Multimedia Photojournalism
Marcel Desjarlais, Crew Leader with Alberta Sustainable Resource Development wipes his brow after fighting forrest fires for eight days in a row, at the south east corner of a fire near Fox Creek, Alta. on May 19, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
Brad Desjarlais, Crew Leader with Alberta Sustainable Resource Development poses for a photo at the south east corner of a forrest fire near Fox Creek, Alta. on May 19, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
I have a photo spread of Erin and Brad’s wedding in the current issue of Bridal Fantasy Magazine! What an awesome wedding.
I got the wonderful opportunity to cover Dreams Take Flight which is a charity that sends children from physically, mentally or socially challenged backgrounds to Disneyland for a day. We basically left Edmonton at 4:00 A.M. and then returned the next day at 2:00 A.M. It is a wonderful charity and means a lot to these kids. http://yeg.dreamstakeflight.ca
Eight-year-old Daniel Paradis, front left, and volunteer Tyler Loney ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad during a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011. More than 130 children from physically, mentally or socially challenged backgrounds took part in the Edmonton chapter of Dreams Take Flight, a national volunteer charitable organization that has taken more than 21,000 children to Disneyland over the last 19 years. More information at dreamstakeflight.ca. The Journal's Ryan Jackson documented the magical trip and created a photo gallery with dozens of images of the extremely happy children at "The happiest place on earth." Go to edmontonjournal.com/photos. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
Young Gavin Sisson gives a tearful goodbye to his mother Karen before taking off on a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
Twelve-year-old Daymon Halladay dances with excitement while going through security at the Edmonton International Airport before taking off for a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
More than 130 children gather at the Edmonton International Airport to take off on a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Children with Dreams Take Flight walk through security at the Edmonton International Airport before taking off on a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
James Loe with the Canadian Air Transport Security Agency gives Gi Gi the clown a full body scan at the Edmonton International Airport before taking off on a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
Kaitlyn Harvey looks to get a hug from Micky and Minnie at the Edmonton International Airport before taking off on a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
The Dreams Take Flight party crew get ready to board the plane for a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Air Canada donates a Boeing 767 airplane and crew for Dreams Take Flight to travel to Disneyland. More than 130 children from physically, mentally or socially challenged backgrounds took part in the Edmonton chapter of Dreams Take Flight, a national volunteer charitable organization that has taken more than 21,000 children to Disneyland over the last 19 years. More information at dreamstakeflight.ca.
Six-year-olds Naomi Elgot, left, and Kaydence Taillon read the airplane safety booklet before taking off on a fun-filled trip to Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Air Canada flight attendant Yan Tremblay gives a fun safety demonstration before taking off on a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Transportation security administration officers greet the children as they get off the plane in Los Angeles, California for a fun-filled day at Disneyland on May 4, 2011.
Ben the TSA K9 dog waits to greet the children as they get off the plane in Los Angeles, California before a fun-filled day at Disneyland on May 4, 2011.
Air Canada donates the Boeing 767 and crew for Dreams Take Flight to happen. More than 130 children from physically, mentally or socially challenged backgrounds took part in the Edmonton chapter of Dreams Take Flight, a national volunteer charitable organization that has taken more than 21,000 children to Disneyland over the last 19 years. More information at dreamstakeflight.ca. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
Madison Mercer is excited as she enters Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Getting ready for a group photo in front of the Disneyland Railroad at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Everyone poses for a group photo in front of the Disneyland Railroad at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Seven-year-old Kaitlyn Harvey is excited as she enters Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
The crowds down Main Street U.S.A. in Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Six-year-old Nayt Bedard checks out a map of Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011
Six-year-old Adam Nesom from Leduc, Alta. is excited as he enters Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Nine-year-old Brandon Dorward and his teacher Sheila Fraser are excited as they enter Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Twelve-year-old Sara Elder rides the Jungle Cruise in Adventureland during a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
