LUTS (Look up tables) = Filters for pros? Osirus Collection, Captain Hook's, Filmconvert, Film emulation, Visco, Magic Bullet Looks. When do you use LUTS? Do you build from LUTS? Do start your grade and end on a LUT?
Do you put LUTS on LUTS? I do. I'm going back to Resolve soon, as that way of grading will always be needed. But boy is it fun dropping a bunch of LUTS in a pot and swirling it around in my non-linear editor.
I tweak a bit but really, lets be honest, this isn't professional color grading. This is a toddler just mixing all the different paint colors till everything turns brown, but for me brown is a really cool grade that I like. What do you think?
FILMCONVERT + MAGIC BULLET LOOKS
See the actual video by clicking here.
I might have bought the Diablo 3 expansion last night. I might have played it till 3am. I might have woke up to a text message from a client asking if the video I've been working on would be ready for his meeting at 1pm. It was 9:15am. I still had to do the last round of revisions as well as add all the motion tracked VFX the client wanted. VFX that would add some spice and make it POP...or that was the idea.
Do I tell him that I won't be ready? Do I tell him that VFX is time consuming? Do I ask for more time? Or do I just grab the "oh shit" handle bar and get to work immediately at my tiny workstation next to my bed.
I use After Effects a lot. Or at least I try to. For any projects that don't require it, I still use it. It gives me good practice, keeps my skills fresh, and ads some spice that the client doesn't expect (and usually really likes).
So when a situation like this happens. When it's time to nut up and rock that After Effects like its a one night stand. (That's a little much) I can do so. Plus it's kinda intense.. Competition VFX!!
Here's some of what I made this morning. You can judge and critique.. but the client liked it! :)
REVISIONS EAT MY HEART BUT HELP MY SOUL GROW
Boom.
I always, always.. feel a pang of anger at revisions. It's natural for me. The more work I do and the more I grow in video production though, the less time it takes for the pang to subside and for me to start redoing what's needed. Frankly almost every single time, I see improvement once the revisions are done. People's ideas and opinions matter. Client's opinions are law. LAW I TELL YOU. It just hurts a little to abide. Once I do though, revisions go quick.
The more I learn to work with people. To deal with politics. To deal with expectations and requests. To cater, to listen, to work with, to lead, to debate, to love.. others. Love is making sacrifices (go watch Frozen) and I love my work.
H265. I want H265. I'm at a creative crossroads currently. Right now I'm uploading PRORES LT to Vimeo. This file type keeps digital grain better when watching it online and I like the look. However, a ProRes LT file streams pretty shitty, at least on Vimeo. In the future I see h265 and google fiber style internet becoming main stream which I think will mean IPHONE 5 footage not looking the same as RED.
Right now H264 compression really gives everything that online "look." Is this a bad thing? Does it hamper creatives? Naw, I'm just a junkie for presenting a pretty image. Because of this I'm sacrificing streaming ability on Vimeo, but yet I still do it. CAUSE I LIKE DAT IMAGE MMMM.
Youtube on the other hand. 1440p or 4k options available already. Even when everyone's monitor is generally still 1080p. Exciting stuff though. I guess. I mean does resolution mean anything to anyone except image junkies like me? Probably not.
Why do I find myself so addicted to the "look" of my video? Content is king! I guess I'm just addicted to it. It's fun and I like doing it.
I recently did a travel-esque show about local bars in the Dallas area. Have you ever seen a travel show filmed on a Black Magic Cinema Camera with an Anamorphic lens? Yeaahh.. BUT WHY NOT DO IT? I'M MAKE THIS TRAVEL VIDEO LOOK PRETTY AS SHIT! YUHHH!
I've lost friends because of how we collided with media. When you put your entire being into this art you get rather self defensive when people invade. When people try to take too much credit or never listen to your own creative opinion. Politics. As anyone will tell you, politics go hand in hand in this creative field. Everyone has a voice and an opinion. Over the few years I've been doing video production, I've been solo. I have the technology to do so. To video, to edit, to grade, to do VFX. I do it. I like doing it. All of it. But..
I think people can be successful straight on their own. Without any help. They have the creative vision and the talent to succeed. More power to them, those lucky badasses. Me on the other hand.. the longer I work in this field.. the more I realize the talent and love of others is the best thing I could ever have.
So even though I'm terrible at it and slowly improving working directly with others. I'm surrounding myself with it. As much as I can.
You want to be in video production. Well what kind of videos do you want to make? Films? Music Videos? Documentaries? Promos? Travel videos?
What about an adoption agency?
Because I'm amateur, I don't really have a say so of what kind of jobs are handed to me. I have the artistic stuff I do with my free time, but paid work can truly differ. In this field, you might find yourself in some interesting situations. Situations that you might not ever experience in your life again. What a job we do..
Lets be real. Nobody is going to read this. My marketing, my social media, and my communication is all lacking. My writing is nowhere near the level for a quality blog. Though it has improved with a year of promo writing for CW. But those promo's are only 20 seconds long.
Anyway, nobody is going to read this. The only thing I do foresee is that if my work ever gains massive attention and I mean really freaking big attention. (How else is one to gain an audience with the supreme internet) Then you might stumble upon this blog. You might be interested in what a mega successful filmmaking STAR had to say when he was small and unknown. When he was striving to just make art. Because that's what he loves to do.
So my fellow inspiring artist. Lets begin.
Photography =/= Video
Do skills in each field help the other?
Well, what do you think about this picture?
Artistic? Shitty? Brilliant? Just another photo? Well, all of those words don't matter, at least to me. Because this is my style. This is my art. How did I take this picture? On a 550D (my first camera when I began video production) The lens? A Canon 50mm f1.4. It's not just a normal 50mm though. Oh no. It's a 50mm attached to a LA7200 Anamorphic Adapter with a .5 Diopter velcroed to the front.
Why all this random shit for a photo? Well these are the tools I use for my videography. Why not bleed them into my photos? I don't think of myself as a photographer, and it's not where my passion is. But is this a good photo? Because the crop of the photo, the color of the photo, the framing of the photo, the technique to take the photo, the gear for the photo, all comes from my passion in video production.
? Photo =/= Video ?
It's interesting stuff!
