OMCOPTER

Over the past six months or so, I have been in pre-production for the short film Operation: Just Cause. We have finished the script, shot the trailer and are now working on the list of gear that we will need to shoot this film. One of the scenes of this film takes place at an airfield in Panama. During this scene, a team of Navy SEALs infiltrates the airfield in order to render it inoperable. During this mission, the SEAL team gets caught in a bloody firefight with the Panamanian Defense Force. I have been working on how to shoot this engagement and what type of gear we will need to accomplish it. I would like to be able to get some coverage from the air during this scene. I have looked into some options for renting a helicopter for the day and the other equipment that would be needed to secure the camera for these shots. It is very expensive to rent a helicopter and pay for the insurance as well.

Lately I have been considering other options and have found a few of them. I was recently introduced to the Omcopter. This product is remote-controlled helicopter, which is capable of carrying a Red Epic camera on a stedicam platform. The Omcopter is small, agile and is capable of outdoor and indoor flight. It can maneuver through tight places that other aircraft cannot. There are other remote-controlled helicopters that are capable of similar maneuverability, but I have not seen one that is capable of carrying a camera that is as heavy as the Red Epic. The Omcopter has been used in big films such as, “Prometheus”, “The Hobbit” and “Avatar 2”. If I can raise enough money to fit this product into the budget I would like to rent it for a day and use it in Operation: Just Cause. 

http://www.omstudios.de/OMCOPTER-Flying-Epic

 http://vimeo.com/51753189

Gunshots with Adobe After Effects

During the past couple of months I have been working on pre-production for a short film that will be shot in April of 2013. The film is about a team of Navy SEALs who were deployed in Panama in 1989 during Operation: Just Cause. With the help of a small crew and cast, we have filmed a short trailer for the film. The short production went well and we have enough footage to make a decent trailer. We were able to get a couple guys with recording arts backgrounds to make a song for the trailer. The biggest problem that we are facing right now is the lack of an editor. I have some experience editing with Final Cut Pro, Avid Media Composer and Adobe After Effects. This trailer has a lot of action shots where the SEALs are firing their weapons. These shots require a good deal of visual effects editing such as, muzzle flashes, shell ejections, dust, and color correction.

I have been using Video Copilot as a resource to learn how to make these gunshots look real. Video Copilot is a website that has tutorials on how to use After Effect to build a variety of different visual effects. I had to learn how to create muzzle flashes from scratch with Adobe After Effects.  In one of their tutorials, they take you step by step and show you how to make it look like a real weapon is being fired. I found pictures of different muzzle flashes with black backgrounds online. I learned how to key out, (meaning remove) the background and manipulate the remaining images in order to create a believable muzzle flash. I have also been looking at tutorials on how to create shell ejections. I used one of Freddiew2’s Channel videos called Gun Sound FX and Bullet Shells, to learn how to animate the shell ejections. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCfzZizt8M0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsViAvVYoMQ 

http://www.videocopilot.net/

 

 

Negotiation Interview

Negotiation is a very important part of being successful in business and in the entertainment industry. Foster Lovelace is an independent video editor who lives in Sacramento, California. He primarily edits music videos for local bands and independent artists. Foster is not limited to editing music videos, but has also worked on wedding videos, commercials and documentary films. Each of Foster’s projects are unique and require different amounts of time and effort to complete. Each time Foster meets with a new client, he must negotiate with them and settle on a price for the completion of that particular project.

I asked Foster about the preparations that he takes before negotiating with a client. The first thing that he does is to do some research on the client’s company or band, in order to have a better understanding of their video needs. Foster usually deals with smaller businesses and bands, which normally have a small budget that they can spend on his services. Understanding your client’s financial situation is very important when negotiating over the price of any given service. Foster also said that he does research on other editors in his area and tries to stay within their price range.

During the interview, I asked Foster if he had ever experienced any problems when negotiating with clients. He said that there have been a couple occasions where clients have tried to use tricky tactics in order to get a better deal on his services. On one of these occasions, the client stated that they could only pay a set amount and they couldn’t go any higher. The price that they offered was a good deal lower than the price that Foster would normally ask for on a project like that one. He told the prospective client how long it would take for him to take complete their project and that their offer was too low and not worth his time. The prospective client would not change their offer and threatened to back out of the deal and find another editor. Foster knew that the offer was below his bottom line and had to decline the client’s offer and pass on that project.

