EDIT: Next batch will go on sale Tuesday 22nd May at 11am Eastern USA time and 9PM Eastern USA Time! Sorry these are in so short supply but demand is huge and each one is handmade. Kessler Crane are looking for new factories to help make more but quality is paramount. The add to cart option goes live at the Kessler Site here at the above times.

Also check out these excellent new  Kessler Crane products! The low profile ball head is an excellent addition to the Pocket Dolly!

Also to make all your cameras of all sizes completely locked down on your heads I cannot recommend enough the  fantastic new quick release plates which adhere to the Arca standard size. ROCK SOLID!

The new quick release plate system

The new Kessler low profile ball head

Low profile ball head on slider caddy

ball head with new multi angle plate

Philip Bloom Signature Series Pocket Dolly Overview from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Kessler Crane Philip Bloom Pocket Dolly Review from Chris Weatherly on Vimeo.

The 3 foot version

Honestly, I find this hard to believe myself, but I actually have had a piece of gear made to my specifications and being sold with my name on it! Blimey! I am a very humble guy and am utterly flattered that this has been made! I cannot thank Eric Kessler enough! Although doesn’t a Philip Bloom Pocket Dolly sound a bit wrong and kind of blow up? Not that I could imagine anyone EVER wanting one of those (apart from my cats?!)

So…finally after much teasing, the “Philip Bloom Signature Edition” Pocket Dolly is out for sale, both in 2 foot and 3 foot versions…and before you ask, yes I can write and that is my actual signature not some font (which a lovely lady friend said she liked the dolly but didn’t like the font! )

With the advent of DSLRs shooting video, sliders have become an essential part of any filmmaker’s kit. The ability to do small dolly moves can make your shot so much more cinematic.

I have been using various sliders for almost two years and none of them ever fulfilled my needs completely. Too heavy, not smooth enough etc…

The Kessler Crane Cineslider has been by far the greatest slider I have ever used with two downsides for me. The size and weight. I fly a lot and it is simply too big without its own case, and it needs support on either end ideally or a heavy duty tripod. I often use lightweight tripods and wanted the design of the Cineslider combined with the weight of the Kessler Crane Pocket Dolly. The Pocket Dolly V2 is a superb dolly but I personally missed the features of the Cineslider.

With a 16mm Bolex on it!!

The 2 Foot version

This is the best piece of kit I have ever used and I am incredibly proud for it be the first piece of gear to ever bear my name!

It is completely compatible with the Elektra Drive and Oracle motorised system. Simply remove the drag control and fit the motor on exactly as you would do with the Cineslider.

This slider is SERIOUSLY smooth, I call it a “one take slider”, you only need to do the shot again if you cock up, not the gear sticking on you!

It comes as a kit only with the outrigger feet, lovely case, dolly 2 foot or 3 foot and the flat head tripod adaptor. Both the 3 foot and 2 foot are $995 intro price, then it’s $1,095 after the first 12 have gone…I LOVE this dolly. Yes it is more money than the Pocket Dolly V2 but it is essentially a lightweight Cineslider with all the perks of that model and then some, you get the outrigger feet and head mount too. The dolly is also tested for completely smoothness to a 100 feet using a laser for pinpoint accuracy.

Measuring tape for use with elektra drive and oracle motorized system

2 nights in Mallory Square from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Shot on the Canon 5D MK II to test out the Kessler Crane Pocket Jib and the new special Philip Bloom Pocket Dolly.

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Filmed over two evenings at Mallory Square in Key West, Florida

Welcome to my new site and a new attempt at a forum! There are many forums out there, so why create a new one? Well I want one that is specially for the lovely bunch of people that are you, my readers, and I want a really friendly helpful forum to spring from this. Although this is not a forum just about my site. Far from it. This is a forum for people who love to shoot, who love to edit, who love to create. If that is you then welcome!

I have had mixed experiences with forums. Some like DVINFO.NET have been incredibly helpful friendly places. Others…not. Forums often get a bad rep but I am convinced we can create something special and unique here.

There will be a lot of gear questions of course, and there are specific forums for all the main cameras and for equipment, but there are also some about filmmaking. Make use of these!

Directory is the place to tell people where you are and what you do. It’s broken down into geographical regions. I will add more specific regions if I see a need for them and if requested.

