Happy New Year Filmmakers

     So this last fall was probably the busiest I have been in a long time. Currently I am holding three video production jobs through the University of South Dakota which has been keeping me busy. My first job is a camera man for university athletic events.
     This started with football and has continued into the fresh basketball season. I have worked the side-lines and mainly do the main camera on top of the stands.

My other job has been through Sports information shooting footage for highlight reels to send to news stations and university publications. It's pretty much the same thing as the game day cameraman but I stand on the sidelines and shoot instead.

My favorite part of this job has been shooting soccer matches. Although it is stressful if you almost miss filming a goal. Or in either of my athletic filming, the close calls with players coming at you at full speed and not always in control. It gets the adrenaline pumping and I like it.

Finally I am working with USD Marketing as their student video intern. I am very grateful for this job because they spared no expense in getting professional top quality gear for me to use. I will have to put together a short video of all the gear I use for this job and I plan on doing weekly video updates on how the job is going and what I am working on.

Tomorrow I am shooting some Advisor profile videos for most of the day. There are 11 total to get done and we have five tomorrow.

Also in the works is another short film idea and the starting stages of a documentary. Hope you are filming as much as you can. Here's a suggestion of what to check out on vimeo this week. It is called Unleash created by Tyler Brown. I loved the suggestiveness of the story and really got me inspired to go and make something myself and I hope it inspires you a bit too. Have a great week!!

Softball Game Test

Tomorrow I am shooting highlights for the USD softball game. I'll be testing out my new zoom H4n with recording straight into my canon 70D as a B-camera. I'll be posting the resulting footage and everything on YouTube on my channel. Be ready for Magnet Films on YouTube it will be up and running next week.

I'll be posting again for the official release of this epic Magnet Films YouTube channel. So keep an eye out.

September Update

Hey Indie Filmmakers. Its been a while since I've posted anything and that's because I've been hard at work driving back to college and then settling into classes and such.

Besides the boringness of college life, NOT REALLY, I've been working hard with my advanced field production class and have also been writing the screenplay for my film I'm working on. It's a B-movie called Attack of the Mutant VermCats.

Now, what is a VermCat? Well the city my college is in is Vermillion and there are a lot of stray cats that roam around. Everyone on campus calls them VermCats.

For this film I'm shooting for a Shaun of the Dead feel and I am looking to shoot next month.

In other news I just ordered two new pieces of equipment that should arrive Wednesday. I am very excited for these things and will be making video reviews for at least one of them and the other I'll have to have a good opportunity for.

Speaking of video. I am going to start producing this blogs content as a YouTube channel for Magnet Films. This way you can all join me as I look to make my first no budget feature film. I'll be doing product reviews, movie reviews, maybe scene breakdowns every now and then, and general updates as I work to be an independent filmmaker. Who knows?? Hopefully I can move back in with my parents in California after college and work in Hollywood.

Director or Bust!!

Cheaper lens solution

A while ago I posted about the gear that I have right now. In that post I talked about the Canon AE-1 that I picked up at an estate sale this summer. Well I got a couple FD lenses for a very low price. 

This is a great find for a starting dslr filmmaker since you can get decent glass with easy manual capabilities. The main lens that I use is the 24-55 mm zoom lens. 

The construction of this lens is really solid since it was made back when stuff had to last. The focus ring is very smooth and quiet. The zoom is slightly sticky and wouldn't make me want to do a zoom while filming. The clarity of the lens is alright. It has a very shallow depth of field when wide open on the appetuer so focus adjustment and little movement when shooting this wide is key. Although if you want movement you can just close down the iris more. Overall I think that the canon FD lens is a great lens for the price. If I section out what everything I bought as a bundle cost me it was about $20 for the lens. 

The only thing is that you will have to buy an adapter to use this lens with your camera. I shoot with the canon 70D and bought the Fotodiox FD-EF adapter ring. This was $36 on amazon. There are other options out there but after watching a guy's review on YouTube about this particular one, I decided to go with it. 

This adapter has glass in the middle of it which allows for the lens to stay within the same focal length. Since when you add the ring onto the lens you cause the distance to change from sensor to the lens this is a good thing to have. I have a Minolta lens that I bought an adapter ring for without the lens and it cause the lens to act like a macro. It can no longer focus on anything more than about a meter away from it. 

