DIVERSITY INITIATIVES

Campus Outreach (also known as CO) is a campus ministry currently on 122 campuses in the US and around the world. The campuses in our area have several diversity initiatives to help reach staff and students of color. These initiatives are extremely important, as you can see in the video, and I was so thankful to be asked to make this video for them.

B-CAM SLIDER

This is the first interview I have ever shot using a slider for the second camera. As you can see in the image below, one camera is on a tripod and is shooting a wide angle and the second camera has a telephoto lens and is on a slider. As each person talked, I moved the camera back and forth and used it to create a subtle parallax effect…

HISTORY OF HORIZONTAL VIDEOS

From the beginning of motion pictures (1878 or 1888, depending on how you look at it) until a little over a decade ago, pretty much all video has been shot and viewed horizontally. This means that the aspect ratio, which is the “proportional relationship between an image's width and height,” would be something like 4:3 or 16:9, with the screen being wider than it is tall.

HERE COMES VERTICAL

With the advent of the smartphone and social media, the market for vertical video exploded out of nowhere. When posting videos on social media, clients now have to consider whether they want their videos to be shot and posted horizontally, shot horizontally but cropped vertically, or shot and posted vertically. This can be a difficult decision because usually you want to be able to use a video across multiple platforms…

The Fireplace Problem

We just finished a series of three videos for Stewards Advisory Services, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa.

One of the challenges with this project was the fireplace. The best location in the room reserved for our shoot was in front of the fireplace. However, the reflection of the cameras and interviewer was clearly visible in the frame of the video. The second problem is that the fireplace fan was extremely loud. The solution we chose was to shoot the interview with the fireplace off, then get shots of the fireplace on and edit them together. You can see the before and after of both angles below.

It is important to solve as many potential problems as possible when planning and shooting, but there are times when it is necessary to know how to fix things during the post-production process.

DENTISTS NEED GOOD TESTIMONIAL VIDEOS

As a personal consumer, I can’t think of any type of company that needs good testimonial videos more than dental offices. Sitting in a dentist's chair can be incredibly stressful, even terrifying, so whenever I do have to sit in one, I want to make sure I’m in good hands. Hearing stories of actual patients who can say why they trust a particular dentist’s office can absolutely make the difference between me booking an appointment there or not.

HIGH POINT DENTAL PARTNERS

The staff at High Point Dental Partners is incredibly kind, patient, professional, and capable. I was very impressed with their use of cutting-edge technology as well as their rapport with their patients…

BENEFITS OF USING MONITORS

• External monitors provide a larger viewing screen than camera monitors

• Monitors can be moved without moving the camera, allowing even the subjects to see the frame

• There are several useful features that monitors have included in their software (false colors, focus peaking, zebras, LUT overlays, etc.)

THE MONITORS WE USE

• Accsoon SeeMo and an iPad Pro 2018

• FEELWORLD F6 Plus V2 6-inch DSLR Camera Field Touch Screen Monitor