[Todd Terry]

You might not get a response from one of the people above, as the original post is more than four years old…

Your problem though sounds very indicative of misaligned heads. If that’s the case, the camera definitely needs servicing… either the heads realigned, or replaced.

It’s impossible to say whether your footage is poor (actually recorded that way), or if the tape is actually fine but your camera is playing it back poorly. The way to test that is to play back the same tapes in a different camera or deck (and if you recorded in HDV 24f mode, it MUST be either another Canon 24f camcorder, or one of the few decks that can handle 24f footage).

At any rate, do NOT use the head cleaning cassette anymore. Those are very abrasive, and this definitely does not sound like a clogged-head problem. Using it more is doing more harm than good.

If you do not have someone in your area who can service it and need to ship your H1 off, Camcorder Repair Center in California does decent work at decent prices…. https://camcorderrepair.com/

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

Great video… I’m a big fan of OK Go!.

I was lovin’ them even before the famous first “treadmills” video for “Here it Goes Again”… which, despite their videos getting increasing more complicated and “clever” through the years, remains my favorite OK Go! video (and probably favorite song of theirs as well).

Obviously they want you to see the suited guys in this video, but it’s a darn cool effect.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/47/861151

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

Interesting gig.

I wouldn’t do a full alternate greenscreen shoot (in a different space or different studio), as you’ll be fighting to exactly match your lighting…

But I would take a “two take” approach to the shoot. I’d shoot a take with your greensuited actor doing the business with whatever props… then I’d shoot an alternate take, exactly same position, blocking, etc., but adding a greenscreen in the same space. It can be a small popup greenscreen, held in by a crew member… it only has to be big enough to cover the moving prop and a little bit of the surrounding space (your crew member could walk with it if the green dude is moving a prop from one side of the set to another, for example). In post you would just garbage matte out everything the small greenscreen doesn’t cover, and replace that with your clean background plate.

It might be that shooting with just the greensuit is more than sufficient and clean…but an alternate take with a larger greenscreen would be insurance.

And I’m sure you know this, but depending on how you light and block your shots one of the real hurdles will be dealing with shadows… and whether your green guy casts any either on the props themselves or on any part of the set that is in frame. That could make for a lot of garbage matting in post (and using your clean plate as a source), but it could be done.

Obviously this all means using a locked down camera (and no riding focus or any other camera changes), unless you are using some pretty sophisticated motion control rigs, etc.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

Interesting.

While the guy says “many of the flight rules outlined by the FAA are similar to, or the same as, those for manned aerial flight,” in many ways the UAV rules would appear to be much more restrictive than a manned aircraft.

Helicopter pilots for news organizations routinely fly solo (including camera operation), and they certainly don’t file flight plans three days in advance (or maybe they are just scoff laws?). I’d be surprised if most of them file flight plans at all (you don’t have to file a flight plan to fly… most ’round town and sightseeing flights for example would never bother with a flight plan). Nor does the PIC of a “real” aircraft have to have “experience and recent piloting time with the particular model,” not that that’s a bad idea. As for having a “certified Visual Observer,” what’s that “certification,” exactly? And who is doing it, the FAA?

One puzzler is “must be a licensed private pilot with a current third-class medical certificate”… but licensed for… what? Is fixed wing ok?…or must they be a helicopter pilot? There are certainly scads more fixed-wing pilots than helicopter pilots, and as hard as helicopter piloting is (much more difficult than fixed-wing, in my very limited experience with helicopters), I know several helicopter pilots who would be clueless in a fixed-wing plane (most are military who went straight to choppers and never had any fixed-wing training at all).

Still a lot of gray area….

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

Yeah I think you’re right… turns out though I believe I might be able to get away with full juice on the motor. If not, I’ll pop the $25 for the real controller for it. I was trying to be cheap… I mean “fiscally responsible.”

[Nick Griffin] “if you weren’t already married you could ask them out on a date. That would REALLY scare them”

Now now, despite the fact that I prefer older more mature gals, all women love me. Nick has only talked with me on line and on the phone, and has no idea how charming I am in person. Of course, it’s all a façade, but I’m genuinely artificial about it (and deeply superficial).

