Search found 1884 matches

by Dave Watterson
Sat Feb 16, 2008 12:12 am
Forum: Competitions, Festivals and The Art of Film
Topic: Whizz, bang, crash!!!!!
Replies: 8
Views: 9313

I'm in broad agreement with Ned ... but must point out that the Lord of the Rings trilogy is almost all told in 3 second chunks. Either there is a cut, the camera moves to a different position or a character steps out of close-up to reveal something else in the background. However it is done a new i...
by Dave Watterson
Fri Feb 15, 2008 5:53 pm
Forum: Competitions, Festivals and The Art of Film
Topic: Whizz, bang, crash!!!!!
Replies: 8
Views: 9313

I do know what you mean, Chrisbitz, but the worry is that our attention span gets shorter. That means we get impatient at anything more than the usual 10-15 minutes ... no matter how good it is. I think it is part of the reason Joss Whedon's Firefly series did not command huge tv audiences. The show...
by Dave Watterson
Wed Feb 13, 2008 10:18 am
Forum: Equipment and Technical Issues
Topic: GRAPHICS & DRAWINGS FOR VIDEO FILMS
Replies: 2
Views: 4155

First: For PAL video the normal "Academy" sized picture is 720x576 video-pixels. I say "video-pixels" because they are oblong, unlike normal computer pixels which are square. So if you make your graphic 768x576 in a normal computer program and import it into your video editor it...
by Dave Watterson
Tue Feb 12, 2008 11:37 pm
Forum: Competitions, Festivals and The Art of Film
Topic: Fan Films
Replies: 53
Views: 47529

Last year's AMPS festival had a category for Best Fan Film ... I wonder if Ned has any comment. I would have a few worries about copyright issues. Some film companies may be happy with the phenomenon as a form of viral advertising but others may not. Many years ago when analog video editing first be...
by Dave Watterson
Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:51 am
Forum: Competitions, Festivals and The Art of Film
Topic: HDV Hand held
Replies: 16
Views: 15901

Knowing that Ned has been making movies for many years and takes a keen critical approach to his own work I am slightly reluctant to suggest this, but ... Is it possible that because of the extra detail and clarity that you are examining the HD footage more closely than you used to do with SD? In ot...
by Dave Watterson
Mon Feb 04, 2008 10:06 am
Forum: Equipment and Technical Issues
Topic: HDV 16 x 9 format
Replies: 13
Views: 12170

Willy has - as is so often the case - hit the nail on the head. (And this from the man who hates using hammers and nails!) In film and tv terms the writer - or often writers - are responsible for the shape, design and structure of what happens not just for the words characters say. There are "w...
by Dave Watterson
Sun Feb 03, 2008 10:51 pm
Forum: Competitions, Festivals and The Art of Film
Topic: AMPS winners DVDs
Replies: 3
Views: 4895

That's great, Ned. For those who don't know ... one of the perks of winning an award in the AMPS festival is a year's membership so some people this side of the pond earned that status ... and some of us have also opted to join even though we are not winners and live far from the USA. AMPS membershi...
by Dave Watterson
Fri Feb 01, 2008 11:57 am
Forum: Equipment and Technical Issues
Topic: This forum
Replies: 12
Views: 13630

Your Brain is like a library Dave. You mean faintly damp smelling, filled with out-of-date info and no new stock ?!?!? (Apologies to all desperately underfunded librarians everywhere - when I am king there will be budgets and staff again.) Actually I'll reveal my two secret weapons: www.howstuffwor...
by Dave Watterson
Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:30 pm
Forum: Equipment and Technical Issues
Topic: HDV 16 x 9 format
Replies: 13
Views: 12170

For the future, it may be wiser for Camcorder clubs to receive video entries in computer file format (mpeg4, mpeg2 or avi) and play these back through HDV projector using a more versatile computer which costs about the same. Interesting idea, Paul ... and you could well be right. Don't confuse the ...
by Dave Watterson
Thu Jan 31, 2008 8:32 pm
Forum: Equipment and Technical Issues
Topic: This forum
Replies: 12
Views: 13630

Ray said: The projector suggestions are interesting. What pixel count do they have? The last time I looked for a 1080i one it was over £3000. The Optima is 1024x768 pixels and is compatible with 720p as well as 1080i. Stingman said: There are also two types of projecting the image. DLP (Digital Ligh...
by Dave Watterson
Wed Jan 30, 2008 2:06 pm
Forum: Equipment and Technical Issues
Topic: This forum
Replies: 12
Views: 13630

By chance I bought the current issue of Personal Computer World magazine today and found a feature on projectors. The one with the lightest weight in their test was 1.4 Kg That was the Optoma EP1691 list price £939. Their review was pretty positive. It gives out 2,500 lumens, gets a bit hot, is not ...
by Dave Watterson
Tue Jan 29, 2008 9:05 pm
Forum: Equipment and Technical Issues
Topic: This forum
Replies: 12
Views: 13630

Welcome back, Peter. There is a private email group which sends round robin emails to one another on technical issues. Access to that is restricted to IAC members ... which is why I left it because I prefer open access. There has been a suggestion that we should have an open technical forum here - w...
by Dave Watterson
Tue Jan 29, 2008 1:12 pm
Forum: Competitions, Festivals and The Art of Film
Topic: Entering Competitions
Replies: 10
Views: 10888

Ray said: I notice that a lot of these free-to enter festivals ask on the entry form if you are attending. So, I guess, that if you don`t go you don`t get judged!! I can't speak for other festivals but I do know about the Festival of Nations in Ebensee, Austria. That has free entry and gets hundreds...
by Dave Watterson
Mon Jan 28, 2008 11:32 pm
Forum: Equipment and Technical Issues
Topic: Kalee 12 Projector & Tain Picture House
Replies: 11
Views: 12385

Come to that why use a Kalee 12 to screen 35mm onto an A4 size "screen" ?!?! See Thurso's YouTube offering. Dave P.S. If I had such a beastie I'd knock holes in walls and make a real cinema at home. We did it for 16mm many moons ago. These days a video projector (I prefer the European name...
by Dave Watterson
Mon Jan 28, 2008 11:29 pm
Forum: Club and General Issues
Topic: The website
Replies: 16
Views: 18333

Our AMPS website needs revamping said Ned and asked for ideas. So ... with huge respect to Richard the AMPS webmaster here are a couple of thoughts. 1) Make it easily visible to all. A large number of users still have screens set to 800x600. Most are around 1024x768. An increasing number - especial...