A group rides Pirates of the Caribbean during a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Ten-year-old Tayler Saulnier-Ferguson from Sherwood Park poses for a photo with Mickey Mouse during a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Eight-year-olds Denise Clark-Sinclair, left, and Daniel Paradis ride the King Arthur Carrousel in Fantasyland during a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Seven-year-old Nayt Bedard sprays six-year-old Naomi Elgot with water during a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Six-year-old Naomi Elgot enjoys the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage in Tommorowland during a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Children ride Dumbo the Flying Elephant during a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Robert L'Hironvelle, 17, and Anthony Gahr, 16, sit back and enjoy the Mad Tea Party in Fantasyland during a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Ashley Crosty, left, and Jasmyn Bibby enjoy Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters in Tomorrowland during a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Ashley Crosty, left, and Jasmyn Bibby enjoy Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters in Tomorrowland during a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
12-year-old Bryanna Jansen and volunteer Kim Harvey ride the Matterhorn Bobsled in Fantasyland during a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Sarah Goguen, 10, left, and Bryanna Jansen ride "It's a Small World" in Fantasyland during a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Left to right. Volunteer Katelyn Semple, Mercedes Pattison, 9, and Adam Nesom, 6, from Leduc ride the Astro Orbitor in Tomorrowland during a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Volunteer Katelyn Semple has a water fight with Brandon Dorward, 9, from Leduc, Alta. during a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Light trails in Space Mountain in Tomorrowland during a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Journal photographer Ryan Jackson takes a picture while riding Space Mountain during a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011. More than 130 children from physically, mentally or socially challenged backgrounds took part in the Edmonton chapter of Dreams Take Flight, a national volunteer charitable organization that has taken more than 21,000 children to Disneyland over the last 19 years. More information at dreamstakeflight.ca. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Children walk back to the buses after a $50 shopping spree they were each given for free at the end of a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Walking back to the plane after a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Six-year-old Kaydence Taillon gets some much needed shuteye after a fun-filled day in Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
Left to right. Jessie Cardinal, 7, Denise Clark-Sinclair, 8, and Danielle Paradis, 8, get some much needed shuteye after a fun-filled day in Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011. More than 130 children from physically, mentally or socially challenged backgrounds took part in the Edmonton chapter of Dreams Take Flight, a national volunteer charitable organization that has taken more than 21,000 children to Disneyland over the last 19 years. More information at dreamstakeflight.ca. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton
Parents wait for their children to arrive at Edmonton International Airport after a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011.
A mother kisses her very tired child after a fun-filled day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2011. More than 130 children from physically, mentally or socially challenged backgrounds took part in the Edmonton chapter of Dreams Take Flight, a national volunteer charitable organization that has taken more than 21,000 children to Disneyland over the last 19 years. More information at dreamstakeflight.ca. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
During the last federal election the idea was thrown around of interviewing all of the candidates and putting the videos online.
The problem with just throwing up entire interviews is that few people will watch the videos and the ones who do will be bored waiting to get some tidbit of information. Say you interview four people, seven questions, one minute each = 28 minutes of video. That is an eternity! Would you watch 28 minutes of video of your four local candidates in hopes of hearing one or two things that interest you?
A new philosophy I’ve been following is “Think Backwards”
Typically in the media we capture and present video and then expect viewers to consume it as we give it to them. But imagine you just moved to Edmonton. You want to vote but you don’t know your local candidates or how they compare on certain issues that matter to you.
Wouldn’t it be cool if you could watch four similar interviews at the same time and quickly jump to the information you want?
Well myself and data journalist Lucas Timmons did just that!
Watch an interactive video presentation of the federal election candidates in Edmonton-Centre.
I interviewed all the candidates and asked them the same seven questions. Lucas used the YouTube API and made hotlinks to each answer. You can quickly jump to the information you are most interested in. You can watch one minute or 28 minutes. You are in control.
My big idea was to interview all of the candidates in all of the ridings but there simply wasn’t enough time so I only did Edmonton-Centre and Edmonton-Strathcona.
I wanted to have a consistent look and feel to the videos. I decided on a simple white background and black and white tones so that the video would only show the candidate and not have distracting backgrounds. The other advantage of shooting this way was that I could also do nice still portraits of each candidate after the interview was done.