Showcase your work and share with us your upcoming projects in “Share your work”

If you have any suggestions for this forum, let me know. It’s brand new and therefore a work in progress. If you see a missing category, let me know! I am open to all ideas! Any bugs, then please let me know!! Naturally it is going to be bare bones with little content right now. That will come with time and from you!

You will notice that this is a real name forum. I think it’s important for people to know each other by name and not pseudonyms. Unfortunately it’s a separate registration to the comments section. Sorry I couldn’t get them to integrate. Well not yet, anyway!

We have some very talented filmmakers as moderators, and I promise they won’t get drunk with power! If you feel you can offer something as a moderator, especially within specific categories, then email me telling me about yourself to forum@philipbloom.net.

So for now enjoy the journey with me! Click on FORUM in the top menu and register away!

Currently it and my site don’t work perfectly with the iPhone…we are working on a mobile version of the site but with the £1.99 Tapatalk app for android/ iOS the forum works brilliantly. I have set it all up with the app and it is ready to go. Just download search for Philip Bloom, sign in and away you go!

Philip

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Watch live video from philipbloom on www.justin.tv”

EDIT: ADAM SOTO has won the STEALTH from a random pulling of a number in the live draw. Thanks to EVERYONE for this incredible figure raised You are brilliant…and thanks to Eric Kessler of Kessler Crane for his continued generosity. 

To tie in with the release of the rather nice new slider from Kessler Crane and the re-launch of my website, Eric Kessler has generously come up with the idea of giving one away in conjunction with a fund raising for a charity very close to his heart. The Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Make-A-Wish grants children with terminal or life threatening illnesses wishes to give them hope. To give them some joy when they have none. It’s a really special charity.

To be in with a chance of winning a Stealth all you need to do is donate $10 or more (more is better!) to any of your local Make A Wish chapter and send a receipt of it to this address. The fundraiser will last 2 weeks and I will make the live draw on Feb 12th. More details to come. This is a world wide competition so doesn’t matter where you live!

The great news is Eric will match the donation up to $5000. So get donating!!

About the slider: The Stealth is an all black hybrid between the basic pocket dolly and the top of the range Philip Bloom Slider.  Whereas my one comes with a case, feet, flat head adaptor and crank. This a build your own system (not possible to add the crank), with a starting price of $799.95 for either the 2 foot traveler or 3 foot standard.

Not everyone wants a flashy red ended slider like my model. Some want it all in black and of course some people naturally don’t want my name on it either! So that is where the stealth comes in. Sexy black. Minimalist. As smooth as all the pocket dollys. This is the dolly you don’t want to attract attention to…hence the name “Stealth”

If you want to order it click here or the banner below. It’s generally in stock unlike the Bloom dolly which is available in small batches once a month near the end of each month.

2012 Philip Bloom Ric Creaser Filmmakers Workshop – Melbourne from MelbourneDSLR on Vimeo.

A preview teaser of what’s on offer at the Philip Bloom and Ric Creaser filmmakers workshops currently being run in Australia and New Zealand and presented by Rode microphones. Go see them.

In Just 2 weeks, I set off for the almost 6 week trip to Australia and New Zealand for a mixture of workshops and shooting.

The workshops are in Melbourne, Sydney, Byron Bay, Perth, Adelaide and Auckland. They are hosted by RODE Microphones and they’re all about DSLRs and large sensor camcorders. I am partnering with Aussie sound legend Ric Creaser who will be doing the very important section on audio. I will be going in-depth with the DSLRs and the new large sensors cameras. I will have with me my new Canon C300, a Sony F3 and my Sony FS100. A great chance to see them and how they feel to operate. You can read more about the workshops by clicking the banner above or here.

My C300 with RODE NTG-3 and new Zacuto baseplate

Sydney is sold out and there is a waiting list. I believe Melbourne is also close to sold out and the others have a handful of tickets left. So don’t leave it until the last minute to get the tickets!

There will also be meet ups in each city, which are a great way to build the local filmmaking communities. So if the workshop is sold out, you at least have a chance to mingle with like-minded folk. Details of where they will be will be in the page for each city in the Events section of my website.  Mine is a Hendriks and tonic! If you have never been to a meet up they are just fun. Social gatherings. Below is a bonkers time-lapse video of the Brizzy meet-up. Unfortunately there is no Brizzy this year, just Byron Bay. Please come if you can though. Be a blast.

