MORE FIRE!

So fire is always entertaining to watch so I figured I throw another fire related video up here for y’all to enjoy.

So I was mainly focused with keeping two constant camera angles with this video. I wanted one continually moving backward with the fire performer moving towards the camera, basically matching the speed of the actor, sometimes allowing them to get close to the camera. and the other was on the side of the actor trying to keep him perfectly in the center to give a more silhouetted appearance to the fire spinner.

I knew this is what I wanted before I ever started filming. This is a good practice to maintain because it helps in editing. Despite what people think you cannot fix everything in editing. Much of the movie magic we see in videos is planned out pre production and is first executed in filming and the perfected in editing. You can save yourself a mountain of time if you just plan out the shot before filming day rather than fix your mistakes after the fact.

I dove pretty deep in animation…

So I started this whole animation kick awhile back as I previously mentioned in a couple of bl0g posts. It all started out with a tiger, just a simple cartoon tiger running in a straight line, it later became tracing and animating on top of a video. Now I moved away from the pen tool all together and began animating with pictures.

For a little back story on why I did this in the first place, I will be filming an Aerial Showcase with a Pirate theme next month. In preparation I need to make a few promotional commercials. So I decided my first would be a short Pirate ship animation.

I started with a picture of a tropical ocean destination. I then added a transparent displacement effect which made the water ripples. I then cut out a pirate ship and set keyframes to make the ship bob up and down and travel across the screen. I found birds flying over a green screen and was able to put them flying in the background. I also did the same with the pirate ship and the killer whale jumping out of the water. I then added an iron texture layer and turned it into a sphere. After that, I made it come flying towards the screen. Once that was all done all I had to do was add sound effects and music.

Try making a picture/ green screen animation yourself. It is a very interesting learning experience.

Using Color

The use of color is essential when describing or trying to depict the mood you want. The same goes for lack of color. You should strive to use your own style/ brand when it comes to color grading your footage/pictures. I style many of the videos I make in a similar way, although the videos themselves are usually still very different, the style in which I color grade is pretty consistent. I think this helps brand the videos and gives it a look the viewers are used to. I like having a very bright and saturated look with mid level shadows and bright highlights.

Experiment with it, try giving your stuff a “unique” look. Play with the color wheel.

I put this together really quick just for a last minute promo we did for a “Fire Night”. I think it does a decent job of being random and interesting.

Just an Update

Its been a busy couple of weeks at work. As we approach the summer the owners wanted to put out some very diverse content that is different from the norm of what we usually post. This had to bring me out of my comfort zone a bit and although I wasn’t 100% pleased with the outcome of my work I was very happy at the progress I had made.

So as I was working on my previous animation I got the idea that I wanted to try a hand drawn animation on top of video. I had seen it before and always thought it looked really cool so I wanted to give it a shot.

I hind sight I could have done this so much more efficiently , rather than hand draw, I could have motion tracked the footage and used the After Effects rather than Premiere Pro. However I think the obvious imperfections in the drawing kind of add to its character.

I really didn’t know much of what I was doing, I had really limited experience in this kind of thing and I was quickly running out of ideas to draw. I tried to focus on exentuating her movements with the animations. So anytime she made a certain shape or moved in a certain way I tried to focus on that.

Although I think I can do better I am still pleased with the result. Hope you enjoy.

Managing Your Time

So I haven’t been consistent when it comes to my blog and and thats because I haven’t managed my time correctly. Work has been challenging lately and I am working on several projects simultaneously. One is a video of fire spinners which posed many difficulties and another is an animation that I feel completely lost in. When there are several projects needed to be finished be sure to prioritize. I am behind in all my work because I managed my time poorly.

Circus Thomas is quite the entertainer
Ninja Josh enjoying Fire Night
Ninja Josh Weilding two fire sword
Circus Thomas Starts the Show

At work we had a “Fire Night” where fire spinners and entertainers spun fire swords and starves. It was a lot of fun and at the time I thought the footage would turn out better. Although it wasn’t horrible it w as slightly too dark and because light was so low it was difficult to get and maintain focus. I also didn’t frame all my shots correctly in my opinion. Next time I will try to bring a portable light that I can add to the fire spinners.

