Teleprompters, Rotoscoping, and Stylebooks…Oh My!
Howdy! Serena here.
There is nothing like beginning the day with an early morning shoot. Eric Foley, Todd Gutknecht and I set up the lights, camera and green screen for the President of Shive-Hattery, Inc. Tom Hayden. The company’s Web Designer, Michelle Bailey, also joined us!
I’m beginning to see certain things I would like to practice doing to be more involved on set, such as setting up the lavaliere microphone (a tiny mic the size of your thumbnail) so that you can’t see the cord, or applying make-up when needed.
At MVP Video Production, there is ALWAYS something new to learn–like how a teleprompter works, what rotoscoping is, and how a company stylebook relates to branding. I thought it was the coolest thing that Jeff had a teleprompter on his Apple laptop, although MVP Video Production does have a stand-alone Teleprompter kit.
Later that day, I did some acting to test out an experiment for another project that involves rotoscoping. This generally means, Eric explained, that an image is edited frame by frame. Since there are around 30 frames per second, well, you can see how involved a rotoscoping project can be!
Jeff told us that he is working on a stylebook for MVP Video Production. A stylebook is related to branding, he explained, because in a stylebook you can explain how your company’s logo is presented. What colors are to be used, what style of font, and how the logo is presented. For example, in a stylebook, you could learn that a company’s name is to be spelled out, and not shortened (i.e. MVP v. MVP Video Production).
So much to learn, and this is my sixth week. I’m beginning to miss my friends at MVP Video Production already.
~Serena
7/19/11
The Nuts and Bolts of Metal Design Systems
Good morning! It’s your MVP intern, Serena!
Last week I came in to the office at 8 a.m. one morning to help Jeff and my fellow intern Isaac load the film gear into the truck for a 9 a.m. shoot at Metal Design Systems on the SW side of Cedar Rapids. Today, I didn’t have as many questions about what to bring…it’s finally becoming routine.
When we arrived, Jeff backed the truck into the warehouse full of Ivy and Wilde wall art where they make steel, aluminum, and other metal parts for building. The purpose of the shoot was to focus on a special new laser–completely computerized and 100% precise.
After unloading the truck (camera, scrims, pepper light, tripod, etc.), I got to work taking stills and helping out where I could. Eric shot with the Panasonic HD, and Isaac did gaffing and grip, and Jeff kept up with the business side of things, and made sure we knew where to shoot next!
In a way, today felt sort of like a field trip. There was always someone busy somewhere saudering, or molding, or folding giant slabs of plastic between to large metal rolls (sort of like a pizza crust shaper), or moving large crates on lifts. What surprised me most is how much humans assist in the process. Before, I sort of thought a piece of metal could be thrown onto a machine and by the end of the assembly line, it comes out looking like–well, whatever it is supposed to.
There’s so much to learn, and the best is yet to come!
~Serena
Translation…Please
Buenos dìas! Serena està aquì.
Hoy en dìa yo querìa escribirte en otra lengua. Por que? Porque puedo.
Translation? “Today I wanted to write you in another lanugage. Why? Because I can.”
Yesterday, I got to thinking about the things I am learning here at MVP. I am learning many languages. The language of gaffing, the language of editing, and the language of a video production company in general.
I began to wonder how these languages translate to my studies at the University of Iowa, especially in journalism? Just like it’s important to be able to speak a second language, it is important to expand your vocabulary of different industries because the world of journalism and film and video production are merging. As print media becomes digitized and available online, it is opening the doors for those things the web does best: linking, and including multimedia like video and audio.
I can’t think of a better “second” language. Bueno, espero que tienes una dìa llena de felicidades. Hasta luego!
~Serena
Q&A and QR-Codes
Hi there, Serena here.
After a Tuesday morning production meeting at MVP, I shadowed Kirk while he edited a DVD for the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation. In the process I learned how to export an image on the Final Cut timeline as a still image and import it into different software like Adobe Illustrator.
Later, Eric Foley explained the basics behind the HD file format 1080. It turns out that regular DVD’s cannot export in HD format. So if you shoot with an HD camera and download it to a standard DVD it is going to convert the file to the standard 480X720. That means the pixels are going to be bigger (to compensate for all those little HD pixels), and the fine image quality will be somewhat blurred. An HD camera shoots 1080(pixels)X1920(pixels), or over 2 million pixels! Since 1 megapixel = 1 million pixels you can imagine how high the quality is on MVP’s Canon DLSR camera. It has 18 megapixels!
So, what is the benefit of having HD cameras if news stations are just beginning to convert to HD format, and a standard DVD can’t capture that beautiful, crisp, image quality? Well, the image itself is preserved. And as the DVD’s start to faze out in the next decade (or less), and more videos move to the web, it just makes sense to stay ahead of the curve.
I also learned that you can crop and maximize an HD picture before it is converted to the standard (lower pixel format), but because it has so many pixels the blown up image quality will look just as crisp as a regular size image since it has so many pixels to begin with. It’s like a piece of pie. If the ingredients are great, it doesn’t matter if you have a slice of pie or the whole thing, it’s still going to be delicious!
