As promised, here is a link to my first attempt at a video production from the D800. Recorded the guitar clip first, then a bunch of clips of the vocal. I used Final Cut Pro to put it all together.
I'm still learning the program. The interface is very similar to iMovie if you have a Mac, but it has a lot more options and the codec is much more sophisticated, producing 1080 quality HD video output. I found it a bit tricky to overlay clips and stills and texture and video simultaneously, and I'm still working on that aspect. This is just the basic shots with a black-white process overlaid with an 'old paper' texture. Nothing fancy. I can tell now that the audio is distorted, so I'll have to go back and output the file again with the audio track attenuated some. Anyway, I am pleased at the promise of this new option for me. Here is the result from YouTube - click the image to view the clip.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I decided to try my hand at a "long portrait". The LP is essentially just a video portrait. The intent is to capture more of the subject than is possible in a 'flat' image. I thought of this a couple of months ago, and then with a little research found out that some pro photographers had started using them. Generally, they just do a 30-second clip, and frankly I was not impressed. I really didn't feel that I was seeing anything extra in the video. For that matter, the still image actually seems to convey more interest than those long portraits because it engages my imagination. So when I thought about how to set up my version, I chose to set the mood with the lighting and expression of the model, and to set it to appropriate music. Here is the result (click the image to view the video on YouTube):
I am pleased with the way this turned out. I had some technical issues with the natural lighting and the depth of field, but the look of the portrait is very close to what I had imagined. My goal was to create a thoughtful portrait. The model, Renee, is actually a very bright and bubbly girl, so she took my direction very well. I also had to come up the learning curve on Final Cut Pro X, which is no trivial thing in itself. I am still learning what I can do with that program, and I'll probably do a revised version with fancier post processing at some point in the future.
And, as a bonus, because Renee is a singer as well, I took the opportunity to record a music video with her. So that will be coming at a later date.
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