Philip Bloom Brisbane Meet Up from Daniel Andrew Shelton on Vimeo.

I have some work commitments in Wellington too after the Auckland workshop, so I will be seeing some of the North Island then before taking a trip down to the South Island for a short time. Then I’ll need to get back to fly off to the North Western wilderness of Australia for a once in a lifetime trip. Lots of firsts on this trip. Never been to NZ, never been to that part of Australia and of course I will be visiting the shire whilst in NZ! I am after all a total geek!

West Australian shooter Michael Fletcher has invited me to visit the remote Kimberley region of far North Western Australia, one of the world’s true wilderness areas, because he thinks I spend too much time in hotels rooms in large cities and not enough time getting back to nature. Not true. I often spend time in nice bars too…

After an exchange of a few hundred emails, Mike has amazingly teed up passage for me through the Kimberleys on the magnificent True North, a five star adventure cruise vessel purposely built to travel the shallow tidal regions of this magnificent coast.

Mike, who has travelled on the True North many times before, assures me that this is going to be a trip of a lifetime with amazing filming opportunities. In fact I first knew of Mike through the videos he made of the trip a while back, which are beautiful. Please check out the one below. Then I got to meet him finally at my RODE tour last year.

True North Kimberley Wilderness Tour from Michael Fletcher on Vimeo.

Honestly, when he first suggested it, I thought he was joking and when he followed through with the offer I was stunned. It is not something I ever expected to be able to experience, and I know I am damn lucky to be given this opportunity. The scenery as you can see is beyond incredible. An amazing opportunity to put the C300 through its paces and shoot a doco whilst there. The plan is to get to know the crew on the boat and frame their stories with the insanely beautiful scenery. It will be an intimate tale but epic in images…

The C300 itself seems the perfect camera for this. It’s really small, so perfect for filming in tight spaces on the boat, takes the same lenses as the time lapses DSLRs, I do need to keep my gear to a minimum as space is at a premium…and of course the image is just incredible from the camera. The detail you get from it is also going to be perfect for the epic deep depth of field scenery shots.

There are few places you can go which really are away from it all. This is one of them. No mobile phone, no internet!! That scares me… I have barely gone without the internet for a week since I first connected to it with Compuserve back when my email address was 23486321@compuserve.com – catchy.

I will be on the first Kimberley trip of the season departing on the 31^st March from Broome and finishing on the 7^th April in Wyndham. He said this is the very best time to see dramatic skies and the Kimberley’s awesome waterfalls roaring at close range. And when he says close range he means under the waterfalls. It will be stinking hot, but to be honest as it’s way below freezing here right now, going somewhere stinking hot sounds like heaven! I wonder how the camera will handle the extreme heat? Better than the DSLRs I am sure!

All to be shot on the Canon C300 and an array of Canon DSLRs shooting timelapses, I am hoping this will prove to be one of the best experiences I have undertaken, it certainly looks it! I understand there are a few cabins left on the boat, but be aware this is NOT a cheap week away. It would be great to have some fellow filmmakers on board but PLEASE don’t sell all your gear to come on it, as I won’t be giving you my C300 at the end of it! If you do come then, the first round is on me (then you have to carry my tripod )

Of course I will share this experience through my film, photographs and over compensating tweeting once I get back online!!

If you want to know how to get on the True North with myself and experience a once in a lifetime adventure check out Northstar cruises website here.

So here we are. About 6 months later than I had hoped but better late than never. My site is reborn with I hope a cleaner, fresher design. Easier to find content and more pleasing to the eye.

What has changed?

Obviously cosmetically it is totally different. New background by my frequent shooting partner James Miller (maybe Percy is TOO big on my shoulder?). Cleaner less obtrusive ads (yes I know there are two on this post) but the top banner is now just one that rotates every new click instead of 6 rotating. Much nicer. Same with the side banners.

We now have top posts rather than most popular posts. Ones which I think would interest you the most. A nice simple twitter feed and a Facebook “fan page” link, this is where you go to see what I am doing every day if you have not already been there.

