the format).

What about cameras like the hvx 200 - a 720p hd camera - a semi-pro model they call it. Well technically, it has less resolution than the 7d and 5d (720p vs. 1080p) but it has 3 image sensors and much bigger ones too. So, it will do better in lower light and in most cases the picture quality - a touchy, feely measurement, not technical one - can be 'nicer'

There are of course more issues in some cases - sfx work, what your final use is, etc. But basically and I say again - basically -all this is true and real.

As you go up into the Red and other HD+ resolution cameras this truth - basically - holds true. For instance, the work flow for the Red (camera system) is complicated for several reasons, not the least of which is the image size. The size of images is 4k about 3 x that of HD. Huge files that most desktop (Final Cut, etc) have a great deal of problem dealing with. The solution and result of applying some common sense is to shoot if you want to at 4k (if you need the size for theatrical release or sfx (special effects ) work but then transfer the images to 2k or even 1080p - hd and edit as normal. If your going to TV (commercials, etc.) this is the best you can do anyway - tv stations only want 1080p HD size projects. You realize that if you do apply common sense and the above is true for your project, just shoot at 2k. That gives you the image size to 'move' your picture around in post as you are still only using the 1080p size image anyway.

So, the expense of shooting on the Red or Film for that matter (post costs) is a question that people should be asking - in more depth. Yes, there are times to do it. However, for the purposes of this blog entry - think about what you are using it for.

Ask Not What the Format Can Do For You But What You Need The Format For - and push Post people for real answers not ones based on their own snobbish feelings toward certain formats. Most times they get you with the 'What if' (what if you want to do .... later or what if someone changes their mind). Agency people want to know why everything costs so much money. The fear is why.

Don't give into the fear.

Jason

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2U2NyI/techland.com/2010/09/09/two-minute-video-camera-shopping-skip-the-megapixels/

Android

I lost my iPhone; the rather improbable and slightly unbelievable story is not worth repeating. I lost my iPhone. Once the separation anxiety had worn off, I realized that I was not really missing it. Truth in advertising time here - I have an iPad. The WiFi one, not the 3g one. I can count on one hand the number of times I have wanted to look at something online and didn't have free WiFi nearby. I am looking at a Virgin Mobile MiFi to solve that problem (more in another post).

Back to the lost iPhone: I was not able to 'Find My Iphone' through 'me.com' but was able to change the password and set up the remote wipe. Which means the first time someone tried to use it, the phone would be useless to all but the most determined hacker. And it was a 3g, so almost out of date anyway.

So, what to do next? I could rush out and buy a new '4 or wait until the end of September and see what comes out of Apple once their 'free cover' promotion ends. Rumours abound about new hardware to solve the problem. Either way our various networks in Canada have much stronger / better signals than AT&T - it seems - so the whole 'antenna-gate' seems to be much less of an issue here. The second option is to buy an Android phone. I am with Rogers so to get a good one - comparable to iPhone I would need to switch carriers. Good to me is that latest version of the Android OS and one of two phones from either HTC or Samsung (Sony has a decent one but the bit of fancy software they add to the OS to make it more Sony I find more geared to Kids - another blog). Bottom line is that the advantages of an open operating system that is easily customizable and free (or more free) of corporate control is not worth losing the compatibility the iPhone offers. Also, while the hardware is at least as good between the two platforms in terms of screen and camera(s) the iPhone seems to win out. Can't wait to chat with my daughter with the new 'facetime' (her with my wife's phone - she will not have her own).

If I had the time and energy the Android would be my choice - hacker roots run deep. But as soon as I have to fiddle with something in a meeting and some smart ass says 'That's why I have an iPhone' and that smart ass is a senior creative - it is not worth it. Really.

In the end I dug out the last Treo I had, Rogers helped me out with a new sim and I am limping along. The PIM (personal information management - calendar and phonebook) features of the phone work fine, the web side sucks and I limp along. But I have the iPad. I will wait.

Enjoy,

Jason