Video Copilot: 3-D Elements

Video Copilot is a website that showcases after effects plug-ins. After effects is great editing software program that has a wide variety of capabilities for creating visual effects. Video Copilot has a variety of products, tutorials and information about visual effects editing. New plug-ins are being created and added to this site all of the time and can be purchased at their website, videocopilot.net With each new plug-in that they add, there is at least one tutorial that takes you step by step through the process of using the new tools that are made available with the new plug-in. Most of the newer plug-ins have multiple purposes and therefore have more than one tutorial.

I find these tutorials very helpful and informational. The only downside to some of these tutorials is that sometimes they will lead you through the first half of the project and then let you know that you will need a second plug-in to complete the particular visual effect. That’s where they get you hooked. You get to see what they can create but you have to purchase more plug-ins in order to do the same. I came across this dilemma not too long ago. I was following along with a tutorial on creating the Biohazard Logo using the Element 3D plug-in, and a little over halfway through the tutorial, they require a separate plug-in to create what they have made in the demo. Now I want to get this new plug-in but getting more and more of these plug-ins add up pretty quick. 

This short video is an example of Video Copilot's new plug-in, 3-D Elements package and it shows some of the new thing that you can do to manipulate an image. This plug-in is great because you can take your basic 2-D elements and convert them into 3-D images.

The Hobbit: An Unexpectd Journey

The first installment of the Hobbit trilogy will be in theaters on December 14^th, 2012. Peter Jackson, Writer, Director and Producer of the Hobbit films, has already become a huge success with the well-known Trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. The Hobbit Trilogy is the prequel to the Lord of the Rings and follows the tale of Bilbo Baggins and his journey through Middle Earth.

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who is caught up in a quest to help thirteen dwarfs reclaim their lost kingdom. The big problem with this is this kingdom is guarded by a notorious dragon named Smaug. Gandalf the wizard helps this small team of adventurers on their journey. They come across Orcs, Goblins, Trolls and many other creatures that try to stop them along the way. Bilbo discovers the ring of power in Gollum’s cave and steals it from him and barely escapes with his life.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy grossed over 3 billion dollars and was wildly successful. New Line Cinema had no problem investing in Peter Jackson again and expect to make an even greater profit. New Line, along with MGM and WingNut Films, have given the Hobbit Films a 270,000,000 dollar budget. At first, the Hobbit was going to be made into two films, but not too long ago it was decided that the story was too long and it would be better to make it into a trilogy. I think that this is a smart business decision for a couple of reasons. First of all, by making the Hobbit into three films, the studios will be releasing one more film that will most likely be a huge blockbuster and be more than worth while. The second reason why I think that the Hobbit should be released in three parts is the story itself if very long and has lots of details. If the studios had decided to make two films instead of three, they would have had to choose what parts of the story to leave out of the two films. I look forward to seeing the three Hobbit films over the next few years starting with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Sources:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903624/

http://the-hobbit-movie.com/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167260/

Here is a quick look at my latest project.

Helicopter ride at D-Day

This was my first time in a helicopter and it was awesome! I can't wait to get in another one. This was shot on a GoPro HD Hero at Oklahoma D-Day 2012.

48 Hour Film Project

I have been researching local organizations and businesses that are involved in the film industry and I found one that stood out to me. The 48 Film Project is a unique competition that has been going on all around the world since 2001. Filmmakers get together for one crazy, fast-paced weekend. Each team of filmmakers have just 48 hours to write, shoot and edit a short film. Each group will be given a list of things that they need to have in their film; a character, a prop, one line of dialogue and a genre. Besides these guidelines, the rest of the short film is up to the team to decide what to do.

The 48 Hour Film Project’s mission is “to advance filmmaking and promote filmmakers.” This event is a great way for filmmakers everywhere to come together, share their ideas and make some great movies in a short period of time. Having such a short period of time to make a film is a great way to encourage creativity and teamwork.

Eleven years ago Mark Ruppert came up with the idea to make a short film in 48 hours. Ruppert was able to get other filmmakers to take part in this experiment and their projects were successful. Now this competition has taken place in over 400 cities around the world. There have been 278,000 filmmakers who have participated in these competitions over the years.

Events like the 48 Hour Film Project are very beneficial to filmmakers everywhere. They are forced to think outside the box and use their creativity and communication skills to create something that normally is not done in just 48 hours time. Many filmmakers spend do much time talking and arguing about making films and very little time actually making films. I have never taken part in the 48 Hour Film Project which just took place last month but if I am not working during the next 48 Hour Film Project, I want to get my crew together and give it a shot.

