The viewer is more likely to forgive poor picture quality rather than poor sound. In this next chapter, join Victor as he teaches you how to record sound properly with your HDSLR camera. You will hear the difference between your built-in mic, on camera shotgun mics and double system sound with a separate recorder. By understanding the techniques required to capture audio for your films, you will be closer to discovering your inner filmmaker.

The webinar will cover a variety of audio equipment including; Zoom H4n, Shotgun microphones (Rode NTG-3, Rode Videomic Pro and Sennheiser), Sennheiser Wireless Lavaliers, Boom+boom poles, shockmounts, and more.

On May 23rd, 2012 at 1PM Eastern Time, this FREE webinar will run with a live chatroom and several Cinevate folk on hand to answer your questions. Register now for the Getting Better Audio Webinar or check out our previous Webinars in the Archive.

The live, online webinar series is dedicated to teaching photographers the skills they need to turn their existing photographic knowledge into filmmaking prowess with their HDSLRs.

I think everyone can learn something from this piece on a variety of levels. The entire video is inspiring in its storytelling and technical filmmaking. The composition, camera movements, lighting, sound quality and editing choices are all worth taking notes on. I’ve sat in on arguments/debates about doing free work as a filmmaker/videographer and the risk of devaluing your work, but in some cases (especially for beginners) it’s worth doing just to learn from. Even pros like Stillmotion, as Patrick mentions, still learned and gained a lot from doing a pro bono production like this one – not to mention a little charity never hurt anyone.

If you’re not the note-taking type they’ve got you covered in the filmmaking/instructional tool called SMAPP – the Stillmotion App. Find out more at the SMAPP page or check out the Stillmotion blog for their other shoots and educational opportunities.

The people who have Dromos immediately added it in their essential tool kit, including the likes of Casey Warren of MINDCASTLE and Patrick Moreau of Stillmotion. Piotr Skowronski of Imaginarium Video also recently made use of it while filming the Axis Jib video which you’ll see in the near future. Piotr has since added it to his gear and passed along some comments on having Dromos in his kit;

“Aside from having the right people for the job; the second most important element to ensure a smooth and successful production experience are the tools.  Whether you’re a cinematographer, videographer or run-and-gun documentary filmmaker, you depend on your experience, your team and the tools in your kit.  For me, some of the most important tools are the ones that are less known or glamorous, but offer a tremendous advantage on set.  One such tool is the trusty Hi Hat.  The applications are countless and include something as simple as a sturdy foundation for camera setup, to dramatic low angle shots reminiscent of Citizen Kane.  On our productions, the Imaginarium Studio camera department requires a platform where cameras such as the Red Scarlet-X and all of its many accessories can be assembled easily and efficiently.  The Hi Hat allows for this.  We recently had the privilege to add to our kit the Cinevate Dromos Hi Hat, which immediately proved to be an indispensable asset on account of its stability and versatility.  We used the Dromos to build and tear down the camera, transport and store, as well as mounting it to a dolly to achieve low angle tracking shots.  This Hi Hat in particular has a few neat surprises including 3/8” and 1/4” holes (cheese plate style) for mounting accessories, and features an articulating bowl up to 90 degrees.  So really, if you just need to take a load off and rest your camera rig somewhere safe, grab a low angle shot, or maybe squeeze into a tight place, the Hi Hat allows for this.  Perhaps you want to mount the camera to the wall; sure, simply drill the Dromos Hi Hat Board securely into the wall and you just achieved an otherwise impossible point of view.”

One thing I hadn’t considered was using the Dromos as a platform to build and assemble your camera. This is especially handy with larger cameras like any of the REDs or Alexa, as seen in these BTS photos;

Dromos is available now through Cinevate.com(and in various dealer stores soon) and the Axis Jib will starting shipping July 1st, 2012.

Handheld GoPro Rig, why not? Colin’s slightly modified his Simplis Dual DSLR Rig and turned it into a Simplis Dual GoPro Rig. Colin’s rationale makes sense to me; “To shoot this series of videos, I wanted to show off the capabilities of the GoPro HD Hero 2 camera. I already travel with the Simplis Dual rig. To capture my ENG shots with the GoPro HD Hero 2 camera, I simply stuck it to the rig using the 3M adhesive mount and voila! GoPro ENG .” After seeing an even more elaborate iPad rig at NAB I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. The video featuring the GoPro Hero 2 and Simplis Dual rig below.

