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How to Shoot DV with Computer
Screens in the Shot |
September 2004 |
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Computer Screens are everywhere, and you may
find them sneaking into more and more of
your shots. This newsletter has tips on how
to deal with monitors in your DV
productions, and short cuts for filming
images that are on them. Good news from
past students of DVworkshops! Brian Pollzzie
was just hired as the "Behind The Scenes" DV
Filmmaker for NFL football team The San
Francisco Forty Niners, and William Moran
has just been assigned Full time DV Video
production duties at GOOGLE. If you have any
questions about DVworkshops, please feel
free to contact us at (415) 820-9622. Hope
to see you soon, Aron Ranen
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How to get great looking Video when computer
screens are in your shot.
Ever shoot an interview with a computer
in the background and the monitor looks too
blue? (Like the image on the computer screen
to the right). That is because all computer
monitors and television sets are "Day light
balanced". Try this experiment with your
camera pointing at a Monitor. Find the White
Balance controls on your Camera (use the on
screen menu, or the WB button on the camera
). Switch the White Balance to the picture
of the Light Bulb....then change it to the
image of the SUN....did you notice how the
monitor's color looks more accurate on the
Image of the SUN? This is because the
Computer monitor is the same "Color
temperature" as DAYLIGHT (5600K).
Now if you trying to light a scene with
professional lighting, and have a computer
in the scene, you must "Color Correct" all
the lights. You achieve this by placing Blue
Color Correction Gels ( 1/2 or FULL) over
all the "Indoor" lighting. Then set your
camera to a daylight White Balance, by
Manually pressing the White balance Button
while shooting a white card placed in the
action portion of the scene, or by switching
your White Balance to the Image of the SUN.
Now all your lights match the day light
color temperature of the Computer or Tv
Monitor.
If you see "Scan lines" on the computer
screen, try adjusting the Shutter Speed, or
use "Clear Scan" to scroll through and match
the Scan rate of your computer monitor.
In Summary, Computer and Television sets
have the same color temp as outdoor light. A
good way to understand this, is to always
think of Computer Monitors and TV sets as
"Windows filled with daylight". If you have
computers in your scene, make sure you match
the other lighting by Color Correcting them
with Blue Color Correction Gels.
We teach White Balance & more in our Basic
DV Class and DV Documentary workshops. Click
here for workshop details...
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How to Grab "Screen Shots" off your Computer
and Rescanning Techniques
Do you want to videotape something off a
computer screen? This could be part of a
website, or even a screen from Final Cut
Pro. If you have an Apple Computer, it's
easy...just press the APPLE(command) key &
the SHIFT key & 4 ( the number Four)...while
your computer monitor has the website or
screen you want to copy. A movable 'Cross
Hair" appears on your screen, then you can
Click, Drag and Highlight the screen image
you need....then release the Mouse and the
computer takes a "Picture" of the image and
stores it on your Desktop. Then you can just
open it up from inside Final Cut Pro and
animate, crop or fade in and out this
Computer Image. SHIFT+APPLE+4 = Screen shot.
A cool Video effect is called
"Rescanning". This is when you play your
footage on a computer or TV Monitor and
shoot it with a camera. This produces richly
textured imagery that can be used for
Fiction or Documentary Opening Sequences, or
as Backgrounds for titles or cropped
imagery. All you have to do is remember to
set your camera's White Balance to Daylight
( image of the SUN) and shoot away!
Learn how to grab Computer Screen Shots and
Basic Image Motion Control in our Final Cut
Pro Weekend Intensive and Advanced Final Cut
Pro Workshops |
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Idaho International Film Festival Features
the Short Documentaries of Aron Ranen and a
DVworkshops Documentary Bootcamp.
Aron Ranen will be in Sun Valley, Idaho
Oct 1-3 for his Documentary Bootcamp, and
screening of Documentary Shorts on October 2
& 3rd.
Click Here for more info about Aron Ranen's
presentation and workshop at the Idaho
International Film Festival's website.
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Learn Final Cut Pro HD with our Training
DVD
This 2 DVD set has been getting
great reviews from all the folks who
have purchased it. From College
students to International Police
Departments (The Scottish Police
College in the UK), people are
finding it fun to watch and easy to
follow.
Set up with individual Chapters, it
is simple to review any segment while
editing. The DVD includes training on
conecting your camera/deck to the
computer, trouble shooting, How to
organize, script and capture your
footage, Basic Editing, Titles, Mixing
Audio, Simple effects and outputting to
Tape, iDVD or DVD studio Pro.
Our Price: $49.95 USD
S & H: $4.00
Click Here to read student reviews and
watch sample clips from the Final Cut
Pro HD Training DVD
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