Very important to me is my work. So the films section is now organised by which camera they were shot on AND genres…although this is a work in progress. I need to add a Documentary section. Again, nice and organised.

There is a very cool events section on the main page and under the menu. Ever wondered where and when my next workshop/ meet up is? Now you know!

There is also now a better and clearer education area with nice clear sections. If you have any suggestions about organisation of this section or any other please let me know below. I am trying to make this easier for you! I know every single post that I have done but you do not, so if you can suggest even easier ways to find stuff do let me know!

In one week’s time I will launch my forum. Yep a forum. I have had a forum before…it was a bit shit to be honest. Then I used buddypress in wordpress. Even worse. So now we will have a proper professional forum integrated perfectly into the website. Comments will still be on the posts unlike say EOSHD where he has moved all comments to the forum. That is not what I want. I want a place where new and experienced can meet and help each other out.

I have had mixed experience with forums in the past. The one that stands head and shoulders over the rest is DVinfo. A place where you can ask questions without being attacked, hounded or banned! It will be a REAL NAME only forum and will have to be heavily moderated. The moderators will be selected amongst my readers. If you interested email me at work@philipbloom.net telling me about yourself and why you would be a good moderator.

It will be a place for you to ask questions about my work or ask in depth questions…this is the place to do it, rather than commenting on posts. I want to try and keep the right things in the right places. It may well be a total disaster…but that is down to you. Together we can make it work.

Ideally within it I will also have a database of shooters/ soundos etc in different areas. So if you are looking for help, it’s the place to go to.

There will be different sections for the different cameras. For different gear and to showcase your work. Again, it will be a work in progress but I hope you sign up!

I will try and keep the content up like I have been. I cannot do daily posts as my day job of shooting gets in the way, but I will post as often as I can and will continue to have guest posts like I have had in the past from Preston Kanak and Eve Hazelton. I will continue to be me. Helpful, funny (I hope), occasionally short and snappy (sorry but I am human and get stressed!) but what you see with me is what you get. I am honest, true to my word and don’t do BS! Remember my ethics statement when in doubt!

Oh, BTW we should have facebook/ twitter comment integration soon to make it easier to leave comments…but still not anonymous which I don’t do!

So bear with me. I doing my best to make the new site as seamless as possible. There WILL be glitches. A lot of them as the site only went live today so it’s the real test!

The site this morning!!

Philip: I have installed the 5DmkII version on my 5DmkII and will be trying it out myself…

Magic Lantern Warning: (As of September 2009 the software has been downloaded over two thousand times and there have been no reports of damage to the cameras. While this is no guarantee of absolute safety, the stable releases have been tested by beta testers. Most of the risk is to the developers’ cameras while testing new features and probing new portions of Canon’s firmware. By the time the software moves from development to beta testing it has been installed hundreds or thousands of times).

Introduction

By Preston Kanak

Recently, the guys at Magic Lantern released a new update to their software that brings HDR mode to Canon DSLR’s — just in time for Christmas! I have yet to play with the new software but will be over the next couple days and will be posting a video with my results. After reading a few different approaches to the post-production, it seems there is still the workflow that needs to be fine-tuned.

The Firmware – Breakdown & Analysis

Firmware Specs – (Release Notes)
- Currently running on 550D/T2i, 60D, 600D/T3i, 500D/T1i and 50D. Very
soon, it will be working on 5D Mark II and 1100D.
- User interface is evolving to be more self-explanatory and intuitive.
- The most often used essentials have been polished and refined.
- External monitors are working very well, thanks to SmallHD.
- Dedicated playback features HDR preview and exposure analysis
- Ability to select frame rates

Battery life:

- ML only draws 5% more power under heavy load.

What is it?

Magic Lantern is an enhancement atop of Canon’s firmware that frees your Canon DSLR, allowing you to use many useful features. Initially developed for filmmakers, it now has functionality for both photo and video enthusiasts, including manual audio, zebras, focus assist tools, bracketing, motion detection and much more.

With the new version, you are able to achieve an HDR-like image. Although not true HDR, this function adds a new technique when shooting with Canon DSLR’s.

How it Works

You will get two streams at half frame rate. For example, if you record 25p, you will get two 12.5fps streams. Interpolate them to 25fps and use your favorite HDR software to blend the frames.

