Sunday, March 20, 2011

Paul's Adventure Fundraising from Visual News

My good friend Paul from Visual News is currently walking live on UStream to raise money for his 2,665 mile hike down the Pacific Crest Trail to help raise money for an organization called Blink Now, an Orphanage in Nepal.

Paul and I have collaborated together on visual projects in the past and he continues to inspire me for the future. Please take a moment to view his site and learn more about Blink Now and what you can do to help.

http://www.visualnews.com/hike/

Free video streaming by Ustream

Not-So Cheesy Stop Motion Animation

Stop motion is the act of taking lots of photos of real life objects in sequence to form a story. Usually these animation look rigid and "home made". This video caught my eye though. The animation is smooth and the stop motion combines real video with their animation to make a seemlessly clean final video. It also tells the story well which is the more important part!

TUI Weather Spot from Lucas Zanotto on Vimeo.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Macro is Amazing

Macro video can be done in amazing ways to achieve effects of natural quality and abstract design. The blurry background is a fantastic art board for text to shine as well. In this title sequence the designer combines close up macro video with well design typography to create a icy world of tension and beauty.

macro kingdom III from clemento on Vimeo.

I've taken to macro photography as well having recently purchased a Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens for my Canon 60D. Lesson learned, shoot with lots of light at a low iso. Live and learn!

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Slow motion and time-laps video in reverse

METRONOMY - She Wants - by JUL & MAT

by JUL & MAT

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Little Planet Video

Here's a really cool effect I've been playing around with that photoshop people call the "little planet" effect. I'd like to use this same effect with actors, dancers, and unique environments. This is my first testing of the effect to see if it's possible and how it would look.

This video was shot on a multi-lens car mount system, simular to what google uses to take photos of their street view. This lens cost around $500 and I do not have one or plan on getting one for the purposes of this music video but there are other solutions.

One camera can be used to record multiple shots spinning on a tripod. Then the video can be blended together to form one 360 panorama.

example:

http://www.patrickyen.com/skate360/360.swf

Music Video Pick of the Week

Dr. Dre - Kush ft. Snoop Dogg, Akon

After a near decade wait, Dr. Dre treats fans to a new music 'Kush,' the first single off his long-awaited 'Detox' album. After years spent perfecting 'Detox,' Dr. Dre plans to release his third album this February.

In this music video, motion is limited to Dre, Snoop and Akon while private jets, pimped out rides and video vixens are all put on freeze frame. This effect is created by combining CGI effects, wax figures, real people and wrap motion photography. All of these effects are used in such a blended fashion, it's hard to tell what's real and what's fake.

This is my pick of the week not only because it looks cool, but because it's affective in telling the story of these 3 bigger than life rappers. They want to show who they are, how they party and a glimpse of what a true baller is. This video also does a great job at showing a new Dr Dre. He's mature, distinguish yet still a true O.G. Overall a great comeback video from this sleeping giant.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Globe Effect in Photoshop

This is a great effect created in Photoshop using a panoramic photo and Layer>Effects>Distort>Polar Coordinates. To make it seamless use the clone stamp tool and any other cloning tool you're comfortable with.

I'll be testing this effect out in after effects. I already know of some complications that will arise but may have some creative solutions up my sleeve. I'll post the results asap.

Merdeka Square
by riefa