Waiting 2B Scene

Category: Media

  • Blog: 3 Things to Expect from Us This Year

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    It’s great to back from our January hiatus. The proverbial batteries have been recharged, we’re ready to tackle the 2016 blogosphere – and we’re trying out a new format for our W2BS posts that clearly spells out what you can expect from us throughout the year to come.

    1. Monday’s we will share a How It’s Made Monday post to inspire you with some of the secrets of videocraft.
    2. Wednesday’s will be all about the Whatsit Wednesday posts: a series that will resource you to do video better – offering hints and tips on how to improve your videocraft. And,
    3. Friday’s will further delve into cinematography and videography with Flick Friday posts aimed at motivating you and supercharging your creativity.

    There will also be an array of ad hoc posts that cover all the other fun bits and pieces that the internet tends to offer – as well as the general blog post or two – so the future looks bright for Waiting 2B Scene in 2016.

    It’s wonderful to have you on board!

  • HIMM: A Quiet Long-Take Champion (Zhou)

    A long take – this is simply a shot that doesn’t cut away to other shots, but is a continuous shot that usually follows the action of the scene as it plays out in real-time. Even if you have never heard of the term, I’m sure you have seen one in action (anything that has top-ten style list dedicated to it is probably something which falls into the category of stuff you have seen)!

    In the early years of cinema, it was normal to shoot with long takes – it made production both a little easier, and a bit cheaper. As cinema developed cinematography became more complex, and consequently the pace of editing increased. In what seemed like almost no time, the long take was either done away with altogether, or it directors wielded it as a stylistic badge of honour.

    Let me ask you this then: what if you were able to incorporate the long take into your work without drawing attention to the fact? How would you do it?

    With 55 directorial credits spanning four decades, Steven Spielberg knows how to. The Hollywood giant has used this classic technique so frequently that it is definitely a signature move – yet many of us may not have realised it.

    While other purveyors of the long-take usually parade the shot, Spielberg has managed to have many of his ‘oners’ fly under the radar – allowing audiences to become immersed in the dramatic energy of a scene without noticing the technique being used. Love him or hate him, that is a rare cinematic skill that ought to be celebrated – if not emulated.

    So today on How It’s Made Monday, I want to share an excellent video essay on the Spielberg ‘oner’ by one of my favourite online commentators, Tony Zhou. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

    https://vimeo.com/94628727

  • Top 25: Most Horrifying Non-Horror Movies

    I have followed Taste of Cinema for a while now, and one of the fun things they do is bring out lists of films of varying genres and such. Most of the time, I’m happy just to enjoy the list and move on. Today’s list has a certain je ne sais quoi about it though: horrifying films that are not horror? What an idea!

    I won’t spoil it for you – but let me at least tease it out by saying that the list includes the likes of Kubrick! 🙂 So here is today’s share: The 25 Most Horrifying Non-Horror Movies in Cinema History.

  • TBT: Morning Prayer, Music Video (Cowper)

    We are used to video imagery that has been heavily edited – or perhaps furiously edited is a more apt descriptor. So I find it refreshing to stumble upon something that is quite different. It is in that frame of reference that I offer you my latest #TBT.

    Coming from the ear-wormingly good Cowper all the way back in 2011, he was joined by creatives Matthew Redlich, Jaymis Loveday, Daniel Graetz and Jen Dainer to record and film both video and audio for the song Morning Prayer. Recorded in a single session at the flood-destroyed Graetzmedia studios in West End, Queensland, Australia, Loveday went on to make some visual magic with a bit of know-how, and a weird party trick. As he wrote,

    “To achieve a perfect focus pull over the 4-minute staring contest, I modified the camBLOCK moco system to control a follow focus whip. This clip was the first shoot to utilise this technique. Several months later, camBLOCK shipped their official focus/zoom motors.

    There is no trickery in the single-shot nature of this piece. Cowper really can keep his eyes open for that long. In the dozen or so takes we shot, I think he blinked in two of them.”

    Up until the guitar solo, Loveday tracked the position of the reflections on his right eye (left on screen). Then when the solo kicked in, he switched it to track the position and rotation of both his eyes. The final effect? Mesmerising.

  • News: Kenyan Film Made on Mobile (BBC)

    It is really easy to think that we need to have the latest and greatest kit to make movies and videos. And I mean really easy (#firstworldproblems). But I read a wonderful story today that was a timely reminder.

    While there are DJI Osmo‘s out there, or Lily, or the BMPCC – or whatever else takes your budgeted fancy – these are all just tools in a filmmakers/videographers arsenal. And much like a toolbox, sometimes you just need to pull out something that can get the job done… like a mobile phone.

    When was the last time you tried to make something videographic without all of the bells and whistles we are used to? Maybe this story will inspire you to think outside of your box this week.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35075188

  • HIMM: Kingsman Finale, Visual Effects (BUF)

    This morning I want to launch something new – kicking off a series of Monday-specific video-shares that explore a variety of film and TV behind the scenes clips: so welcome to the very first edition of How It’s Made Mondays!

    Founded in 1984 as one of the few pioneers of CGI, BUF has been creating content for over 30 years – providing some stunning visual effects for more than 100 films and 850 commercials. One of those films was the 2014 film, Kingsman: The Secret Service.