Federal Conservative candidate for Edmonton-Centre Laurie Hawn poses for a photo at his campaign office in Edmonton on April 13, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
Edmonton-Strathcona Federal Conservative Candidate Ryan Hastman poses for a photo at his campaign office in Edmonton on April 21, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
Edmonton-Strathcona Federal Liberal Candidate Matthew Sinclair poses for a photo at the Journal office in Edmonton on April 22, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
Federal Liberal candidate for Edmonton-Centre Mary MacDonald poses for a photo at the Edmonton Journal office in Edmonton on April 13, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
Edmonton-Strathcona Federal NDP Candidate Linda Duncan poses for a photo at the Journal office in Edmonton on April 22, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
Federal NDP candidate for Edmonton-Centre Lewis Cardinal poses for a photo the Edmonton Journal office in Edmonton on April 13, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
Federal Green candidate for Edmonton-Centre David Parker poses for a photo at NAIT in Edmonton on April 13, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
Edmonton-Strathcona Federal Green Candidate Andrew Fehr poses for a photo at the University of Alberta in Edmonton on April 22, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
I had to be careful to ensure the framing, light and sound was consistent. I wouldn’t want to make any candidate look better or worse than the rest.
David Parker was at NAIT so we used a pulldown projector screen as a white background
I interviewed some of the canidates in the Journal studio which already has a nice white background
This was my basic setup. Three 500-LED video lights, a reflector and a white background.
I was able to fit my whole video studio on one dolly cart.
Each minute of video took about an hour to render in Final Cut Pro.
Of course I mounted a remote camera for my parents funeral
This is probably the longest I’ve ever gone without updating my blog. Though I did leave it on a high note.
February was a crazy month. It was my 28th birthday, My 360 Dodgeball video went viral, I had three new job opportunities open up for me, I was on cloud nine.
The night of my birthday I said to my good friend Kirk “you know things are going so good for me right now I’m afraid something bad is going to happen”
And then it did.
Guess I should have knocked on wood.
On February 12th, 2011 both of my parents were killed in a head-on collision in Saskatchewan. Ironically they driving back from a Funeral.
As a journalist I have covered countless tragedies. It's weird when it's your own.
I had a freelance job that morning. I was exhausted from shooting the 360-video and I just had to do this one job and then I could go home and nap all afternoon.
I still had to mark my MacEwan student‘s assignments and I was dreading the hours of time that it would take.
Then the phone rang. The number was blocked and usually when call display says Blocked I just ignore it but this time I answered for some reason.
It was an RCMP officer calling me to say that my parents were in an accident and my mother had been killed, my father was in an ambulance heading to Saskatoon and wasn’t expected to make it.
It’s an indescribable feeling when you get a phone call like that. The world almost stands still. Everything slows down. I went into shock.
The officer needed a contact in Saskatoon that he could call. I was the first number on their cell phone so they called me first but I was in Edmonton.
My Father was in an ambulance on the way to Saskatoon and he needed someone to come meet him.
I couldn’t think so I immediately went on my laptop and went online to look up Phone numbers.
I started packing. If we left right away we could be at the hospital by midnight.
As I threw random clothes into a suitcase the RCMP officer called again. My father had just died in the ambulance.
Home
Photography really helped me deal with this. It’s important to stay busy and have a purpose when you are going through tough times. I had two video cameras and mounted a remote camera at the back of the church. My good friend Liam Richards and Derek Mortensen were kind enough to setup a photo booth at the funeral. I’m sure a lot of people thought it was weird to have a photo booth but I wanted to have a visual record of everyone who was there. Something special. A funeral is a celebration of life.
It's okay to smile.
My brother Shawn and me.
It's amazing how far friends and family will fly to support you. Thank you all.
I captured hundreds of pictures and panoramas of everything that happened in those crazy days and this helped me understand why I need photography in my life. It freezes a moment in time so you can properly reflect and process what it means.
Panorama of the burial site.
360 view of everyone standing around the grave site.
My brother watching mom being carried out.
It doesn't matter if you have a cell phone camera or a $5,000 SLR. When you see a picture, snap it.
Understanding how my dad was an artist helps me in my photography.
My parents in 1980 being awesome.
Fathers day
It's amazing what photos you dig up when making a slide show.
My first front page at the Journal. This photo means a lot to me.
First off, watch my 360-degree Video of the World Record Dodgeball Game at the U of A
So last year I shot this video of the University of Alberta setting a world record for most people playing dodgeball and the video got over 650,000 hits.
