Follow-Up to Shooting the News Anchor

// October 1st, 2010 // No Comments » // DSLR, Faith, Video

At the end of August, I did a blog post about shooting video with a DSLR. The sample clip I posted was very brief. My co-worker Alex and I filmed a local news anchor / church member who agreed to be the host for the video. The blog post was more about the technical lessons learned when shooting with a different camera. For the final video, we meshed DSLR footage and HDV interview shots with some SD historical footage. After all the content-gathering was complete, I left town on vacation, leaving the project in Alex’s capable hands. This was one of 5 videos the poor guy prepared for the first weekend of our Capital Campaign, all of which required the input and sign-off of the church leadership. I’m grateful for all the members of my team, any one of whom I could trust with a project. Alex pulled triple duty to get it all done that week.

For those of you that are curious, here’s the final video and how it turned out:

Capital Campaign video from Rob Webster on Vimeo.

Friday Inspiration for October 1st, 2010

// October 1st, 2010 // No Comments » // DSLR, Inspiration

The Dark Side of the Lens

Images can sometimes take your breath away. This short film is a study not only on the beauty of water but also, thanks to the narration, on the drive of the creative spirit. Some people are artists through and through, and they simply must create. Though I think this piece is a little long (we get the point early on), it’s incredibly well-crafted, and well worth watching, whether you like surfing or not.

DARK SIDE OF THE LENS from Astray Films on Vimeo.

Friday Inspiration for Friday, Sept, 17, 2010

// September 17th, 2010 // No Comments » // Inspiration, Timelapse, Video

BACKWARDS!

My friends Rhett and Link came out with a new video this week. Their creativity and excellent execution never cease to amaze me.

This reminded me of some other “backwards” videos I’ve seen. Running things in reverse opens up a world of startling creative possibilities. (more…)

Malawi Video

// September 13th, 2010 // No Comments » // DSLR, Faith, Missions, Video

Malawi Highlights from Rob Webster on Vimeo.

The week after returning from Malawi this past July, I started editing together some of the footage, just as a way for me to process the trip and be familiar with the footage for when I would need to edit together a Christmas Eve Offering piece later. But as is often the case, if there’s no audience and no deadline, the project went unfinished. Fortunately, our team gathered for a dinner last night to eat, fellowship, and finalize some plans for our funding and missionary endeavor recommendations. It also gave me an excuse to spend a final hour finishing this up. (more…)

Friday Inspiration for September 3, 2010

// September 3rd, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Inspiration, Video

Roll Tide!

I started my Friday Inspiration posts when I realized I should share some of the videos I regularly share with my video team. If I see a unique, challenging, or particularly well done video, I like to spread the inspiration.

One of the things we often do in our video department is create promotional videos. We want to compel people to come to a special event or the next worship series. Some are meant to be emotive. Some are meant to make you think. Some touch on the mysterious. Some are funny. Some are epic.

Today’s inspiration is epic. Whether you’re an Alabama fan or not, this is really well done. The interplay of text, music, historic imagery, handheld footage, sunrise footage, and the coach and players all work perfectly to draw one in to be a part of something epic. It really works. Sure, Auburn fans will consider this film maker a modern day Leni Riefenstahl, but it’s awesome. (more…)

Shooting the News Anchor with the T2i

// August 31st, 2010 // 3 Comments » // DSLR, Video

Me, Mark Clegg, and Alex Schwindt. Photo courtesy of Mark Clegg.

I’m in charge of the video end of things for our upcoming capital campaign at our church. Our local NBC News anchor, Mark Clegg, has been a member of our church for years, and I decided to take him up on his gracious offer to help us out any time we needed it. So last Friday morning, before he had to head in to work at NBC, Mark stopped by the church and did some reading for us and our camera. And I must say, he was humble, gracious, and a breeze to work with. I got the sense that he was honored to be a part of this, just as we were honored to have his involvement. (more…)

Friday Inspiration for July 16th, 2010

// July 16th, 2010 // No Comments » // Inspiration, Motion Graphics

Next week, I’ll be in Malawi, Africa. So don’t hold your breath waiting for a Friday Inspiration, unless I  find a lion with a 3G tracking transmitter strapped around his neck that I can hack into.

For this week’s inspiration, I just found this today. Quite a little gem of animation here. A trip through film history, graphically representing 35 films in 2 minutes. See how many you can spot, and go to the creator’s vimeo page and read the comments to see what’s there. Distilling concepts and visuals down to simple shapes that give us immediate understanding is something I find fascinating. This is about as good as it gets.

35mm from Felix Meyer on Vimeo.

Footage test from Canon 7D

// July 16th, 2010 // No Comments » // Family, Video

Today a new camera arrives in the mail. It’s the latest Digital Rebel from Canon, and we’re getting it at work. We needed a new SLR still camera, but went with the T2i Rebel because it shoots excellent video, as well. Two of my teammates personally own T2is, and get great results. (more…)

Why I Use Adobe Premiere… On a Mac

// July 15th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Video

So yeah, I’ll come clean. I use a Mac. I’m a professional video guy. I have Final Cut on my Mac. And I use Adobe Premiere.

Crazy, huh? Any other Mac users out there using Premiere? Show your faces. It’s okay. This is a safe place. You’ll be welcome here. (more…)

Time-lapse clouds

// July 12th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Timelapse, Video

Yesterday morning saw some wicked weather in Kansas City. By afternoon, the fast moving and morphing clouds looked amazing. So I set up my camera, tripod, and laptop in the bathroom, where the top floor window faces south. I’m sure my neighbors think I’m some pervert, pointing a big zoom lens at their windows. Not the case, I assure you. I can plug in my laptop, but my camera battery surrenders after 2 hours and 40 minutes. I have another battery I could pop in (assuming I don’t move the camera), but I was having internet withdrawals and figured I had enough still shots for some good video. So here is the video, taken at one shot every 4 seconds, then sped up even more in After Effects.

Time-lapse clouds behind my house from Rob Webster on Vimeo.