    This short clips highlights some of the impressive work that went into developing the visual effects for the films climatic finale. With that being said, consider yourself warned, as this will obviously make for a massive spoiler if you haven’t yet seen the film.

  • Video Montage: Hello by Movies (Vlot)

    So the world is already sick of hearing Adele’s Hello. That is understandable, considering it has been played to death on pretty much every communication medium known to man.

    Why then would I want to contribute to the agony of humanity? Because I stumbled on an amazing video montage that has recreated the song using nothing but lines from films… and that stuff takes time man! So it is worth the pain of the song to share some love and kudos where it is due.

    Here’s to you Matthijs Vlot!

  • Blog: Best Free Editing Software

    People, it’s time to share some free stuff! And by free stuff, I mean my opinion and a lifetime of collected information, as that is really all I have to offer.

    I was chatting with one of my Australian friends in New Zealand, and he asked me what I thought might make for decent FREE editing software. I think that any self respecting screen junkie like you and I ought to be able to have an answer to that kind of a question.

    If you think that a “good” answer to that question is either iMovie or Windows Movie Maker, you may need professional help.

    As it stands, I don’t use the free stuff. I am media-professional that is a PC-based (*gasp*) Adobe CC user (*double gasp*). I know, I know. I just happen to like having a powerful machine for a fraction of the cost of an Apple equivalent, and I like the interconnectivity afforded by the suite of Adobe products. Nevertheless, there is some pretty powerful stuff that is available for free: and today I want to offer you the same two suggestions that I gave my friend.

    1. Blackmagic Design: DaVinci Resolve Lite.

    This is my number one suggestion by far. To be honest, Resolve has a reasonably steep learning curve for the beginner: you won’t create a masterpiece by simply playing around with it for an afternoon. With that being said, a masterpiece is possible if you’re truly interested in learning how to harness all the power that Resolve can offer.

    Despite being the Lite version, there are hardly any features missing compared to the Studio version. Sure it won’t do multi-camera editing or 3D, and you don’t have access to some minor features such as noise removal, but other than that, this is the same stuff the big boys use.

    1. Lightworks.

    Lightworks has been used to create Hollywood movies such as The Wolf of Wall Street, so it has some credibility. Like Resolve, there is a free and a pro edition, with the main difference being the output formats and the resolution (you are limited to 720p with the free version).

    The editing tools in Lightworks are powerful though, and even though both versions offer a limited range of special effects like transitions, TV programmes and Hollywood movies rarely use anything other than fade from/to black – so it shouldn’t be a problem. Aimed at professional video editors, it is a fascinating tool. It doesn’t do a lot, but what it does is pretty excellent.

    And that is it. I know that I’m not giving you easiest to use options here – but that was never the intent. The point was to show you that there are two incredibly powerful editing tools at our fingertips – and they will cost us nothing more than the time it will take to learn them. So long as we are willing to pay that price, the potential outcomes are amazing.

  • Blog: Marvel Studios Is Kicking DC’s Collective Ass

    Now, this is a rare occasion for me… blogging just for the sake of blogging. Still, I would feel like I need to go on the record with this. The reason I want to share about this today is because I just watched the new trailer for Captain America: Cival War. As was expected, it’s looking really great!

    Fact is, I have been a long-time fan of superheroes: and two of the greatest – ala Superman and Batman – have always risen to the top for me. As such, there is always a little piece of my heart that wants the DC Universe to kick ass with its productions. Christopher Nolan taking the helm of the Dark Knight certainly took it leaps and bounds into the right direction. Still, that was pretty much a self-contained entity with no cross-over into the rest of the DC Universe.

    Marvel has been the comic magnate that has captured both the television and film markets with consistent, higher quality productions. Their Cinematic Universe has intentionally set about exploring the wider hero roster (it really didn’t take them long to branch out beyond X-Men). Comparatively, the DC Cinematic Universe is only just cracking open its roster beyond Superman and Batman. Even then, the two-horse show is still being trumpeted around with the anticipated Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

    And so while I – along with millions of fans globally – lap up all that the MCCU has to offer us for now – I can’t wait for the DCCU to really kick things up several gears!

  • Short Film: The Foley Artist (Feast Films)

    If you are an amateur videographer, you may never have heard of Jack Foley. In our digital age, we seldom have to consider making sound effects for ourselves. This has not always been the case, however. In a time before you could download unlimited audio files off of the Internet – sound effects for radio dramas, films, and television actually had to be created.

    This shouldn’t surprise you, but props and sets don’t usually react the same way acoustically as their real life counterparts. Jack Foley understood this, and it was where his genius shone. In an effort to lend a more realistic sound-scape to a production, he developed a process whereby authentic sound effects could be created in real time alongside the footage. It also proved to be an excellent means of supplying the more nuanced sounds that microphones would miss anyway (the rustling of clothing, or the slight squeak of a saddle when a rider mounted his horse). Such was his aptitude, fellow workers say that the results of a Jack Foley session were as good as editing together twenty audio tracks.

    Jack Foley has been dead for almost 50-years, but the technique he developed is still a popular option for professional productions. And in a lovely homage, those who employ his technique are still known as foley artists. Thus we finally make it to the crux of today’s post. While informative (hopefully), it is a chance to share an excellent short that takes us on a little journey with a fictional foley artist. I am sure that you will enjoy it.