Spin the Wheels

Time to spin those color wheels - Digital Juice has another training video about color correction.

Watch it here and learn how to make this.....

...look like this.

It looks like they'll be spinning the wheels in more ways than one.

 

Picture touch-up

I got this picture from the Morris' website and couldn't resist playing around with it some in Photoshop. Just thought I'd share some of my fun ;)

Original

Touched up

 

Clams that Sail

Nature had the first "sailboat," listen here to learn more.

 

Nearly drowning...

...in deadlines :)

I am so swamped with stuff right now that I am not able to take the time to post very much - sorry. After the New Year I hope to be able to get back to Christmas BTS info. Also, I will have a special post from the composers on the project, so be sure to check back.

Maybe I will be able to squeeze a few things in during the next couple of days, I'll just have to see.

 

Let it Snow!!!

Here are some still shots from the video I went out and shot yesterday :) *sigh - snow :)

 

Pendragon Update

Pendragon has a rough edit complete - more info here.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I'll be back after Christmas. Have a blessed Christmas everyone!!

 

Christmas Research #5

This is an allegorical story written back in the 1600s. It is very similar in style to Pilgrim's Progress and is quite fun to read considering all the accusations that are brought against Old Father Christmas.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PDF


Also, this is the last of the Christmas Research posts. Next week I hope to post BTS info about the Christmas video ;)

 

Homeschool in Danger??

Is Huckabee for Homeschool or not? I found this to be interesting.

 

News that is Positive

Check this link for lots of stories that the normal media probably won't be telling you. This is SOO encouraging.

Also, read President Bush's comments on Christmas.

 

Christmas Research #4

And...a couple more articles for you. Article 1 - Article 2

 

Pro-life victory

This was encouraging to read!!

 

Shrimp that kidnap??

Listen here to find out more!

 

Christmas Research #3

Here are a couple of more for you. Article 1 - Article 2

 

Christmas Research #2

Here are a couple more articles that I came across in my research.

AND to be fair, I am posting articles that show pro AND con of Christmas debate. One article about the history of St. Nicholas and the other is showing other history for Christmas.

 

FREE DOWNLOADS!

If you ever needed music - graphic design elements - moving backgrounds - logo revealers then check out DIGITAL JUICE'S FREE DOWNLOADS!!

This is a MUST HAVE for anyone even remotely doing video production.

 

Disturbing

If there was ever any evidence of the war we REALLY live in...this is it, and California is leading the way.

Article 1 - Article 2 - Article 3 - Article 4 - Article 5

"we are making progress" - " we are being more diverse" - "this kind of education makes better citizens"

Ok, to me that translates to: "We are blind, deceived people who hate Christianity and the Bible, and we want no restrictions EXCEPT on morality." -make that AGAINST morality.....

Quite honestly, as I read this stuff I wonder, "what ARE these people thinking." The only conclusion I can come to is that they are purposefully trying to ruin the American lifestyle.

What do you think? Agree? Dis-agree? Leave me a comment with your thoughts.

 

New Poll!

Ok folks I need your opinions, thus....a new poll.

Do you want to see BTS about the Christmas video?? -please vote

 

Christmas Research #1

As I did research on Christmas and the traditions of Christmas, I came across some very interesting articles. I will hopefully be releasing a couple of links for you everyday this week, some pro-Christmas - some anti-Christmas.


Here is the first set of articles, today's are from wikipedia.
- This is an interesting History of Christmas
- Have you wondered where the "White Elephant" game came from?
- What kind of Controversies are brought up about Christmas?

FEEL FREE TO LEAVE COMMENTS WITH YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ARTICLES

 

Film language

For those of you looking to stay on top of the filmmaking lingo, you might want to head over to this blog and catch up on some common phrases and what they just might REALLY mean.

That blog also has a link to this one about a Final Cut Pro tip. Nice tip BTW.


-this is my 100th post BTW!! ;)

 

Fireproof Finished Filming

Last week was the end of the 30 day shoot on Fireproof. Head over to the blog to read the "wrap comments" from their pastor!