CEO Story

This is a short video about me that I made for a class project.

JJ Abrams: The Mystery Box

I recently watched this TED talks video by JJ Abrams: TheMystery Box.  Abrams is a well-known producer, writer and director who has worked on many hit movies and television shows.  In this presentation, Abrams inspires his audience to be creative with whatever they have. He talks about his grandfather and how he used to encourage him to try different things. He would help Abrams take things apart and learn how they worked. One of the things that Abrams became intrigued with was boxes. He was interested and still is interested in how they are made and constructed. Abram’s grandfather bought him a Super 8 camera when he was ten years old because he wanted to create films. Abrams was inspired and encouraged to create things and use his imagination from a very young age.

Abrams got a mystery box from a magic store a long time ago. To this day he has never opened it. So why not open it, and use what is inside? To Abrams, the mystery box is like his grandfather, it represents hope, potential and infinite possibilities. It is the mystery and the unknown that makes it so intriguing. We are drawn to a good mystery and this can be used in films and television. Abrams uses mystery in many of his movies and television shows like, Super 8, Cloverfield and Lost. Sometimes not knowing something can be more fun than knowing. An example of this is style of filmmaking is seen in the television show, Lost. We don’t really know what the island is, but that is part of what makes it an exciting and compelling show. Abrams encourages his audience to use their creativity because with the advances in technology, we have the ability to create just about anything that we can imagine. It no longer takes an entire movie studio to make a good film, anyone with a good story and the passion to see it through can do it.

Blackmagic Cinema Camera

Will the Blackmagic Cinema Camera take the place of HDSLR’s?

In THIS article, Marco Solorio from OneRiver Media, discusses a new product, the Blackmagic Cinema Camera. This camera has a very different look to it, in comparison with most HDSLR’s. Solorio talks about the possibility of the Blackmagic Cinema Camera taking the place of HDSLR’s. The Blackmagic Cinema Camera retails for $2,995 and this includes the camera body, DaVinci Resolve grading software, UltraScope used through the use of Thunderbolt, and you get the Blackmagic Design’s media Express software which allows you to preform live capture of the RAW footage. This bundle of extras do not come with any DSLR on the market that I know of. Another cool feature is the five-inch touchscreen on the back of the camera. This screen has many useful features, one of which is the ability to enter metadata onto each clip. The Blackmagic can also accept most lenses that are made for Cannon 5D’s and 7D’s with an EF mount. This is a great idea because there is already a wide variety of these lenses out on the market, so people who own older DSLR’s and have these lenses and are ready to upgrade their camera, will be able to keep their lenses to use with the Blackmagic.

The Blackmagic camera has many benefits compared to DSLR cameras, which are in the same price range. The Blackmagic has a 13-stop, 2.5K sensor resolution and has the ability to be recorded at 12-bit RAW, internally or externally. You can also record in other formats such as, 10-bit ProRes or DNxHD at the full 1080 HD size. This camera has qualities and functions that only higher end cameras have. The Cannon C500 is the next, cheapest camera that outputs a live, uncompressed, RAW output that is higher than 1080 HD and is higher than 8-bit, but this camera costs around 30,000 dollars.

One of the areas where DSLR’s have an advantage over the Blackmagic, is its sensor size. It has a much smaller sensor in comparison with the Cannon 5D Mark 2 and 3.  IF you have a larger sensor, you will gain to things. The first thing is a greater sensitivity to light, and this will also give you a lower amount of noise at higher ISO values. The second benefit in having a larger sensor is that it will give you a narrower depth of field. There are other ways to get a narrow depth of field with a smaller sensor size, it just takes a little more work.

The Blackmagic Cinema Camera is a very new camera with great functions and qualities, and also has its drawbacks. It has many features that are only offered on higher end cameras, and has a new innovative design. I believe that this camera will become a very popular, cheaper alternative to other cameras on the market. 

Welcome to BRAN.DID

Hi, my name is Brandon Dorn and I’d like to welcome you to my site. I am a creative and passionate filmmaker who loves to direct and edit all sorts of film and video projects. I have worked on short films, music videos, commercials and promotional videos. I love what challenges each new project brings, and exploring creative ideas in order to make each of them unique and professional. Please feel free to check out my work here at BRAN.DID and HERE.