Magic Lantern HDR Video X-MAS teaser

Bart@RedKiteMedia has created a video utilizing the new firmware. I have included it below…

Vimeo Video Description

Magic Lantern is a custom firmware add-on for Canon DSLR cameras. It is not a hack, or a modified firmware, but it runs alongside Canon’s own firmware, booting from the card every time you turn the camera on. The only modification to the original firmware is the ability to boot software from the card.

How to Install/Use

To download the firmware, please visit magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/Unified.

Once you have downloaded the file, simply copy it to your CF card and navigate to the “Update firmware”. The active firmware on your camera temporarily shuts down as the new firmware is loaded. **One thing to note is that the firmware is loaded into the RAM which means that when the CF Card is ejected, the normal firmware that is located on your camera will reload.

How to Process the Footage — Work In Progress

If you would like to play with some of the footage, I have included the video below from a1ex.

My Thoughts

Because the workflow is still a work in progress, I have included a few different examples of how you can prepare the footage. Comments are encouraged if you have found a better way to deal with the footage!

David Fulde’s Workflow and Comments

I recently chatted with David Fulde about his process and comments on the firmware. I have included both below.

Magic Lantern HDR Video Workflow

David Fulde’s – Workflow Option 1

So, there are a couple of ways to try and shoot HDR, and a fair amount of ways to process it. Right now, I’ve been doing research into two ways.

The first method, was the first way that I thought of while playing with the footage. You need After Effects and Premiere.

1. Open Premiere. Bring your footage inside. Replace with After Effects composition (this will become important soon)

2. You should now be in AE. Take your footage, duplicate it.

3. On the top layer, right click, Time stretch – 50. This should get rid of the flicker and leave you with a 12 (Or 12.5) FPS clip which is completely your dark exposure. Time stretch is used instead of a speed ramp/time warp effect because Time Stretch at 50% simply hides every other frame; rather than trying to do some interpolation and mixing the frames together.

4. Next, go to the bottom layer; and delete the first frame. Time stretch – 50 again. This will give you a 12 (or 12.5)FPS layer of your bright exposure.

5. Next, you are going to put a Luma Key onto the first layer, key out brighter (or key out dissimilar) and play with the settings there.

6. When done, go into premiere, and create a new sequence.

7. Drop your first sequence (With the clips from AE) into this second sequence. Time: 200% this will bring you up to a 24FPS video with what you had before. this does NOT interpolate the footage, rather it duplicates every frame to give you the proper length of time.

8. Now, the reason we are going to Premiere and nesting the sequence; is because if we simply do a time warp effect without nesting the sequence (Or inside of After Effects) those frames that were hidden with the time stretch will come back and the flickering will return. So by nesting the sequence we prevent the hidden frames from returning. The downside to this, is that there are a lot of motion artifacts, as well as you are dealing with a sequence in a sequence referencing an After Effects composition; And it is SLOW. (Though you could just render out from After effects, then slow down the footage; but that also takes a lot of time.)

David Fulde’s – Workflow Option 1: Programs needed – After Effects

1. In After Effects, bring your footage into a timeline. Duplicate it until you have four copies of the footage.

2. After duplicating it, take the top two layers, and pre-compose them. This will be your highlights, name the pre-comp as such. Repeat this pre-composition with the other two clips. these will be your lowlights/shadows.

3. Go into your Highlights composition – take your top clip and set the blending mode to MULTIPLY. Move this top layer one frame forward. Your shadows will be highly crushed, and this will result in a very high contrast image this is what we want.

4. Now, go into your low-lights/shadows pre-comp and select the top clip. Change the blending mode of this to SCREEN, and move it one frame forward. This will do the exact opposite of what we did in the highlights comp. Instead of making a high-contrast image with the highlights preserved. We made a high-contrast image with the shadows preserved.

5. Next you can do the luma key as talked about above.

Note: This is great, as you do not need to do any re-timing. Each frame is repeated, but it plays surprisingly smooth! Harsh motion can still create some major motion artifacts though.

For shooting, you can choose the 720P option (With more Moire, and less resolution) and shoot at 60P (Or 50P) and then go through the process of the first method; without the need to re-time (Ending up with a 30P or 25P clip respectively) this works phenomenally well and, technically, still has artifacting but it is pretty negligible (And you can just add some motion blur to one of the clips to help mask it).

