RIPNDIP DAYLANDO re-edit contest

An amazing clothing company called RIPNDIP had issued a re-edit contest for a chance to win 500$ in there online store.  What a re-edit is, is just what it sounds like, they give you footage (in this case skateboarding footage) and you have to edit it in a way that you think works.  I had the opportunity to enter my edit and try and win the 500$.  The footage they gave me was filmed by TJ Gaskill and the skateboarder is Blake Carpenter.  Blake is a RIPNDIP and DAYLANDO team rider.  DAYLANDO is a full length skateboard film by TJ Gaskill , Blake's footage was from his part in DAYLANDO.  The dead line for the edit was the 14th of December.  I hope I did enough to win the 500$ but there are so many good skateboard film editors out there now.  Well here is my video hope you like it!

SD vs HD

A huge conflict in skateboarding right now is the choice between HD (high definition) and SD (standard definition).   A hugely iconic part of skateboarding is the sony VX camera series (vx1000,2000,and 2100).  the VX is traditionally used with the century optics MK1 (mark 1) fisheye lens.  Century optics made this fish eye for the sony VX series but fits best on the 1000 this is because its lens is slightly smaller than the 2000 and 2100.  The 1000 has a 52mm filter size and the 2000 and 2100 have a 58mm.  With the fisheye lens so heavily used in skateboard films people came to like this set up very much.  with the VX,s square image, the MK1 fisheye cuts off the corners just slightly but makes a look that is very desirable among skateboarders and skateboard film makers.  The VX series also has very crisp and clean audio do to the fact of the microphone sony put on the front of the camera, Even though this camera takes mini DV tapes.  Personally I think this is still the best look and sound in skateboard films today.  Although the VX series does not film in high definition, if you set up the pre-sets on the camera correctly you can still get a very nice quality image and vary nice audio with out any doubt.

      Many people have started the move from VX to DSLR's it seems more than actual HD video cameras. The quality of the picture is better but there is some flaws with the DSLR cameras for this particular style of film making to me.  The image on DSLR's in video mode is rectangular rather than square, witch in skateboard videos makes it less desirable to me right off the bat.  DSLR's take fish eye lenses but the lenses just do not look any thing like the classic MK1.  The DSLR's  fisheye lenses distort the image in a way that does not look natural to me, no slightly cut off ages or perfectly focused moving skateboarders any more.  With a DSLR you run in to audio issues and camera holding issues.  The audio is vary poor with the the dslrs regular camera body.  If you want crisp audio you would have to buy a external microphone for the camera but you still wont here all the cracks, pops and slides as well as the VX does it with just its built in microphone.  Fallowing a skateboarder or capturing them on a hand rail with a fisheye is very hard with out a view finder to look though.  And holding it doing those things would be very difficult also so you would have to buy a metal handle that makes the shape and feel of a dslr just like a classic VX. So why get a DSLR? no clue! i would just stick with the VX and standard definition for now till we find something that has better quality picture and is as perfect for skateboarding as the VX is.

        With all that being said the VX1000 MK1 set up will always remind us of the most fun and  memorable times in skateboarding and will always, always be a icon and still be used.  I feel like the VX will hang in there for a long time to come.

seen is a vx1000 with a century optics mark 1 fisheye lens.

seen is a canon EOS 7D with handle, external microphone, and a added LCD screen and light for at night

35mm film

One of my favorite things to do is take my old film camera out and just mess around with it. I use a old Pentax Honeywell spotmatic.  I love to try out different kinds of film.  Right now i have kodak 400 film and I have used a few different kinds. But when I get my film developed I get it put on a disk so I can upload it to my computer and here is some of the shots i get with film.

35mm film just has such a old and vintage feeling look to it I just love it!!!! 

camera shots and movement!

 I have been noticing a lot lately that in the films I watch, a very large portion of the feel of the movie comes from the camera angles, different movements and lighting.  Most people do not pay any attention to this at all!  Many good films are made by the same directors, because they know where to put the camera and how to move it.  Don't get me wrong a huge part of it is writing and acting but if you have good acting and writing with bad camera work and lighting you are not going to enjoy it at all.  So I am posting a video about it made by the great guys at "FILM RIOT" they do really really good and funny videos on almost everything behind film and they are really good at it, so watch this!

Here is a link to there YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/filmriot?feature=watch

go subscribe to them because they do a lot of really amazing stuff like that video!

  thanks for reading and watching!

Paranorman

Paranorman looks like a great motion picture for kids, parents, teens, and just people that appreciate a good film. This is a movie directed by Chris Butler and Sam Fell also the directors of Coraline (2005). This is more directed towards children but the work that went in to it makes it suitable for all ages.
        Paranorman is what is called a stop-motion film. What that means is each scene is made up of hundreds of individual still shot photos. What they do have is very skilled artist come in and make a very small set. And they make figures of clay that are very detailed, you can almost not even tell. There is a scene in the movie where there is destruction in the town the characters live in that is about five minutes long. This scene took the film makers almost a week to make. They had to take a photograph, move the figures the slightest bit and then take another photo. The film makers had to do this hundreds of thousands of times. The whole movie took two and a half years to shoot and writing took sixteen years.
        Personally I have not seen this movie yet but I'm looking forward to it. I already have a lot of respect for this movie because of all the work that has gone in to it. So if you guys are looking to see it, I would. And just think about how much work it was to put this together. Should be good, below is the link to the trailer. Thanks guys!
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1RXm81AsNo

hello!

Hi. My name is Blaine Fairchild and I am the blogger on this blog. I am going to try and blog about cameras, new and old, film production, photography, and tips and tricks on most of the topics. This will probably be more of a informational blog so if you would like, check it frequently.
       A little about me. I am 15 years old. I love any thing to do with cameras (especially old ones) and video. Personally I do a lot of skateboard videos. I have a sony VX 2100 for that. So i'm sure that topic will come up some times on this blog. I also love to use film cameras. I have a few of those that I use a lot. so I will talk about film and digital cameras. But most likely more about video, and film production. so if you think you would like any of this please visit frequently and give input and bring up topics. Thank you!