I’ve seen a few 360-degree videos out there but not as many as you would think considering how freaking cool they are.
Since 360-degree videos is pretty uncharted territory in the photojournalism world I absolutely had to take the challenge.
To shoot my 360-degree dodgeball video I used four GoPro Hero HD cameras on 1280×960 mode mounted vertically. This gives enough overlap to get a full 360-degree view as well the cameras are nice and small and light. Since the cameras shoot at 30 frames per second (actually 29.97) you can think of it as 30 still pictures per second which can be stitched together into panoramas.
The short version of this story is that I shot with four GoPros, extracted still images from video, stitched the stills together into panoramas then recombined them back into video.
For the much more detailed and nerdy answer read on….
I got tips for arranging the cameras properly at diy-streetview.org
I simply used a plastic leg from a table that was the same width as the naked GoPro cameras.
I used Gaffers tape and a lot of elastics to hold the cameras in place.
In the future I may build a proper aluminum box for everything.
Setting up a fifth GoPro camera in the catwalk to be used for an overhead view for livestream of the game.
I use a Telus Aircard pluged into a Cradlepoint CTR-379 wireless router for internet for livestreams.
Here was my shooting process.
Hit record on my Olympus LS-10 PCM recorder. Say “scene one” out loud.
Hit Record on Camera 1. Say “camera one” out loud.
Hit Record on Camera 2. Say “camera two” out loud.
Hit Record on Camera 3. Say “camera three”out loud.
Hit Record on Camera 4. Say “camera four” out loud.
Now that everything is recording I clap my hands really fast or yelp really loud so that I have a sharp audio cue that I can sync all the cameras with.
Some people say “You’re crazy for putting your cameras in a dodgeball game like that!”
I say. It’s not about the camera. It’s about the end result. A camera is a tool like a hammer. If your hammer breaks, you get it fixed.
Never let your camera get in the way of a good photo.
As soon as the game ended I ingested all my footage into my MacBook Pro. It’s always important to get video up as fast as possible if you want to get a lot of views.
I just selected the first 60-seconds of the game and plunked it into Final Cut Pro. I created a large canvas and lined up the different cameras so that they overlapped a bit.
There would be very noticeable seams between the videos but I knew people wouldn’t mind the seams if they got to see the video asap. It took an hour to render the 60-seconds of video in Final Cut Pro and another hour to export it as FLV. The game ended around 1:30pm and I had a quick and dirty 60-second version of the panorama up on edmontonjournal.com before the 6:00pm news on TV! In comparison I think I had last year’s video up at the same time.
First year NAIT photography Student Nathan Smith was doing a ridalong with me that day and he was a HUGE help! He also shot all these awesome photos of me. Thanks!
Okay now for the high quality version with properly stitched images.
For post-processing I created a new timeline in Final Cut Pro 7 with codec Apple Intermediate Codec and size 3840×1280.
Since the cameras are mounted vertically they are recording 960×1280 video. So 4×960=3840.
I find my audio sync point on each camera and set it to be the in-point for the video. I drag each video from each camera into my timeline and line them up so that all the audio sync points line up.
Once my video and audio is all synced then I select each clip and go to “File–>Export –>Export Using Quicktime Conversion–> Image Sequence”
Final Cut Pro 7 extracts JPEG still images for every frame of video. Each frame is about 1.2MBs and you are shooting about 120 frames per second.
That works out to 8.6GB of stills for each minute of video you shoot. Or 520GB per hour.
Since there are four cameras each “frame” of video is actually four pictures which need to be stitched together into a single panorama.
I organize all the images using Photo Mechanic and batch name them 0001a, 0001b, 0001c, 00001d, 0002a, 0002b, 0002c, 0002d, etc.
Then I used PTgui Pro to stitch all my panoramas together into equarectangular panoramas.
PTgui Pro has a great batch process where you can setup a template for your first panorama and then it will auto stitch the rest of the panoramas in file order. This meant that (0001a, 0001b, 0001c, 00001d)–>Panorama1.jpg , (0002a, 0002b, 0002c, 0002d)–>Panorama2.jpg, etc.
I stitched them together in the highest resolution so that each panorama would be 3561×1308 pixels big. About 5MB per panorama. You are now at 18GB per minute of video or about a Terabyte per hour.
