If you’ve even been in a movie theater and heard the screaming that erupts with an out of focus picture on the screen you’ll know that being out of focus is the most objectionable thing to the audience. And it’s something that is the nemesis of the filmmaker. You’ve got a great performance and you look at the monitor and it’s out of focus and you just want to KILL. Well, those days are over for those who are okay shooting on Canon’s Super 35-sized 70D.

Being out of focus is the big career-ending flaw for a cinematographer.  Canon has taken a huge leap forward by enabling the 70D to find and track focus for you.  For my tests it was spot on 9 out of ten times.  Not only are there three main focusing choices. Canon also allows you to fine-tune these Auto Focus functions with three Custom Function AF settings – Tracking Sensitivity, Acceleration/declaration tracking, and how much you want the Autofocus to continue to try to find focus or would you rather it stop searching in tricky settings.

Also, the Autofocus during filming opens the door to something the DSLRs haven’t been able to do since Canon quit making most of their lenses capable of holding focus (ParFocal) throughout the zoom.   Now you can actually zoom on a shot and hold focus all the way in. Coincidentally, there is a product from Alzo “Smoothy Zoom-Focus Assist” which you can apply to the zoom ring of your Canon lens and achieve a pretty acceptable zoom if you’re steady on a tripod.  Or if you’re going to dissolve out before the zoom stumbles to a stop (you have to be REALLY good to smoothly come to a stop) you can shoot it handheld.   For $14. you can order two Smoothies.  If you have a decent lens you can pull off a nice zoom with it.  Here’s the link.

http://www.alzovideo.com/alzo-dslr-rig-accessory-smoothy-zoom-focus-assist.htm

I did test the AutoFocusing, using both Canon’s STM (step motor) EFS 28 -135mm lens, and my own EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM. I’m happy to report that focusing took just under a second. Only twice did it rack focus back and forth to “find focus”.  That was in situations of a white bowl in front of a white wall with no definite edge.  But if there was anything in the shot that had an edge and a little contrast Canon’s AutoFocus would nail it without rolling back and forth and back and forth.

I also did tests in the heat of battle on a location shoot at Christmas filming a woman delivering presents to children whose parents wouldn’t be with them at Christmas.  You know how fast kids move around.  Hard to find focus.  But all I had to do was tap where the child came to a stop, then tap again when he moved, then tap when his mom spoke and tap when the spokesperson spoke.  It was a dream. (This video will soon be posted).

This ease and accuracy of focus was only a half second slower than the best focus puller I’ve worked with.  It was certainly better than when I pull focus when I’m handheld and I’m rolling film. In those situations, I find myself passing through the focus spot at least once before I come back to find the best focus spot.

So, all I need now is the 5D Mark IV to have this Auto Focus feature (and the fold out display) and it will be the best Christmas gift a filmmaker could ask for.

- See more at: http://blog.theassociation.tv/#sthash.pO8ZJd6I.dpuf

People often think great lighting is difficult. But when we look at the work of Roger Deakins, BSC, ASC, we see how a master achieves powerful effects with the simplest of lighting. Actually, Deakins “UN-lights” his scenes and this give the image greater impact.

In the Cohen Brothers’ film ‘The Man Who Wasn’t There’, you see scenes of incredible lighting impact achieved with simple set ups.  Again and again Deakins shows he totally understands great lighting, composition and an interesting subject.

We strive to emulate Deakins’ work in our  ‘Lighting Like the Masters’ cinebootcamps.  The scene below is the especially pleasing set up we discovered while trying out the Alzo PAN-L lights.  It is soft, direct and just the right intensity. We copied the master. Looks nice.

We plan more ‘Lighting Like the Masters’ workshops.  Email me for the dates.

fletch@theassociation.tv

- See more at: http://blog.theassociation.tv/#sthash.pO8ZJd6I.dpuf

Where are you from and where the heck have you been for the last 25 years?

I’m a California boy, born in Pasadena. I went to film school at Loyola Marymount and specialized initially in documentary. I made several award-winning projects in my early period, then I went to work for the UN and did projects in Asia. When I came back I formed my own production company in Hawaii, where I worked on series shows and shot documentaries that were pertinent to Hawaii at that time.

After I came back to the United States, I lucked out and got a job with Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin, and started a career that really never stopped. I’ve been with Lockheed Martin for 25 years. I’ve shot projects with the [aircrafts] SR71, 117, F22, and the F35, shooting most of their commercials in the last couple of years and specializing in their product web videos. Everything I’ve been shooting with Lockheed has been with the Mark II 5D. We’ve gotten such good results that Lockheed Martin no longer shoots anything with their agency. We do everything for them, so it’s been a really great experience. We already have over thirty projects lined up for next year.

What do you do here at The Association?

I’m a Director of Photography at The Association. I also help them put together camera packages and help them analyze creative shooting elements in a script they might have.

Favorite camera?

The favorite camera that I’ve been using right now has been the Mark II 5D, and I’m looking forward to this new C300 and other cameras that Canon will be bringing out.

Most exciting project you’ve ever done?