The film really struck a chord with us. If you check out Dennis revealing the winner in the APA Winner Announcement video (around the 16:53 mark) he jokes about getting teary-eyed (he’s not actually joking). Having said that, our task was to select the best production value which ‘The Stars Above‘ also had in spades. Clark’s film looked beautiful, had lots of variety in composition and camera movement, and he clearly did plenty of set and art decoration. We felt his choices in all of these aspects were completely deliberate and not just for the sake of looking cool. For Clark’s hard work he wins one of our Atlas 10 Camera Sliders.

You can check out all of the entries at the APA’s Short Film Contest vimeo page and of course the complete list of winning films at the APA National website.Congratulations to all of this year’s winners – can’t wait to see what they come up with next year.

Patrick had much to say about the ceremony, the shoot, and the Emmy ceremony, including “A Game of Honor was by far the most challenging piece we have ever been a part of. from the shoots, to the travel schedule, to adapting to a longer form of storytelling – it was a very tiring 8 months, but one that left all of us involved changed forever.” You can read the rest of Patrick’s thoughts and thanks on the Stillmotion Blog

Stillmotion Receives Multiple Emmy Nominations
You’re probably familiar with the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Annual Emmy Awards even if you don’t watch the televised ceremony. What you might not know is that the televised, celebrity filled ceremony is only a fraction of the Emmy awards given out. There are other Emmy categories awarded off-camera, including the distinctive Sports Emmy Awards. These nominations were announced earlier this week and we very happily recognized a few names.

I can’t wax philosophic over the Patrick and Dennis connection as I’ve only been with Cinevate for a couple years but I do know that the Stillmotion and Cinevate relationship is nearly as old as the company itself. If you’ve followed Stillmotion over the years you’ll know that they started off shooting wedding films (on our Brevis 35mm lens adapter no less) and now shoot pieces for some serious clientele, including the NFL, CBS and Showtime. It’s often been Patrick and Stillmotion’s requests for innovative and effective filmmaking equipment that has driven us to create the gear we do. I won’t dare try to place any sense of responsibility for Stillmotion’s nominations on Cinevate’s behalf but I can say that we hope to continue being part of their filmmaking arsenal as they continue to create the caliber of work that they do.

We shared Stillmotion’s now Emmy nominated documentary “A Game of Honor” trailer (above) a few months ago and Cinevate bossman and CEO Dennis Wood also attended the film’s premiere back in December at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. If you haven’t seen it yet check out the full Trailer post with BTS photos or Dennis’ premiere/red carpet ponderings. This documentary represents a good portion of the Emmy nominations that Stillmotion has received but isn’t their only work being recognized.

Here’s the full list straight from Stillmotion’s blog with a few comments from Patrick;

Outstanding Sports Documentary
A Game of Honor // Showtime, CBS Sports

“this is the one we all really want to win. this nomination represents everything that every member of the team gave to make the film what it is. from Pete’s vision and directing, Steve’s producing, Anthony and Quenna’s around the clock editing, Gareth, Shelby and Lindsey’s field producing, and our DP/camera work – we all gave everything we could for this film and i think this nomination best speaks to what we created together.”

Outstanding Camera Work
A Game of Honor // Showtime, CBS Sports

“this is one of the ones we are the most excited about. shot almost entirely on Canon DSLRs with mostly primes (some might even say too many) our team acted as DP of the film and provided most of the camerawork in the final film. Davey from CBS was also a huge contributor to the camerawork throughout the film.”

Outstanding Editing
A Game of Honor // Showtime, CBS Sports

Outstanding Sports Promotional Announcement – Episodic
A Game of Honor // Showtime, CBS Sports

Outstanding New Approaches Sports Programming
A Game of Honor // CBS Sports.com

(Army-Navy game)
Outstanding Post Produced Audio/Sound
Outstanding Music Composition / Direction / Lyrics
Outstanding Open / Tease

Outstanding Edited Sports Special
“the nomination we were a part of: Sharpe Focus, Journey to Canton // the NFL Network”

Outstanding New Approaches Sports Programming
The NFL Season: A Biography // NFL Network, NFL.com

Everyone here at Cinevate would like to wish Stillmotion the best of luck at the April 30th held awards ceremony!