After hours of work. I was able to get a tiger with 4 strips, running forward.

Another project that is giving me trouble is this animation Ive been working on. This is my first time doing anything like this so I am totally out of my element. Instead of finishing my other work I started learning how to do simple animations. After emerging from the youtube rabbit hole and hours sketching in After Effects I came out with a rudimentary shape slightly resembling something that I wanted….I want to say its a work in progress…I hope.

Anyway as an editor this is a problem faced all the time. There are always a dozen projects needed to be done. Plan your time accordingly.

Keeping things exciting

So one of my biggest struggles is keeping videos exciting and watchable. There are a million other fitness videos being released everyday and in order to stay relevant you need to edit it in a way that other people don’t. Anyone can cut and splice footage into a linear timeline but to make something truly impactful or motivational the editor has to work just as hard as the athlete to be creative.

On this video that I posted below I tried to keep a fast pace throughout, never really showing the full story but rather just glimpses. I found that it gave a bit more excitement and the viewer wanted to see more.

The use of black and white with only the red showing in the beginning was something I was not necessarily familiar with. I have contemplated it in the past but have never used it in a video I’ve released. I think it really sets a tone in the start of the video and helps capture attention. Something about those bright reds really attracts the viewer more than any other color.

I enjoyed making this video and I wish I was able to do more than just a minute but this is the business and demand for more videos forces me to move on. Hope you like the video and enjoy the gym motivation! ( Link is Below)

https://youtu.be/CM5gaBdun1g

Simple Problems, Simple Fixes

Linked is a picture I recently took, it was actually part of a video I was filming at the time but I doubt it will ever be used. At first glance it looks like a decent photo, there is something strange and impressive going on so it immediately grabs attention, but in a lot that I do I can be a perfectionist and for that reason I was very disappointed in this photo.

When working with these the of athletes the photo/videographer must in many ways be as fast as them. This is obviously a difficult pose so there is no time to waste… they can’t hold it forever.

Because I was rushed I didn’t pay attention to centering myself with the people in the photo which would have looked better because the lines on the floor would have stretched into the borders of the photo. It is also slightly overexposed so much of the detail in the muscles is now gone.

Both of these are simple mistakes that could have made a world of difference in the quality of the image but because I rushed myself I was unable to see that in the moment.

The point is, to be a better videographer pay attention to more than whats exactly in front of you. In my situation I could have placed the actors so that a black pole wouldn’t have been directly behind them, I could have centered the lines and I could have made sure everything was properly exposed. Simple problems usually have simple fixes.

Starting Off

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my blog. This is my first time doing this and I don’t really consider myself a writer so this should be an interesting experience for all of us.

By trade I am a videographer and editor. It’s something I have been doing for many years as a hobby but three years ago I dove all in and started doing it professionally.

Now for a little back story, My good friend opened a movement gym recently. A facility that holds gymnasts, parkour athletes, trampoline enthusiasts, martial artists and people training for the Ninja Warrior style obstacle courses. As I am also interested in many of these sports and activities this created a unique opportunity for me and my business.

I wanted to help him create exciting and motivational videos for the business and promote them on social media and whatever platform I could use but the problem was there was there was a big learning curve and a lot difficulties I could have avoided along the way.

In this blog I want to cover what it is like being an athletic videographer and why it is different (and many ways similar) to traditional videography/editing. I hope to explore ways to shoot exciting videos, tips and tricks behind the camera that can make your videos more appealing, common problems and ways to troubleshoot and anything else related to the topic of athletic videography.

Since this is a blog about videography instead of posting pictures I will upload short videos I released for the gym and maybe other videos that I see elements that I like in them.

The link is to a quick video I made for one of our coaches at the gym. Here is a small example of some of the things I have made. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG60mu0loQQ