This process took the longest. I had three MacBook Pro laptops and my home server all going at the same time. The laptops took around 12 seconds per panorama to stitch.
If you do the math that works out six hours to stitch one minute worth of panoramas together!
I basically had four laptops crunching for 24 hours straight to make all the panoramas.
Once the tens of thousands of panoramas were stitched together I used Quicktime Pro File–>Open Image Sequence (at 29.97) to open all the still panorama images as a video. I then exported the video as .mov’s in Apple Intermediate Codec 3561×1308 at 280Mb/sec
I then created a new sequence in Final Cut Pro 7 with the same settings and dragged back in the .mov files and synced them with the .wav audio from my Olympus LS-10.
I chose about 17 minutes of footage in total to convert to panoramas and I then cut that down to the best 5 mins and exported as full-quality Apple Intermediate Codec.
I then used Adobe Flash Video Encoder to convert and downsize my video to FLV 2722×1000, On2 VP6, 2000kb video, 96kb audio which I find to be a good balance of quality to file size. It took about 8hrs for my 2.6GHz MacBook Pro to compress 5 minutes of video into 2722×1000 On2 VP6 Flash video.
Here is my puppy Mr. Woofertons napping while I wait for my video to compress.
Once the video is done compressing into FLV I then used KrPano as the flash panorama player to display the panoramic video as a 360-degree video.
It’s THAT easy! 
I actually did this same process for my Murder of Crows time lapse last year but this was way more intense.
Next time I do this though I will wire the GoPro’s together so that I can trigger them all at the same time. My Olympus LS-10 has a remote trigger port too so I should be able to trigger all four cameras and my audio recorder at the same time which saves time syncing the videos in Final Cut Pro.
There may also be a way to get KrPano to play .mp4 instead of .flv so I could use an Elgato turbo.264 HD to speed up exporting the final video.
You could also write a few simple Applescripts to speed up the file renaming and automate Quicktime Pro. This could eliminate the need for Photo Mechanic and manually moving files around.
What did all this cost?
Four GoPro HD’s would be 4 x $300 = $1,200
Final Cut Pro is $1,000
Quicktime Pro is $30
Photo Mechanic is $150
PTgui Pro is $210
Adobe Flash is $700
KrPano is $150
Cheaper than a $6,000 Ladybug camera and a better field of view and higher resolution than a Pano Pro mirror. Though a PanoPro would be much much easier to use.
As crazy complicated as this may sound I wouldn’t be surprised if whatever Smartphone we all use in a couple years will do this with a 99-cent app.
What I love about 360-video is that almost everyone who sees it is blown away. I love how it opens your mind to new and exiting ways to tell stories.
A heart-broken Robot tries to escape the clutches of his moonshine-making Hillbilly imprisoner.
“Slow, subtle and direct – a mesmerizing Canadian sound”, “stark, calming, and mildly trance inducing lullaby-makers”, “Pearson has carved out a niche as a slow-core band — playing intimate, slow and sparse folk music.”
Director & Editor: James Scott – federationfilms.net
Director of Photography: Ryan Jackson – punkoryan.com
AE Artist: Youlie Harikiopoulou
Colourist: Darren Mostyn – online-creative.com
This was my first music video and the most fun I have ever had shooting. I actually shot this back in August 2009 and it took over a year to get it edited, coloured and EFx’d.
I was the Director of Photography so I took James’ awesome script and made storyboards and then shot everything. It was really fun to work with a director as I could focus on getting the shots and he could focus on directing and organizing everything. We made a good team.
The entire thing was shot in a day and a half! I drove in to Manitou Beach on Saturday morning. We started filming at noon and did all the scenes with the hillbilly as he could only be there on Saturday. Then we got everything else on Sunday and shot right until sundown. It was a miracle we had the same weather two days in a row and got everything done.
I shot everything with the Canon 5D Mark-II. It was actually my first time using one. My friend Kenny lent me his for the weekend. I read the manual and researched as much as I could before the shoot.
I knew that if I wanted the video to have a “film look” that I would need to:
1. Shoot at 24fps
2. Keep the shutter speed at 1/50th (2x the frame rate. On film cameras you shoot at 1/48th)
3. Shoot wide-open to get a narrow depth of field.
4. Use Neutral Density filters so that I could do #2. and #3. in bright sunlight.
I used my heavy Libec LS-38 tripod and head as much as possible and used a shoulder-mounted stabilizer whenever I needed to move.