Keep up to date with Casey and Danielle via their twitter feeds, or through the MINDCASTLE blog or twitter account.

MINDCASTLE receives Emmy Nominations

Last week we posted about the Emmy nominations for the Stillmotion gang and this entry is similarly themed. We are extremely happy to let you know that Casey Warren and Danielle Krieger over at MINDCASTLE have also received multiple nominations for the Sports Emmy Awards. Their nominations cover a few different productions including the ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown Spot, MLB/Showtime’s The Franchise – A Season with the San Francisco Giants and MLB/HBO’s Derek Jeter 3K.

Honored yet humbled, Casey shares his thoughts on the nominations over on the MINDCASTLE blog;

“There is often this moment on a projects where I pause and get the feeling that everything is clicking. This moment is defined by the almost tangible feeling & sense of team work that comes from everyone working together & I think that teamwork is one of the best metaphors for filmmaking:

Any film, documentary, or commercial represents a whole that is greater than the sum of parts; its a moving clockwork of minds, hearts, passion, and creative focus that unify a group of people. The creative result of this sum is built from hundreds of moments where everyone works and thinks like a team.”

If you like the Emmy nominated video above check out the original blog post, complete with behind-the-scenes photos and detailed gear breakdown in our Tracking Shot series. A huge congratulations to Casey and Danielle from the whole Cinevate team and good luck wishes at the April 30th awards ceremony!

Adam shared his thoughts on tapping into a different creative outlet than he has been able to in the past; “I had fun letting the inner filmmaker out and it was refreshing. Focusing more on shooting a mini movie with a story / narration. Tis good for me to mix it up now and then and challenge myself. I hope you all can appreciate this for the story, filming/editing, if not then try watching it with your eyes closed, hahah and visualize gnarly 100mph slides. It was a blast to film and I learned a bunch. Yes, we used a revolver that ejects cases, hahaha.”

Paul Kent, the lead longboarder/actor in the film also shared his thoughts in a blog post; “Adam just got a new Durus Follow focus from Cinevate. It allows for smooth dynamic focus during filming. The most obvious places you can see this effect would be the focus moving off of Danes face and onto his pistol in the early shots of the video.  I’ve been surrounding myself with Photography / Videography lately and I was super stoked to get to practice pulling focus in some of the shots of Dane.”

Camera equipment:
Canon 5d mk 2 w/ EF 14mm f/2.8 L II USM
Canon 5d mk 2 w/ EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM
Canon 7d w/ EF 28-300mm f/4-5.6 L IS USM
Atlas 10 Slider
Atlas Flt Slider
Durus Follow Focus

In this chapter, join Victor as he teaches you how to increase the production value of your film projects by adding simple cinematic camera movements. You will see how using a camera slider can elevate your video content to the next level. By understanding the techniques required to appropriately apply camera movement to your films, you will be closer to discovering the filmmaker inside of you.

Together, we will think outside the box and take your existing photographic knowledge to create better and better video content. Let us help you bring your ideas to life with a little education, practice and creativity.

To be part of the live Webinar experience, including participating in our live chats, visit cinevate.com/webinar/ or to check out the Royalty Free Music provided by Triple Scoop Music visit triplescoopmusic.com

“Our concept for the video was simple — she is a beautiful woman with big dreams and immense talent. We wanted to harness her skills as a dancer and create a video where she is twirling in and out of a daydream, using the camera in various lighting situations to do that. For the most part, we lit her with a 2k light diffused with a Chimera Medium Quartz bank, but we also did a couple sequences with Lite Panels where power and space weren’t available.”

Bill employed our Atlas 200 Camera Slider for the silky-smooth dolly movements you see (which is one of the products featured in our NAB Sale in the Slider+Case combo). You can find out more about this shoot or stay up to date with Bill’s shoots and workshops at Straw Hat Visuals.

