Everything Old is New Again… Again!
When I first came across this article and then saw a repeat of the news in it across a few different website I thought it was some kind of joke.
I quickly checked out a few site that were carrying it and came to realize that it is in fact true.
Kodak are really planning, or should I say have already started executing the plan of issuing a modern day Super 8 camera!
My first reaction to it was that they really must be just so lost over at Kodak that they are going to go back to the sixties for inspiration in the hopes that this is going to pull them out of the hole they have been in for so long now.
Really?
Super 8 film cameras?
That’s the plan?
But then I started to think about it and realized that they may just be onto something.
In 1882 or so the first CDs were produced and by 1991 Kodak had released the first commercially available digital camera.
Since that time there has been an overwhelming rush to develop digital recordings of all nature resulting in where we are today with Blu-ray and some incredibly impressive digital cameras that can capture video at very high resolution.
However underpinning this development has always been those little voices pointing out to us that at the end of the day they are digital recordings that are going to be interpreted by analogue devices… your eyes and ears!
To that end we have seen a resurgence in the popularity of vinyl albums and really the perfect parallel to this is the return of using real film to make real films.
The argument for analogue has always been difficult to make because undoubtedly digital can fly higher and faster every time.
But where digital falls down is really hard to explain because the difference between digital and analogue is that analogue makes you “feel” it better and that is the point.
When I took a look at some of the old Super 8 footage even after it had been digitised, yes, it was not as sharp and yes the colors were not quite as defined but there is no mistaking that even this small format can still pack an emotional punch.
So maybe Kodak is not as crazy as I first thought.
How to Create Lightsaber Sound Effects
Found a great tutorial this week on how to create the sound of the Star Wars light sabers!
There are of course plenty of tutorials on how to achieve the light saber effect itself but of course it is all going to fall a bit flat unless you can back it up with all the right “light sabery” sounds!
So fear not good reader, there is a link below to the explanation but before you check it out you may want to gather together a few of the necessary items.
All you are going to need is a Simplex 35mm film projector to achieve the kind of hum sound, then you need a 1970’s or so pre-LED T.V.
Once you have that all you need to do is record the projector hum and mix it with the electronic buzzing noise that the TV produces when you wave a microphone near it and you are on your way!
How Do I Record Sound for a Car Scene?
I have added the video below this week because it covers a few subjects I think are of value to the average video enthusiast.
I am not sure that all of it really applies but there are definitely some gems in there.
The first point of note for me is the discussion specifically on recording sound inside a car.
Now before you assign that one to the “not for me” bin just bear with me.
As has been said many times, the most important part of video is audio.
Aside from cheesy transitions there is probably nothing more offputting than bad audio in a video.
At least with cheesy transitions you can tell right away what is annoying.
When it comes to audio most often the viewer will dislike the video without really knowing why he or she dislikes it.
Video is essentially visual so when an element of that experience is not right, and that element is not visual itself, then the viewer will invariably just mentally switch off and then physically click away.
So check out the section on recording audio in cars because the ideas and the techniques he is explaining are not totally confined to that specific activity and can be applied to a wide range of shooting scenarios.
The second point he covers that I think is of particular value is a good practical explanation of the 180 degree rule.
Underneath the video there is a snippet from Wikipedia giving a definition of the rule and following the link to the article would be well worth the time.
However in more practical terms watching the video will give you a good sense of what the rule is and why it is applied to video shooting and editing.
This is the 180 degree rule as it is explained on Wikipedia
“In film making, the 180-degree rule[1] is a basic guideline regarding the on-screen spatial relationship between a character and another character or object within a scene. An imaginary line called the axis connects the characters, and by keeping the camera on one side of this axis for every shot in the scene, the first character is always frame right of the second character, who is then always frame left of the first. The camera passing over the axis is called jumping the line or crossing the line; breaking the 180-degree rule by shooting on all sides is known as shooting in the round. The object that is being filmed must always remain in the center, while the camera must always face towards the object.”
Some More on Color Grading
Whilst the big development last year for video editing software at the consumer level was the introduction of color grading, unfortunately information about it is still a little scarce.
Color grading differs slightly from color tools most people would be familiar with which applies to color correction.
Correction means simply to attempt to correct problems existing within any video clip or project due to poor lighting, color casts from shooting at a particular time of day, strange results from poor or inappropriate lighting or a myriad of other problems in shooting the original video.
Color grading is a whole different kettle of fish and applies to overall color based effects applied to video that has been shot OK but where you want to achieve a certain consistent “look” in the video.
If you look at any Hollywood production you will have noticed that there is a certain color profile applied to all or parts of a movie that give it a specific look and a specific feel.
Imagine the very toned down colors in the Matrix movies or even the almost complete removal of color in Sin City.
Those color effects are achieved by color graders in post production.
So as I was saying last year most of the main video editors started to pack the ability to achieve that type of effect and allow you to color grade you videos.
The only problem really is that color grading is a highly specialized field and information on how to actually go about it is very hard to find.
Most of the available resources are squarely aimed at the professional level and very often live demonstrations are done using only very top end software.
Anyway this week on Premiumbeat they published another article on color grading and although it does follow the same path of using kind of high end examples they have at least included some good explanations of what is going on.
Well worth a look if you are interested in using that feature you probably already have!
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