 

Mac vs. PC

Apple's version of "Santa Claus is coming to town," or PC's version anyway. :)

Watch the ad.

 

Twas the Week Before Christmas

DECEMBER 15 - THE TIME HAS ARRIVED

This is a first draft of the movie, not everything turned out quite right but I'm not going to fix it today. :) I will be updating it and then re-releasing it again! The Morris boys have agreed to write the music for the movie and there is some color correction stuff still to touch up....and a couple of other things ;) So, this is by no means finished....just so you know.

You can watch it here. (NOTE: This video is no longer available for viewing online. However, it IS available for purchase and download here!)

Oh, this one is low resolution, the next one will be much larger :)

I would appreciate any comments or critique. Changes ARE going to be made so please speak up if you think something needs tweaked in the video.

 

Christmas is coming...

...and the video is too...I'm working on it fast and furious :)

 

From Everest to the Deserts

I came across David Rasmussen's website today.

I found the videos and photo gallery to be quite interesting.

 

Streaming Christian music

It plays music from:

Ron Hamilton, SMS, Sherry Oliver Trainer, Sacred Music Services, Soundforth, Mac & Beth Lynch, Steve Pettit Evangelistic Team, Christy Galkin, Rebecca Bonam, Bob Jones University Symphony Orchestra

Click here to view the website.

They currently have Christmas music playing :)

 

Final Inquiry

I finally tracked down a trailer for this one!

NOTE: I haven't seen this film nor am I endorsing it. This is just an FYI about an upcoming film.


But...the trailer looks nice ;)

 

Made of Music?

What happens if you assign music notes to the DNA structure?? Listen to this to find out.

 

Get off the tracks, 'cause the freight train is coming..."

Head over to FIREPROOF and check it out.

Also, they have a new post up about the volunteer on the project.

 

Blog sign up

If you want to sign up to receive updates to my blog automatically, just click this link - Subscribe to ReelCast Blog - and you will get an email each time the blog is update.

Of course if you like checking back just for the fun of it, then disregard all of that ;)

-I know I have mentioned the sign up thing already, but I like the idea of FREE SIGN UP so much that I wanted to post it again ;)

 

Trailing Pilgrim's Progress

There is a "low-budget" movie being made of Pilgrim's Progress and they have a new trailer out.

 

Soundtrack

"The Return of the Daughters" soundtrack is now for sale as a download.

Listen to previews.

 

Have we been lied to!!!

Is it possible?!!!?? Could Al Gore be wrong!!?!??


Evidence has now been found to show that Global Warming ISN'T caused by humans...I know, shocking isn't it ;)

So what IS it caused by? Find out here.

 

Lightbulb!! *ding

So, first we shouldn't spank children (according to Dr. Spock), and what, now it is ok again??

Apparently the American College of Pediatricians (ACP) has come out with news that, "Spanking is, at times, necessary with young children, because reasoning and explanation are insufficient in persuading them to have good behavior."

You can read the whole article here.

I find it humorous how slow the "educated minds" can be sometimes. If only people would follow the Bible more.....LIGHTBULB *ding! ;)

 

Editing Transitions

DJTV has a new "Cutting Class" episode up today. Watch it here.

 

Christmas Poll

Ok, I am just curious what you all think about Christmas and I have some articles and information that I am going to be talking about based on the poll results I get. :)

I want each person to just be honest and candid in their answers, there is nothing strikingly right or wrong in an answer.

AND TAKE NOTE!!!! This is a multiple choice poll. You can choose as many answers as you like. Please vote!!

 

Updates

FIREPROOF

Make up Artist

PENDRAGON

Rough edit coming together

 

Snow, Ice, COLD

Well, I'm back! It was a wonderful trip to the Indianapolis conference. We got to hear lots of good speakers, and we had a great time fellowshipping with other Christians!! Pictures will be coming in the next several days.