For lenses I used a 50mm f1.4, 24mm f1.4, 16mm f2.8, 16-35mm f2.8, 24-105mm f4 IS, 70-200mm f2.8 IS and a 300mm f2.8 IS.
I bought two Cokin Neutral Density filters for a combined light reduction of 8-stops. This let me shoot 1/50, f1.8, ISO100 in bright sunlight.
Here are some fun behind the scenes photos. Enjoy!
The sun setting behind me as a drive from Edmonton to Saskatoon, SK on the Friday night before the weekend shoot.
5:40 a.m. on my drive from Saskatoon to Manitou Beach on Saturday, the first day of the shoot.
You know you are in Saskatchewan when...
Sign
James the director had the final script for me Saturday morning. I quickly drew up story boards and made shot lists. We were going to start shooting at noon.
Early morning. Finishing the robot costumes. The paint was still drying!
Will is putting the finishing touches on his costume.
Arms
Hand
Duct taping antlers on the front of the Hillbilly's truck.
We rented a pontoon boat for the first water scene. The boat was perfect for shooting because it didn't wobble on the water.
I used a Hoodman LCD Loupe and rubber bands so that I could see my LCD screen in the sunlight and focus easier.
I used two Cokin ND filters together to get a total of 8 stops of light reduction. This allowed me to keep my shutter at 1/50th with a wide open f2.8 aperture. One of the secrets to the "film look".
Will had to get into the dingy and then get dressed after.
Our hillbilly was awesome. We only had him for the first day though so we had to be sure to get every shot in.
Will could hardly see while he drove the dingy. Of course our hillbilly had a fan boat!
Looks much cooler with digital explosions.
A family member was our chef for the weekend and prepared lots of yummy vegitarian dishes.
Here is Vera Debevc, the owner of the old abandoned shrimp factory that we used for the hillbilly hideout and robot prison.
Vera Debevc and our hero.
After lunch we filmed the scene where the hillbilly kidnaps the robot in a quarry.
It took forever to get dressed and undressed.
Robot Love
More Robot Love
Oh No! The hillbilly!
You're gonna squeal like a pig
Oh No!
The light was perfect that night.
God I love lens flare!
Perfect drunk
Me wearing hipwaiters.
This is the light we had in the old shrimp factory. A single hole in roof. The Canon 5D Mark-II held up amazing in low light.
Freedom!
Oh no you don't!
A shot we never used in the film of the robot getting away.
Vera with the robot again outside of the old shrimp factory. She was so cute!
Final shot of the first day of shooting. We were now done all the shots with the hillbilly.
Day two. We need some more romantic shots of robot and ladybot together. There is James the director on the left.
This is my desktop background. I love this picture. So weird!
Robot sex scene!
Here you see how I filmed the robot sex scene. I mounted a 5D Mark-II with a 16mm fisheye lens above the bed on a monopod.
We used a monitor to frame everything.
Getting some shots of the band. We were going to have the band pop in and out of the video but it didn't make the cut.
Beautiful day.
Getting dressed again for the final shots.
Filming the robot reunited with his long lost love.
We were soooo lucky to have the exact same sunset both nights. The weather was perfect!
Even more robot love.
Sun is setting fast. Running out of time.
Rushing to the junk yard for the final scene.
Only a few minutes left before the sun is down. Need to get those final shots.
The tragic surprise ending.
The final shot.
Group photo of almost everyone involved in making the film.
Heading back to the cabins after a very long perfect day!
Ryan Jackson with the Edmonton Journal gives tips for capturing and editing quality video with an iPhone 4G or iPhone 3Gs for the purpose of video journalism.
Below is a screencast of me giving the presentation. 43 minutes total. I cover A LOT of stuff. Apps, technique, theory, shooting situations, editing and transmitting.
And here is my Google Doc presentation with all the links in it.
Last week the idea floated around of doing a “streeters” video asking OIlers fans how they felt about the season so far. We’ve done that before and it is typically boring. Also there is no still photo component to go in the paper.