In typical NAB fashion we introduced and teased some new and upcoming Cinevate offerings, including the new Axis Jib, Sony FS100 Rigs with interchangeable lens mounts and the much asked aboot Motion Control system for our family of sliders. A couple of those are available now in our NAB Sale (along with a bunch of other Cinevate goodies) or in the case of the Jib, available for pre-order. Check out the full list of promos including 40% Off our Durus Follow Focus, $50 Off Trawly, and a bunch more savings.

One of our favorite parts of NAB is running into old friends and making new ones and this year was no different. Old pals Matt and Kendal from FreshDV and Tony from NextWave teamed up to provide some extensive show coverage (found below).

For our friends in Quebec, en français, is a highlight from the guys at Final Cut MTL.

I know for certain there are a few interviews we did that haven’t surfaced online just yet but we’ll be sure to add them as they become available.

Here’s a brief clip from @Mewshop of Dennis speaking to some of the brand new products in the booth.

At this year’s show we’ve launched a handful of new products that we’re extremely excited about and we hope you will be too. First off is our Axis Jib. This is a product that has been a long time coming and has undergone several revisions and updates to get it to this point. We feel it’s a unique take on your standard jib with an emphasis on ease of setup and build quality. We’ve included Axis as part of our NAB Sale, discounting all pre-orders. You can find more specs, details and pricing here.

Introducing the Axis Jib

Next up is our new line of Sony FS100 Rigs. These rigs are a great solution for mounting rails, a mattebox, a follow focus, etc. It also offers the ability to mount a huge assortment of interchangeable lens mounts, including PL, OCT19, Nikon, Canon EOS, Canon FD, Minolta MD, Pentax K and Pentax M42. A pre-order discount is also available on this product during our NAB Sale.

Introducing our new line of Sony FS100 Rigs.

During NAB you can be certain that @stillmotion, @MINDCASTLE and @BillFrakes will be busy presenting at various booths – sharing they breadth of knowledge.

Our friend Bill Frakes shares a moment with Dennis.

Casey and Danielle of Mindcastle present at the Tiffen booth.

Patrick from Stillmotion shows off the new prototype cage at the Tiffen booth.

As you may or may not know we’ve be busy working on a new motion control unit for our family of camera sliders. The following photo shows the latest prototype, from our friends at Dito Gear, that we’re showing off during NAB.

Our friend Ric Kasnoff mugs with our Motion Control prototype.

Be sure to stay tuned for more pics and media from the NAB 2012 show floor.

Cameras:
Canon 7D
Canon XF305

Lenses:
16-35mm L series
24-70mm L series
Zeiss CP.2s

Gear:
Atlas 10 Camera Slider with vertical kit + Matthews head and riser kit.
Matthews C-Stand arms with grip heads
Manfrotto carbon tripod with 504 head
Pegasus Carbon System with All Terrain legs

Preliminary Information

This is preliminary information. All features and specifications are subject to change without notice.

4K-ready

The first 4K-ready Super35mm camcorder in its class – providing an assured upgrade path to 4K acquisition and delivery – with full HD 1080p for today.The camcorder will also have the capability to produce 4K RAW 3G-SDI output via a future upgrade.

Super slow motion at 10x at full HD or 40x at lower resolutions

Incredible super slow motion capability of up to 10x slow motion at full HD resolution or up to 40x slow motion at a reduced resolution, giving you creative options that were once only available with specialist high-end equipment.

E-mount interchangeable lenses offer a wide choice of lenses

The E-mount interchangeable lens system utilises an extremely short flange back distance allowing you to use a huge array of lenses via a range of adaptors giving you almost unlimited creative options.

SEL 18200 lens supplied

The supplied SEL18200 (E 18–200mm F3.5–6.3 OSS) with the NEX-FS100EK boasts 11x zoom power, a quiet AF motor for cleaner sound recording, and Optical SteadyShot™ image stabilization with an advanced Active mode that lets you take steady handheld shots while walking around — even without a bulky stabilization rig.