Coming back was quite the experience because of all the snow and ice on the roads. We ended up driving through AR from MO to make it back to OKC. Lots of our friends have no electricity, the trees are losing limbs, and the roads are very slick (at least they look like they are). But we are back home and I'm grateful that God allowed our family to take the trip, it was a good spiritual energy boost, and a much needed one for me ;)

 

Reprieve

If you don't see any new posts in the next couple of days it isn't cause I fell off the end of the world. I will be gone to Indianapolis for a conference till next Monday. Enjoy your reprieve from the blog :p

SO, until then...keep up with the Kendricks cause they have some good stuff coming.

NOTE: if you want to sign up to receive updates to my blog automatically, just click the button at the very bottom - Subscribe to: Posts (Atom) - and you will get an email each time I post an update. Of course if you like checking back just for the fun of it, then disregard what I just said ;)

 

Happy Holidays?

oooorr...not :|

If you ever get fed up with "Happy Holidays" and "Season's Greetings," this video is for you.

Stoplight: Merry Tossmas.

His other videos are also quite fun and informative. He has a great way of bringing "politically correct" topics into a CORRECT perspective. I will say that I haven't seen all of them, so I can't give a full endorsement. :) (but the ones I have seen are really good)

 

First Pacific Media

The Botkins now have a company website AND a store!!!!


Read about it here and visit the website.

 

Programmed for language?

Where did languages come from? Did it start as monkey grunts? What do deaf people have to do with all this?

Find out by listening to this.

 

Wake Up!!!

Another blog post that is worth a read.

"More and more Evangelical males and females are tacitly accepting the message of the culture, that is at its heart egalitarian. This is not because egalitarian arguments are stronger. Instead, it’s because in some sense we are all egalitarians now." ~Russel Moore (from Doug's blog post)

This time from Doug Phillips.....here.

 

Is thinking "outside the box" cliche?

"Thinking outside the box is so passé. I like to think outside the sphere or outside the pyramid."

"I don’t mention it just to bask in how stupid intelligent people can be. The “outside-the-pyramid” idea serves as a vivid example of a goofy phenomenon in our culture. Instead of pursuing beauty or truth or any notion at all of what defines good art for him, he’s trying to be original by redefining the box that he’s “outside of.”"

This is a good article by Jonathan Camenisch - click here to read it.

 

Science is catching up!

From Creation Moments comes another interesting scientific "discovery."

Listen to it here.

 

Introducing...

Digital Juice - EDITOR'S TOOLKIT PRO special introductory pricing


Digital Juice has had Editor Tookits for a while, but this a brand new series. Each set includes HD and SD animations, Video overlay, swipes, Juice drops (for graphic design), lowerthrids and MORE!! Each album contains 5 sets and all the elements in each set all match!! This is an editor's ALL IN ONE BUNDLE!!!

See the whole gallery.

 

Christmas is Coming (a week early)

Here are some BTS pics from the latest video shoots :) I might can squeeze out a new trailer sometime soon....we shall see ;)

Also, the funny stick-thingy I have my camera on is a Glidecam 2000, the newest toy*ahem tool in my arsenal. Got it off of eBay for around $100 less than the normal price and I love it. Note: running alongside someone riding a bike will wear you out in a big hurry.

 

Morris Family update

Josiah - Jeremiah - Hosanna

Last year this time is when Joel's cancer treatments were happening....it was a very difficult time. As you can imagine it is still difficult this year. Mrs. Morris has recently posted on their blog about how they are doing and just life in general. I would encourage you to read the update.

 

Sky Angel Cowboy

Maybe you are more up to date on things and have seen this video...if you haven't yet, you should!! This is really good!! All I can say is wow - a very touching story.

"Logan listens to us (89.3 KSBJ which broadcasts from Houston, TX) on Sky Angel because he lives on a ranch in a very small town in Nebraska. He called us distraught because he had to take down a calf. His words have wisdom beyond his years. Listen to what Logan had to say…"



IF the video doesn't play click the link here.

This is not an endorsement of the 89.3 radio station.

 

God's Amazing Hand

The Kendricks have a really neat story on their blog today :) God is so amazing!!