This newest version of the Magic Lantern hack, not only brings HDR, but it also brings FPS override. This means that you can choose your frame rate with frame-by-frame precision. this means that you can shoot at 720P – 48FPS for those of us in North America which, when processed using the first method above, gives us a nice, even, 24P timeline.

David Fulde’s Thoughts

I am currently loving this. The novelty factor is still here, but it’s great fun trying to find the best workflows with the least amount of tradeoffs (It’s getting to the point where it seems to be, to get 24 or 25P as an output you have to choose between less resolution, more moire, and less artifacting; or more resolution with less moire but more artifacting).

The firmware seems to have a major issue with motion; the faster the motion you have; the more artifacting (ESPECIALLY when the subject is question is moving where shadows and highlights converge)

Will this be useful for absolutely everything? No. But I can see it being used a lot for cinematography pieces. For example; You would never shoot Mobius with this; but you might shoot something like Skywalker ranch or maybe a slow paced drama. Overall; It’s fun to play with, but to be used in any sort of narrative short would need to be a special case; The workflow would essentially turn every take of every shot into an effects shot.

Ginger HDR Workflow & Examples

Magic Lantern HDR Test with Ginger HDR from 19lights.

For more information on this workflow video, please click here.

Magic Lantern HDR Video TUTORIAL

By Mr.W

Canon t2i HDR Comparison Video

By Mr.W

My Final Thoughts

I will be trying out this firmware over the next couple days so cannot comment about the firmware yet. Do I plan on integrating it into my workflow at this point? Probably not — but that may change once I have played with it. However, it is extremely exciting to see what the ML guys have been up to!

EDIT: It’s almost upon us. I leave tomorrow. It’s going to be the best workshops ever, please watch the little video above! There are a few tickets left so hurry! We won’t just be covering Canons despite the name!

I am very excited by this news. Myself and Canonfilmmakers.com (my assistant Cristina Valdivieso and my great friend Jon Connor) have been planning this for months, ever since the first Canon Filmmakers Live event in Philly earlier this year.

Basically I am taking my DSLR workshop to 12 cities across the USA in 30 days. It’s going to be a huge undertaking but a very exciting one. A chance to share what I have learned shooting with all my DSLRs. Passing on my knowledge about everything from camera settings, to what you need to get going, to ways to get around limitations, sound recording, post workflow, timelapse and much more. It’s your chance to meet many people like yourselves, to ask my as much as you want and I hope to have a really educational and entertaining day culminating in an exclusive meet up where we can get to know each more socially over a drink or two and a bit of filming perhaps!

Although called Canon Filmmakers Live I will be covering other cameras too, like the GH2,  the AF100 and probably even the F3! But you don’t need a DSLR to come. Just a passion and a desire to learn.

The site is live and booking is already full steam ahead. Space is of course limited. The cool thing is each venue is superb and full of character. No stuffy hotel conference rooms here. A lot of them are proper movie theaters, so your chance to see DSLR footage on the big screen! For example we are at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin!

For all the cities we are visiting go to the CanonFilmmakersLive.com website and book your place and I cannot wait to see you there. Sorry if I am not coming to your city but we had some tough choices to make, cities I have already done workshops in like Boston and NY were sidelined for new places like Denver and Atlanta for example. I really wanted to do Portland but we couldn’t squeeze it in. We will be in Seattle so I hope you can drive up and join us there Portland residents!

I have worked in Brussels many times, I was based there for a while in my News days and it is one of my favourite cities. A great place to do a workshop and my first one in Europe. The closest I have been so far has been Oslo.

Here are the details:

“In our Brussels workshop, we will have an experiential weekend working with all aspects of dslr filmmaking. We will be shooting together and we will be doing post work together so, if you have a camera and a laptop, please bring them. It is highly advantageous if you do bring your own camera as it will make it harder for you to join in the evening shoot. Here is what we will be doing each day:

Saturday, Day 1:

Camera basics
Settings
Lenses
Gear
Shooting techniques
Recording sound in camera and dual system sound.
Timelapse

Video Shoot! We will all have dinner together and then we will go out for a night shoot. Here we will learn practical techniques for shooting in these situations.