It’s hard to choose, really. I’ve had a good experience shooting Lockheed Martin’s aircraft carriers. I’ve had great experiences shooting the SR 71, which is the CIA aircraft that spied on Russia for 40 years. Airplanes have been a big part of my life. Also, when I was getting my M.A. at Loyola, I was very much involved in the Chicano movement in East LA and with one of the films I did, I ended up going to about eight riots. The last documentary I did for them was the Chicano Moratorium when Ruben Salizar was killed. It became sort of the pivotal event between Los Angeles and the Chicano community. I was honored to give them a twelve-minute documentary on that, which became sort of a historic piece for their movement.

What’s so great about the Canon Boot Camp?

It’s best because it teaches people the basics. They have checklists that the teachers go through with the students on how to set the camera up properly. You end up fully understanding the still camera and video settings so that you won’t end up making a mistake when you go out to shoot something.  What’s really great about this boot camp is that it not only teachers you how the camera works but it also teaches you about the pitfalls and mistakes you can make on the way. I use the 5D because it gives me the best picture, although it’s not very easy to work with. When you take this boot camp you’re going to walk away with the knowledge to use this camera properly.

For more information on The Association, our teachers, and our Canon Boot Camp, please visit our website or call 818.841.9660

10,000 baby boomers turn 65 every day. We at The Association made a TV commercial for Norman Taylor and Associates to make sure these elder Americans, your moms and dads and our moms and dads, receive proper health care and are not abused by unethical health care providers.

Click here to see our latest anti Elder Abuse TV spot.

Too often it is easy to forget about our elders’ needs. The fact is we’ll all be old some day and we need to take action while we’re young so that abuse of elders becomes a thing of the past.

To make this point in the video we morphed from an old person to a young person restrained in her nursing home bed.  It is up to us to fight for the rights of those older Americans who fought to give us everything we needed to survive when we were defenseless babies.

If you’d like to receive the booklet “How to Recognize the Signs of Elder Abuse” call or email Norman Taylor and Associates, an experienced law firm dedicated to stopping elder abuse. Their contact info is below.

www.losangeleselderabuselawfirm.com

or call Norm or John at 818 244-3905

Join us to stop Elder Abuse.

- See more at: http://blog.theassociation.tv/#sthash.pO8ZJd6I.dpuf

So what do we do at Pro Level ll boot camp? If you were wondering, then you’re in luck! Here’s what we did at our December 11th, 2011 boot camp.

Kobold Lighting gave us a chance to try out their all-weather 200 Watt and 800 Watt HMI lights. 

According to our director, Snehal Patel, the HMIs ran cool.In the picture below, Jefferson is holding the 200W light in place for a jewelry store scene.  This light was key for a number of shots where we needed balanced daylight in a small package.

The 800W was really useful as a mock helicopter light for a motorcycle chase scene.  The HMI was mounted on the front of the process trailer provided by Camera Car Industries and was swung back and forth to mimic a helicopter searchlight.  As you can see from the pic of Kavi and Ravi on the motorcycle, the 800W was powerful but had a clean look. The ballasts also performed really well.  Snehal reports, "They powered the lights with a low current draw and absolutely no noise.  The color temperature of the lights was spot-on and the construction is hardy and made for heavy production usage."

Ko

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/facebook-contests/

Watching football is great. And I actually had an epiphany just the other day.

EPIPHANY

If athletes took as long as businesses to detect the “REAL WHY”, to devise a handling and to implement it, they would lose every game. Let me say that again.

Let me say it another way.

If athletes took as long as businesses

to detect the reason they’re losing,

and to come up with a successful game plan

and to put that plan into action,

they’d lose every game.

Caution: you may recognise things preventing your company from winning.

- See more at: http://blog.theassociation.tv/#sthash.pO8ZJd6I.dpuf

Here are the coolest things I saw for DSLR production at NAB 2010.

1. 3D rigs made with Canon DSLRs.  Although no one has been able to sync the images from these cameras, which is necessary for 3D production, manufacturers of 3D rigs are counting on someone figuring out a solution to make these little cameras work for 3D.

2. An electronic viewfinder that taps into the HDMI output of the DSLR cameras which makes it real easy to get focus.  Made by a Korean company, the demo was actually functional! www.cineroid.com

3. A new focus/zoom remote based on an iPhone that is being developed by RedRock Micro.  I got a pic of world-renowned photographer Vincent Laforet holding it up for me.  www.redrockmicro.com

4. Marshall’s new portable, AA battery-powered 5 inch HDMI monitor for mounting on camera.  It was so light weight!  www.lcdracks.com I can’t wait to show it off in my upcoming Canon DSLR Boot
Camp this Saturday, the 24th from 1-6pm.  Sign up here: www.theassociation.tv/canonbootcamp

5. The WristShot from Hoodman is great for relieving the stress on your wrists and hand when you shoot.  I tried it out and was definitely impressed.  We will have Hoodman accessories like WristShot, RAW CF cards and other cool stuff at the Boot Camp.  www.hoodmanusa.com