 

Mac vs. PC

I have a new poll up and no, I am not trying to start a war.....actually I want to find out how many of you use Final Cut or something similar. My intention for BTS articles is that they would be helpful and maybe even spark some new ideas for you. However, if most of the people who read the BTS articles have no idea what I am talking about...well....it kind of defeats the point. :)

So, you will actually benefit by voting. Unless most of you end up being PC users...then I don't know what I am going to do. :| -comments are welcome too

 

A Christian Download Store

If you are interested in a media download store, similar to iTunes but geared toward Christians, then check out GLARITY. Most of you may already know about this company, but if you don't I would highly recommend them. AND....the store is supposed to officially open this week!

 

Camping BTS #6

CLEANING UP THE EDIT FLOOR

Here are a couple of things that I do when I am finished with a project. First off, is to go catch up on sleep! Ok, seriously…

I put the finished video on a MiniDV tape and label it MASTER for use later if I ever loose my finished video. Cleaning up the scattered files is another way to make sure the project stays altogether (and of course that starts during production) some people even burn these project files to a CD for use later. Also, I go to the Final Cut Pro program files and delete the Video and Audio Render files for the project along with the Capture Scratch video files – AFTER I make a master first. ☺

I then get ready for the next project…..

Random Notes:
-Be careful when handling a camera around sprinklers
-Throwing leaves on the fire are a great way to make the fire brighter
-It is difficult to resist the urge of blowing out an ignited marshmallow
-Grandma is hilarious
-Camp food is really good (most of the time) and it is a good thing too, cause we like to eat ;)
-siblings don’t like paddling with their hands

That’s it for this project! I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to let me know if you have other questions or if you have other areas that you would like me to cover in future BTS sessions.

 

Camping BTS #5

GRAPHICS AND TITLES
MOTION
I do most of my titles in Motion, because it has a better text resolution output. All the titles for the Camping video were designed in Motion and animated in Motion using a couple of presets. I didn’t do anything really complicated.
BLUE SWIRLY
The blue and yellow swirly thing that “revealed” the number for each point, was a free download from Digital Juice and is part of their Motion Design Elements Library - "Logo Revealer's."

SPECIAL EFFECTS

COLOR CORRECTION
I briefly touched on this in my last BTS, and I don’t have a lot more to add. One benefit I have found is to use a proper “production monitor” when doing color correction. These monitors can be rather expensive and range from around 7” to 13” in screen size. I bought an 8” JVC model off of ebay for under $200. My computer screen is VERY noticeably darker and different in color than my external monitor. A monitor isn’t a must, but if you plan on doing any serious CC work, especially if your finished movie will be viewed on DVD (thereby often using a TV screen) and/or your movie will be projected on a screen using a projector, I highly recommend some extra thought and care when doing the color correction. Most of the CC for this project isn’t very noticeable, and I hard a time finding a cilp that would show the differences very well. Because I shot at sunset and I shot on a couple of different days, some shots were warmer than others and I decided to CC to make all the narration clips a warm orange color……

Before


After



SPECIAL FX
Since my camera doesn’t do well when shooting at night, meaning the video doesn’t show up very well….the “night shot” is really the only shot with special FX applied, but I liked it so much I just had to tell you about it. Here are the stages I went through….

Original shot


Color Corrected using Magic Bullet Editor's "Night" preset, with a few custom tweaks :)


I then added several layers of stars that I created in Blender, and used the compositing option in FC to help them blend into the shot better. It isn’t perfect, but I was pretty pleased with the result.



[CLEANING UP THE EDIT FLOOR] coming next….

 

'Twas the Week Before Christmas

Ok, I guess I will post something more "fitting for the season," so here ya go :P


The newest graphic art for my short film coming out "Twas the Week Before Christmas."

 

FIREPROOF

The first post of December is about what? FIRE :)


I am VERY excited about this film!!!


They have been filming a house on fire, a wedding and also the Kendrick's dad, mom and older brother have visited the movie set this week!


“I have a new appreciation for firefighters. Of all the days we’ve shot, this was one of the most exciting. One of the best scenes in FACING THE GIANTS is the death crawl. Alex has been calling this scene the ‘death crawl on fire.’”
Kirk Cameron (Capt. Caleb Holt)

Head over to the blog to read all about it!!