Sunday, Day 2:

Putting these lessons from day one into practice.
Recording sound
Doing timelapses
Using sliders
Post Work: This is a final cut pro based class with a touch of premiere.
Sound syncing
Importing
Archiving
Basic grading

Also, I will be using my newest cameras for this workshop, the Panasonic AF101 and the GH2 as well as my Canons! This is a personal and practical workshop and a lot of fun as well. Registration is now open at this link:

http://www.trueactinginstitute.com/europe/
Class space is limited, so register early to hold you place in class. See you in Brussels!”

I am sure many of you are already on facebook and what not…but my web designer Piotr Godek from Odd Web Things and I decided to create a social network within PhilipBloom.net so people can easily message members within the site, talk to each other publicly, add friends, check what your friends are up to, participate in groups, promote events, show work..all the usual stuff but all directly within this site.

All you need to do is be a registered and please use real names. To use buddypress it’s really important that people use their real name as it’s friendlier and more open.

I will get a few moderators involved just to make sure everyone is polite and there is a always a danger of people being rude to others and I won’t tolerate it as there is no excuse. So if you are interested in being a moderator of a particular group let me know!

Hopefully interacting with each other will be useful and productive. Great discussions can be formed here and you can meet new people. If there are particular groups you want me to create let me know…

Obviously this is in it’s infancy so there will be a few kinks until we get it all running smoothly so bear with us!

Thanks and please join up!! Simply register as a user on my site by clicking members on the top right and then register! If you have already registered on my site use those log in details!

Wow…what an amazing response!! 42 films in just two weeks. Totally overwhelmed for what I expected to be a silly little competition has become an epic contest with some incredible filmmaking and creativity. I am utterly speechless and humbled. Eric Kessler too. If we could we would give one to each and every one of you a PB slider.

Honestly this is the hardest thing I have ever judged. Tricky too as I know some of the filmmakers who entered, some of them very well. I put my totally objective hat on and refused to be biased. Each time I saw a new one come in I thought, that’s the winner then I saw something else and I loved that too. Eric loved the one where every word was his name of course

Well we have two prizes to give away. 1 pocket dolly Philip Bloom edition and the Red Giant Software Magic Bullet Suite. 1st prize gets the slider, runner up gets the amazing software suite. Eric and I had a lot of back and forth over this. Petter Misje made two awesome entries, the song was brilliant and funny (but mostly appreciated by guys and it made Eric puke at the suggestion of the song!), Andrew Gupta made two fantastic entries too…David Komer made a great little film, Travis Guerra made a funny film where he still insists I stole his ideas , Karen Abad & Angeline Gragasin made an INSANE film inspired by the INSANE Isabella Rosselini Green Porno series on Sundance Channel, Eric found that very disturbing but I think he secretly enjoyed hearing Angeline as Isabella as me having an orgasm over his picture…SO WRONG!!! Loved the TV shop by Sebastian Rombout, very clever indeed! Josh Alden made an epic film, Sara Parker made a very clever little piece in a very short time…the list goes on, the quality was just exceptional. PLEASE watch them all. They were great. Go to the vimeo group by clicking here.

TV Shop from Sébastien Rombout on Vimeo.

I hope it won’t be too complicated to understand. We’re French native, and did our best for English speaking

Enjoy our movie

Video: Canon eos 550D/Rebel T2i – sigma 30mm f1.4
Animation made with flash and after effects.

The Kessler Kid from David Komer on Vimeo.

Daniel “The Karate Kid” Larusso unleashes his most powerful technique yet.

This was created exclusively for the Philip Bloom / Kessler Crane Short Film Competition.

It was a blast to make. Thanks Eli and Shalom!

For those interested- camera is 7D and lens is Sigma 30mm f/1.4. Lighting was all with one reflector (with two-shot a composite of 3 takes with reflector moved). I forgot the mic model- but it was going into the Zoom H4n. Rack Focus was done by hand while watching lilliput monitor. Tripod was non-fluid-head. Edited in FCP with effects shot (done by Eli Veffer) in AE. Script was written in Final Draft AV. Headband was drawn on an old cutup t-shirt using premium crayola markers- by my wife (Inessa Komer). Ninja Turtles shirt was bought at Target in the States

All shot on location in the Independence Park in Jerusalem, Israel.