I hope this makes sense. I’ve learned that you never know how much you’ve learn until you try to teach!
Adios!
P.S. It turns out that MVP Video Production has a QR-code (those little square bar-codes that are commonly seen in advertising)…it looks like it could make an appearance soon!
EduCare Stills!
Olivia smiles in front of the reflector at the EduCare shoot at Xavier HIgh School
Kirk films his daughter Sydney at the EduCare shoot at Xavier High School
Isaac and Aaron smile for a picture in-between takes.
Sydney waits for the next take under a tree at the EduCare Shoot at Xavier
Kirk sets up for a close up of Lincoln at Xavier High School
Kirk's daughter Kaia smiles at her friends through the camera lens.
Jeff's kids look through the field monitor
EduCare testimonial
Kaia sitting at the desk at Wednesday's EduCare shoot
Click on a photo to learn more!
Coffee and Jelly-Rolls
Hi there! Serena here.
We had a film shoot today a couple of blocks from the studio. The audio for the shoot was clear despite the demolition crew tearing down a 1st Avenue Parkade in Cedar Rapids–across the street! Getting to help Kirk and my fellow intern Isaac set up the lights, cameras, and other electrical equipment was like getting a lesson in gaffing 101. After things were set up, I pulled out the Canon SLR and took about 20 stills of the set, the crew, and the client for MVP.
Right before we began filming Kirk held up a stack of colorful, translucent sheets of plastic, called “gels.” He said the unruly stack of gels are often called “jelly-rolls” on set. Later that day I took initiative and organized those gels. So, if you are a PA (a production assistant) on set and someone asks you for a “jelly-roll,” don’t make a trip to the nearest Krispy Kreme (even if it sounds good with a morning cup of coffee).
There is more good news! The first of a series of intern blogs is up on MVP’s YouTube channel! Check out the link here.
Isaac and I are planning a second vlog to introduce MVP’s new camera equipment, so stay tuned!
~Serena
Becoming a Final Cut…Rookie?
Hi there! It’s Serena.
I must say I am really enjoying my internship at MVP! It’s hard to believe it’s already the end of week 3. I arrived bright and early and got to shadow Kirk who was working on a commercial for the new Virginia Gay Hospital commercials. The difference in drafts from the day before were pretty amazing. The cuts were tighter. And the audio clips complimented each other.
Isaac finished editing his intern v-blog. In his v-blog he introduces each of the staff and has a funny picture of each Jeff, Kirk and Eric. I didn’t have a funny picture, so we set up a line of golden awards in the studio. I stood far enough back so that when Isaac took the picture I looked like the same height as the Oscar-looking statues. It turned out great!
Later, Eric was working on finding sound bites in a script for one of MVP’s client’s Mobile Demand on Final Cut Pro. I got to search through the film footage and place the rough cuts on the timeline. An hour passed and I couldn’t find any of the quotes. Then, Eric showed me that I had been searching through the wrong footage. The lesson: When everything seems wrong, it could very well be wrong. Also, help is always a question away.
Until Monday!
~Serena
Video + Blog = A Lesson in Editing
Buenos Tardes Amigos! Serena here.
I spent most of the day getting the 101 on editing from one of the other MVP Video Production workers, Eric Foley. By the end of the day, I learned how to “snap,” a video segment, how to add text to the picture, how to export the video to YouTube, and lots of other vital editing tips.
One lesson I’m learning about editing is this: it takes time. It’s easy to think “A needs to happen, then B and then C.” But, to actually sit down and figure out HOW A happens can be challenging. Sometimes I wish I was a computer programmer and could speak the complicated language of MAC or PC. Sometimes, then I remember there will always be something to learn now matter how much knowledge I have.
I’m also realizing how valuable “shadowing” someone is. Seeing someone work with a software program that they are familiar with and who is able to explain what steps they are taking can get you much further than trying to figure something out by yourself. There has to be a balance.
Hasta luego!
~Serena
P.S. I posted my first Tweet for MVP on Twitter today! Follow MVP Video Production @MVPVisualMedia!
Twitter Chat
Hello reader! Serena here.
Yesterday, Jeff updated the Intern Blog so you will be seeing more pictures from my fellow intern Isaac and my adventures at MVP (and video to come). Isaac and I also took pictures in the studio with the Nikon for the intro to our intern v-blog.
Advice to new interns, if you are curious or interested in learning or doing about something in your internship, ask about it! Speak up! Shout it to the mountain tops if need be. When I expressed interest in contributing to the social media side of MVP, Jeff was able to connect me to the studio’s Twitter page the next day! Be sure to check out some real-time updates on our next shoot!
I’m realizing another value of my internship at MVP. While, it’s a great place to learn and gain experience in not just shooting with a camera, lighting, and all that wonderful tech stuff, there’s another side to this internship that I find valuable. It’s community. Client’s are at home at MVP as family! And although there are a lot of projects in the works, the quality of customer service is rare.
What’s to come? I will upload more of those 250 photos from the EduCare shoot to the blog soon. Until then, be looking for an intern v-blog at a Mac or PC near you.
Ciou!
-Serena
