Filming Adventure Week 4

Originally, it was suppose to rain today. However, the weather man lied and it turn out to be a somewhat sunny then it became cloudy. Fortunately, that was a good thing for me. Less worries for me worrying about my filming equipment getting drench by the rain.

For this week our guest speaker was Dr. LaTanya Hines who is a obgyn. Her topic was on African American Women Med. She used to be a student here at UCI. Despite being twenty to thirty minutes late because she had an emergency with a patient, she was able to deliver a powerful and moving speech.

Today I was using a Sony Handycam HDD to film our guest speaker. I had no clue what it looked like (ergonomics) nor did had time to play with it before hand. The Sony Handycam was the heaviest of all the camcorders that i used so far. Therefore, i was caught off guard because it tip downward while I was filming. I had to hold the camcorder for a majority of the time whereas, all the previous time filming I did not have to hold it.

The tripod that I was using was not sturdy enough to carry the weight of this camcorder. Despite being caught off guard, I was able to capture the introduction of the guest speaker this time. She was like the first guest speaker where he moved around a majority of the time.

A few things I have to mention about the Sony Handycam HDD are:
-The quality on the screen was almost equivalent to the Canon Vixia
-The film exporting was fast and easy
-The film quality is great! Even though it is not in Hi Def
-My laptop wasn't overheating during the export

Overall the Sony Handycam HDD is an awesome camcorder! Good job Sony! You cannot go wrong with a Sony.

Now I am very curious how a Panasonic will be like. Hopefully my next camcorder will be a Panasonic or a JVC. I will keep my fingers cross.

Memos:
-Use a different tripod if I am going to use the Sony Handycam HDD again

Equipment

My Beloved Toys As of Yesterday!

Filming Adventure Week 3

Despite it was pouring down hard along with strong winds, I had to bring my filming equipment. As they all say "The show must go on".

I was really worried and concern that my equipment would get wet and it would get damage from being wet. I was lucky enough that my equipment was nice and dry from point A to point B.

Unlike last time where everything went terrible wrong from the beginning then running smoothly, this time it was more organized. I was able set up before the guest speaker arrived and was able to capture everything, except the introduction because of miscommunication.

The guest speaker I was filming this time was Dr. Gibbs who was addressing the topic on geriatric.

The camera that I was using this time was a Canon Vixia like the first time I was filming. Although, I got my hands on a previous camera used before, I shot in standard instead of high def to compensate hard drive space. Before I was provided with a 32gb memory card while this time was provided with a 16gb. I also changed the camcorder setting a bit. As a result this time the quality came out mediocre compared to the previous capture. The camera shake was more visible this time.

As an improvement I will
1) shoot in Hi Def instead of standard (the imported video size was equivalent to the hi def size)
2) not tweak the settings

Self-Reminder
-Splitting the video up was a great idea while filming!
-Guest speaker using the mic had a tad bit effect in audio level
-Increase the class lighting at least to 75% or 100% to reduce noise level/grainy

Filming Adventure Week 2

This week I had a change in my equipment. I was no longer using a Canon Vixia, but instead I was using a JVC mini dv. It was a huge change from using a hard drive/flash drive based to mini dv tape. I was clueless to how to extract the video that was recorded from the dv tape. I had less than a day to figure how to use it. After a few hours I basically gave up.

The plan was to use connect the JVC camcorder via firewire to my Macbook and use Final Cut to record the video. After testing it the video quality recording via firewire I conclude that it produced a video in decent quality.

Our guest speaker today was JB Fenix, a fourth year medical student.

However, I brought all my equipment except the tripod! Everything went wrong during the preparation before the guest speaker arrived. The cords to the camcorder was not long enough to reach the outlet. Therefore, I had to run around trying desperately to find a power cord extender. As a result, I started filming a little late and missed the introduction of the guest speaker.

To compensate for a tripod I used a podium adjacent to the main podium where the guest speaker was at as a laptop stand and camcorder stand. Fortunately, he was going off his powerpoint slides and did not move around like the previous guest speaker.

However, after ten minutes into filming my laptop started to overheat even with a coolant underneath it. The noise itself was not as loud and noticeable until an hour had past. I hoping and praying that it would not blow smoke out from overheating.

After producing the film I can conclude several things.
1) It produced below mediocre quality (HORRIBLE QUALITY)
2) It took over 30gb
3) Shrinking the video size took a heck of a long time
4) It had the best audio after increasing it to 12dB+
5) I will not record via firewire again

Filming Adventure Week 1

It was my first day filming again in about almost a year now since I last film. However, unlike the previous time where I was shooting a movie and producing it; this time it I was filming in a totally different environment and scenario. It was to film guest speakers for a class hosted by Diversity in Medicine at UCI.

Our first guest speaker was Dr. Montoya who was speaking about "What is diversity in medicine?".

The camera I was using was a Canon Vixia which was a nice small portable camera that had the capability to shoot in Hi Def. The drawback was importing the film into the computer. I found out from forums and from myself that the only way to import the film was through IMOVIE by Apple. (I tried using Final Cut and Premiere and It did not work) The alternative was to find a program that would translate the file into either mpg, avi, mov. However, that would be such a hassle.

I was a little shaky at first while filming from running back and forth caring and bring supplies. Therefore, I was afraid that the film would come out shaky. Also it was hard to film and take photos of the guest speaker at the same time.

When everything was exported I found out that the Canon Vixia had an amazing image stability capability. Even though I shook the camera a few times by accident, the image came out crisp and you can hardly notice the shake. (very smooth) However, many editing need to be done to the film itself before finalizing it.

Despite increasing it over 12dB+ the volume was horrible! I suggest that the upcoming guest speaker use the mic.

Overall, it was a great first time experience!

A keynote, DSLRs can get very noisy and distracting.