Posts from — February 2007

During the season finale of “The Wire” season two, the cops use video tape evidence to catch one of their suspects. There was a security video at this port in Philly that caught the murder. They used some sort of video program to combine all the camera angles together to get an instant replay. The cops on the show thought it was so great and they replayed the system for the perp to force a confession. It was a great scene. God I love that show.

I wonder if that extrapolation software can be used on systems using hard drive camcorders. Not all systems need tapes, some use hard drives to keep the data as well. I would think that it wouldn’t make it a difference if both sources can be digitized. Once the images are uploaded, it could be used with a universal software.

Video evidence is pretty hard to dispute in court, as long as the source can be verified. I wonder how many cases are won with digital evidence. There are several video services that serve the court system so attorneys can effectively display such evidence. Apparently, the new trend is to videotape depositions, so video evidence is part of tons of cases. Looks like “The Wire” is pretty authentic. It is known for it’s grittiness and attention to detail.

David Fincher’s Zodiac comes out this Friday. I am psyched for anything he does ever since I saw Fight Club. Check out the trailer. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr, and Mark Ruffalo.

Last year though, there was another movie called The Zodiac with Justin Chambers (”Grey’s Anatomy”). I caught it on cable last night. I couldn’t finish it, fell asleep half-way through. It was quite boring and paced too slowly. It has such a rich subject matter, just executed poorly. It was trying to be too spooky. And I just couldn’t quite believe Chambers as the top detective in charge of the case. He seemed too young, especially to be a father of a 12 year old. It was all atmosphere, no plot at all.

I wonder if anyone will ever make a documentary about these “true events”. The filmmaker could use a canon dv camcorder or something comprabable. I know that Fincher did tons of research for his film, so there is a lot of history. I think most key people in the case have passed on so there wouldn’t be many interviews. It is a true mystery, which makes it perfect for a thriller. You might not be able to make a feature-length documentary, but it wouldn’t hurt to start a production since it wouldn’t be that expensive if you use a digital camcorder. Tons of non-fiction films rise out the ashes of years of research. I’ll keep my eye out for some sort of A&E special coming out after Zodiac premieres.

If you are shooting with only a few people, you don’t need a permit to shoot outside. Basically you are considered a tourist despite the fact you may be filming an integral scene for your lo-budget movie. For inside private property, that’s another thing entirely. Sometimes you can just ask the manager for permission. Other times, you may have to pay or advertise the place in exchange for rights to shoot on the premises. And then, if you are using state property, you definitely need a permit.

When shooting on-location, it is always good to have extra batteries at the ready. Using certain lens focusing extras, such as the zoom function, can use up your battery life. I know from experience that you can easily eat up the life of canon camcorder batteries in a few hours. If you’ve had to pull all sorts of strings to even film at a certain place, you must be prepared for whatever obstacles may arise. And the same rule goes for DV tapes or whatever format you’re using, be ready for extra takes.

Also be sure to have food/water for your talent, especially if they are working for free. Don’t want to get them complaining about little stuff and then lose focus. All these tips may sound like a lot for one person to do alone, that’s why you should enlist free help from friends or family. Then, you can be creative while someone else worries about the little production details like food and batteries.

Meat might be murder, but I am not gonna stop eating it because the industry is corrupt. Boycotting meat clearly isn’t working. However, I do commend filmmakers like Nikolaus Geyrhalter who try to use the camcorder to prove their beliefs. Geyrhalter’s Our Daily Bread documents the inner workings of the slaughter industry of Europe. According to Pajiba, it’s not for the faint of heart. The film uses a video camera to simply display what goes on inside these facilities. No statistics or voice-overs, just straight forward segments of his visits.

To make this movie, it looks like he signed up for standard tours of these high-tech processing plants with a sony hd camcorder in tow. His stylistic camera choices may enhance the tone of the film, but at heart, the images speak for themselves.

It was released in 2005 in Europe, but is just now making it’s way to American audiences. There are clips on You Tube for those who dare to take a sneak peek. I think I’m going to sit this one out. One random night in college, I saw one of those propaganda vegetarian PSA videos. This crazy ultra-hippie guy decided he needed to force everyone in the dorm (one-by-one) to watch it and convert to vegetarianism. His tactic killed his good intentions. It didn’t make me stop eating meat, but it did make me question the source.

I commend these activists who try and use film to change our societal habits. But eating is so subjective, I’m not sure if Our Daily Bread and other similar films will be enough to enact lasting change. In any case, I’m sure it helps the sale of organic meat at Whole Foods and other markets. They should do a promotional tie-in.

I was perusing sonystyle.com to get a sense of what were all the types of camcorders on the market. It does help to read sony camcorder reviews to narrow your search for that perfect camera. I don’t want to just buy whatever is on sale. I want to make an investment. Plus, Sony was and still is one of the best camcorder manufacturers. So it’s not so crazy to use their main site to get a little overview.

They still make cameras for all formats, including Hi8. I hadn’t read much about HD camcorders since they are way out of my price range. I found that I’m most likely in the market for a miniDV handycam or something similar. Then, I can make those artsy projects and record live events or whatever.

I might not be able to afford that high def camcorder, but at least I can take a look at the specs. Reading articles and gathering information on products can be time consuming, but Sony’s website isn’t too hard to navigate. And they really do try and spell out the technology for the average person. And then, I’ll take this info and put it together with the user reviews that I can find online. I want to make the best and most informed decision before buying a $500 or more priced camera.