Also this lens allows you to change the appetuer of the lens through the adapter ring. 

Recent Filming

A film-rific Monday to all of you. I can't believe that my summer is quickly coming to an end before I have to go back to school. Not to worry. I will still be posting weekly updates, reviews and film tips and tricks.

This last week I worked on my entry for the Basic Filmmaker Konova Contest. I made a muppet style talent for this 30 second comedy sketch of the show, which, can be found here: Konova contest entry

If you are interested in how I made my muppet, I followed the instructions in this video here: Muppet Head Tutorial. The body I had to pretty much improvise with and old shirt and some more of the green foam.

Also, an update on the NASA School project. I found that I definitely bit off more than i could chew with the time that I had and so it won't be finished by the time I leave for school. It's not because I couldn't have some type of short film done, it's that I want this to be at a quality where I could enter it into some film festivals and have a nice finished product.

So that is what's going on this last week. Click the button to follow my blog and comment if you'd like. This Wednesday I'll be talking about more glass for filmmaking; specifically cheap glass that I got at an estate sale and used on my latest project.

LUCY and Guardians of the Galaxy Film Review

So last week I said that I was going to go see Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and then see Lucy. Unfortunately I didn't get to see Planet of the Apes since my friend had to study for a summer class that he is taking so we just went to Lucy.

I will say that it was well worth it. I thought that it was an entertaining and fun movie although there were points in the movie where you questioned why Scarlet Johansen's character didn't kill the bad guys with the power she had. But overall it's a worth while film and I would recommend it to anyone.

Next, Yesterday I went and saw the much anticipated Guardians of the Galaxy. By much anticipated I mean I've never read the comics and had no idea that this comic existed until I saw the trailer for the movie. Which after watching I would totally start reading the comic.

Anyways I loved this movie. It was definitely better than Lucy and it also had tons of comedy that kept me laughing throughout the whole thing and made my sister geek out about it for the next two hours when we got home. And, this movie was packed with action and great actors; like: Cruella Deville from the live action 101 Dalmatians, Amy Pond from doctor who (trust me its her), and Uhura from the new Star Treks.

POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT:
I didn't know this but guardians of the galaxy is in the same universe as all the avengers. Which became evident when you find out that the real evil villain behind it all is Thanos.

So if you are looking to go see a movie check one of these two out. I know that you won't be disappointed with these blockbusters.

Monday Film Stuff — Planet of the Apes and gear

Happy monday! Today again I am working on my puppets and set for the NASA School project, which, when finished I can shoot the rest of the shots I need pretty quickly. Later today I am going to see both Lucy and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes with my friend since he works at the theater and has free passes whenever he wants. Super sweet.

Anyways, getting to some gear talk. Currently I have a Canon 70D with two 50mm lenses and a 75-200 kit lens. Also with my recent purchase of the Canon AE-1 classical goodie, I have a 28-55mm FD lens that I still need an adaptor ring to convert it to EF mount. So I have a fairly decent range for focal lengths but need something better.

I am already formulating a plan for a movie project in the fall when I'm back at school which will be like many of the classic horror films. I mean the ones that couldn't scare you if they tried. Those awesome and funny B-rate movies.

For this project I will be buy my first serious lens and that is the Canon 24-105 f4 L lens. There are many places that sell this lens for $1,100 and there are also some that sell it for half that. So I will of course be going with the cheaper price and this lens will be my go to for all my video and photography needs.

Now with the Canon 70D's crop factor of 1.6 this lens won't go completely out to 24mm but it gets relatively close. If calculated out it becomes a 38mm lens.

Also for recording Audio I am going to go with the Rode NTG2 microphone. After hearing some examples of comparisons between this mic and a couple other Rode mics, I loved the clearness and quality audio of this mic. This I will be using into the Zoom H4n.

This is a pretty solid setup for shooting this kind of film and should be a fun experience. I've already told some of my friends the concept and they really like the idea.

I will be posting more about this project and other gear information every Monday. Support me and follow my blog.