Additional A-mount lenses available

The Sony LA-EA2 A-mount lens adaptor allows you to use the wide range of high quality alpha lenses and take advantage of the auto focus function for quicker, more convenient operation.

Built-in HD filters

The NEX-FS700EK features built-in, ultra-thin ND filters, offering exceptional shallow depth-of-field on highlights. It also means less accessories to manage as no external ND filters are required.

3G-SDI interface and HDMI

A 3G-SDI output enables easy integration with highest quality recording formats.

Exceptional ergonomics

The NEX-FS700EK has a refined ergonomic design with a robust detachable handle and grip.

Switchable 50 Hz and 60 Hz shooting

The NEX-FS700EK is switchable between 50 Hz and 60Hz to allow 24p shooting in PAL areas and no PAL/NTSC limitations.

Selectable magnification and positioning of expanded focus

Expanded focus improvement allowing 4x and 8x magnification and a moveable area of expansion for easy focusing with shallow depth of field.

Camera profile settings storage on memory card

Up to 99 camera profile settings can be stored, allowing rapid adaptation to multiple shooting environments without time wasted adjusting parameters. Settings are also easily shared in multi-camera productions.

4K Ready, slo-mo shooting up to 250 fps at 1080P (and even higher at reduced resolution), and built in NDs are a few things to get excited about. The pricing isn’t official though I’ve seen $8,000 pop up a few places but the consensus is that it will be sub $10,000.  The FS100 kit is currently available at $5,500 so if the FS700 launches at $8,000 for a few thousand dollars more it’s definitely worth considering the upgrade. Factor in beasts like the Canon C300 (at $16,000) and RED’s Scarlet (at variable prices depending on your kit, but no less than $10,000) and you have a pretty good argument in favor of Sony. It’s jumped to the top of my list for must-sees at NAB in a few weeks.

I’m a big fan of the FS100 for documentary work and our Cinevate videos so I’m intrigued with Sony’s new offering. What are your thoughts? Do the features justify the price? Have you already picked up a 5D Mk III? Or currently own an FS100 and would consider the upgrade?

Directors Chris Krieger and Nick Thomas of Calgary’s ddg // deluxe design group came in on short notice with Cinematographer Brock Mitchell and Producer James Heppner to shoot a short film with Mise en Scene for the Banff Centre’s online magazine Boulder Pavement.

“Two Canon 7Ds and a Sony NEX FS100 rigged with Cinevate’s Atlas 10 Slider, Durus Follow Focus, Titan Matte Box, Simplis base plate with rails, SmallHD DP6 & DP4 monitors and Zeiss CP.2 lenses were the gear utilized to give the finished product a polished, cinematic look.”

“The Banff Centre, a globally respected arts and cultural complex, is carved into one of the most majestic landscapes in the world. With a natural backdrop like that it’s almost easy to make anything look beautiful. Almost.

Winnipeg’s Miss en Scene, Jodi Dunlop and Stef Johnson, were at the Banff Centre taking part in the Indie Band Residency. A prestigious, juried program that teams up North America’s best Independent Musicians with seasoned professional producers and engineers.”

You too can be featured in our Customer Showcase, it’s as easy as sending us a link to the video you’d like featured to Showcase@cinevate.com. Feel free to include some info about yourself, your production company, or the particular shoot along with any BTS pics you might have.

“This complete full day course includes an exploration of advanced narrative theories, techniques to maximize production value from pre-production through post, and a dissection of the all new Canon C300 complete with hands-on training and shooting exercises with this exciting new camera.”

They’ll have several DSLRs on hand but also multiple Canon C300s for hands on use in a variety of shooting scenarios. The class will be divided into two crews to ensure equal hands-on with the cameras.

When the workshop session ends it doesn’t mean that you’re done just yet; “Each crew member will be given an opportunity to take footage home to produce a unique edit of the conceptualized scenes for critique from both instructors and a chance to win prizes from our generous sponsors.”

So if you want to get hands-on with some of the new toys and learn from two of the most successful shooters in the industry check out the Event Cinema Workshop site for more info or to register – but act fast as seating is limited.

