NAB2012: Blackmagic, Film Quality, and the Small Producer

Contribution to the mass of video coverage of the 2012 NAB convention in Las Vegas from everyone's favorite (I would guess) year-round resident! Discussion centers around one of the consensus highlights of the convention, the 2.5K, $2995 cinema camcorder introduced by Blackmagic, albeit with the usual compulsive curmudgeonly critical thinking about how expensive everything is nowadays. Lots of nice shots of the convention and of Las Vegas as seen from the convention center.

Las Vegas: The Windy City

Just some shots of Vegas during a really windy day.

We're Not Trying To Set Up A Movie Theater In Here!

Fans of our little media venture might wonder if there is a technical standard to which we hold our video prod and equipment acquisition, one that shows some savvy about the subject but does not displace our conceptual base. Well, there is at least an asymptote, and the details are here:

Carl's Posterous Blog Entry With The Catchy Title Above

BEARD! The Prostate Project

It has become popular in the United States for a man to grow a beard in November as a symbolic nod to the importance of prostate health. I made such an attempt in November of 2011, and I thought a photographic record of my progress might be instructive. These photos are presented in chronological order, with the first being taken on the first day of the month and the second-to last being taken on the last day of the month. The last one was taken in late December and was meant to display a different sort of symbolic impact.

CODE NAME: PDA31

We spent January putting together 31 videos of about a minute in length on average. The theme was 31 things to do instead of dieting. Naturally, we got pretty, um, creative. The videos are on our YouTube PDANation channel. The link to the channel is here: PDANation

PSA

This project started when Carl was examining the chromakey (and titling) in Corel VSP X4 to see if it was up to his lofty standards. It turned into a public service announcement for two health issues. He combined footage of him doing a spot for the issues with a shot from downtown Vegas. Maybe some day he'll do a series of these spots.

Carl and Pattie Unboxing the Canon HF M40

At last, Pattie and I step into the world of AVCHD! This video, shot with our in-house standard definition camcorder (and rest assured this very topic will come up at length), shows us unpacking the parcel as shipped, including stuff that the retailer (who will remain anonymous) threw in after packing the camcorder. Prepare yourself for the longest, most epic, least efficient, most obviously extemporaneous (planning? rehearsal? lighting?) unboxing in the history of digital videography.