So I got the idea to buy small white boards and ask fans to draw how they feel about the season and then do Vortraits (video portraits) of all of them explaining what they drew. Turned out much more interesting and then we had art for the newspaper.
Journal Photographers Ryan Jackson and Shaughn Butts setup a camera outside Rexall Place before the Oilers game on Thursday and asked fans to illustrate how they felt about the season on small dry erase boards. Video by Ryan Jackson and Shaughn Butts / Edmonton Journal
I used a 7-inch LCD4VIDEO HDMI monitor to help focusing with my Canon 5D Mark-II and 24-105mm IS lens.
I had a Rode VideoMic on a Magic Arm for the audio so that my hands could be free for focusing
I had two 160LED video lights I got off of eBay for the fill lighting. I put orange gels on them to balance the blue LED light with the sodium vapor ambient lights.
Here is my sketch of the portraits I wanted. It is always good to draw your idea out and email it to your editors so that they know what you are talking about.
And here is how it ran on the front page of the Journal. When someone comes to you with an idea that you don't think is good - don't just roll your eyes and complain - take that idea and make it into something better. Nothing good comes from cynicism. Great things come from people who take okay ideas and make them great ideas.
Okay here is an example of what I call a spectacle video. In the media we do a lot of these. Someone is performing a stunt or doing something strange to get attention to promote something.
In this case they are racing a horse against people at Northlands racetrack to promote Northlands and a marathon.
These events make great standalone pictures but video is always harder because the stunt only last a few seconds.
You can’t just put a 10-second clip on your website and expect people to watch a 15-second pre-roll add then walk away happy. You need more than that. You need a story.
So how do I get a one-minute video from an event that only last a few seconds?
The same as anything you see on Mythbusters.
Teasing, anticipation, prediction, action, reaction.
Shows like Mythbusters are really good at taking something that only lasts a second like an explosion and dragging it out over a long period of time. Multiple cameras and slow motion help. But you can’t fill an hour of television with just that. You need anticipation, prediction and reaction to the event to really tell a story and make it interesting.
Here’s how I approach this video.
#1. I need A-Roll. A person of authority explaining what is happening today.
#2. I need B-roll to go with each thing that the interviewee mentions
Keywords: Horses, Humans, Media, Race
#3. I need to talk to the people who will be in the race. What are their predictions?
#4. The spectacle will only last a few seconds so I know I need more than one camera.
Camera 1: My Canon XH-A1 – This cameras has 20X zoom so I will put it at the end of the track.
Camera 2: Canon HV30 – I’ll put this camera at the beginning of the track and frame it on the starting gates. It can record 63 minutes to a tape so I just set it up and push record. Just leave it running.
Camera 3: Canon SD960 IS point-and-shoot camera that shoots 720p video. I set it up on a mini-tripod half way down the track and push record. Just leave it going.
Viewers decide if they want to keep watching a video in the first 10-seconds so I show the first 3-seconds of the race first to tease the viewer and hint that there is something cool coming. You better stay and watch!
I immediately go to by A-roll explaining what is happening today.
He's talking about horses so I show the only two horses that are on the track. Lame shot but it was all I had.
He talks about runners so I show the two runners that I see walking up.
I interview one runner and ask him for his predictions for the race.
This is a media spectacle so I show the other media there. Remember "say it and then show it". The media is mentioned in the interview so I show the media.
I interview the other runner and ask him for his predictions for the race.
Now I show the race. I have three cameras. One at the gates.
A second camera (a Canon Point-and-shoot on a mini-tripod) midway down the track to show the horse....
...followed by the runners....
Then my third camera is at the finish line. With my three cameras I was able to get a tight shot of the gates, a side view and an overall view.
Reaction. Emotion. High-Fives!
Followup reaction interview #1.
Followup reaction interview #2.
Ask the Jockey what he thinks. The end!
I get back to my car and ingest all the video footage into my laptop.
In Final Cut Pro:
I choose the A-roll “what is happening today”
I choose predictions “what do you think will happen?”
I choose the 3-second clip from Camera 2 and 3.
I choose the 12-second clip of the entire race from Camera 1. (yes the race only lasted 12-seconds!)
I choose the reaction clips “how was that for you?”
Plopped it together. Bam!
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