Shot by Adam and Adam (Colton and Stokowski) using a variety of Cinevate gear. In past videos they have made ample use of the Atlas 10 and Atlas FLT camera sliders but we recently set them up with a Simplis, 15mm rails and our Durus Follow Focus. The longboarders-turned-videographers fell in love with the added ability to quickly find crisp focus, especially considering the fast and sometimes sporadic movement of their subjects. Even their riders noticed a difference, specifically Ethan Cochard who posted in his blog;

“The main reason why filming this video with the Adams was so different and more difficult than anything I have done before was because the actual shooting process took more than just two hands. Both of the Adams would be behind the camera, one panning, the other rolling the focus. Combined with the possibility of the skater messing up, there was a drastic increase in how easy it was to botch a shot. So, this meant more takes. Takes to make up for the failed takes, and takes just to have for take-sake.”

Ethan comments on the added difficulty and time but I assured them that finding and pulling focus, like anything, gets easier with practice. Luckily their subjects are extremely talented at their sport and were able to pull off multiple takes consistently. Stay tuned for more great content from the LoadedBoard gang.

Loaded Boards used the following gear:

Cameras:
Canon 5D Mk II
Canon 7D

Lenses:
28-300mm Lens
24-70mm f2.8 L-series
14mm

Gear:
Manfrotto 536 4-Section Carbon Fiber Tripod
Atlas 10 Camera Slider
Atlas FLT Camera Slider
Atlas 30 Camera Slider (Save 25% Until March 31st, 2012)
Simplis DSLR Rig (Save 25% Until March 31st, 2012)
Durus Follow Focus (Save 25% Until March 31st, 2012)

As the Nikon D4 slowly starts to make it’s way into consumer hands I thought we’d share one of the D4 test films, this one from our pals at Straw Hat Visuals. Shot by Bill Frakes and Laura Heald in Istanbul over the course of 10 days, the short fusion documentary utilizes both stills and video from Nikon’s new high-end HDSLR.

“To truly test the camera, I wanted to use the D4 as a journalist – to see how it responded to real world situations. We used the cameras 18 hours a day for 10 days straight.  We used it as a still camera, a video camera, an audio recorder and an intervalometer. The thing that stood out most to me about the camera was its ease of use.  I’ve held a lot of cameras in my career and none have felt as comfortable in my hand or worked as intuitively as the D4. I didn’t have to worry about the technical – the Nikon engineers had done that for me.”

To read more of Bill’s thoughts on the D4 or check out his work and workshops head over to the Straw Hat Visuals site.

If you’re like me, the Nikon D4 might be out of your price range but that doesn’t mean you can’t try it out. LensProToGo now has the Nikon D4 available for rental. Check out their site or give them a call for pricing and availability.

Some months back we showed a brief clip from a short film shot locally by our pals and Cinevate regulars Imaginarium. Imaginarium has shot a bunch of videos for us including the Simplis Launch Video (featuring stopmotion CineMan), our Grip Sticks video and the ever popular Pegasus Carbon/Coffee Shop video. This time around though we’re happily promoting their own work in the form of a trailer and behind-the-scenes for their short film, ‘Love and Hate‘.

The film was shot using a Canon 7D with a variety of lenses, including the 24-70mm 2.8 and 70-200mm 2.8 L-Series lenses. You’ll notice they used a ton of film gear but of the Cinevate variety they used the Core Package as well as the Atlas 30 camera slider (currently 25% off during our Moving Sale). The BTS stuff was likewise shot using a Canon 7D on a Simplis + Cyclops and a monopod (by myself actually, though I didn’t edit it).

Piotr Skowronski, the film’s Directer (and Writer/Cinematographer), definitely falls under the auteur classification and it shows in his Director’s Notes; “As the title of the film implies, it is a clash between two opposing conditions, though one is not unlike the other. Both love and hate are passionate, stubborn and all encompassing emotions that determine a person’s direction. The slide from one extreme to the other is a massive transformation of ideals, beliefs, hopes and dreams. Set on the platform of an old train station, the characters of Love & Hate converge and struggle to untangle themselves from these two opposing conditions. Ultimately, it is about choice and the strength of ones character”.

To find more information, behind-the-scenes images and crew bios visit the Love and Hate website.