Enjoy,
David Komer

To Philip with love from Petter Misje on Vimeo.

This is a contest entry to the Philip Bloom/Kessler Crane Competition.

Shot on a Canon 5D MarkII with a Canon EF 24-105mm F4.0L IS USM lens and a Canon EF 50mm F1.8II lens.

Music/piano by myself
Lady/voice by… well… I can’t tell you that!

Before I met Kessler from Petter Misje on Vimeo.

This is a contest entry to the Philip Bloom/Kessler Crane Competition.

Shot on a Canon 5D MarkII with a Canon EF 24-105mm F4.0L IS USM lens and a Zoom 4HN (and still I’m out of focus and the sound sucks!)

And me on the piano.

CONTEST ENTRY: Bloom/Kessler Slider Competition from Andrew Gupta on Vimeo.

This is a contest entry to the Philip Bloom/Kessler Crane Competition. Filmed and produced October 10, 2010.

This is a parody of the product name and slogan “Wives, say yes to Kessler.”

CONTEST LINK:

http://philipbloom.net/2010/10/03/kesslercompo/

CONTEST ENTRY: Bloom/Kessler Slider Competition from Andrew Gupta on Vimeo.

This is a contest entry to the Philip Bloom/Kessler Crane Competition. Filmed and produced October 13, 2010.

CONTEST LINK:

http://philipbloom.net/2010/10/03/kesslercompo/

BLOOMing Jealousy from Sara Parker on Vimeo.

Entry 4 the “Philip Bloom/ Kessler Crane Competition”.

by Jeanne du Bois & Saraparker

Continuation of why wives will “Say yes to kessler”… (female logic, ask us if you have questions )

Bloom Porno from Karen Abad ♥s Dinosaurs. on Vimeo.

Inspired by Isabella Rossellini’s “Green Porno,” Bloom Porno is a film about filmmaker Philip Bloom.

created by: Karen Abad and Angeline Gragasin

So who won…it was so hard. I kept on tossing it between “Bloom Porno” and “To Philip With Love” and the fact Peter made two great films was swinging it his favour. His song was awesome, the singer was lovely with a lovely voice. It was my winner for a long time. But the work that went into “Bloom Porno” was so amazing. The attention to detail was beyond brilliant, from the replacement of my banner photo to cut outs from my short films. Amazingly written and performed by Angeline  combined with Karen’s golden touch as a filmmaker swung it their way in the end, which made me feel awkward as I know them so well. But should I deny them first prize because of that? That seemed unfair. Eric agreed and the amount of views of the film dwarfed all the others on Vimeo so it felt the right thing to do…I hope you agree that it was just superb filmmaking on every level and especially if you watch the inspiration for it. The fact it took the piss out of me cracked me up. I take the piss a lot and if you can’t take it then don’t dish it out and the girls laid into me completely and it cracked me up. So girls. You win my slider. You are gonna have to cut it in half though am afraid…just the one!! Ouch!

Petter, sorry mate. SO close. It was just genius, both of them but you were beaten by a hair. Literally a hair. I hope the Magic Bullet Suite you win is good compensation, it’s amazing and contains so much great stuff and it costs $800 to buy!! if you want a PB dolly, drop me an email and I will get you the best discount I possibly can and move mountains for you as I feel so bad as yours was my winner for a long time!

OH and there is now a third prize and this goes to Travis Tindell for his “All aboard for Kessler”, watch it carefully. he plays ALL the characters. Nice job mate. You win a $100 Kessler Voucher!!

All Aboard! for Kessler from Travis Tindell on Vimeo.

Tried to do it. Wasn’t very successful. Not enough time to put in the effort I would have liked to. Lots of key stuff missing here.

O well, worth a shot.

I will do a challenge again soon, so keep an eye out for those and if you are after a PB slider the next batch will go on sale in a week or so. Very limited supply as Eric only made a small run of these and was caught off guard by how popular they are.

Oh and do check the awesome review of my dolly here!!

Once again well done to everyone who entered and a huge thanks to Eric Kessler for donating the top prize and to Aharon Rabinowitz of Red Giant Software for the 2nd prize!!