Lisa Talley
Forum Replies Created
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These are the specs for each camera:
Canon XA10
Dimensions WxHxD – 5.1 x 7 x 8″ (13 x 17.8 x 20.3 cm)
Weight – 1.71 lbs (without battery and other accessories)Canon XF100
Dimensions – 4.8 x 5.8 x 9.8″ (12.1 x 14.8 x 25 cm)
Weight – 2.2 lbsThey’re pretty darn close in size, but the XA10 is gonna be your better bet for size. Especially since the handle is detachable.
Lisa Talley
Sacramento Video Production -
The leap you’ve made from first video to the most recent is a pretty good one. The usage of effects in the first music video, I thought, had fairly good pacing since it enhanced the movement of the visuals rather than becoming a distraction. There are definitely more advanced effects happening in the more recent videos, and my only suggestion is to be careful of when and where you use those snazzy effects. In your more recent video there’s a close-up on the subject and a flickering effect going on at the same time, it became hard to see what it was your subject was actually doing or even to really see his face. Close-ups are intimate shots, used to showcase an emotion or reaction at a pertinent part of a story, the effects should also do the same for these shots (if you choose to use them).
For the handheld shots in your music videos, are you using a monopod or an XGrip type rig? The handheld style can do some really cool things for videos (it really worked for your videos’ style) but if you’ve got a fairly shaky hand, it can make your audience uncomfortable. Think ‘Blair Witch’. Monopods and XGrip rigs can give you the same look with more stability.
In the second to last video, it looked as if your subjects were sometimes standing with their backs to the sun? This created a heavy shadow over your subjects’ face while blowing out the whites in your background. I know people typically hate standing with their eyes facing the sun, so I’m guessing you were trying to make them more comfortable. Try using a reflector to bounce the light (white poster boards from office supply stores or reflectors from your car windshield work awesome) back in to their faces. That way, you can readjust your camera’s ISO settings that won’t allow for the background whites to be so… bright and your subjects don’t have to stand with the sun in their eyes. And if your whites are still washed out, back them down in FCP using the 3 Way Color Corrector.
With music videos in general, try doing some story telling that goes along with the performance. I bet these artists have some extremely interesting things to say in their lyrics. Get some visuals going to portray what they’re communicating. It can get incredibly time consuming, but it’ll just give you more opportunities to try new things, both technically and creatively.
Other than that, your videos show a great deal of growth. It’s obvious that you’re trying new things and applying new methods to each new video. Thanks for sharing your work, I know it can be nerve wracking to throw your projects up to strangers for critique, but you’re looking for ways to honestly improve and for that, I give you mad kudos! Keep growing, keep learning, that’s all we’re ever doing in this field anyway.
Lisa Talley
Sacramento Video Production -
This is something I’ve also encountered. I’m running off of a MacBook Pro as well and have recently began picking up projects that require editing in Premiere. Although I’m ecstatic about being able to edit footage natively and not having to store duplicates that have grown exponentially in size due to coding, I’m slowly dying inside at having such a slow response for playback.
Rendering hasn’t helped either, it’ll make it smoother for the first few seconds (even up to a minute, if I’m lucky) but after that, it’s the same old story.
Lisa Talley
Sacramento Video Production