[Bob Cole]

[Joe Vibral] “any tips about length/structure of a demo for college coaches???”

These are my guesses, based on partial knowledge:

What the coaches say: they are suspicious of highlight reels, and would prefer a longer sequence that shows more realistically the athleticism of the player.

What they do: unless the player is already highly recruited, they are not going to sit through a video of an entire game.

I recommend “extended” highlights, followed by the whole game or at least longer sequences. The highlights should show the entire development of a play, rather than the “Sportscenter Top Ten,” two-second clip. I’d also frame the isolation camera shots a bit wider than just the player herself, to show the player’s field awareness.

[Bob Cole]

But back to my question: if you have an impossible keying situation (tiny room &/or impossible to light bg evenly):

would it be better to use a green background, knowing that in post you’re going to have to cut into the foreground subject to avoid green fringes, or would it be better to overlight a white background, and accept a rough (but white) halo around the subject?

[Bob Cole]

You probably won’t get a good key but there is, surprisingly, a way to deal with that.

I’ve seen a very well-budgeted organization which uses a tiny space with a similar disregard for good technique, and they get away with it by using a very jazzy style in their editing. You don’t even notice the lousy key because the background is hopping and jumping, and the people in the foreground are doing the same.

I wonder whether a luma key (against white or black, making sure the subject doesn’t wear the background color) might be a better bet in this situation, if only because at least the fringing won’t be green.

Any thoughts about that approach, Leo?

— Bob C

[Bob Cole]

[Shane Ross] “It really is that $5 mil NDA. That is DARN intimidating. When you are young, having a $30,000 debt to a credit card company is huge…imagine $5 mil.”

I don’t see why, if declaring bankruptcy wipes the slate clean. I suspect that there is a social engineering aspect to this question — that there is some psychological process among the contestants which helps the network keep the secret. Perhaps the contestants are even selected through psychological testing based in part on their ability to keep a secret in mind.

Absent some such angle, it’s very puzzling to me how merely monetary penalties could enforce secrecy. After all, many people run up unpayable credit card debt.

— Bob C.

[Bob Cole]

[Frank Otto] “and all fits on a magliner.”

I think you’re missing your real calling: you should be the chief packer for the space shuttle.

[Bob Cole]

Thanks Frank. I made a test file in After Effects with pure white and various-sized objects.

The results were surprising — no problems at all. I had heard some years ago that NTSC monitors tended to act like exposure meters, turning the aggregate of all the inputs into gray. I assume that was either a misunderstanding on my part, or things have improved.

— Bob C

[Bob Cole]

Brilliant suggestion. These guys know how to handle audio for voice, and audio for music, but they just don’t understand audio for music and voice.

Thank you.

— Bob C

[Bob Cole]

I did a freelance job once for a cable show about weddings and this is what I learned:

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BRIDE.

If you have one camera, put it in a place to catch the BRIDE’S expression.

etc. etc. ad nauseum.

All you need to know, aside from: IF SOMEONE ASKS YOU TO SHOOT HER WEDDING, JUST SAY NO.

Actually that’s not fair. But a wedding photographer told me that every time he hears the Electric Slide he thinks he might go insane.

— Bob C

[Bob Cole]

[Frank Otto] “I’m about fourth or fifth down from the top film rate in the Vegas market. With gear.”

Those rates are pretty impressive, Frank. And I want to urge all of my colleagues in the Baltimore-Washington DC area to charge at least that much.

But if that includes a gear package, maybe you should charge more….

— Bob C

[Bob Cole]

Thanks for the feedback Frank.

After looking at your posts I’m most concerned about clipping, in part because I don’t really understand the problem. I’ve never (to my knowledge) actually had a shoot ruined by clipping, though I’ve shot blown-out windows aplenty. We will have a good (small) field monitor and tape playback so we can at least see what we’re getting. And, our editing system clips overexposured video automatically. What is the real danger of clipping?

I have to confess I’ve never taken my waveform monitor to a shoot (or even turned it on for some time). But I will try it this time, and aim for 88 IRE on the background.

Thanks again for helping me with this.

— Bob