Waiting 2B Scene

Category: Personal

  • Blog: My Versatile Pocket Camera

    You know what it’s like right: you are out on a location, and something unexpected happens. Not the bad kind of unexpected – but the good kind. The kind of thing that you wish you had your camera for, all prepped and ready to roll. A versatile pocket camera would be sweet right now, right?

    The fact of the matter is that unless you are on a professional shoot, that simply might not be the case. But imagine if you could load a camera with fully functioning professional settings, in less than 20 seconds. I would at least consider killing for that kind of functionality. The good news is that I never need to.

    I rock around town with a humble Samsung Galaxy S6 in my pocket all the time. In a real bind, this at least gives me the 2-second capacity to take a rough record of what is going down. But then two years ago I discovered an app that many iPhoneographers would be very well acquainted with: FILMiC Pro.

    I love this app. You pretty much have the full manual controls that you would expect from your DSLR or mirrorless cameras – but it is in your phone! Want to take control of the aperture and white balance? That’s not going to be a problem. Feel like exploring the range of focus? Are you kidding? Get in there and set up a fully-fledged rack-pull! Not only that: you can then save all of your settings into a series of presets: imagine being able to run from inside under fluorescent lights, to outside in the bright sun – and handle the transition in next to no time on the same device.

    Seriously … squeezing what professionals do into a workable phone app, FILMiC Pro gives you arguably one of the best video accessories out there. Not convinced? Well, director Sean Baker took an iPhone, used the FILMiC Pro app (with some other cinematic sweetness, it must be said), and shot a short film. In fact, it went on to be theatrically released at Sundance. How sweet is that?!

    Photographer Chase Jarvis famously said that, “The best camera is the one that’s with you.” More than anything else, that is why I have loved having my S6. Constantly in my pocket, I can grab it, double-tap on the home button, and load the in-built camera in just seconds. Should there be a few extra seconds to play with though – then I launch into the FILMiC Pro app, take full control of my settings, and am prepared to make the magic happen.

    This is in no-way a paid advertisement for the guys… I just really love what it brings to the mobile cinematography marketplace. So, if you are interested in taking your phoneography to a new cinematic level – then do yourself a HUGE favour, and get the app today. At worst, it will be the first step in revolutionising your phones camera video quality. At best – it will mean having professional flexibility always on hand, sitting in your pocket. And you will be ready for that unexpected.

  • Blog Video: Sherlock Recut As a Thriller Trailer

    Throughout this year my workload has been focused primarily on editing and producing a series of women’s self-help modules. It is necessary work, and based on the stories that have come out of it – it is seeing some wonderful results. Still, it is hardly creative work.

    Well, yesterday I re-stumbled on a great little article by No Film School on how to help get past a bit of a creative funk: so I decided to give it a go. After having a look at some of the footage I had saved on my HD, I decided to do a re-cut version of the very first episode of Sherlock. In a trailer style for a thriller. Aaaand just 2-hours later, this is what I come up with. I’m not a sound stylist, so that side of things is a bit rough. Still, it was definitely a pleasure to stretch out some of the other creative muscles.

  • Show Reel Item – Halo Cover

    I said it before – Reichardt is someone that I definitely enjoy working with. He is an amazingly talented guy: he is an über-musician, and is increasingly the, “go-to producer and instrumentalist for bands and artists [Australia] wide.”1

    As noted in my last post, I produced 4 music videos for Reichardt. It was a thrill to see him release two of those videos last month – and the thrill has not diminished with yet another release yesterday. This has been sitting in my ‘private’ Vimeo account for a little while now – so I am finally happy to post the clip as a show-reel item today. I hope you enjoy it: both the clip, and Reichardt’s cover of Beyoncé’s Halo. 🙂

    Halo (Jon Reichardt Cover) from Shane Miller on Vimeo.

  • Showreel Item – All of The Lights Cover

    There are people you work with – and then there are people you really enjoy working with! Reichardt is someone that I definitely enjoy working with. He is an amazingly talented guy: like, he is an über-musician, and is increasingly the, “go-to producer and instrumentalist for bands and artists [Australia] wide.”1

    Over the last little while, I have produced 4 music videos for Reichardt. And like many other firsts in life – it was a thrill to see him release the first of those videos last month. Having given him a month to garner some of his own views, I am finally happy to post the clip as a show-reel item today. I hope you enjoy it: both the clip, and Reichardt’s cover of Kanye West’s All of the Lights. 🙂

  • Personal: A Snap Shot

    In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, and the subsequent cognitive disruption many are experiencing in the Arabic-speaking North Africa and Middle Eastern (NAME) world as further atrocities are enacted in the name of the dominant religion in the region – it was personally encouraging as a Christian to find that there are organisations that are looking to engage in a spiritual dialogue with these questioning Arabs. As such, this year I made the move from Australia to begin working with one such media organisation – ******** (the name has been intentionally obscured for security purposes).

    It has taken some time to settle in: but things are finally moving forward – as demonstrated with this – one of the first pieces I contributed to – going live recently. As such, I am comfortable enough to share my work with the blogosphere – and I hope that you enjoy it!