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

[Nick Griffin] “…in many cases, a room of hundreds of people attending a conference…”

In a situation like that, I might choose a big voice to cut through the din and acoustic clutter in a room. For the vast vast majority of commercial spots, though, the Voice of God has gone the way of the dinosaur. Ever catch the Kraft Macaroni and Cheese commercials that Ted Williams tags? Ted was that homeless guy with the booming voice discovered on the streets. I understand why Kraft hired him (and great PR for them), but when you hear him on spots my ear just goes “Man, that is so wrong!”

[Nick Griffin] “it’s amazing how many actors are picking up easy money doing this”

Yep… I love picking out the more obscure ones…most people will easily say “Yeah, that’s Jon Hamm” (Mercedes), but when commercials come on I love yelling “That’s Billy Crudup!” (MasterCard) or “John Cusack!” (Chevy). People around me don’t seem to be impressed, though.

Some don’t take the money, though. One of my favorite stories (I’ve probably told it here before) was this ad agency that was pitching a major automotive client. They put together a short private video presentation (non-broadcast, just for the suits) and wanted the right voice for it. They wanted Jack Nicholson. How much could he charge for 15 minutes of work? They inquired, his agent said “Mr. Nicholson does not do voiceover work.” The disappointed ad guys gathered their thoughts, put pencil to paper, called the agent back and offered Jack one million dollars for the VO session. After an “Oh, wow,” from the agent, he said he’d call right back. He did call back in a bit, and said “Mr. Nicholson does not do voiceover work.” Wow.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

I’ve only used them on a very limited basis in the distant past, but these days just hearing what (in the opinion of current and past employees) an oppressive, belittling, and horrible place it (apparently) is to work is enough for me to not consider their product. My tiny lack of business wouldn’t make any difference at all to them in the long run, but would make me feel slightly better about myself. Much like my better half refuses to even consider darkening the doors of a Wal-Mart.

Plus… I’ll admit that I haven’t really looked at DJ stuff in a while, but (at least in years past) a great deal of their design was very corny and dated-looking, and just had a general cheap and assembly-line look to it. Cheesy factor turned up to a full 10. Maybe 11.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

Go for it! (consider that a dare)…

Most people don’t know, even veteran New Yorkers, that virtually all of the “BONG! BONG!” addresses on “Law & Order” are totally fake…

Either there’s no such street, or those numbers don’t exist, or if you could find the address it would be in the middle of the Hudson River.

But the Wriggly Field idea does have a lot of style…..

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

[Ned Miller] “Lastly DO NOT have your physical address on your card because you could be considered GU (Geographically Undesirable).”

Well, two schools of thought on that… I personally differ with Ned on that regard. Not saying he’s wrong or I’m right, just two different ways to look at it.

I personally feel it’s a huge negative if someone doesn’t give me a physical address. I want to know where they are, and it adds legitimacy to me. Otherwise, what’s this guy doing?… working out of his car? The bus station? That’s extreme, but it does make me wonder. In my personal past experience (Ned’s may differ), those anonymously-located people tend to be your fly-by-nighters, your lower-end companies, or some guy working out of his mother’s garage.

The same goes for websites… since they are completely global. I can’t tell you how often I’ve run across a cool company’s website (either by Googling, following links, or just happenstance), only to scratch my head wondering “Where the heck are these people?” You can’t tell. Is it Portland Oregon or Portland Maine? Or even in the states? The worst is even when the contact pages don’t tell you… no address or location at all. Sometimes there’s a phone number, and I’ve often looked up area codes just to see where in the world people are. Even worse is when there is no phone number on the contact page, just an email link or a feedback form. Sometimes I’ve resorted to looking up the WHOIS info for the domain, which might or might not work. This little rant makes me want to revisit my own website, just to make sure people know where we are… I’ll do that after posting this.

I just personally think knowing where someone is gives a feeling of legitimacy and solidity.

Of course, your mileage may vary. Just my two cents.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com